Dear Subscriber,
You received Chapter 10 in “The Soul of Photograph”y series today. That happened by mistake. The series was just launched with Chapter 1 yesterday (February 17).
Sorry for the confusion. You can do with you want with Chapter 10, read it or delete it. It will be posted again, at the end of the series on April 27.
Thank you,
David L. Smith
No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.
Minor White, fine art photographer, educator
Today I’m beginning a series that describes my spiritual approach to photography. The title of the blog itself, “Contemplative Photography,” can mean different things to different people. For me, the emphasis is on contemplation. With intention, the act of framing with a camera, irrespective of what’s in front of it, can be an exercise in “presenting” and “mindfulness.” Even at its simplest, when we “capture” images of people, places or objects there’s a level of affinity or caring involved. Those inclined to use a camera often are lovers in a sense. Some love the creative process and the technologies involved. Others love what’s in front of the camera, and there are those who love to share memories through pictures. Love urges us to create, share and express. In this series I describe and illustrate how a camera can be used to appreciate and evoke, in some instances reveal the Divine Artist within His creation—basically “to see God in all things.”
Since the Divine Artist has chosen to create, we cannot love the Artist without giving our best attention to the artwork. Things made must resemble their maker in some deep way.
Beatrice Bruteau, philosopher
Used consciously, photography can increase our awareness and feed the soul by helping us to see deeply, beyond mere looking. More importantly, in this series you’ll be guided to create images that are authentic to your purpose in life. What these weekly offerings have in common is an appreciation of the material world viewed as an expression of the Creator. I’ll share my thoughts and the techniques I use to optimize the effectiveness of this approach, provide guidance on how to discover your unique aesthetic and show through examples how understanding and insight can be gained by reflecting on the images you produce.
I’m not asking you to think, believe or photograph as I do. After more than 60 years of practicing expressive photography as a medium for personal growth and spiritual development, I’m simply offering some of my perspectives and experiences. Hopefully, they will aid in making your photographic journey more satisfying and meaningful. Throughout, I capitalize the word “Spirit” to reference God, the Creator or Divine Intelligence. Lower case versions signify the within of things, the characteristic essence of a material form, which I regard as an aspect of universal consciousness.
Along with indigenous people everywhere I believe that everything in nature, including plants, animals, rocks, weather systems and the earth itself possess a spiritual essence and have agency. For instance, the dense forms that we recognize as granite and iron are outer expressions of the primal consciousness within their atoms, each consisting of dynamic energy fields—protons, neutrons and electrons—that are constantly making decisions about their place, intensity, organization and relationships. Atoms never stand alone and they’re constantly in motion.
Also, from experience, I acknowledge the presence and activity of “spirit guides,” entities that, among other things, have directed my creative activity since I began to use a camera. From this perspective, I consider matter, mind and spirit to be different frequencies along one grand vibrational spectrum—universal consciousness. The word “spiritual” generally refers to the recognition that there’s something greater than oneself, something more to being human than sensory experience. For me, a spiritual experience occurs when I connect with that grander something. Joy, appreciation, awe, beauty and wonder are telltale signs of that connection. In whole systems parlance, a spiritual experience occurs when a system’s member catches sight of the whole within which it functions—and is lifted up. For some that whole can be a field of interest, nation, humanity, planet or cosmos. For me it’s the Creator.
My journey in contemplative photography has been spiritually driven in four ways: 1) striving to see the Creator in all things, 2) allowing spirit to guide me in creative decision making, 3) attempting to reveal the spirit or essence within objects and people and 4) tracing subject matter to Source. The photographs in The Soul of Photography series were chosen because the subjects depicted are mostly commonplace, ideal for showing how matter can become “spiritualized,” sort of redeemed, through the agency of consciousness.
Matter is a form of Spirit, a habitation of Spirit, and here in Matter itself there can be a realization of Spirit.
Sri Aurobindo, Indian philosopher, yogi, poet
All matter is subject to entropy; it has a lifespan. When you can, with this idea in mind, go outside and pick a mid-sized stone out of the dirt or lodged in a rock wall—not a decorative stone. Clean it and sit with it, alone and quiet. Hold it in your hand and realize that it’s present incarnation began in a galactic explosion, and since then it has journeyed immense distances and been subjected to dramatic changes over billions of years. It has had a tremendous history that alternated between dramatic moments and long periods of relative calm. Eventually, it will disintegrate completely.
