Most naturalists would likely agree that perfection is not possible or reasonably expected. And while these two lists paint a picture of a person as either ‘default’ or ‘transformed’ what this more aptly suggests is a scale or spectrum between two extremes.
As we engage in our practice, the purpose is that it will continually shift our character such that we become less like the former and more like the latter. And, more importantly, we will experience greater True Happiness and less True Suffering to the degree to which this is achieved.
Reasonable Goals vs The Ideal Model
Since the Transformed Person described above is taken to be a perfect ideal, there are some cautions we should heed. First is the reminder that the ideal is an abstraction meant to provide helpful clarity on the concepts, and not expected to be achieved with perfection. No human being is perfect. Anyone claiming to have achieved perfect enlightenment should expect a high degree of skepticism from others, and if they truly believe it, should be skeptical of themselves as well.
We should not blame ourselves if we fall short of the ideal, as this is inevitable. Should an ideal model become a source of self-blame or condemnation, that would be contrary to the flourishing life that is our aim, and not a rational or accurate perspective.
Yet ideal models, if used properly, are important because they point to the horizon and give us a pure way of discussing basic principles without particulars and without pragmatic realities getting in the way of understanding.
But then, of course, in real life we must deal with those pragmatic realities. For this reason, it may also be important to have models to guide us besides just the perfect ideal. These other models give us examples of imperfect, achievable mile markers along the path. They represent a practitioner that is making progress. Such pragmatic examples could be hypothetical, a fictional character, a popular teacher, or someone in our personal lives. Role models at all stages, even a diligent friend at our same ‘level’, can be very helpful.7
This is, of course, assuming proper cautions against putting others on a pedestal, hero worship, and cults of personality. Assume all teachers, role models, and heroes may disappoint you, or possibly even be revealed as corrupt charlatans. Assume this about me, Daniel Strain. Run through this scenario in your mind as a part of your practice, and examine your feelings about the person. Think about how you would feel about yourself after having followed or learned from a person who was disgraced as such. Think about how it would affect your commitment to the philosophy and practices you are engaged in. If you feel your practice itself would be undermined, then you may be placing too much emphasis on that person and too much reliance on authoritative approaches. Truth and wisdom (and your practice) should be able to stand on their own, regardless of the imperfections of any human being or organization.
Is Extraordinary Transformation Possible?
Granted, a more modest model of progress is essential, and perfection is most likely impossible. However, my experience in practice leads me to believe that, once one achieves a state similar to even an ambitious so-called ‘realistic’ model, one will tend to find that further improvement remains possible. This results in the limits of human transformative potential being surprisingly further than we may be willing to believe at the start of our practice. We might call this extraordinary transformation - a kind that truly shifts our ‘root operating impulses’ in the deepest levels.
It is reasonable to ask whether this kind of transformation is possible. We may notice that spiritual leaders, who are supposed to be the exemplars of a practice, may often seem to have many of the same faults as anyone else. But I think it is a mistake to look toward leaders in evaluating the transformative potential of spiritual practice. The chief reason for this is that there is a distinction between the organizations of spirituality and spiritual practice itself.
An organization, even the best of them, is a project of human interactivity that focuses on external conditions by its nature. It is about actions in the world and seeking certain results (even if those desired results are more people engaged in personal practice). As someone who works in the Spiritual Naturalist Society for example, I must always be aware that my activity for the Society is not the same as my personal practice, or a substitute for it.
This distinction has real consequences when it comes to the distinction between people who become leaders in an organization and those who employ the practices for which those organizations stand. Very often, we will find that leaders of an organization do not practice as well as some. In fact, they can often be extremely poor examples; especially if they confuse their success as an organizational leader with success in their own walk.
At the same time, many of the most successful and advanced practitioners may be on the outside of organized activity, as they may have chosen to focus their time and attention on their practice rather than on publications, promotions, events, giving talks, etc. So, this lack of correlation between leaders in organized traditions and differences in character should not be surprising and is not an indication that transformation is not real or possible.
Lastly, judging a practice by its practitioners also suffers because it is inherently impossible to measure a practitioners’ inner experience. Two people may come to work every day, smile, treat others in similar ways, and so on. Yet, one of them can be deeply happy in life while the other faces internal struggles. The extreme example of suicides that come as a complete surprise to friends and family illustrate this harshly, but more subtle and common examples abound. This is why the first-person experience is crucial: each of us must experiment for ourselves the effects of these practices on our deeper happiness and well-being.
