Emotions and Spirituality

[Rhianna813]

Hi All,

I was emailed a notice about a local class called Reconciling Spirituality and Emotions. The class description is: "Spiritual traditions often suggest that we must rise above worldly matters such as negative emotions in order to connect with spiritual experience. Yet as human beings we have emotions, reactions, and an ego which sometime lead us in directions that may not seem spiritual. How can we reconcile the spiritual and emotional/psychological aspects of ourselves?...."

This really got me thinking. Part of what Paganism has shown me is that we are both a soul and a body. A body that is bound to this world (well mostly) and all it's aspects and desires. This means the need for food, shelter, sex, and a whole range of emotions and reactions. Yet many paths are primarily focused on controling or changing these very things, especially the "negative" aspects.

Are the serene and peaceful further up on the spiritual food chain? hehehe What are your views? Do you have a path that outlines this sorta thing?

Rhianna

[Temptation]

My view is that we are mind, body and soul. All three are important and all three should be equally cared for.
Denying our body's and mind's needs, emotional, intellectual or physical, solely to cater to the spiritual part of our beings, will create an imbalance that most of us will have a hard time dealing with.

Some people, however, are able to remove themselves completely from the physical and emotional realms and concentrate fully on their spirituality. I am not one of them :lol: , I'm not even close to that level of detachment. The few times I tried to do that, my serenity and peacefulness flew out the window. I thought I was going to lose my mind and my body started screaming for things I didn't even know I wanted. :lol:
I'm just not ready to give up on all the earthly pleasures just yet. ;)

[arctic splash]

It makes me think of Matthew Fox's creation spirituality.

There are four aspects to his theology; one of them is the Via Negativa, which focuses on connecting to Divinity through darkness, emptiness, pain... One of the most beautiful passages was his chapter on "Letting Pain Be Pain" in his book Original Blessing. It has taught me that deep pain and emptiness is a spiritual experience as much as anything.

It's very pagan friendly Christianity. He quotes Starhawk and other pagan writers, as well as Christian and non-Christian mystics. I highly recommend him.

[Temptation]

. One of the most beautiful passages was his chapter on "Letting Pain Be Pain" in his book Original Blessing. It has taught me that deep pain and emptiness is a spiritual experience as much as anything.


I agree with this too Moonstone-D. I always say that I'd rather feel acute pain and the misery of loneliness than feel nothing at all. Pain, just like pleasure, is necessary for us to learn and grow. I think that we need to experience the whole range of human emotions and sensations before we're able to reach the highest levels of our spirituality. We especially need to confront the darkest and most frightening parts of our souls before going fully into the light. :) Am I making sense? I'm so tired today, I think my brain is fried. :awilly:

[Viseux]

My view is that we are mind, body and soul. All three are important and all three should be equally cared for.
Denying our body's and mind's needs, emotional, intellectual or physical, solely to cater to the spiritual part of our beings, will create an imbalance that most of us will have a hard time dealing with.

Some people, however, are able to remove themselves completely from the physical and emotional realms and concentrate fully on their spirituality. I am not one of them :lol: , I'm not even close to that level of detachment. The few times I tried to do that, my serenity and peacefulness flew out the window. I thought I was going to lose my mind and my body started screaming for things I didn't even know I wanted. :lol:
I'm just not ready to give up on all the earthly pleasures just yet. ;)

I also believe in Live BEFORE Death!

Blessings,
Viseux

[Romani Vixen]

Balance. It is not through banishment of negative, for they too have their function. But to balance one's self, is to know the world.

[cheddarsox]

I am a natural or sci/pantheist. In my path, there is no push to "overcome" the needs or desires of the physical body. I believe in total integration. I am not a spirit inhabiting a body, nor a body posessed by a spirit, I am a human, in which those two things are wholly integrated.

I do not think that people who can "tune out" the needs of the body are any more spiritual, or higher or more connected to something wonderful than those who do not. I think that in this incarnation, I have been given both body and consciousness, and perhaps the greatest success of all will be to find a way to live here and now fully in both my body and consciousness.

cheddar