Psyche and Spirit

What Exactly Is Spirituality?

Dr. Brian Hooper — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:14:02 +0000

What is popular today is to talk about spirituality without talking about “religion.” The word religion is from the Latin root religio that means “to tie back.” Sadly, religion has, whether based in actual experience or by misunderstanding, been too often perceived as tying one down, handcuffing if you like, a person to some set of dogmas or practices that are alien to his or her experience of this world, or that alienate a person from him or her self. In actuality, the most basic purpose of religion, apart from aberrant expressions, is to reconnect a person to his/her deepest sense of self as realized in connection with the transcendent (God) and others (including all of creation.) Said differently, religion, when plumbed to its various depths, aids individuals in evaluating and enhancing the authenticity of their relationship with God, neighbor, and self.
Authenticity is not a static state but a developing and expanding experience. (It is never too late to “get real!”) Over time, we come to know ourselves – first in infancy (my toes verses the cat’s tail), childhood (all cookies are not my cookies), adolescence (dependency and autonomy can share the same space), and on through adulthood into old age. I would like to suggest that as we develop beyond early adolescence and throughout the rest of life, we have a choice to grow, or not to grow, in wonder at the mystery of life – how all of us and all of creation are interconnected, how we are dependent upon and reflect the grace of that transcendent one who many of us call God. Said differently, to ask how my life’s decisions affect me and others, help me keep awake to my relationship to God and creation – in short, convey a deep reverence for the mystery of life.
Spirituality then, is about those underlying principles that are present in every healthy expression of religion, regardless of particular creed. Spirituality, apart from any specific set of beliefs, is part of the human experience and given expression in religion. I would suggest four foundational principles of spirituality:
1. Pay attention to the data of your experience: BE AWAKE! (*)
2. Work to understand fully all ideas – yours and others: BE INTELLIGENT!
3. Challenge yourself to exercise judgment based on facts: BE REASONABLE!
4. Act based on the greatest good and reverence for all: BE RESPONSIBLE!
Perhaps it is time to revisit your religious tradition, take a deeper “spiritual” look, and mine its depths for the mysterious treasures awaiting you there. And if I may aid you in that process, I’d be honored to do so.
*For further exploration on these four principles, see Daniel Helminiak’s helpful book. The Human Core of Spirituality: Mind as Psyche and Spirit. State University of New York Press, 1996.

Down-Sizing –> Internal Fullness

Dr. Brian Hooper — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:38:37 +0000

In the past year I’ve been going through closets, cupboards, and the garage determined to keep only what is of real use and to eliminate the rest. Each time I empty a drawer and donate the unwanted contents to charity, I feel a sense of greater fullness within. I’m struck by how grateful I feel for what I do own and have a greater determination to use it all in creative, hospitable, and vision-achieving ways.

Viewed from a psychoanalytic “defense mechanism” sense, my gleaning and cleaning may be seen as an attempt to counter the fear of scarcity that haunts a consumerist society in any recession/depression era, “See, I must be fine, I’m able to give away what I don’t need.” Though there may be a certain truth to that idea, I think it has more to do with making room within for greater expansion, creativity, and productivity.

For myself, I find that clutter simply gets in the way and takes up time. Truly, the more that I own, the more that I must manage, then the more I feel owned and managed by it. The simpler my life, in terms of things, the more efficiently I am able to use those things I have to serve the enrichment of my interior world.

For instance, to have the books in my study in order better enables me to use them in preparing articles and creative resources for my clients. The better my life is ordered, the better my ability to order and organize my own thinking, to be clear about my goals, and to energetically engage my passion, the clutter no longer drains my energy.

So, let me encourage you to join with me to simplify your life, to keep the energy of your possessions circulating, and to create a place within for the intangible creative process to produce tangible results that serve your mission in this world!

Angry Faith = Fear

Dr. Brian Hooper — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:35:02 +0000

This past week I was privileged to lecture again at the University of San Diego for a small group of graduate students in the Master of Arts program in Pastoral Counseling. The topic was the psychological implications of a fundamentalist perspective. I was not concerned with any particular religious faith as much as I was with the phenomenon common to all religious fundamentalism – an angry “faith” that is not about a healthy relationship with others, with the ecology, with oneself, and with the divine. Rather it is all about identifying who one is by those one opposes. It is angry, and it makes itself known in the fearful phenomena of fight or flight.

It would be easy to point at religious fundamentalism as if this were the only place where this happens. But each one of us is capable of protecting the most vulnerable portions of our psyches with rigid thinking that excludes outside perspective, shouting others into submission, and the fear that unless we keep others “in their place” we will loose our place.

A more integrated approach would be to listen to the heart of other’s concerns by adopting an attitude of curiosity rather than immediate condemnation. Listening is the first step in inviting dialogue. It gets to the key “words” behind the words that are spoken, if we listen from heart to heart.

And where the heart of another is heard, fear is banished. Faith, whether in the deity or in others, then becomes not a set of propositions but the experience of an authentic relationship.