Psychology and Spirituality Part 7

November 14, 2024

Psychology and Spirituality Part 7

Over the centuries, humankind slowly separated psychology and spirituality. Prehistoric tribes closely identified with nature, and their shamans were the true leaders. They were spiritual discerners, soothsayers, counselors, and doctors. In early cultures, reality was never interpreted through any other lens than the spirit. But as cultures developed, the shamans and high priests were still the ostensible leaders. Even kings and queens relied on the spiritual realm and governed by the sanction of “divine right.”

The Age of Enlightenment ushered in the scientific method. Gradually, science replaced spirit as the primary way humanity learned about and dealt with reality. Inventions, discoveries, and new understandings of nature and medicine, etc., brought humankind out of the Dark Ages. Mainline spirituality was relegated to the category of religion. Religious leaders were no longer sacrosanct high priests of the ruler’s court; their domains gradually became religious hierarchies. Government evolved into its own entity, and the spiritual gravitated to religion. But at the beginning of history, spirituality was supreme; it was the reality from which the entire cosmos was interpreted.

Many prevalent mindsets of today rank science over spirituality and relegate spirituality to the church or other religious institutions. Conversely, many prevalent religious mindsets place science in its own box and interpret everything in light of their religious viewpoints. Some even discount science.

Those of us who journey from our depths are more apt to hold that the spiritual is the ground of being and that science is the mechanics of spirit. Science is not looked upon as the last word or as an invention of humankind. Rather, it is seen as a revelation from the Divine about how the Divine works. Science and spirituality are a hand-in-glove fit, not opposites or adversaries.

For many of us on the spiritual journey, psychology and spirituality are the same. In fact, there is no distinction between the two because science is considered a continuing act of God’s spiritual activity. Therefore, our mind and the sciences that it discovers are simply a step that brings us closer to God.

Yet we are discovering even more which is leading back to a possible unification of spirit and science. With the revelations of quantum physics, matter is no longer perceived as solid like it was in Newtonian Physics.

At a basic level, quantum physics holds that matter can behave like particles located in a single place or act like waves distributed all over space or in several places at once. So, science is leading us back to the mysterious spirit. What other divine things, as well as science, has humankind yet to discover?

Spiritual practice: Journal about how you feel that science and spirituality are the same and different. How does this affect your worldview and your spiritual biography?

Self-inquiry: If you are on a spiritual journey and believe in science, why would you not have to think that the world was made in our concept of seven days?

Dear God,

Help me understand that no matter how much I think, thinking doesn’t make me. Help me to grow in the ability to accept all new knowledge as an unfolding of your kingdom. Amen