UNIVERSAL SPIRITUALITY
Every person has a desire for the highest. Even when all the needs of the mind and body are satisfied, something draws a person deeper, beyond the known and conditioned. This is the desire to transcend the shackles of perishable psychophysical existence. This is the desire for the Spirit.
Every religion has symbolised this desire in the figures of their prophets, prayers, rituals and formed systems of practices that allow this desire to be realised. No religion is right or final. Each of them is simply a means for the embodiment of a person's highest potential. None of them contains this potential, since they are only a system of practices, narratives and symbols. The potential is contained within each one of us.
Every religion has symbolised this desire in the figures of their prophets, prayers, rituals and formed systems of practices that allow this desire to be realised. No religion is right or final. Each of them is simply a means for the embodiment of a person's highest potential. None of them contains this potential, since they are only a system of practices, narratives and symbols. The potential is contained within each one of us.
Universal Spirituality, Part 1 - Psyche
As a rule, followers of one or another religion forget about this because they identify with belonging to a religion as Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, etc. There is peace in this identification: the psyche finds ground in the meaning and sense of wholeness the religious narrative provides. More importantly, the discourse of the master appears at the disposal of the person: the ability to name phenomena related to the register of the Real.
The register of the Real is that sphere of the psyche that cannot be fully assimilated into language and culture: the remainder, the inexpressible and the unknown, lying beyond knowledge and the linguistic apparatus. By its nature, the Real is unbearable, it generates anxiety and fear, feelings of helplessness, lack and fragmentation. This is where one or another religious discourse of the master comes to the rescue: by naming "truth" in categorical terms, it eliminates the symptoms of the encounter with the Real, thereby granting the person peace.
A person who is able to articulate his Real through one or another narrative, be it religious, cultural, psychological or philosophical, no longer feels helpless in the face of the unknown. However, in order to continue to shut oneself off from the Real, one must continue to use this narrative, over and over again. This is why certain texts, considered "sacred" in each religion, are repeated over and over again, memorised and transmitted, in order to ensure the mental peace thus acquired.
It is not difficult to see how attachment and identification arise on this basis. Having experienced the calming effect of belonging to the path of this or that faith expressed in its discourse on one's psyche, one no longer wants to encounter the Real within oneself again.
This is where the trap lies: one no longer goes inward, where the potential for direct contact with the Soul and the Spirit is hidden. Instead, one goes into a prescribed practice or narrative, which, as experience has shown, allows one to stop the intensity of the Real, which generates anxiety and fear. Moreover, one risks beginning to jealously defend this or that system of views, beliefs and practices that have given one this modicum of mental peace.
Each religion also contains teachings that allow one to overcome this block of identification with rules, regulations and dogmas so that one can truly go within and touch the spiritual source from which everything flows.
It is believed that dogmas and rules are necessary to discipline the mind and calm the psyche. When this is achieved, one can again rush into the sphere of the Real, where one will encounter one's greedy nature and the consequences of one's actions, one's ignorance and one's pride, one's fear and pain. Now, being strengthened by one's tradition, one can take responsibility for oneself and accept what one is and what one has done. This acceptance is necessary, since without it one cannot touch the Soul: fear and disgust, shame, guilt and pain will prevent one's attention from going within and remaining within.
A very important aspect of the practice of any religious tradition is the understanding of when to leave that tradition. It is believed that when a person has undergone sufficient training in calming the psyche, controlling the mind, and mastering the actions of the body, one can move away from a tradition and again be just a person and not a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or whoever.
The register of the Real is that sphere of the psyche that cannot be fully assimilated into language and culture: the remainder, the inexpressible and the unknown, lying beyond knowledge and the linguistic apparatus. By its nature, the Real is unbearable, it generates anxiety and fear, feelings of helplessness, lack and fragmentation. This is where one or another religious discourse of the master comes to the rescue: by naming "truth" in categorical terms, it eliminates the symptoms of the encounter with the Real, thereby granting the person peace.
A person who is able to articulate his Real through one or another narrative, be it religious, cultural, psychological or philosophical, no longer feels helpless in the face of the unknown. However, in order to continue to shut oneself off from the Real, one must continue to use this narrative, over and over again. This is why certain texts, considered "sacred" in each religion, are repeated over and over again, memorised and transmitted, in order to ensure the mental peace thus acquired.
It is not difficult to see how attachment and identification arise on this basis. Having experienced the calming effect of belonging to the path of this or that faith expressed in its discourse on one's psyche, one no longer wants to encounter the Real within oneself again.