Experiment and Experience
While the scientific approach deals with objective reality from a third-person perspective, and spiritual practice is about cultivating first-person subjective states, the two are neither inherently at odds nor lacking in overlap. The kind of spiritual practice I’ve been describing is not one of faith-based belief. Rather, it is one whereby the practitioner is placed in the role of experimenter.
The Buddhist Kalama Sutra instructs the practitioner not to believe or accept something because of tradition, authority, scripture, superstition, etc. but because they have experienced for themselves whether it is true and effective. Both the scientific method and this kind of instruction overlap in placing experience and experiment at the center of acceptance of claims.
Note that the latter case is different from an external experiment on the brain activity of meditators or the like. Because we are talking about cultivating individual subjective experience, each practitioner must conduct experimentation from inside their own private mental laboratory to confirm efficacy. Because all persons and brains vary, we should expect to see some variability in which kinds of practices have superior results – and because we share many traits we should also expect to see many commonalities in results.
This kind of procedure is not altogether foreign to science. For example, research on pain medication must include the subjective reports of subjects because pain, though it has physical correlates, is also a subjective experience.
And so it is from experience that I, and many others, can report that spiritual transformation of the kind described above is not only possible, but profoundly life altering.
Before I describe this in detail, let me first address the inevitable and valid skeptical question of (a) how this differs from the ad populum of testimony from many people about bigfoot, angels, or aliens, and (b) how this differs from the testimony of people who claim their subjective experience of God or Jesus is evidence of the objective existence of these beings.
First, whether or not certain realms or entities exist is a claim about objective facts. But no matter how ‘convinced’ I am by a subjective experience, that alone can never be sufficient to prove an objective fact. For this, corroborating objective evidence must be demonstrable and shareable between others. Thus, we cannot use a subjective experience to prove an objective fact.8
In the case of spiritual transformation, however, the intended results are inherently subjective. While researchers have studied the brains of meditators and gained great insights, the claim of these practices is not about any particular brain mechanism or neural correlates. The claim is about the first-person experience itself. Therefore subjective experience is sufficient to constitute knowledge of the result.
If a practice makes me happier, more at peace, or more content, then the claim that the practice results in happiness is – for me – self evidently true. If the claim were, “Jesus answered my prayer and made me happy” this requires an intermediary external fact to be true (that there is a living entity that exists who makes people happy and did so in this case).
If, however, the claim is “belief in Jesus makes people happy” this can be supported or undermined by studies of reports of happiness compared to the corresponding belief. Likewise, the claim “meditation makes people more at peace” does not depend on an intermediary fact.9 If it did, the claim would have to be more akin to something like, “meditation pleases Buddha who blesses those who meditate by granting them peace of mind” – which is certainly not the naturalist approach.
The mention of the number of people reporting the same experience with spiritual practice is meant, not to lend weight to an objective claim, but to show a high consistency of subjective reports, suggesting the reader has a reasonable likelihood of similar experience with a practice and may want to explore to see if that is true in their case. No data will provide that answer for any individual other than that individual engaging in the practice over time.
The Beginning of Transformation
As with most of us, my transformation began with reading and learning. My days of looking at philosophy as merely some intriguing academic mental exercise are long behind me, but this is how many of us innocently slip into discovering what lies deeper. Socrates always fascinated me, so it may have been inevitable that I would find my way to the later Socratic schools.10
The Epicureans are a favorite of Humanists, but it was Stoicism where I began to notice really amazing effects on my life. Even in some of my earliest stages of learning about Stoicism, I found that just a few ‘drops’ of it went a long way.
It wasn’t long before I would veer eastward to Taoism and Buddhism and find fascinating overlaps and similarities. That began a process over many years of comparative study whereby I would analyze their commonalities and respective strengths, with some other tangent traditions as well.
The teachings that fascinated me were not mere claims about the world or ethical edicts. They consisted of real insights into our minds and our lives. These insights made me reassess many things in my life and began to affect how I responded to them. This was a beginning stage of transformation taking place in the intellect. As such, transformation of this type wasn’t deep. While my ideas about things were shifting, it wasn’t the kind of shift that would really alter my deepest feelings and automatic responses.
Many people experience this stage. Typically the pattern is as follows: we have all of these teachings we admire. Perhaps we put up inspirational posters that quote from them or share memes about them in social media. But when the real life moments come, we still find ourselves reacting viscerally to events in unwise ways, despite the teachings we claim to agree with. So, after we’ve lost our temper, or given in to some temptation, or acted unmindfully, etc. we find ourselves having to return to the words of wisdom.