If your stone has jagged edges, it’s likely much older than a smooth one that had been shaped by eons of wind and water erosion on this planet. Also, it’s likely to be an “aggregate,” consisting of several minerals bonded together with uncountable atomic cloud-like “fields” continuously making decisions about their electric charge, energy fluctuations, relationships and position. Like us, your stone isn’t just one thing; it changes.
And consider, within your stone there’s far more “space” than there is matter in each of its atoms. The distance from the nucleus to the closest electron in a hydrogen atom is equivalent to a lemon sitting in the middle of the world’s largest football stadium. Your stone feels solid because the atoms are tightly packed together and held by strong electromagnetic forces between their electrons. This means your hand is basically interacting with the electron clouds within the stone’s atoms, not the empty space within them. (The more we learn from science, the greater our appreciation of creation).
Atoms in the laboratory are weird stuff, behaving like active agents rather than inert substances. They make unpredictable choices between alternative possibilities according to the laws of quantum mechanics. It appears that mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every atom.
Freeman Dyson, Physicist
If your experience with the stone elicits a sense of wonder, awe or appreciation you will have had a “spiritual” experience. You will have touched the place in you that recognizes a whole greater and more mysterious than yourself, and appreciated it. The atoms in the stone were “spiritualized” by your consciousness, redeemed in a sense, made significant by contributing to your expanded awareness and appreciation. You haven’t changed the stone, but it will have evoked a change in you. This is what a camera can do. Used consciously, beyond simply recording, it can produce images that aid us in paying close attention to a subject, going deep with it, engaging and reflecting our innermost thoughts and feelings in a process of self/Self-discovery.
Cleave a piece of wood (the) I Am is there; lift up a stone, you will find me there also.
Jesus The Christ, Gospel of Thomas (Saying 77:2-3)
As you did with a stone, sit with image above. Beyond identifying the subject as wood with some nails in it, what can you say about its history? What was the source—and earlier than that? What feelings arise in you? Images used in this way boost your sensitivity to the realm of spirit, of essences.
From where we are looking, what is our view of the world?
Being six-foot-five, I’ve always viewed the world from a slightly higher perspective than most people. For instance, I see the tops of furniture and people’s heads, and I can see farther in a crowd. No big deal. But that each of us perceives the world and other people from different perspectives, sometimes dramatically so due to our unique physical and mental endowments and upbringing, it is a big deal.
Differences in perspective and perception, with its attendant communication challenges, is at the root of prejudices, disagreements and abuses that can provoke violence, even war. I selected this image for contemplation because it depicts the nature of perception in the context of a whole system, the part-to-whole relationship. Here, individual drops of oil are seen moving in relation to one another on the surface of water. Although the composition of the drops is identical, they are each unique in size, shape and tonality due to their position relative to the light source and each other. If they had eyes, each drop would perceive a “reality” different from the others, so different we would not be surprised to hear them proclaim such things as “I’m bigger than you!” “I was here first!” “You’re blocking my light!”
As individual drops, they’re looking from and only considering self, defining and ordering their world from a narrow and limited point of view. Given our five senses, we do the same thing. Eyes, for instance, evolved at the top of our bodies so we could survey the immediate physical and social surroundings. But we also have brain-minds that have the capacity to learn about and envision systems that can only be detected with instruments. For instance, the Hubble and James Webb telescopes are expanding our perception of the universe dramatically, challenging us to shift our perspective on who we are and where we are. Consider:
Occasionally, we’re reminded that the universe is vast and beautiful. But for many that perspective is fleeting, not very relevant. The quantum reality and cosmic immensity seem to have nothing to do with earning a living, parenting, managing work or getting an education. Except for certain circumstances, we tend to keep our focus narrow, on what’s in front of us.
Narrowly focused perceiving has had, and continues to have, survival value. It’s how living systems survive, grow and reproduce. But on December 7th, 1972 the astronauts of Apollo 17 opened our eyes to what the Earth looks like from space. Overnight, our perspective changed. An imagined image suddenly became visible, real—an enormous blue body floating in the immensity of space, appearing as a whole system. And we realized that beneath the clouds, ourselves and everything we know has transpired and is unfolding.
How to respond to such immensity? What are we to think? How does it affect our perception of ourselves? Of God? Of the future? Astronomy magazines and images from space online always increase my sense of wonder and appreciation. Given the context of what’s going on over our heads, personal, social and political challenges seem trivial. And in the context of evolution, we’re a very young species, barely out of the womb, just opening our eyes to where we are, struggling to learn and adapt to each other and changing conditions through trial and error. Combined, these perspectives position us in a place that recommends patience and compassion rather than fear, confusion or pessimism with respect to the future.
