A Summary of Key Points for Critical Spirituality
Marcus Bussey
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
A Taxonomy
Critical spirituality can be divided into three sections. The first focuses on neo-humanist practice, the second on the gradual identification of the individual with the collective and the third on that ultimate alignment of individual and cosmic good. In this the body receives and experiences, the mind analyses and synthesises, the spirit reflects and critiques.
• World and body, by virtue of its being a somatic reflection of the whole, seen as laboratory
• Expands empiricism to allow validity of both the objective, concrete perception and subjective, spiritual perception
• Experience internalised and processed through meditative empiricism
• Meditative empiricism expands but does not replace rational empiricism
• Rationality redefined: enquiry which is benevolent is rational, that process which disrupts in order to better both the individual and the collective – a neo-ethical sensibility
• ‘Reality’ problematised, seen as being layers of experience, all with coherent but distinct logics
The second level is concerned with the connection of the individual with the whole. The dance of microcosm with macrocosm, with the resultant diminution of ego and identification with things greater than oneself.
• Humanity contextualised within the whole – ie offers both an expanded and diminished frame of reference for human action
• Transformative action results from applied critical spirituality - gnosis
• The individual, by virtue of their link with the collective, is not able to stand alone ie source of crime removed
• Philosophical system based on ethics, ie thought and action are inseparable
The third level of critical spirituality is the summation of the previous levels. It offers, like a view from the mountain top, benevolence as the source of all action and the measure of all reason. It is holism in practice. It is what we strive for and what motivates our action. In the west we might be tempted to call it mastery but in reality, whatever that may be, it is more like service. An eastern take would describe it as Enlightenment.
• Benevolent mind identified with the good of the whole becomes source of discrimination
• Action born of true discrimination can only ever be correct
The Non-Linear
For this reason the Neo-Humanist method cannot be described in linear terms. It is much more amenable to a layered conception along the lines of the CLA framework. Critical spirituality imbues all action within this framework with deeper meaning. It generates for the first time an ethical landscape capable of sustaining virtuous actions.
From a practical point of view there are four distinctive features within this process.
• Meditative empiricism is part of research
• Re-mystification of experience allows for new categories, such as microvita and prama, to become legitimate features of scientific discourse
• Critical spirituality realigns scientific method with an ethic of benevolence, offering a neo-ethical rationality
• Categories from Neo-Humanist philosophy, pseudoculture, geo and socio sentiment etc, used to illuminate and challenge the previously transparent value system of mainstream science
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
A Taxonomy
Critical spirituality can be divided into three sections. The first focuses on neo-humanist practice, the second on the gradual identification of the individual with the collective and the third on that ultimate alignment of individual and cosmic good. In this the body receives and experiences, the mind analyses and synthesises, the spirit reflects and critiques.
• World and body, by virtue of its being a somatic reflection of the whole, seen as laboratory
• Expands empiricism to allow validity of both the objective, concrete perception and subjective, spiritual perception
• Experience internalised and processed through meditative empiricism
• Meditative empiricism expands but does not replace rational empiricism
• Rationality redefined: enquiry which is benevolent is rational, that process which disrupts in order to better both the individual and the collective – a neo-ethical sensibility
• ‘Reality’ problematised, seen as being layers of experience, all with coherent but distinct logics
The second level is concerned with the connection of the individual with the whole. The dance of microcosm with macrocosm, with the resultant diminution of ego and identification with things greater than oneself.
• Humanity contextualised within the whole – ie offers both an expanded and diminished frame of reference for human action
• Transformative action results from applied critical spirituality - gnosis
• The individual, by virtue of their link with the collective, is not able to stand alone ie source of crime removed
• Philosophical system based on ethics, ie thought and action are inseparable
The third level of critical spirituality is the summation of the previous levels. It offers, like a view from the mountain top, benevolence as the source of all action and the measure of all reason. It is holism in practice. It is what we strive for and what motivates our action. In the west we might be tempted to call it mastery but in reality, whatever that may be, it is more like service. An eastern take would describe it as Enlightenment.
• Benevolent mind identified with the good of the whole becomes source of discrimination
• Action born of true discrimination can only ever be correct
The Non-Linear
For this reason the Neo-Humanist method cannot be described in linear terms. It is much more amenable to a layered conception along the lines of the CLA framework. Critical spirituality imbues all action within this framework with deeper meaning. It generates for the first time an ethical landscape capable of sustaining virtuous actions.
From a practical point of view there are four distinctive features within this process.
• Meditative empiricism is part of research
• Re-mystification of experience allows for new categories, such as microvita and prama, to become legitimate features of scientific discourse
• Critical spirituality realigns scientific method with an ethic of benevolence, offering a neo-ethical rationality
• Categories from Neo-Humanist philosophy, pseudoculture, geo and socio sentiment etc, used to illuminate and challenge the previously transparent value system of mainstream science