At this point, the teachings serve as a kind of balm. They help us to calm down or regain our composure. After some thought, they may lead us to apologize to someone we’ve hurt, or commit to doing better in the future.
This is often accompanied by aggravation, or disappointment with ourselves. Perhaps guilt, shame, or anger follows. We want to pound our heads and drive the teachings into our thick skulls. We imagine that by repeating the wise words to ourselves like a mantra, we can finally ‘get it’ and begin to do better.
And this is how many people interact with the wise teachings within our tradition or religion. Perhaps over many years we do begin to form better habits, but it is rarely a profound shift or highly transformative.
The reason for this stump is the absence of a regular set of practices of the right kind. We keep trying to make ourselves believe or remember something deep down through the brute force of repetition or memorization, or worse - by guilt, self punishment, and unrealistic expectations.
In truth, it is not humanly possible to intellectually remember some abstract wise contemplative principle about the world or life at all times, without a break in our concentration so that we are always prepared when an unexpected challenge arises. No wise or enlightened role model you can think of achieved that status in this way.
From Knowledge to Experience
The next stages of my own transformation would be more profound, and began after I started to engage in the practices described in these traditions. At some point, you must put the book down, and stop with the dialogues and discussion.
Mindfulness meditation, journaling, and a whole host of other kinds of practices (which will be described) have to be engaged. Further, they have to be engaged with an attitude of trusting exploration. Yes, a rational person has a healthy skepticism and holds all conclusions provisionally. But there is nothing wrong with engaging in an experiment fully and with total ‘buy in’ during that period. The attitude of giving it a real chance is essential to the efficacy of contemplative practices.
These practices must also be engaged in regularly, and for an extended period in order to give them time to shape us. This requires us to make commitments in our schedule. We may have to begin using a calendar or setting alarms if we haven’t been.
Also included in practice would be various kinds of ritual. Finding and possibly building rituals - from the small and simple to the elaborate - will also be a way to engineer experiences. These experiences should elicit feelings that help to internalize the wisdom teachings.
As I began to experiment with, and regularly adapt, many of these practices and rituals - that is when I began to experience a real and deep transformation.
You can recognize this, firstly by feeling it within as you engage in a practice or ritual. But more importantly, you will begin to see how you feel differently in your daily life. You will notice little changes in your reactions to things. It won’t be perfect or consistent, but you will get glimpses.
These glimpses will show you the real function of wisdom teachings - that is, for them not to be a poster on a wall we return to after the fact, but to be incorporated into our being. Then you will experience first hand that it isn’t about having to constantly remember, or force ourselves through willpower, to respond wisely in the moment. You will see that your inner nature has shifted.
In this place there is nothing to be remembered. There is nothing to be ‘controlled’ or ‘suppressed’. You have nothing to prove and no need of trying. You are simply reacting as feels natural - but those natural, intuitive reactions happen to be more often healthier and wiser than they used to be. Your very character has inched closer to wisdom.
There is a peaceful serenity and joy in the experience of that state. Again, this won’t be the case 100% of the time. And when it happens it won’t always be perfect.
Something else is important to note: none of this guarantees that you have picked the correct teachings and not accidentally misunderstood or misapplied them; or, through these transformative practices, have deeply implanted unhelpful teachings. There is no aspect of naturalistic enlightenment that includes omniscience or infallibility. This is why our reason and humility will always be an important part of the path.
But over time, you can continue practices, rituals, and explore to include more and hone more to your own background, personality, and nature. As you do, you will notice a slow and steady inclination toward greater wisdom and, with it, a corresponding peace and joy. Like going to the gym (or not), you will also notice backsliding in the absence of practice.11
An applied, consistent practice will produce a steady climb up an incline of progress over time. But along the way, one may find moments of profound experience. Others have referred to this as ‘religious experience’ or ‘peak experience’.
A profound experience is an ecstatic or deeply moving experience in which we get the sense that we have in some manner touched or perceived the transcendent or sacred, although the full nature of the experience is typically difficult to put into words.
Most people describe these experiences in greatly positive ways, and seek to have them again. Although they can be exhilarating, their value is not simply pleasure or the experience of awe for its own sake.12 Sometimes they can drastically transform a person. Profound experience might alter how one looks at something - or how they look at everything. Or, they might change a person's disposition, focus, goals, values, character, or even personality.
As such, these experiences can create ‘plateaus’ in the incline of our progress - leaps that signify a breakthrough or epiphany. They are not a replacement for ongoing progress in a regular practice, but the realizations from these experiences can have a much quicker, longer lasting, and transformative effect on us than the slow steady progress made over time.