A broader perspective can contribute to the management and healing of negative consequences due to conflicting perceptions. The Congress of the United States provides an excellent example of the consequences of head-in-the-sand narrow perspectives. Dysfunction, divisiveness and stalemate occurs in a living system when the members vigorously champion and cling to their own or a group’s perspectives rather than reason together to discover the best, most workable solution to challenges. Eventually, self-centeredness fails at every level because it serves a narrow and limited perspective relative to the greater whole. Unlike the oil bubbles in the above image, by consciously deciding who we are, the nature of our relationship to everyone else and the planet and how we will use our energy, we create the world of our experience.
The impossibility of arriving at ultimate formulations of reality does not represent a defeat for the inquiring mind. It is only final assertions that are suspect, not the process of knowing itself. For we each have a valid and important perspective on what is. And to the extent that we can acknowledge the partiality of this perspective, what we say stays clear and true.
Joanna Macy, Ecologist, general systems theorist
Photography Monographs (Select a book. Click on in it to turn pages)
It makes a huge difference where we’re planted
“Going with the flow” is an expression that suggests it’s a better life strategy is to align with rather than resist what’s happening. As guidance for individual behavior, paddling with the “current”—in the context of home, work and relationships—is certainly easier than paddling against it. In this image of waving grass, sometimes called “Whisp” or “Foxtail,” there’s more to be observed than just the blowing wind. From a whole systems perspective, I note that the stalks that support the tassels are rooted in the ground. They stand together as a community of sorts, and they lean in the same direction in response to the wind. Systemically, as a group, they can be seen as evidence of harmony.
Flow is in evidence at many levels. Atoms, for instance, flow together or unite to form molecules, molecules combine to form cells, cells join to form organisms, organisms integrate to form bodies and so on. In nature, flow is represented in schools of fish, crop fields, herds of wild mustangs and flocks of birds, all moving together in harmony with each other and with their environments. Human communities that evidence flow include high functioning families, teams and synergistic work groups where people are all moving in the same direction. On a grander scale, Sweden, Japan and Canada are often cited as societies that are harmonious and less militant, places where there’s less social discord and more people living happier lives. Why is that?
The question is too big and complex to even approximate a reasonable answer, but it elicits a smaller question that piques my interest—What are the energies that result in or give rise to flow in human systems? An answer to that would also suggest the qualities that contribute to harmony. One thing for certain, they are not—as evidenced by religious and political polarization—the energies of intolerance, inflexibility and interfering.
Because analysis of living systems begins with an assessment of individual members, specifically their behaviors and relationships, I pulled up a list of some of the higher human character traits that were part of my “Vision for Television.” Here, I think they go a long way toward suggesting the energies that contribute to flow in individuals and society.
Acceptance • Altruism • Appreciation • Awareness • Caring • Compassion • Confidence • Cooperation • Courage • Creativity • Curiosity • Empathy • Faith • Flexibility • Forgiveness • Goodwill • Gratitude • Helpfulness • Honesty • Humility • Humor • Imagination • Integrity • Intelligence • Intuition • Kindness • Love • Patience • Respect • Responsibility • Reverence • Tolerance • Trust • Wisdom • Wonder • Zest for Life
I believe these characteristics, or qualities, are contagious. As we experience them in others, they are awakened in us. And given even a small group, they can shape the direction of social change. On balance are the energies that retard flow and harmony, evidenced by the destructive “winds” blowing in the Middle East and other parts of the world where separatist factions and fundamentalist ideologies are bent on destruction rather than construction. Like grasses on the prairie, it makes a huge difference where individuals are planted or located. Those who paddle against the flow of life may expend a great deal of energy, but relatively little is accomplished that is enhancing and sustainable; the nature of conflict is merely to escalate.
Feeding my long-term optimism are the seeds of reason, respectful communication, intelligent creativity, wisdom, planetary stewardship and the rule of law, energies that are on the ascendency because evolution favors increased freedom, order, complexity and consciousness. How grateful we are to have been planted in such rich soil.
The evolution of consciousness always moves in the direction of greater love, inclusiveness, tolerance, synthesis, freedom, and empowerment, however slowly and painfully.
Corinne McLaughlin, Author, educator
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Photography Monographs (Select a book. Click on in it to turn pages)
Metaphysical gravity Something we are?
