Dialectical Framework for Spirituality

I base the framework of my ideas on a dialectical approach. The form of dialectics that I use is a process consisting of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. It is amazing how simple it can be to understand difficult experiences if a person has the right framework in which to locate them.

For example, a standard issue in spiritual thought is this: why is it that the more I try to live a noble and good life, the more I experience negative and nasty thoughts about myself ?  Any form of traditional spiritual practice will tell you to seek the ‘higher’ influences that come from soul, god, or whatever. But the more that a person attunes to these influences and becomes inspired by them, the more he seems to attract their opposites too.

These opposites were traditionally blamed on society, and so the seeker retired to live a life in isolation and solitude. This allowed the undesirable states of mind to die down in intensity, so enabling them to be ignored. But nowadays the seeker has to live his life within society, and the undesirable states are regular companions for him. Life can become an emotional roller-coaster : the more positive that I try to make myself, the more negative I can become.

This oscillation of mood and values increases in intensity as one develops, and traditions have no explanations for it. It is the main reason why teachers ‘fall from grace’ – why Luther gave up fighting sexual desire (a decision which had a vast impact on western religion) and forced monks and nuns to marry, – and why during the 1960s, when some eastern teachers came west, several of them crashed psychologically under the impact of materialism.

Putting this oscillation of mood and values into a dialectical framework makes it obvious why it occurs. All experiences have both good and bad sides to them. What we usually attempt to do is to abstract just the good side and ignore the bad. When we do this we do not realise the limitations of the ‘good’ interpretation (the thesis). The ‘bad’ interpretation (the antithesis) forces us to see the limitations of our good intentions and so makes us more of a realist. We increase our capability of handling skilfully the ‘good’ side once we know what the ‘bad’ is that we have to take into account and surmount (in order to attain the synthesis).

These ideas can be put into a more general metaphysical perspective. In my understanding, the ultimate basis of reality is equanimity, where experience is neither positive nor negative. Happiness and sorrow represent complementary deviations from this basis. To achieve overall balance, every form of positive experience has to have its corresponding negative counterpart. In the course of human evolution, the person gradually aspires to higher and higher positive states of mind. Therefore, within his subconscious mind there arises lower and lower potential states of negativity.

When the mind is stimulated by any form of training, it is not just the good aspects that are developed. When the mind is stimulated, all of it is stimulated, both the good and the bad. The only way to handle skilfully this situation is to develop a code of ethics.

Copyright @2003  Ian Heath
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