The spirit, the soul, our energy... We talk about those terms frequently but... Up to what point do we actually know what they are, what they do? The spirit bursts in the deepest level of consciousness, it's the capacity to place oneself before the cosmos and philosophize about the existential features of the human condition, aka, the meaning of life and death, the final destination of the world, why are we here, etc.
It complements the emotional and the logical aspects of our self and it deepens experiences such as to love another person, to get immersed in a project you are passionate about, and helps to give meaning and sense to our acts.
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| Mother Earth, by Jaison Cianelli. |
In order to get closer to our spiritual self we must understand the powers it grants us, no matter our religious beliefs. The following are a synopsis of the spiritual habilites recognized by what some philosophers, psychologists, and developmental theorists refer to as Spiritual intelligence.
The spirit enables people to seek meaning, since it emerges from the depths of our being as a primary need. But from its experience of being unfinished, the spirit is always searching.
I believe there is an intimate relationship between happiness and meaning, because it directly affects the way of perceiving one's existence. Only a person who has the experience of living his/her everyday life , in a meaningful way, enjoys a subjective perception of inner well-being.
I thin the fullness of a life depends on how one has used the time he/she has received as a gift.
Questioning Beyond limitations;
The spirit gives power to formulate ultimate questions of existence.
Such as why was I born? What is the point of my existence? What will happen after my death? Why do we suffer? Why do we struggle? What is worth living for? What is worth doing? How should I make sense of my existence? Etc.
The spirit wants to know the WHAT about things.
Taking perspective. Distancing;
It means to separate, to distance oneself, but still be. In doing so, one can see things in perspective, and can see itself from a distance. Only in this way is one able to think for oneself. And then you know that your center is out of this world, that you belong to no-one.
I am in my body. I control and dominate it. At the moment of taking distance, passion advances without limits, pushes fear away and expresses its inner world.
I am in my body. I control and dominate it. At the moment of taking distance, passion advances without limits, pushes fear away and expresses its inner world.
After years of trying to understand this I believe it means to live at a certain distance from the body, just and necessary to not be dominated by it while still being conscious of it and using its energies and possibilities. This power not only distances oneself from the environment, but also from ideas, convictions, beliefs and values. Allowing people to see them in perspective, to question and criticise them, and relegate some of them them if necessary.
I think that the spiritual power of taking distance is the only way to really understand something.
Self-transcendence;
Transcending means going beyond any border, not being a conformist, to keep moving forward.
The power of transcendent expresses a lack but at the same time a hope. This capacity empowers the human being to move towards the unknown. Transcend to open up to new perspectives, it is not the will to colonise or control, but the desire to overcome.
To transcend means, in some way, to shed the banal and the predictable, and to delve into the essential.
We are settled in a place, in circumstances, but at the same time, we aspire to do something that we are not yet, but we believe we can become.
Our nature as human beings evokes transition, a path or itinerary towards what is not yet. It is the motor of human life, the vital impulse that moves you to go beyond, to overcome any limit, to enter new worlds to live fully and intensely, thus enjoying reality in a more intimate way.
Love;
Love is the cause of life and what keeps it moving. Love is the sign and the justification. So love it all.
Laziness? Shake it off. Just strive, make an effort. Nothing more than this. And you will have justified your life. Empower and improve yourself, and you'll have already reformed the world.
The amusement;
It is one thing to exist, another very different thing is to be aware that one exists.
A caterpillar exists, but does it know it does, that it enjoys this wonderful possibility? I don't think it experiences the surprise of existing, nor the vertigo of temporal flow of life.
It is one thing to look, another thing is to admire reality. Which is closely linked to taking distance.
To admire and to be amused are a mental and emotional experience, they affect the corporal and physical but has its root in the spirit.
I thin it is so amazing that when you are aware that you are alive, and may not exist, then is when you recognise the ephemeral nature of one's being. You experience a surprise and you are led to love life and to enjoy it intensely, to turn your being in the world into a project.
And the world ceases to be obvious, banal and known, and we start perceiving it as it is; Deep, mysterious and enigmatic.
To be aware of oneself;
One of the spiritual powers empowers us for self-knowledge, mingling with intrapersonal intelligence; This enables "awakening" and openness. Thus I realise that not only I am and not only I live, I know of my being and my life.
Providing a double opening towards the interior (knowledge of oneself) and to the outside (the knowledge of things).
The human being inhabits a self-aware self and capable of contemplating the world, a free self that, by virtue of its freedom, can configure both its body and its soul.
Assess and value;
The spirit also serves to value. Assess and make value judgements about acts, decisions and omissions. Valuing is about identifying the assets and evils that a particular decision has generated in the past. For this it is basic to weigh, to observe the effects that it has had for oneself and for others.
Values not only motivate progress in the field of knowledge. They are not merely responses of our feelings, but motives in a new sense. They demand a certain position of will.
What I decide at a given moment will determine not only the configuration of the life of that moment, but will be relevant to what I will become.
I find very curious how any decision creates a willingness to make a similar decision again. In this way that I become "( a violinist, an athlete, a doctor...)", or not, is something that is in the hands of my own freedom.
The call of values comes through the spirit and this moves us to explore unknown territories and to perform amazing movements. This shows that the human being is an open work, a being that has the possibility of finishing himself.
To sense beauty;
A spiritually sensitive being finds delight in natural beauty, artistic manifestations and the simplicity of small things. It is able to detect beauty and enjoy it without pretending to possess it. It contemplates deeply the expressions of beauty that appear in reality, which allows him to enjoy more intensely the fact of owning life.