Jesuit paleontologist and philosopher, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin S.J., wrote that love is “The affinity of being for being.” Affinity recognizes love as an energy that’s not only a human experience, it’s also intrinsic to the universe. In support of this, engineer and futurist, R. Buckminster Fuller, often said that “Love is metaphysical gravity.” That is, it holds all things together, in relationship, at all times, everywhere. And with regard to the action that love gives rise to, Mother Teresa said, “It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters.” Love can be many things but putting these ideas together we can say that love is an energy, a force the favors relationship and affects bonding throughout the universe.
Country singer, Clint Black, sings a beautiful song that says, love isn’t something that we find or have, “It isn’t something that we’re in, it’s something that we do.” The song references the frequencies of love that are the subject of literature, theater, film and mass media—romance, intimacy, amorous relationship and marriage. As biological creatures it’s natural and evolutionarily necessary for these to be paramount in our consciousness, rites, rituals and celebrations. Within these frequencies we marvel at the process of “falling” and “being” in love and lament the falling out of love. Indeed, love at these frequencies is something that we do.
The ancient Greek philosophers understood that there’s more to love than finding it and making it. Their term, eros, referred to this kind of elemental love—eroticism and intimate love, the kind of love where there’s an expectation of return. “If you make me happy and I’ll make you happy.” Another kind was storge, the natural affection between parents and children. It says, “I cannot help but love you.” Philia was affectionate regard for friends—“If you show me virtue, equality and familiarity, I will care for you.” And agape was the term applied to brotherly love, charity, the love of God and God’s love for man. Significantly, the latter was regarded as unconditional—“No matter what happens or what you do, I will love you.” Thomas Aquinas wrote that agape was “To will the good of another.”
All these distinctions, different frequencies of vibration, regard love as a quality of relationship between human beings or humans and God, given our five senses and common interpersonal experience. But there is a higher and more potent frequency. “Transcendent” love steps away from material, space/time relationships and moves into the realm of Ultimate Reality, the present moment and union at a cosmic level where there is no object at which to direct love. It simply is, often occurring as an unexpected, fleeting and uncontrollable upwelling, a completeness that encompasses all that is. And it urges no action, no reciprocation. Indian guru, Sri Nisargadatta, said “When I look inside and see that I am nothing, that’s wisdom. When I look outside and see that I am everything, that is love. Between these two my life turns.” It’s the difference between doing—”I love you,” and transcendent love—”I am love.”
If love is metaphysical gravity, the energy that holds all things together, might it be that the experience of transcendent love occurs when this is fully realized? I’m reminded that we only know these energies by their effects. For instance, we know how atoms interact and unite to form matter, that sub-atomic “particles” are actually energies of attraction and repulsion and that between them by far is space. But we don’t know why these energies are as they are. The same is true of love. If Buckminster Fuller is right about the energy of love holding everything together at every level, might love be—or give rise to what scientists are calling “Dark Energy?” Indeed, something we are?
Benjamin Disraeli wrote, “We are born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end.” If all the above is true, what would be the consequence of living in such a universe? My view combines what Mother Teresa and Thomas Aquinas recommended, that as conscious beings, evolution encourages us to maximize the amount of love in all that we do and, as much as possible, widen our circle of love until it becomes inclusive, universal and unconditional, willing the good of the universe and all it contains.
On the everyday practical side, awareness of these vibrational distinctions in love can ease suffering. From the Buddhist perspective, the more we move from eros to agape—from thoughts and words of judging to non-judging, from controlling to allowing, from disapproving to supporting, from criticizing to empowering, from denying to accepting and doing to being—the less we suffer in the face of breakdown and disappointment. Irrespective of the frequency of love energy, it promotes union, the refinement of personality and the expansion of consciousness.
Someday after mastering the winds, waves, tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love and then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J., Priest, paleontologist
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Photography Monographs (Select a book. Click on in it to turn pages)
Grasping lightly can lift us up; grasping too tightly holds us down
Dictionaries generally provide two definitions for the word “faith,” one being the trust or confidence we have in someone or something, the other a strong belief in God or a doctrine of religion irrespective of evidence. This image of a mother holding a child’s hand clearly speaks to the former, but in it I see where both aspects have their origin.
As infants and through childhood we are completely dependent upon others. Trust is given and “a given” if we are to survive. We take on faith that someone, usually parents or guardians, will be there—and able—to provide for our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual needs. It seems like this should be an inalienable right as a prerogative of birth, because care given by responsible adults is what it takes minimally for children to become whole, healthy and contributing persons. That too often these essentials are not provided, deepens my appreciation for what I took for granted as a child. Even as adults, we have faith in family members and friends. They are the ones we can usually turn to in difficult times.