This is where the trap lies: one no longer goes inward, where the potential for direct contact with the Soul and the Spirit is hidden. Instead, one goes into a prescribed practice or narrative, which, as experience has shown, allows one to stop the intensity of the Real, which generates anxiety and fear. Moreover, one risks beginning to jealously defend this or that system of views, beliefs and practices that have given one this modicum of mental peace.
Each religion also contains teachings that allow one to overcome this block of identification with rules, regulations and dogmas so that one can truly go within and touch the spiritual source from which everything flows.
It is believed that dogmas and rules are necessary to discipline the mind and calm the psyche. When this is achieved, one can again rush into the sphere of the Real, where one will encounter one's greedy nature and the consequences of one's actions, one's ignorance and one's pride, one's fear and pain. Now, being strengthened by one's tradition, one can take responsibility for oneself and accept what one is and what one has done. This acceptance is necessary, since without it one cannot touch the Soul: fear and disgust, shame, guilt and pain will prevent one's attention from going within and remaining within.
A very important aspect of the practice of any religious tradition is the understanding of when to leave that tradition. It is believed that when a person has undergone sufficient training in calming the psyche, controlling the mind, and mastering the actions of the body, one can move away from a tradition and again be just a person and not a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or whoever.
All religions, without exception, agree that the body is perishable and that the body is the source from which vices grow. The body is material, subject to disease, aging and death. Whereas the drive within the body gives rise to a craving for the possession of sensual pleasures and to the repetition of scenarios in the painfulness of which pleasure is also hidden.
This is what is called jouissance in psychoanalytic jargon - a libidinal craving that cannot be completely assimilated into the linguistic apparatus. This craving carries an element of sinisterness, because it finds pleasure in pain. Whether it is a symptom of the painfulness of embodied existence itself or it arises as an attempt to extract pleasure from the symptoms of suffering is not the point. What is important is that it is compulsively repeated and motivates human activity of possession, desire, thirst and greed. All this has its root in the libidinal erotogenic body.
This is what is called jouissance in psychoanalytic jargon - a libidinal craving that cannot be completely assimilated into the linguistic apparatus. This craving carries an element of sinisterness, because it finds pleasure in pain. Whether it is a symptom of the painfulness of embodied existence itself or it arises as an attempt to extract pleasure from the symptoms of suffering is not the point. What is important is that it is compulsively repeated and motivates human activity of possession, desire, thirst and greed. All this has its root in the libidinal erotogenic body.
Universal Spirituality, Part 2 - Body
This is why all religious traditions have agreed that the flesh with its drives must be restrained. From here come the commandments, the precepts of moral conduct, fasting (a practice found in all religions), and the vows of celibacy for monasticism.
By limiting the flesh in this way, the practitioner eliminates the root of worldly suffering arising from unskillful bodily conduct, greed and hatred expressed in it. This contributes to a guiltless life and a pure conscience. Also, limiting carnal desires allows one to preserve and increase the energy needed to work with the vices of the mind and to penetrate beyond the mind and psyche. A calm psyche and a clear conscience allow attention to be more easily absorbed inside and not to be pulled out from within by memories of the repulsiveness of one's behavior and feelings of guilt.
In some traditions, an understanding was developed that it is very difficult to do the above, so it is necessary to first train and discipline the body, make it capable of full self-expression, so that it serves as a basis for asceticism. Therefore, in Eastern traditions such as Chan Buddhism or Yogic Hinduism, arts of working with the body are practiced: martial arts, yoga asana and qigong. A fortified and trained, flexible and strong body, capable of performing various movements and manifesting power, is an aid to the practitioner, it helps to take control of the movements of the libido and tame them through willpower or let them go as unimportant.
The idea is that one cannot go beyond what one cannot master. One of the Chan teachings is: "Can you not master your body? How can you find the Way and master it?" For those who have gained control over the intensities of the body through hard training, it is not difficult to control the impulses of the flesh.
Also, a physically developed body is the basis for developing the art of working with internal energy and for working with the vices of the mind. Here the idea is to master the layers of embodiment from the coarser to the more subtle: body - psyche - energy - mind. And only after this process of internal self-control is completed does the chance appear to touch the Soul and, being in it, to be imbued with the Spirit.
By limiting the flesh in this way, the practitioner eliminates the root of worldly suffering arising from unskillful bodily conduct, greed and hatred expressed in it. This contributes to a guiltless life and a pure conscience. Also, limiting carnal desires allows one to preserve and increase the energy needed to work with the vices of the mind and to penetrate beyond the mind and psyche. A calm psyche and a clear conscience allow attention to be more easily absorbed inside and not to be pulled out from within by memories of the repulsiveness of one's behavior and feelings of guilt.
