THE SPIRITUALITY OF ESPIRITISMO
I was reflecting on this topic today, especially as I look out on the world and see more and more people gatekeeping, declaring who’s in and out and who can do what—or not do what. But one of my core practices is Espiritismo, which in English is called Spiritism. I am not going to belabor the history of espiritismo here, but the part that I want to focus on is a spiritist’s openness to many if not all spiritual paths and seeing them as valid. I had to in fact recently explain to someone that belief in God was not even an absolute necessity in espiritismo, which seemed to shock them. But when you dive into the guts of Spiritism, you quickly realize that God is not the narrowly defined, anthropomorphic Father-Who-Looks-Like-Us projection. God is understood to be Light and Intelligence. Everything the lives and breathes emanates from that Light and Intelligence, including spirits.
A spiritist is usually very open as a human being due to the fact that because of our spiritual practice and the discipline in requires, we can find that Light and Intelligence in any spiritual space. Religious and non-religious. Because we have these mystical experiences, it opens us up more and more. We start eschewing absolutes in our beliefs, and constantly assess for beliefs internal and external to ourselves that don’t make sense to hold onto in light of this. Because Spiritism started as a scientific spiritual system, questioning and even rejecting certain concepts is a part of the practice.
Honestly though, these few pieces I am highlighting can get us in a lot of trouble. Just like Spiritism did in Europe when it ran afoul of the absolutisms of European Catholicism. In a country and world that day by day seems to be giving into the temptations of tribalism in the worst sense of that word, we can seem out of sync to declare that no one has a cornerstone on the truth, and that the Truth Itself is ever-evolving. That even spiritual traditions that originated in one ethnic group may itself expand beyond those ethnic boundaries into new manifestations and evolutions of its 1.0 version. Espiritistas believe this happens because God and God’s Creation itself is evolving in a positive direction that can be shaken, but never stopped. Religious figures like Jesus, or the Buddha, we see as people who expanded the circle of inclusive community. But just as these agents of Light and Intelligence further humanity’s evolution, there are Opposing Forces that seek to spread misfortune. One example of this are people who want to close our borders, circle the wagons and snuff the life out of Brown and Black bodies. In America, if we are honest as a nation, we must admit that half of this country no longer wants the challenge of diversity from our differences. People are free to fight me on this point, but if it were not true, Trump would not be our President.
An espiritista sees this for what it is, and then ponders how to be an agent of Light and Intelligence in a world that still often chooses to stay in the proverbial dark. Because our spiritual practices expose us to spiritual realities through our bodies, we come to develop an understanding of a Big Picture reality that exists independent of our world’s sociopolitical state. That reality we perceive changes us. Fascism doesn’t sit well (for many reasons) because God can be found anywhere. This one idea is revolutionary and is the thing that drives many of us, in different ways, to expand the boundaries of inclusion like so many before us have done.
So here is my final word here: as you listen to people in your life and around me, myself included, ask yourself if the person you are listening to values authentic inclusion and expanding it, or if they want you to circle the wagons? Do they advocate for dealing with problems with a sort of arrogant aggression, or do they encourage introspection and compassion?
I end with these words from Dr. Howard Thurman that carry me through dark times:
“Look well to the growing edge. All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms, green fruit.
Such is the growing edge. It is the extra breath from the exhausted lung, the one more thing to try when all else has failed, the upward reach of life when weariness closes in upon all endeavor. This is the basis of hope in moments of despair, the incentive to carry on when times are out of joint and men and women have lost their reason, the source of confidence when worlds crash and dreams whiten into ash. Such is the growing edge incarnate. Look well to the growing edge.”