We also have faith in the systems that provide the contexts for our lives—schools, churches, small businesses, corporations, non-profit organizations, local governing bodies and the Federal government. My careers in education and business were all grounded in faith—that my teachers knew what they were talking about, that higher education would lead to desirable and creative work opportunities, that the economy would grow, that salaries in my field would be enough to support a family and so on.
Along the way we learn that some of our faith in people and institutions was misplaced. Neither individuals nor institutions can always be trusted. Not everyone is responsible, not everyone behaves ethically. People and circumstances change. And so, through disappointments we develop some discernment as a hedge against misplaced faith.
Faith has higher and lower vibrations. The “higher” is acceptance of what is. Bo Lozoff, an American writer and interfaith humanitarian wrote that “Faith is a profound acceptance of life’s ultimate goodness no matter what happens.” At the opposite end of the faith spectrum is fanaticism—excessive, irrational, uncritical zeal characterized by an unwillingness to recognize and respect differences in opinion or belief. Robert Pirsig, author of Zen And the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance wrote that “No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it’s going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kind of dogmas or goals, it’s always because they are in doubt.”
In this regard I think of President Biden’s campaign perspective, that “We’re engaged in a struggle for the soul of America.” Former California State Senator John Vasconcellos said the same thing in 2014, adding, “We are struggling between two visions of human nature: faithful and cynical.” Indeed, held lightly and with an open mind, faith can unite and lift us up. Grasped too tightly it divides and holds us down.
In the long run the fate of a civilization depends not only on its political system, its economic structure, or its military might. Perhaps, indeed, all of these ultimately depend in turn upon the faith of the people, upon what we believe and feel about man; about the possibilities of human nature; about our relation or lack of it to such intangibles as the meaning of morality or the true nature of value.
Ashley Montagu, Anthropologist
Photography Monographs (Select a book. Click on in it to turn pages)
Life isn’t ever a straight line on a single track. Rather, it’s a progression along many tracks with lots of switching going on. Although I have switched “tracks” purposefully, there were many instances, probably more, where a switch occurred and I didn’t see it coming. The analogy raises questions about control and self-determination. How much control do I really have over my life?
Certainly, I can choose a destination and get on board with ideas and plans to get me there. That’s “entrainment.” But what about those switches, the plans that don’t—or do—work out, the emergency phone call, lottery ticket, birth, diagnosis, failed plans, new interest or the person we meet who changes the course of our life?
Some things happen beyond our control that changes us, at times even altering our destination. In large part, I think it’s our encounter with life’s unexpected turns that urges the search for meaning. Is life just a random sequence of events over which I have some but not much control? And why all the unexpected switching along the way? What are we to think? How do we respond to change and uncertainty? When switches altered my dad’s life journey he would shrug his shoulders and say “What can you do?” Indeed, when life (the soul) is leading, the wise course is resignation, go with the flow, align and allow. Resistance just creates frustration and pain.
Somewhere along the line, likely paralleling philosophical tracks, I found comfort in the notion that the inner animating force—I call it the “soul”—of each individual is like the engineer on a train, making decisions about which tracks to take and which switches to activate, when and where.
Looking back I can see how my life as been punctuated by unanticipated events, people and experiences that altered my course. Some were outright challenges that were either met or not—opportunities for growth. Others were tangible opportunities, like when a full scholarship to graduate school was presented to me without my even applying. Others were gifts, one of the most memorable being a friend’s sale to me of about $8,000 worth of high-end darkroom equipment for one dollar. And then there’s the lost opportunity as when Ansel Adams offered to sell a group of us students at RIT, original photographs for fifty dollars—prints that now sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In retrospect I can barely imagine that I was all those people who did what I did and didn’t do what I now wish I had. That every switch and each new track presented an opportunity of one kind or another adds credence to the soul being in the driver’s seat.
One thing is certain—each track provided a unique set of life lessons, chapters in the story of me and my becoming. Hard lessons learned leave little to regret. Rather, ideally, they lead to constructive intentions and choices when a familiar lesson comes again. My belief for now, and it could change tomorrow, is that life stories are written before we appear—already complete, perfect and happening in the Eternal now. That we don’t remember them allows us to freely choose both tracks and switches. Whatever the outcome, lessons were learned. Or not.