In some traditions, an understanding was developed that it is very difficult to do the above, so it is necessary to first train and discipline the body, make it capable of full self-expression, so that it serves as a basis for asceticism. Therefore, in Eastern traditions such as Chan Buddhism or Yogic Hinduism, arts of working with the body are practiced: martial arts, yoga asana and qigong. A fortified and trained, flexible and strong body, capable of performing various movements and manifesting power, is an aid to the practitioner, it helps to take control of the movements of the libido and tame them through willpower or let them go as unimportant.
The idea is that one cannot go beyond what one cannot master. One of the Chan teachings is: "Can you not master your body? How can you find the Way and master it?" For those who have gained control over the intensities of the body through hard training, it is not difficult to control the impulses of the flesh.
Also, a physically developed body is the basis for developing the art of working with internal energy and for working with the vices of the mind. Here the idea is to master the layers of embodiment from the coarser to the more subtle: body - psyche - energy - mind. And only after this process of internal self-control is completed does the chance appear to touch the Soul and, being in it, to be imbued with the Spirit.
In one form or another, working with attention - the natural quality of the mind - is the basis of spiritual practice in all religious traditions. Whether it is the fullness of the mind, or attentive prayer, or attention to the divine, or meditative absorption, the use of attention as a means of purifying the mind and as a method for entering the Soul is universal.
The problem is that pure attention is very difficult to achieve. As a rule, an untrained person can use pure attention for no more than a minute. Then, certain mental states intrude and distract attention: a person gets lost in the phenomena of the mind and psyche.
Therefore, in all spiritual traditions there are methods of training the mind. Either stabilising the mind on the words of a prayer, or on a somatic object such as breathing, or through work with the body and energy, attention is trained to remain on one object for a long time.
The problem is that pure attention is very difficult to achieve. As a rule, an untrained person can use pure attention for no more than a minute. Then, certain mental states intrude and distract attention: a person gets lost in the phenomena of the mind and psyche.
Therefore, in all spiritual traditions there are methods of training the mind. Either stabilising the mind on the words of a prayer, or on a somatic object such as breathing, or through work with the body and energy, attention is trained to remain on one object for a long time.
Universal Spirituality, Part 3 - Mind
When a certain willpower appears in holding the mind on an object, training in distinguishing between the wholesome and the unwholesome, the sinful and the virtuous begins. Every tradition has agreed that states of mind and psyche can be either base and malicious, or sublime and benevolent. Anger, greed, pride, envy, ignorance, fear, worry, sadness, restlessness, despair and other such psycho-emotional states become the root of the darkened mind which is far from the Soul. Humility, acceptance, love, generosity, joy, discrimination, calm, nobility, courage, hope, faith and other states are the bridge to the Soul and flow from the Soul when a person is one with it.
Training the mind in discrimination consists in not indulging in base states and cultivating, paying attention to virtuous states.
When the mind is developed in the ability to remain with the object and is abundant in virtuous states, its natural quality is light. The bright mind, developed in this way, is applied to the object deep within human nature where it finds its true source - the Soul - from which it flows. The mind, capable of concentration, unclouded, merges with the Soul, achieves unity, abides in it and, being one with the light within, begins to shine outward, thus bringing the qualities of the Soul into the world. However, there is another variable, namely energy, on which the quality of spiritual experience and its stabilisation depend.
Training the mind in discrimination consists in not indulging in base states and cultivating, paying attention to virtuous states.
When the mind is developed in the ability to remain with the object and is abundant in virtuous states, its natural quality is light. The bright mind, developed in this way, is applied to the object deep within human nature where it finds its true source - the Soul - from which it flows. The mind, capable of concentration, unclouded, merges with the Soul, achieves unity, abides in it and, being one with the light within, begins to shine outward, thus bringing the qualities of the Soul into the world. However, there is another variable, namely energy, on which the quality of spiritual experience and its stabilisation depend.
Energy, in its purest form, comes from the Soul. But it is not easy to reach the Soul: the acquired mind, full of distortions of the self, the consequences of immoral acts and negative emotions prevent contact with the Soul. For this reason, most of spiritual practice in any tradition is a process of purifying the mind, ennobling the character, calming the psyche and perfecting the body. And only by grace does contact with the Soul occur, filling the entire human being with energy.
