Spirituality for Humanists:

    If we do not believe in any 'spirits' beyond ourselves,
can we still have a spiritual life?
This cyber-sermon will explore six capacities of inwardness beyond our
physical, emotional-psychological, & intellectual dimensions of being:

(1) self-transcendence, self-criticism, & altruism;

(2) freedom—the ability to transcend our enculturation and choose for ourselves;

(3) creativity—our capacity to make something out of nothing;

(4) love—which enables us to encounter others as Thou;

(5) anxiety—which puts us in touch with our underlying Existential Predicament;

and (6) glimpses of joy and fulfillment
—openings to living beyond angst  and despair.

OUTLINE:

Introduction: how spirit differs from other dimensions of our beings:

1. the physical dimension—given by our genes;

2. the emotional-psychological dimension—learned since birth;

3. the intellectual dimension

—characterized by words, verbal learning;

4. the spiritual dimension—beyond the physical,

emotional, and intellectual dimensions

—characterized by the following capacities.

1. Self-Transcendence, Self-Criticism, Altruism

2. Freedom: Transcending Enculturation and Choosing for Ourselves

3. Creativity: Making Something Genuinely New

4. Love: The I-Thou Encounter, Discovering other Persons of Spirit

Love in the other dimensions of being is more common.

Every Thou must become It again.

Five differences between simple fear and existential anxiety:

(1) description
(2) cause and channel of approach
(3) duration
(4) scope
(5) cure

In our deepest moments of spirit, we may notice that

depression has been lifted, angst  has disappeared.

AUTHOR:

    James Park is an existential philosopher with a deep interest in spirituality.
He has written five books on existential spirituality,
including Spirituality for Humanists.
The others will be found in the Existential Spirituality Bibliography .

    If you would like to read a draft of this proposed cyber-sermon,
click this title: Spirituality for Humanists .

The outline of this 24-page book will appear if you click the above title.
And from that outline, you may call up the complete text of each chapter.
In other words, this whole book is available free of charge on the Internet.
But if you would like a printed and bound copy,
that can easily be obtained by mail.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.