Many associate profound experience with certain drug trips and we will cover the possible role of entheogens later. It is true these can assist in such experiences in the right context for those who are in the right place. But there are many, many other contexts and conditions that can lead to altered states and possible profound experience.
Profound experiences can happen in vigorous activity or endurance. They can happen during musical experiences; while playing, drumming, dancing, or even just listening deeply. They can happen while engaged with Nature, in contemplative reflection, or in loving exchanges. They can even happen while simply reading or experiencing a story.
Regardless of the source, the key aspect is that we enter a state of consciousness that is out of the ordinary, where our feelings and/or focus allows us to take in and process information in less common ways. This then results in a more deep integration of the wisdom to our state of being than would otherwise be possible.13
People make many claims about just what we are communing with when having profound experiences. We cannot know the truth of all of these claims, but there is a fascinating collection of explanatory observations about natural brain activity during these experiences.14
But to mistake the psychological and neurological understandings of profound experience as some kind of dismissal of it, is to miss the point. As Spiritual Naturalists, we must ask at least two questions: (1) What is it of relevance that one is perceiving (if anything) in profound experience, and (2) What role (if any) does profound experience play in the spiritual walk for a naturalist? Let’s look at both of these questions, one at a time…
The first question is important to our practice because, if indeed profound experience is a wholly internal and subjective phenomena with little relation to any external reality or truth, then we can chalk it up to a fluke of brain chemistry and consider it of little importance to wisdom or True Happiness - being merely an entertainment.
Because so many supernaturalists claim religious experience to be a communion of some unknown means with powers of some improvable sort, many naturalists look at the scientific descriptions of the process and consider the matter 'debunked'. The Mulberry Path, however, takes a third option. Here, profound experience is seen as a perception of an objective truth outside the mind of the experiencing person. Awareness of that natural but profound truth is important in our spiritual walk.
But while a profound experience may be a perception of an external truth, that doesn’t mean we are necessarily understanding or interpreting the perception correctly. I am not saying that seeing a religious figure or a deceased loved one while in an altered state of consciousness means they were actually there. But I am saying that our experiences came about because of some cause. So what is that truth, and how is it perceived naturally?
To get some idea of what it is that might be the perceived subject of profound experience, it is helpful to consider someone in the opposite condition. Consider a person with absolutely no sense of the profound in life. They don't know awe, or wonder, and may not even see value in it or seek it out. Everything to them is 'ho hum'. They may recognize favorable or unfavorable events and things, and they may become happy or sad as a result, but there is a kind of 'leveling out' whereby the favorable things, be they something universal or simply something that benefits them personally, are on a similar level; the same for the unfavorable things. In this example, the person sees everything through a narrow scope as it pertains to them and their impressions personally. Everything is 'equaled out' in their experience. Their perception of the world in which they live is 'low fidelity'.
But in reality our universe is one of grand, even unimaginable, valleys and peaks. In terms of scale, space, time, and causation Nature ranges incredibly. Layer upon layer of these kingdoms of scale and time emerge from one another and circle back on one another. There is a hierarchical relationship between the fundamental and the emergent; between the foundational and the derivative; between the universal and the incidental. The matters of one individual are dwarfed by matters of humanity, of life, and of the cosmos - and yet - those grand phenomena wash over our lives and affect us in profound ways, interjecting themselves and giving us the opportunity to glimpse them at times, even if imperfectly. That described in this paragraph, as far as any reasonable observations indicate, are true and objective facts about reality, independent from human perception or appreciation of them.
The ecstatic numinous experience of witnessing and appreciating these aspects is merely the natural human side effect of having, to some justifiable greater extent, perceived these realities deeply. We should expect to see a rise in the pulse of a human being stood on the edge of a tall precipice - and when we do not see any such signs we are reasonable to suspect the person to be unaware of their precarious position, or lacking in some important function.
Likewise, the absence of awe in an otherwise healthy human being in the face of these described realities is an indication of blindness to them. Certainly, not every kind of experience will touch every person in the same way, but this hypothetical example of having no capacity whatsoever for profound experience is not merely the lack of ability to experience a pleasure - it is the lack of ability to truly and viscerally perceive certain kinds of facts.
These are the kinds of facts being perceived when one has the kind of epiphanies many have described in profound experiences.
Is It Really Perception and Knowledge?