Universal Spirituality, Part 4 - Energy
In traditions whose work focuses on energy, there is an understanding that even before contact with the Soul, one can develop energetic potential. As in any other tradition, their work begins with stabilising the essence - the energetic basis for the growth and development of the body. Most of the essence is spent on sexual activity, which is why vows of celibacy are established for monastics and rules of moral sexual behavior for lay people. In this way, the essence is calmed and stabilised, which allows energy to be extracted from it.
Next, the basics of working with energy are studied: whether in the vein of yoga, qigong or pranayama, the adept learns to consolidate, mobilise and increase energy inside the body. Work is done to open energy channels and push pathogenic energy out of the body. In parallel with this, the practitioner studies the principles of using attention and harmonising psycho-emotional states so that the mind, interacting with energy, brings favorable qualities to it.
When the body learns to produce energy by increasing the efficiency of all biochemical processes, the level of health increases and the amount of available potential energy begins to exceed the level available to those who do not practice cultivation. The body begins to change: endurance increases and the need for sleep decreases, mood stabilizes and intellect sharpens. Many other esoteric processes accompany this.
An abundance of energy in a strengthened, healthy body creates the basis for stabilising the contact with the Soul. When this basis is absent, contact with the Soul is fleeting: having experienced a state of unity and grace, a person returns to the level of the ordinary self. When the energy potential is developed, the experience of contact with the Soul remains.
Thus, a person preserves and increases the results of spiritual practice. A person begins to embody the Soul, a special atmosphere is formed around such a person, which is easy to feel. It is very easy to be around people full of energy and grace: one wants to be in their presence. Next to them, one is in a space of unconditional acceptance. There is a special gravity around these people, and sometimes a sweet aroma that spreads against the wind. Staying next to them allows one to synchronise and learn to touch the Soul in order to know the taste of this grace.
Next, the basics of working with energy are studied: whether in the vein of yoga, qigong or pranayama, the adept learns to consolidate, mobilise and increase energy inside the body. Work is done to open energy channels and push pathogenic energy out of the body. In parallel with this, the practitioner studies the principles of using attention and harmonising psycho-emotional states so that the mind, interacting with energy, brings favorable qualities to it.
When the body learns to produce energy by increasing the efficiency of all biochemical processes, the level of health increases and the amount of available potential energy begins to exceed the level available to those who do not practice cultivation. The body begins to change: endurance increases and the need for sleep decreases, mood stabilizes and intellect sharpens. Many other esoteric processes accompany this.
An abundance of energy in a strengthened, healthy body creates the basis for stabilising the contact with the Soul. When this basis is absent, contact with the Soul is fleeting: having experienced a state of unity and grace, a person returns to the level of the ordinary self. When the energy potential is developed, the experience of contact with the Soul remains.
Thus, a person preserves and increases the results of spiritual practice. A person begins to embody the Soul, a special atmosphere is formed around such a person, which is easy to feel. It is very easy to be around people full of energy and grace: one wants to be in their presence. Next to them, one is in a space of unconditional acceptance. There is a special gravity around these people, and sometimes a sweet aroma that spreads against the wind. Staying next to them allows one to synchronise and learn to touch the Soul in order to know the taste of this grace.
One can speak of the Soul in lofty parables, or one can speak of what is not the Soul. The latter method was used by the Buddha. He said that the five psychophysical aggregates - body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness - are not the Soul (anatman). In other traditions, a direct reference is made to the stratum of the human being, which is neither body, nor mind, nor psyche.
Universal Spirituality, Part 5 - the Soul
The closest thing to the Soul is energy, because energy comes from it. However, focusing on energy alone is also a form of "spiritual materialism", as is the desire to find contact with the Soul. It is not something that can be achieved or possessed. That is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to find the Kingdom of Heaven. Wealth of selfhood, identification with the five aggregates, is opposed to contact with the Soul, and prevents the grace from entering.
What also prevents this contact, at higher stages of practice, is the narrative of the practitioner's tradition. Knowledge of texts, scriptures, names, after they have played a role in shaping the practitioner's mental space and calming his/her psyche, prevents direct contact. That is why traditions such as Daoism advised "learning and forgetting": letting go of attachment to stories and narratives in order to create the conditions for the direct spiritual experience.
The mind and psyche must be shaped by knowledge of the method and purification of character, the energy must be abundant and the channels open. Once this work is done, the method and the text are let go, the ritual is let go, one steps back and abides within, imbued with faith and humility, innocence and simplicity, like a child. Not high-minded and well-read, not afraid and not searching, but simply trusting, giving oneself into the hands of the Spirit, like its child.