The tracks we’re on lead us toward destinations appropriate to the soul’s plan. The engine of belief provides the momentum. And so, whether or not we’re aware of it, we move in the direction of our beliefs.
And I’m a strong believer in belief. I think it’s creative, we get what we believe. Gandhi described the mechanism succinctly—
Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny.
Mahatma Gandhi
Through years of study, personal experiences, readings and conversations with people like Dr. Beatrice Bruteau, a friend and mentor, I’ve come to believe that the soul, which is already one with the universe, has constructed a plan for each individuation. However, once embodied, the egoic personality can choose to ignore or alter it. Further, I believe that we will ultimately need to confront the lessons of the plan that we ourselves have made—lessons that balance, correct and lead us toward the realization of our true identity. The question is, “With regard to the more difficult choices, when life throws a switch that’s uncomfortable or undesirable, will we face it now or in a later life?”
There are instances when a particular track or switch is obviously part of the plan—as when I discovered photography, met my wife and saw my daughter for the first time. More often it’s by hindsight that I learned an event was part of my soul’s plan. In either case, knowing that my universal Self is driving my experiences toward the fulfillment of my purpose, that it’s setting me on the right tracks at the right time and will continuously throw the switches that favor realization, I feel like the story is unfolding properly and beautifully. I’m grateful for that, including the privilege of feeling that way. Of course, there is no way to know if my beliefs are in alignment with Absolute reality. At least they’re comforting and the effects appear to be constructive.
NOTE: If this topic interests you, I highly recommend a book by cellular biologist Bruce Lipton entitled, The Biology Of Belief. He presents recent studies on the biochemical effects of the brain, showing that all the cells of our bodies are affected by thought. Further, he talks about the profound effects this has on our personal lives and the collective life of our species. It’s a great read!
This is a make-believe world. We make it according to our beliefs.
Jerome Perlinski, Teacher, History of Ideas
The most powerful thing you can do to change the world is to change your own beliefs about the nature of life, people and reality to something more positive… and begin to act accordingly.
Shakte Gawain, Teacher, Personal Development
“I think I was ten different people in this lifetime.” I hear words to that effect quite often and share that sentiment. Looking back on some of my beliefs, things I’d said and done, it’s hard to believe it was me. Who was that guy? How was that possible? I’m so far away from being those people I can’t imagine they were ever me. The really confounding part is how easily long-time, seemingly solid, core beliefs and values could have been ignored, set aside to accomplish a goal, bend the truth, rationalize a behavior. It just goes to show, not only can we change, we do. Sometimes dramatically. When we acknowledge that “life is a work in progress,” the emphasis is always on looking ahead, but some of the more important and lasting lessons are encountered by how we respond to past mistakes and failures, including those of others. Do we ignore them, blame them or suffer the guilt ourselves? Is peace of mind even possible?
It’s been said that both the “saint” and “sinner” reside within us. I’m not a theologian or spiritual teacher, but after eighty some years of sampling spiritual perspectives, I’ve done a lot of connecting the dots. Like a mountain climber who stops to rest and observe the view, I offer a metaphorical sketch of what I see.
Prior to incarnation the soul makes a plan, specifying lessons carried over from previous incarnations, and those yet to be addressed on the ascent toward realization. It also makes a contract with other souls who agree to provide a mutually beneficial circumstance or experience to create the best opportunity for their plans to be fulfilled. Of course, at any point, free will can intervene and halt the soul’s advance.
Now consider an unimaginably enormous and steep mountain. I’ll call it “Love Mountain,” because that’s its substance, and as we go up it expands to become all-inclusive—divine—at the summit. In the valleys below the climbers are absorbed with its features, which are both beautiful and treacherous. When they become discontent feeling separate from Source—God, The Ground of All Being, Infinite Intelligence, Nothingness or whatever you want to call it—they begin to climb. All around the mountain, the flanks are rough and rugged with slippery rock surfaces, mud, boulders, gravel and dense vegetation that provide the full range of earthly experiences. Considered as a whole, the journey for each climber is an evolution in consciousness leading to the realization of their True Self at the summit. The irony, according to Eastern mystics, is that Divine Love is already fully present within all the climbers, but the terrain is so engaging their attention is on the ground in front of them.