Now that I’ve explained the kinds of facts sometimes perceived in profound experience, our next task is to ask whether this is, indeed a perception or - in other words - if this constitutes real knowledge of facts (knowledge being, belief which is not only true but also justified).
Are these feelings merely random, and just happen to fit the facts about Nature I’ve described? To know whether this is a perception, and not a coincidental feeling, we must have reasons to think there is a causal link between these grand aspects and relationships in the universe, and the experience of having 'touched' them in profound experience.
On this we can look at the kind of situations that tend to generate profound experiences. When we do, we see that they indeed seem to be presentations that are, in some sense, about those grand aspects described, or that seem to embody some of those grand aspects. When practitioners report the kinds of experiences that touched them, they will report things with traits similar to the facts I’ve described.
For example, the complexity and harmony in a piece of music can typically be an element which helped to generate a profound experience, and the listener will often report that it was this feature of the music (the harmonious complexity) which they found beautiful or moving in a way they had never noticed in music before. The feature of the music being appreciated closely correlates to the features of the cosmos outlined above. It is reasonable to suspect this served as a microcosm of the feature found throughout Nature, or a symbolic representation of the concept. Further, by hearing the music, the listener's attention was brought to the matter of intricacy and harmonies, not just in the music, but in all things.
xxx endnote: could the association be incorrect? yes, but we can also have misperceptions of other types xxx
This is one particular example among a nearly infinite variety of possible triggers, but it seems likely the profound experience is not causally isolated from the various aspects of the universe which moved the experiencing person. This would mean the sensation of the profound experience is causally connected to the very phenomena that we find moving, making it a perception of some kind of objective external fact.
Important to note here is that the perception is not through some as yet unknown channel or means. We have, in all of these profound experiences, every reason to think that all data is being perceived naturally through the five senses. The difference would be in (a) the robust nature of the data, (b) the wider attention to the data, and (c) the processing of the data in more subtle and holistic ways, reflecting it off of a host of other learned information to generate a synthesis of understanding on a deeper intuitive level. Here the person has perceived the precipice and appreciated its height, and appropriate elation ensues.
In profound experience, there is a sense that you've 'broken the rules' - that you've 'seen beyond the veil'. In that respect it may seem analogous to Gnosis, or divine knowledge. This feeling and the awareness we come to in these cases, is entirely natural and does not result in knowledge we didn't already have access to, though it may have been unprocessed.
xxx following paragraphs may be redundant with ‘role of entheogens’ section to come xxx
This is possible in a naturalistic sense because, normally, we perceive our environment in very concrete terms within limited dimensions of sensory input, categorization, and language. Yet, the altered state of consciousness involved in many profound experiences allows us, for a brief moment (though of lasting impact), to perceive multiple 'channels' of information simultaneously, and to have a holistic perception of it at once, touching many parts of our minds, memories, thoughts, and feelings. And thus, this comprehension is more than the intellectual, but is on a deeper intuitive level. Such constitutes an awakening of some variety.
Why This Perception is Important
Even if profound experience is truly a perception of attributes of Nature that are external to the person having the experience, then naturalists must ask, "Why is it important to perceive and deeply integrate these aspects of Nature and how does that fit into wise spiritual practice?"
First, the function or utility of this kind of perception is not the same as, for example, the perceptions needed to perform some specific task, like building a structure. We would not want to operate on a patient or construct a safety device based on information allegedly perceived through a profound experience. Such would be the wrong kind of perception of the wrong kind of data, for the wrong kind of task.
Reason being that, while real external phenomena are being perceived in religious experiences, the complex nature of the perception, and its broad interplay across our memories and emotions invite a large number of complementary data from our minds to be mixed into the perception. Each person's perception is unique because we all bring our own 'baggage' to a profound experience. Our own ideas, assumptions, imaginings, memories, attitudes, and more are mixed into the experience.
And, again, because the experience is ultimately based on input through the five natural senses, we cannot have achieved collection of data that would not otherwise directly be available to us (such as seeing the future or remote locations) - even if that complex mixture may sometimes make it seem we have. Many who do not appreciate this may therefore sometimes assign unprovable additional meanings or purposes to their experiences which we have no way to honestly know, and would be an extraordinary claim.
So, if this is not the proper use of perceptions from profound experience, then what is its use? Profound experience is especially useful in our spiritual walk for a few reasons.
For one, it can help to engender a good sense of proportion in thinking about our place in the grand scope of Nature. This has an effect on our weighing of our individual problems, challenges, and achievements in the larger context of our surroundings and time. Much aggravation and egotistical harm can be alleviated through that perspective. These kinds of experiences also create in us a sense of beauty in a way that more narrow, specific, and technical data cannot. That sense creates an appreciation and even love for these aspects of Nature. That positive disposition can be very useful in our task to align ourselves with Nature and come to acceptance of the world as it is.
