Spirituality, New Year, and the Implications of Belief

continued from my examiner column http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-and-the-implications-of-belief

A few years ago I wrote a design textbook based on my master’s thesis at The Ohio State University on the implications of design on perception, the interface between design and psychology/psycho-physiology and about how behavior could be altered by design. It was based on several smaller research studies culminating in an installation where I did ethnographic behavioral mapping that saw interactions between people drop and avoidance behaviors increase with certain designs. I’d hoped to someday write a doctoral thesis on ‘The Implications of Belief’ which goes even further.

Behaviorists clearly showed how you could alter behavior with reward-punishment stimuli and there are all sorts of schools of psychology which work to retrain one’s mindset. Neuroscience is revealing new findings every day. We're on the frontier of some exciting discoveries with huge implications for mind-body medicine, healing, and a host of possibilities. Religions also attempt to mold us to believe a certain way through doctrine and practices- age old rituals and beliefs. But we are human beings and human doings, products of genetic and evolutionary, social, historical and cultural influences each in different contexts through the ages. All humans are not created equal. It’s a nice mantra and a goal that all should be treated with love and respect equally, but no, not a truth of the way things are. And yet, each of us has value.

The Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn talks about the importance of each birth, each human life. He writes of the special things that were said by sages upon the birth of the Buddha and Jesus in Living Buddha, Living Christ, (p46) ‘The birth of every child is important, not less than the birth of a Buddha. We, too, are a Buddha, a Buddha-to-be, and we continue to be born every minute. We are sons and daughters of God and the children of our parents. We have to take special care of each birth.’

That we continue to be born every minute is confirmed by biology. The body you have in this second is not the body you had last year. We are in movement, transition, change, cellular birth, growth, and death. Our neurons fire differently, our energy fields change over time. The sugared fat laden donut you ate over the holidays contributes (in whatever way) to your body- calories, taste, mental perceptions-energy. The flour used in it traveled far from the farm fields to the factory; so did the sugar from the refinery- was it from sugar beets or cane? The box used to package it came from pulp from trees in the Northwest . . . you get the picture.

Its the New Year. Our own chronological age may not be the same as our emotional age, but we try to look and act younger. Medical science tells us the body is what we put into it and doesn’t lie. [We’re good at asking it to lie with a little shot of botox, a little nip and tuck, a spandex garment and strangely tall shoes to make one look magically important, crowned with mascara and lipstick with a halo of hairspray. All to appeal to the opposite sex- like mating birds doing a little dance.] Ask yourself if you’re young or old spiritually-open minded or closed case, cautious or adventurous. A New York publicist heavily into New Age said, ‘Oh, I can tell you’re an old soul. Now sit, sit, let’s talk about how we position the product.’ It was an odd juxtaposition. What's your philosophical worldview? 'S--t happens, let's raise a toast to that!'

'Everything we are and do is of God and belongs to God' and ‘Piety is the recognition that everything is linked to the presence of God in every moment.’ Thich Nhat Hahn -P 29 ibid. It is as Michael Dowd of Evolutionary Christianity says, ‘we are mutually embracing our relationship with the natural world.’ Thus, the key to our existence is awareness and becoming ever more sharply aware of the interconnected intelligent energy which permeates all existence through the gift of our six senses. There are sharp disagreements with this standpoint by many in and outside the faith community objecting that it does NOT follow traditional Christian viewpoints, or embraces atheistic thinking. Regardless of your orientation and faith tradition, may 2011 and beyond be an unfolding and increased mindfulness of Presence and joy for you, dear reader.

[cake photo Ghearing family-creative commons attribution license 1.0]