Purity of intentions and thoughts, pure attention, faith, love, meekness and humility, joy that does not depend on anything and inner peace that has no worldly basis have been recognised since ancient times as virtues that are in tune with the Soul and radiate from it.
What also prevents this contact, at higher stages of practice, is the narrative of the practitioner's tradition. Knowledge of texts, scriptures, names, after they have played a role in shaping the practitioner's mental space and calming his/her psyche, prevents direct contact. That is why traditions such as Daoism advised "learning and forgetting": letting go of attachment to stories and narratives in order to create the conditions for the direct spiritual experience.
The mind and psyche must be shaped by knowledge of the method and purification of character, the energy must be abundant and the channels open. Once this work is done, the method and the text are let go, the ritual is let go, one steps back and abides within, imbued with faith and humility, innocence and simplicity, like a child. Not high-minded and well-read, not afraid and not searching, but simply trusting, giving oneself into the hands of the Spirit, like its child.
Purity of intentions and thoughts, pure attention, faith, love, meekness and humility, joy that does not depend on anything and inner peace that has no worldly basis have been recognised since ancient times as virtues that are in tune with the Soul and radiate from it.
It is easy to see that the God of Christians is different from the God of Muslims, who in turn is different from the God of the Yiddish and the God of the Jews. These differences show that the discourse, culture, rituals and folklore of these religions, their interpretation of God are different. Whereas God remains as is, no matter what stories are revealed about Him.
Spiritual Sovereignty
Because the human psyche needs a "refuge", people adhere to the culture and narrative of a particular religious confession. The story that this narrative reproduces inside their psyche helps to stabilise emotions and unify the psychic energy in one direction: towards God. Commonly, this is where most believers stop. Having acquired a modicum of psychic stability through regular participation in the rituals, practices and prescriptions of their confessions, people live, finding a means of subsistence and realising their dreams and desires. Do they communicate with God? Not quite.
The psyche is not the same as the Soul.
To touch the Soul, it is necessary to realise freedom. Freedom from attachment to religious narratives, among other things. Freedom from dependence on another: on a priest, on an imam, on a brahmin, on a rabbi, on a monk, on a guru... It is necessary to learn to stand on one's own feet in this world, to listen to what is, sovereignly, without intermediaries.
As a rule, this is not easy and scary, because the acquired self, the vices and sins of the past will immediately make themselves known as soon as a person is left alone with what is. Those who are interested in spirituality, who have understood the impermanence of the phenomena of the mind and psyche, the frailty of the body, will find the strength to meet this challenge. Those who are still attached to pleasant mental phenomena, joyful mental constructions and the state of physical well-being that they create, will cling to narratives and rituals that support the psyche, mind and body.
The path to the Soul is joyful, but does not depend on mental well-being; this path is full of meaning, but does not need the ready-made meanings of religious narratives; This path replenishes energy and heals the body, because all energy flows from the Soul. Relying on this sincere, unmediated contact, this sustained spiritual experience, a person acquires the resource necessary to face fear, vices, attachments and the consequences of past sins. The process of internal purification that follows from this is joyful, because it leads to lightness and simplicity, leads to God, about whom there is nothing more to say to the one who knows Him.
The psyche is not the same as the Soul.
To touch the Soul, it is necessary to realise freedom. Freedom from attachment to religious narratives, among other things. Freedom from dependence on another: on a priest, on an imam, on a brahmin, on a rabbi, on a monk, on a guru... It is necessary to learn to stand on one's own feet in this world, to listen to what is, sovereignly, without intermediaries.
As a rule, this is not easy and scary, because the acquired self, the vices and sins of the past will immediately make themselves known as soon as a person is left alone with what is. Those who are interested in spirituality, who have understood the impermanence of the phenomena of the mind and psyche, the frailty of the body, will find the strength to meet this challenge. Those who are still attached to pleasant mental phenomena, joyful mental constructions and the state of physical well-being that they create, will cling to narratives and rituals that support the psyche, mind and body.
The path to the Soul is joyful, but does not depend on mental well-being; this path is full of meaning, but does not need the ready-made meanings of religious narratives; This path replenishes energy and heals the body, because all energy flows from the Soul. Relying on this sincere, unmediated contact, this sustained spiritual experience, a person acquires the resource necessary to face fear, vices, attachments and the consequences of past sins. The process of internal purification that follows from this is joyful, because it leads to lightness and simplicity, leads to God, about whom there is nothing more to say to the one who knows Him.