The effects on our overall perspective are conducive to what we have determined are appropriate paths in our spiritual walk. Further, that perspective - because it touches on so many points of memory, thought, emotion, and sensation at once - becomes more deeply ingrained into our minds. This is therefore compatible with moving our conceptions from the purely intellectual to the intuitive form of understanding. Without these experiences being a part of our practice, it would otherwise be very difficult to achieve some necessary perspectives. For all of these reasons, the conditions that are favorable to generating profound experience are incorporated into many rituals and practices.
For me, as I continued to read, discuss, and learn, the occasional profound experience helped me on my way. They were direct perceptions of amazing truths about the nature of our world, the nature of my own mind, and the nature of life – things which I had already agreed to intellectually, and thought I’d understood. But until I had these experiences it didn’t really ‘sink in’ on an intuitive level.
The experiences and the learning fed off of one another. The learning helped spark the experiences; sometimes at unexpected moments. And, the experiences inspired me to investigate and learn more.
One of these profound experiences happened while reading about complex systems theory; another happened while listening to the birds awaking in the trees in the morning. More profound experiences happened on an airplane, petting my cat, listening to music, sharing experiences with friends, seeing films, in solitude, at temple, and so on – each of them different, yet each helping to grok that for which language is so often a poor vehicle.15
Simple assent to intellectual concepts is not spiritual transformation. That happens only when the wisdom becomes a deep part of how we intuitively see the world and react to it. Profound experience is not the only way the intellectual becomes the intuitive, but it can often be an abrupt example of such.
When I reflect back on myself before, I notice that my own change has been pronounced, and has had a huge effect on my life. One odd consequence that has come to my attention recently is that I seem to no longer be capable of embarrassment or any other form of social anxiety. This may be a subset of a near absence of certain kinds of deep fears, in general. While I admit this is an extraordinary claim, and that I may be subconsciously experiencing these feelings at undetectable levels, that state in itself would be significant. There have also been some personality changes over time, which seem correlated to my intentions to shift in that direction.16
During one period I had been specifically practicing in a manner designed to increase my empathy and compassion. After a time, I noticed I was having problems. It seems I had so enhanced my natural empathetic responses that I was experiencing disturbing levels of distress whenever I became aware of the suffering of others (including news reports, etc). I went to see a monk about this (since the practices I were employing had been Buddhist). He informed me that there were other aspects to Buddhist thought I had been missing; namely wisdom, which is meant to balance compassion. Specifically, I would come to understand he meant the wisdom of non-attachment and the acceptance of impermanence. Thus began my process of moving toward greater balance. During these periods, it was not only my practices that changed in their general direction, but who I was had actually shifted over time, and in direct relation to a designed program.
While placebo and ‘faking it’ are a constant caution in such things, it is difficult to describe how I could sense, after the fact, how my immediate natural responses shifted dramatically in both directions. This was enough to prove to me that such self development is possible.
The most notable example of transformation has been how much I was helped during the time my mother passed away. I was fortified and sustained in ways that would not have been possible before. It was clear that I was not merely someone who had learned a few nifty ideas or techniques, but that I had become a different kind of being than the person I had been before – in my value systems, my responses, my reactions, etc. And, more importantly, the philosophic reading and learning would not have been enough to have affected me or my experience during that time. It was the practice that made the difference. The first of these surprising effects happened relatively early in my practice, and inspired me to continue.
Today, I am coming into new challenges, such as concerns over becoming so different in character that I may seem too alien to relate well to others – an important thing for being supportive and doing good in the world. Even making public this concern may have the negative effect of sounding conceited, and surely I must caution myself against that. I am still very much a learner and still have my fair share of challenges and difficulties. Yet, I can’t deny that my practice has had an effect on how I see the world and how I relate to others who may not be on the same path (or, in some cases, any path). And then there is the challenge of negative impulses that come with being impatient with others for being or acting in the ways we once did. I mention all of this only to demonstrate how undeniable the reality of transformation is for me.
In fact, if significant spiritual transformation is not possible via naturalistic practice, then it is unclear why one would even engage in any spiritual tradition, other than seeking a community in the manner one might join a social club. Yet, my experience of this kind of transformation and the knowledge of what it can do for others is why the mission of the Spiritual Naturalist Society is so important.