Along the way, climbers become so exhausted they stop and shed their bodies. Those on the Eastern side of the mountain largely believe that their climb, which includes both progress and backsliding, has correspondingly positive and negative consequences, which will carry over when they inhabit a new body and return to the mountain where they left off. They consider it a law of nature. Those on the Western side of the mountain also believe their actions have consequences, referring to an ancient precept that says, “Whatever you sow, you shall reap.” These climbers believe that when they reach the summit, the supreme being will judge them according to what they consider to be right and wrong, good and bad.
Being one who climbs on both sides of the mountain, with respect to this idea, I prefer the former because judging is inconsistent with this climber’s understanding of unconditional love, which is ascribed to the Creator. Aside from these beliefs, there’s near universal consensus that actions have consequences. Had I as a climber really understood that, or thought about it early in this lifetime, I would have saved himself a lot of backsliding. Then again, mistakes and failures are part of the process of the growth while climbing the mountain.
That being so, what would be the better response to past mistakes and failures, including those we observe in others? Is there a way forward? Judgments are natural and necessary. We make them every day. But thoughts and speech that amount to “judging”—a negative perception or opinion about us or someone else, perhaps to blame or condemn—get us mired in the “mud.” It can hold us back spiritually. This contemplation was prompted by my fascination with the feeling that, looking back, I have been many different people.
For me, one way to unstuck is through thoughts of “compassion.” The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress, together with a desire to alleviate it.” In the mountain analogy I believe a compassionate response to mistakes or failures would create a solid step up on the otherwise rugged and slippery slope, because compassion is a demonstration of love. On Love Mountain it provides sure footing. So also with the other virtues, particularly those that formed the core of Jesus’ teaching and example, including humility, gratitude, generosity, truthfulness and forgiveness. Each in its own way reveals and externalizes more of our True Self (divinity) to ourselves and others, which in itself is a certain level of realization.
Nationalism is a point of view that puts the identity, interests and values of a nation ahead of other nations, regarding itself as independent and self-sufficient, the ultimate authority on what’s best for its citizens. Grounded in national pride, it has brought people together to assert their freedom, independence and economic growth in the face of domineering kings and tyrants. The French and American versions of democracy resulted from their respective sense of identity and values, driven by a passionate desire to unite and formalize them. So within a nation, collective fervor can contribute to unity and resilience.
However, it can also create division and vulnerability, poverty, war and genocide through exclusive and aggressive policies. History and the sciences, biology and anthropology in particular, have shown that all living systems are interdependent. If your liver cells collectively decide to stop regulating the nervous system, preferring instead to only process hormones that make it bigger and stronger, the organ will become cancerous and create a host of painful symptoms throughout your body. Unchecked, you could die of end-stage liver disease. Whatever the reason, when a living system—family, company, corporation, church or nation— builds a virtual or actual wall around itself, it not only limits variety, innovation and expansion which are evolutionary drivers, it becomes increasingly vulnerable to change with limited ability to adapt.
How does national pride turn into self-centered obsession nationwide? Systemically, the short answer is fear, which begins in a climate of breakdown. When members in a complex living system such as a nation, observe a number of breakdowns that escalate, they feel vulnerable and helpless. They look outside themselves for someone at the top—a king or government— to fix them. As tensions rise and problems escalate, those at the bottom of the social pyramid lose faith in their leader or government. Kings can be deposed. In governing bodies, a charismatic person, often a celebrity who’s had a taste of power acquired by being rewarded and admired, stands up, expresses national pride and criticizes the way the system is being managed, confidently proclaiming easy solutions to complex systemic issues. Not understanding the complexities and relationships involved, everyday citizens are easily seduced by passionate expressions of self-confidence and conviction. They want the quick fixes. And the prospect of something radically new encourages people to participate in the promise of a future where their payoff is both intrinsic (respect, acknowledgement, engagement) and extrinsic (“more money in our pockets”).
How do we know when national pride turns toxic? What are the telltale signs? When those seeking power reveal the mentality of what psychologists refer to as “narcissistic personality disorder,” a red flag should go up. Below, I characterize expressions characteristic of a toxic nationalistic mindset. While the power-seeker speaks of “we the people,” his or her inner compulsion is always “I.”
We’re the best. We come first. (I am the best. I come first)
Words to this effect are a clear expression of collective superiority and self-centeredness. The mindset creates division, erodes trust, limits global cooperation, creates economic and political tension and risks, promotes discrimination or conflicts with marginalized groups and foreign nations, neglects the moral obligation to assist less-developed nations and because environmental issues transcend borders, short-term gains lead to unsustainable practices that harm the planet.
Immigration poses a threat to our culture, livelihoods and security.
