Lory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023

I'd like to create conversation here around writing on #spiritual topics, as well as #writing and #reading as a spiritual practice. Tag posts with #SpiritualWriting so I can find them for boosting.

Please boost this so the circle can grow! And follow me and/or the hashtag #SpiritualWriting to receive future Toots.

#WritingCommunity #ReadingCommunity #Spirituality #Meditation #Contemplation #religion #faith

Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023
@lorywidmerhess
Can you define "spiritual"? Do you believe a sentient yet immaterial part of us exists independent of our brain and survives our death? If you do, why? Thank you.
Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder Good question! As far as the hashtag goes, I'd let others define "spiritual" in their own way. My vague umbrella definition is"that which leads us to go beyond mere physical survival and personal gratification, to look for something more, both within us and in the non-material world we experience through our minds and hearts." From the true spiritual path I would exclude impulses of hatred and destruction, and I won't boost such content. For my personal beliefs, I need more space...
Show threadTom Capuder
@lorywidmerhess
Thanks for replying.
Regarding a "non-material world we experience through our minds and hearts": How do you determine that what you're experiencing exists in reality outside and independent of your mind and its perceptions?
Feb 11, 2023 at 12:07pmWeb
Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder Whole books have been written about this question ... it's really the big one isn't it? I, myself, don't believe that anything exists outside and independent of my mind and its perception, because my mind is a part of the whole of reality, and I can't cut it off somehow to look at an "objective reality" outside of it. But I can try to adjust my thinking so that it connects with a wider reality, which embraces my mind and its perceptions, rather than isolating myself in a POV.
Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023
@lorywidmerhess
What is the "wider reality," and how do you know it's real?
Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder How do you know that I am real, and not a figment of your imagination? (This is not a sarcastic response.) I think that everything that comes into my consciousness is a piece of a wider reality. My own spiritual activity is a matter of fitting those pieces together, understanding them in relationship to a whole that includes it all. Errors come in through misinterpretation, not perception.
Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023

@lorywidmerhess
Well, we're conversing in real time, and your answers aren't AI, so I'm confident that you exist. (Of course, no one can be 100% certain of anything.) That is evidence.

What evidence are you evaluating to decide there's a "wider reality"?

I still am unclear on what you mean by a "wider reality." Can you define it?

Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder Hm, maybe my answers are AI! How do you know they're not? I might be a bot! (I'm not though. You can trust me. 😄 ) What tells me there is a wider reality? Well, isn't there always a wider reality beyond my own personal perceptions? I'm having a very limited experience of you right now, but I imagine you have a house and maybe a family and a job and a whole life that I know nothing about, and yet I trust it exists in a way that makes sense within the framework I understand as reality.
Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023
@lorywidmerhess
I get that. But what's the relationship between sprituality and this "wider reality"?
Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder As well as your house and all the material objects in your life, I trust you also have emotions and thoughts and a life story, maybe goals and aspirations and ideals, that are not material. That's the wider reality of your existence, that I trust exists outside of my limited knowledge of you. In this analogy, that's the "spiritual" aspect (more accurately "soul-spiritual").
Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023

@lorywidmerhess
Let me make sure I understand. By "spirituality," you seem to mean feelings, emotions, and goals. No, they're not material, but they are the products of the material (physical, chemical and electrical) workings in our brain.

You said "I, myself, don't believe that anything exists outside and independent of my mind and its perception." So what are "soul" and "spirit" besides emotions and feelings?

Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder Emotions and feelings are soul experiences, as are perceptions (e.g. a color perception). "Spirit" may be defined as the thought-content of things, the idea in things. A field of flowers has a physical manifestation (body), it makes an impression upon my soul as the observer (my perception of colors and forms, as well as my delight in their beauty), while the laws that allow us to recognize other flowers of the same species are of the spirit.
Show threadTom CapuderFeb 11, 2023

@lorywidmerhess
Thank you for discussing.

I can't make out what exactly you mean by "souls" and "spirits," so I'll drop it. Thanks again. Bye! ☮️💟

Show threadLory Widmer HessFeb 11, 2023
@tomcapuder Thank you! It was an interesting discussion.