Spiritual Development Essay

People, generally according to their personality and culture, have differing levels of need for a connection with something larger than themselves. Some people have a very high need to connect with a "god object" and others have a very low need for that type of emotional connection. Others fall more in the middle ground. I believe religion is the means by which people reconcile the outer world of rational experience with their inner emotional life and need to feel as if they belong to something larger and more powerful than themselves.

I believe that, also dependent upon people's culture and personality, is how different people go about relating to that something bigger. Some people rely upon this "god object" for protection. Some rely upon it (actually, they rely upon those who claim to serve it) to tell them what is the moral way to live their lives. Some want to use this god object to reward themselves and punish those they do not like. Some just want the emotional high that accompanies communion with their god object. I believe a lot of the reason for this difference is cultural in nature - that it often depends upon the religious atmosphere in which one is raised.

The reason I say it is dependent upon the atmosphere in which one is raised is because tribal affiliation is a strong human need - so strong that people generally tend to self-select into tribal groups even if they are not born to one. People incorporate tribal-type groups into their lives on many levels without even thinking about it. The choosing of sports team affiliations, school affiliations, gang affiliations, political affiliations, and even who you might root for on "American Idol" could be said to fall into this tribal pattern. One could even make the argument that product brand affiliation falls into this category!

Even if you don't want to take the analogy quite that far, it seems apparent to me that tribal affiliation is very important to most people. What this means is that if you are raised in a culture (tribe) with a strong religious affiliation, you may well buy into that affiliation out of your need to feel that you "belong." I think that is part of the reason why, until recently, people in different parts of the world tended to be more or less homogeneous in their spiritual beliefs within their cultural groups. People may say that they follow a particular religion because they believe it to be "the truth," but in my opinion the need to belong to their cultural tribe is so strong that people tend to overlook the parts of their group's religious tenets that do not make sense, or make excuses for them, rather than admit these inconsistencies and question them. I believe getting past that unthinking belief and fear of not belonging is an important step towards discovering one's true spiritual path.

I believe a large part of what a particular person believes on a spiritual level is also influenced by a second layer: their culture's need to also, as a community organism, belong to something that is larger than itself. I think this is why nearly all religions rely upon a select group of shamans, priests, clergy, or elders to determine what the larger tribal group believes, and which are the practices the group will or will not engage in. The laity generally concern themselves with their relationship to the community through adherence to its approved belief system, and the higher ups tend to concern themselves with the tribe's continued relationship to the cosmos, as they interpret it. This two layer system must work pretty well, because it is fairly common among religious groups, even among those that pride themselves on encouraging their adherents to engage in direct communication with the divine.

Another aspect of individual spirituality is personal in the sense that people tend to interpret events they experience in the "real" world in different ways according to their personalities and upbringings. For example, let's take the case of three different people who, while on walk in the woods, narrowly escape being hit by a tree falling over the trail. Each person experiences something that is very much the same, yet each will interpret the event according to their own inner, emotional needs and concordant spiritual belief system. One person might interpret the event as an "attack" upon them, personally. They may believe that evil forces are out there trying to do them harm. Therefore, they may experience this event as proof they need to further appeal to their gods for protection. Another person might experience this near-miss as proof that their gods are protecting them, and that they are therefore cared for, valued and loved. This person might be prompted by the event to declare their gratitude in a worshipful or sacrificial manner to the powers that they believe have spared them an untimely demise. Yet a third person may consider the event startling, but not as proof that the universe cares or doesn't care for them personally. This person might dismiss the event as random and while they may feel relief at not being hit over the head with a tree, they would probably not feel the need to commune with any gods over the event.