A nation’s greatest asset is its people. The greater the diversity of a population, the stronger its resilience, the ability to respond to crises. And greater diversity increases the capacity to innovate, particularly in the areas of health, economics and security. For example, America became strong because it welcomed immigrants. Rather than seeing them as intruders, they were regarded as potential contributors, and we found ways to incorporate, educate and encourage them to become responsible and productive citizens.
We don’t need to depend on outside producers. We’ll produce everything we need.
This is a failure to understand or accept a reality that has the potential to uplift every facet of a nation’s existence. Like it or not, every living system maintains its existence in the context of a larger system. Nothing that’s alive can exist alone, not human beings and not their collectives. When each member (nation) in a whole system (planet) contributes its unique gifts and exchanges them, the whole and its members flourish. A nation that draws a membrane around itself, limits or excludes those benefits. Its unnatural.
We don’t need to belong to regulating organizations. They don’t respect our freedom.
This is like saying we won’t subscribe to traffic laws, water treatment authorities and police departments in our neighborhood. At every level, regulations in human systems are designed to ensure their health, protection and smooth operation. Detaching from these increases a system’s vulnerability to breakdown.
I’m not like your current leaders who are making things worse. You deserve better.
This statement creates division, pitting “Us against Them.” It’s an emotional appeal to those at the bottom of the social pyramid. We learn from debate strategies, that to gain position or power within an existing system, the challenger must assert the negative (whether he or she believes it or not). And reasoned arguments, evidence and supports are given to prove that the status quo is not working. One of the telltale signs of an individual promoting self over social well-being is the lack of these essential components of formal debate—argumentation, instead making emotional proclamations couched in generalities. Rarely if ever do these leaders display reason or intelligence regarding the solutions they propose. It’s a diversionary tactic: You don’t need the details. Trust me.
Those who resist or stand against us must be eliminated. God wills it! He is on our side!
This proclamation, followed by widespread demonstrations of violence and murder, quickly raise the status of the charismatic individual. Historical examples include Napoleon (France), Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Atatürk (Turkey) and Sun Yat-sen (China).
There is no end to our greatness. Under my rule, we can conquer the world.
The first indication of this particular narcissistic and power-hungry attitude is gaining control of an existing army, pouring more resources into it and building it up through larger and larger successes in gaining ground. The leaders mentioned above fall into this category.
In the current era, two more indicators of toxic nationalism have emerged—
You can’t trust science or facts. (Inference: But you can trust me).
You can’t trust the news media. (Inference: But you can trust me).
By definition, a nation that places its trust in one individual is a dictatorship. A fundamental principle of whole systems states, “The whole organizes the parts.” In a democracy, citizens collectively experience the positive and negative consequences of the consciousness (beliefs, values, moral character) they elect to office. This means that voters at the bottom of a nation’s pyramid are far more responsible for its failures than those in office. When citizens feel neglected, disrespected, undervalued or disenfranchised they will eagerly vote for change. Any change. Thomas Jefferson understood the importance of trust in a democracy. He often stated, “An informed citizenry is at the heart of a dynamic democracy… Whenever the people are well informed, they may be trusted with their own government.”
In an evolutionary, even historical time frame, democracy has not yet proven to be sustainable. In The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling, a pack if wolves recite, “The strength of the pack is the wolf; the strength of the wolf is the pack.” Indeed, the strength of a nation is the citizen, and the strength of the citizen is the nation. All systems are characterized by feedback loops. In living systems they enable the members to adjust based on the state of the whole. For instance, when a democratic nation breaks down, the departments modify their behavior based on goals and performance parameters established in its constitution, not the desire or order of its president or dictator.
Schism in the soul, schism in the body social, will not be resolved by any scheme to return to the good old days (archaism), or by programs guaranteed to render an ideal projected future (futurism), or even by the most realistic, hardheaded work to weld together again the deteriorating elements of civilization. Only birth can conquer death―the birth, not of the old thing again, but of something new… The West will terminally decline unless a new spiritually motivated minority emerges offering new creative leadership, bringing the society to a new level of consciousness and development.
Arnold Toynbee, English historian and philosopher of History
In keeping with my intention that every posting be an appreciation; we can be grateful for the negative consequences of toxic nationalism because pain and dysfunction clearly demonstrate what is not working. The souls caught in the web of narcissism are not “bad.” I believe they’re following a pre-birth plan, intending to learn other-directed, balanced and productive responses to fame, fortune and power. In a word: love.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
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David L. Smith
Contemplative Photography 