Random Thoughts on Soul/Spirit

Contemplative education seems to have two very distinct streams: one might be called “spiritual” while the other might be referred to as “soulful”. There is a strange intersection between the two which is quite interesting.

Spiritual education seems to be explored through embodied practices such as meditation, yoga, qi gong, etc. where the aim is a non-dualistic experience of the universe, coupled with a more disciplined encounter with one’s emotional and personal identity. Here, Foucault’s “Care of the Self” most comes to mind. The aim of such an education is transpersonal: coming to have a unified and all-embracing compassion, opening up the universe, and transcending the self/other duality are the aims of such an education. We see this kind of thing most particularly explored in how teachers develop themselves in loving kindness meditation, embodied self-care, learning of one’s spiritual tradition, spiritual modeling, etc.  I find that these practices are fairly straightforward, in the sense that they follow the path of many ancient spiritual traditions (Christian, Buddhist, Judaic, Islamic and so on).

“Soulful Education” is more problematic and dangerous, because I find that it focuses on integration of personality, achieving congruency, authenticity, etc., and exploring the darker elements of the personality which are not often considered spiritual. Examples of soul work are explored through Jungian psychology, dreamwork, Tarot, less conventional kinds of traditions such as Tantra. The problems with integration are legion: there are times when this kind of work confuses the spiritual with the sensual, and introduces erotic elements which may not be consistent with the spiritual teachings we read about in scriptures. The ‘bringing together’ of these two terms (soul and spirit) under one umbrella term “Spiritual/Contemplative Education” disturbs me or troubles me somewhat, because I worry that there may be a mixing of very different things. While exploring erotic identity, for example, may be one aim of Tantric or soul work, I wonder if this work might be construed as a form of spiritual realization when in fact it becomes a form of attachment or enmeshment which deepens one’s inner obstructions. It’s troubling for me to try to map out/distinguish things which are soulfully integrating and experiences which lead to spiritual realizations. I believe that while the two might have an intimate connection with each other, they need to be clearly distinguished. Otherwise, one might confuse an instance of soulful ‘integration’ with spiritual realization, when in fact the two are quite different.

An example of what I am describing might be ambivalence. Freud described ambivalence as a kind of uneasy complex of feelings which comes partly from social repression and splitting of the self into acceptable and unacceptable elements. For teachers, being angry with students might be considered unacceptable in light of a dominant archetype of the teacher as a servant, a martyr, or a Mother figure. What happens for teachers, then, is that they cultivate an ambivalent relationship with their anger: desiring to channel their anger, yet feeling forbidden to do so, can create an intensified relationship to their anger as well as a splitting of the teacher personality. The same can be said of love, which is problematized by the fear that teachers will relate to their students in inappropriate ways. A ‘soulful’ exploration of these dangerous or socially forbidden emotions might be one way for teachers to develop a less divided attitude toward themselves. Through a process of journalling, teachers can develop a more wholehearted acceptance of their authentic selves, and this self-acceptance can spill over into the classroom where the teachers find healthy ways to balance their professional role and their expectations of students. Teachers can learn to state clearly what they expect from their students rather than repressing their emotions under a false service to a socially dominant “archetype”. Soulful authenticity can allow teachers to focus their energies rather than dividing their energies in unhealthy or self-sacrificing ways.

While I applaud these efforts to integrate the self through soul work, I have to caution that these practices may nor may not be transpersonal in nature, much less spiritual practices. I suggest that what would make a practice spiritual is that it allows the person to become less invested in the ego or self, through a process of letting go of investment in the ego. Now why do I caution against soulful integration as “not to be confused with spiritual practice?” The reason is that the person who integrates their personality may not necessarily have attained a realization of no-self, much less a transpersonal view of the self as lacking in substance. If I am invested in my “teacher soul”, I am still attached to the soul as though it were a kind of permanent substance. I might even become attached to the idea of authenticity, not realizing that the ‘authentic’ self is actually another construct of the mind, which changes and shifts depending on the situation. In other words, with soul work, there needs to be an accompanying realization that the self exists in multiple contexts, is always shifting, and is ephemeral. If one approaches the soul as though it were a definite substance that can be defined, one only gets deeper into enmeshment with that sense of self. It also creates power imbalance, as the soul seeks to nourish itself at the expense of other “souls”.

What I propose is that soul-work has to be seen as transitional in nature, not an end in itself. Integrating different parts of the self is a necessary process in getting to know our tendencies and karmic obstructions. However, it’s risky and dangerous to get stuck there, because the soul is also a changing and illusory construct. I can never point to my “soul” because it’s really about energies that are continually shifting. If I lack the perspective to understand that soul is a shifting nexus of energies that interconnect with other energies, I run the risk of reifying the soul and investing attachment to this ‘big self’ which is the result of integration.