an amoral approach to spirituality
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An Amoral Approach To Spirituality
Silvanus S-gar Prince
What follows are my own opinions regarding the matter of what
humankind has termed "Morality" within the context of the SpiritualEndeavours of Individuals. The following should not be taken as the
prescribed theology of any one Spiritual Path or Religion (except perhaps
my own Personal Spiritual Path). Readers who find the concept of
"Amorality" disturbing should use their discretion.
Everywhere one seems to look the concepts of "Good" & "Evil" abound. The very
fragrance of morality permeates everything humans seem to do. We judge all thoughts &
actions on this highly subjective scale & have based our Cultures & Ethics upon what we
have agreed upon as being "The Fabric Of Morality".
Now, one should probably take a moment and define a couple of terms before we get all
befuddled by the lack of accuracy innate in all human language. One draws a line of
differentiation between "Moral" and "Ethic" in that Moralities are judgments of "Good" &
"Evil" whilst Ethics are judgements of Socially Acceptable vs. Socially Unacceptable
thoughts/behaviours. Given the history of human civilization, it is obvious to anyone that
most Cultural Ethics are derived directly from the corresponding Cultural Morality.
However, as the propagation of so-called Democracies has occurred, the direct link
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between Morality & Ethics has become strained (especially in most "Western" states), tho
our Cultural Values, in the mean, have stayed true to our cultural morals (in most cases).
From the position of this philosopher, the problem with Morality is its innate subjectivity
and reliance upon the group for Justification. Whilst it is true that there are generally
accepted "Universal" Morals that span the breadth of Human Culture (murder being a
common one), no two Moral Systems are identical. On the other hand there seems to be
a commonality of Ethics we can draw based upon the concepts of Respect & Property.
Generally speaking all Human Ethos calls upon respecting others & respecting others
property (to varying degrees). Morality, except perhaps on the common "Thou Shalt Not
Kill" element (at least within one's own society, but more on this later), spans a whole
gamut of dos & don't based solely upon the revelation of spirits/divinities or prophets.
Now as concerns the "reliance on the group for Justification", Morality is necessarily a
Group endeavour. Within all Systems of Morality there is always the Subject & the Judge.
There is always an externalistic judgement on the subject's thoughts/actions - be it a divine
judge looking for "Sin" or a social authority passing judgement on the subjects thoughts &
actions. Whereas Ethics can be similar in this regard, they are not necessarily this way. A
Personal Ethic is generally held as an Individual's code of conduct as it relates to her
thoughts and actions in regards to herself & others. Again, many Personal Ethics are based
upon the Individuals Cultural Morality but this is not a necessity.
So how does this relate to an Individual's Spirituality & her Spiritual Path? Basically, that
Morality in & of itself isn't necessary for the Spiritualist if the purpose of the Spiritual
endeavour is the search for the Experience Of Truth. There are many who's Spiritual Purpose
is to Morally be accepted within a group. However True Spiritual Experience &
progression is Amoral - beyond Moral judgements - because the goal of Spirituality is the
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search for & experience of Absolute Truth which is beyond the bounds of Morality. What is True
is still True whether it is Good or Evil or even Sacred or Profane. As such, the best Spiritual
practices are those that lead the Practitioner to Truth without any Moral judgements required to attain
the Truth.