I'm not religious, but spiritual.
"I'm not religious, but spiritual."
That statement might make no sense for some people. But I believe one must be spiritual to some degree in order to recover from a mental illness or even to understand how their mind works. I'd even say you get to live your own life only when you get spiritual up to certain degree. And you do not have to be religious to be spiritual. Let me put it this way- The spirituality is a bundle of questions, and religions are there to suggest you answers in their perspectives. If you don't like any of the answers others have came up with so far, you can always try to find your own answers. On this post, I'm gonna help you to get some spiritual questions and to understand that those questions are beyond the science or the logic.
Note: I'm not a licensed scientist or a cleric. However, I'm here to share some questions with you, and to help you understand why the spirituality matters and that it's not necessarily religious concept.
Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus problem? Theseus is a hero from the Greek myth who killed Minotauros. Athenians kept his ship and preserved it for the next several millenniums. During that time, the ship got its parts replaced numerous amount times as they decayed. At some points, every parts on the ship eventually got replaced with new ones. Now, the question is-
Here's more. Let's say somebody built a new ship that looks just like the ship of Theseus with the original parts from it.
Some might be smart enough to answer the questions with a solid logic. Some might be just feeling confused. But here's the thing. No matter what your answer is, you now probably see that there's something beyond any materialistic factors that we care about deeply. Actually, why does it even matter if the ship is related to Theseus or not in the first place? It's probably because the ship is more than just planks and clothes for us, whatever the reason is.
Now, let's talk about ourselves. We can pretty much ask the same questions for ourselves as well. Of course, we clearly cannot disassemble ourselves into cells and reassemble them. lol But we can separate ourselves into each components in our head.
Is the hand you? Or is it just a part of you?
2. What is your occupation?(or the last job you had)
Is that you? Like, are you the occupation itself?
3. Think of any identities you have. Gender, personality, beliefs...
Did you not exist before you obtained or discovered them?
What even are you? You can describe yourself with words, but what were you when you didn't have some of the traits you have now? I'm Nello, and I'm a blogger. But I'd already existed before I got the name Nello, and I'd already been a person who likes to share their thoughts with others in nature even before I got this blog.
The nature of self beyond identities and beliefs
That's the spirit that makes you to be you
And it does NOT matter what you think the spirit really is. It might be an actual soul that religions often talk about. Or it might be an illusion we created with all kinds of materialistic components(Even in this case, the illusion is still not materialistic!). Whatever your belief is, the moment you recognized the existence of the spirit, the whole new journey already started for you.
On the beginning of the post, I insisted you must be spiritual to work on your mind. The reason is simple. You cannot fix anything when you're not capable of spotting an issue. Many people believe their emotions are mostly dependent on a certain thing.
They all sound reasonable. However, many people find themselves still feeling depressed and empty even after they achieved what they wished for, and they start to believe they're just broken and hopeless. It's because they can't see other factors that might be causing the issue. It might be their trauma, some kind of medical condition like the chemical imbalance, or it might be more psychological/philosophical issue. They obviously cannot see through their own body without medical devices, so they probably should see a psychiatrist and other doctors to check if they have any clinical problem.
But what if the issue is on something that only they can examine? Like, their memory, beliefs, ego, or other parts of their mind? Sure, a therapist can help them to recognize each of them, but the only person who can examine them is still themselves. And in order for them to do so, they essentially must recognize each parts of their mind individually. Like, how can you understand that a certain memory you have is forming a bias on the way you interpret your experiences in the present if you literally don't see that your memory is not the same as your experience in the present? But more importantly, how is it even possible to work on each parts of your mind if you cannot exist separated from them?
It's like how you can't repair a hammer by using the hammer you're trying to repair. Without the spirituality, you cannot truly examine and work on any parts of your mind.
The spirituality also allows you to own your mind and experiences without letting them own you. And it's more than just having a strong self-esteem or a better control over your emotions.
When you really think about it, why does losing a job makes you to be a failure itself rather than a person who lost a job? Sure, you might argue that you've always failed on everything you've tried, but a person who has always failed is not the same as a person who is literally a failure. Some of you might say it was just metaphorical. That might be what you're thinking now, but I'm 98% sure that's not what you were feeling when you were calling yourself a failure. Are you a failure? I don't know. Who am I to judge? But what I know for sure is just because you've failed a lot, that doesn't make you to be a failure.
If an experience of failing doesn't define what you are, your achievement shouldn't define what you are neither! It is still your achievement that you can be proud of, but that does not affect what you fundamentally are. While it's fair to bet on that you will do well on your next trial as well, nothing is guaranteed. People who don't understand this often end up beating themselves up for not living up to the expectation, or get extremely arrogant that they eventually become obnoxious. And in many cases, they get another problems described on this post. 'Now that I lost the wealth and fame, I can never be happy...'
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