Does the United States Have Its Own Spirituality?

By Jim Sher

In this week’s article, I believe it’s important to begin a discussion of this as it might account for a lot of what’s happening in this country right now.

Religion vs. Spirituality

Let’s start by making a distinction between religiosity and spirituality as one has nothing to do with the other. In fact, the difference is a fundamental one. Religion requires from its “faithful” a reliance on a set of beliefs or dogmas that is embraced by that religion. One must live in accordance with the structure of these tenets or be criticized or ostracized. In other words, there is a penalty if one strays from these beliefs.

On the other hand, spirituality has nothing to do with the embracing of any beliefs. Why not? Because all beliefs are mental constructs. It is these very constructs which are in the way of having a direct experience of the Divine. To have this mystical experience one must let go of all mental constructs and see them for what they are…obstacles. This is in fact the essence of the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti whose entire focus was on being able to have the direct experience which he defined in one word…Love.

Spirituality Across Cultures

When I look at many other countries, including dictators and authoritarians, what I see is that in every case, spirituality does exist within the culture but is punished when it is expressed. For example, in China, the teachings of Lao Tzu and Taoism, which is almost 3,000 years old. Moreover, many people in China and all across the world use the I Ching as both an advisor on specific problems and also as teaching a new way of living because there is a profound underlying philosophy by which one ought to live to be in alignment with the flow of life.

In Turkey, President Erdogan has openly attacked and persecuted Sufism, which is the spiritual aspect of Islam. While many Muslims rebuke Sufism, this is because Sufism is not a religion at all, but does undermine the authority of the dictator. There was an incident a few years ago when a professional basketball player criticized Erdogan and would be arrested and thrown in jail if he were to return to his native land. An even worse example is the Turkish spiritual leader, Fethullah Gulen, who had to exile to Pennsylvania to avoid being assassinated by Erdogan.

In India, Hinduism was discouraged and blocked as much as possible due to England’s 200-year colonial rule. This didn’t end until the courageous efforts of Mahatma Gandhi, who in 1947 changed both India and the world due to his emphasis on nonviolence.

Christianity and Gnosticism

In Christianity something similar occurred. Originally the early Christians were not dogmatic, but were focused on having direct experiences of the Divine. Gradually, the Gnostic approach emerged in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD among early Jewish and Christian groups. One of the advocates for this approach was Valentinus who believed there were three kinds of people… the spiritual, psychical, and material. Only those of a spiritual nature were able to receive gnosis (direct knowledge) that would enable them to return to the divine Pleroma. It was around 170AD when Gnosticism was rebuked by the Christian Church and the work of Valentinus was destroyed. In other words, religion superseded the possibility of having direct experience of the Divine.

Sacrifices for Spiritual Freedom

What all of these people have in common is they had to make huge sacrifices to try to wrest away from dictators their demand to be free to determine how to live, and to this day this effort has failed as religion has successfully blocked all attempts to take away its authority.

The history I am giving here is my attempt to give some background to the state of things in the U.S. In fact, the U.S. was founded by Puritans who were religious reformers who left England in the 1600’s to practice their religion freely in the “New World.” So, now let’s get back to the question…has the United States ever had a battle take place between religion and spirituality? I do not believe it has.

The closest thing to this was the short-term efforts of the Transcendentalists in the 1800’s who advocated for some kind of personal experience of the Divine. I still recall that in high school I was forced to read “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau who was one of the first Transcendentalists along with Ralph Waldo Emerson. This is as close as we have come to have our own spiritual tradition..

Materialism and the United States Ethos

So, what is the actual ethos of the United States? It is basically materialism and specifically economic capitalism. There is nothing spiritual in these philosophies at all. But, this is who we are as a nation and it is ruling us. Thus, once this is realized, there is no surprise that we are ruled by the billionaire class which is composed of about 700 people. These 700 people have a total wealth of $6.20 trillion dollars which is about $35 trillion dollars or 20% of the national debt. Please let this sink in. Does this not mean that 700 people control our entire country? One of them is worth $304 billion. Is this level of wealth even conceivable to us in terms of its power over our economic and political world? I can’t grasp its significance.

Conclusion

My conclusion is that the United States has never had its own spirituality even in a world where other dictatorial nations have had in varying degrees some spiritual sensibilities underlying its citizens. Is this not a unique situation? My take from all of this is simple.

The people of the United States have nothing spiritual to hold onto. It is religion that governs us with the exception of the very few, possibly like the readers of this Blog who resonate with the call of the spiritual life. We do exist and by confronting the reality of what I am describing here I hope that we will recognize that we are the “seed” of any future possibility for us to initiate a new movement that is fundamentally spiritual. It’s up to us.

Further, I believe that astrology itself has the ability to become a critical part of this movement. This is the essence of my book “Astrology as a Spiritual Path: Birth of the New Human.” In the U.S. astrology is becoming far more popular than it’s ever been. This means that if it’s placed on a new footing that is fundamentally spiritual that it might become a lightning rod with the potential to ignite this movement. The United States needs this as it might be the only way we will be able to move away from the control the billionaire class that so dominates our nation.

Explore Astrology as a Spiritual Path

Astrology as a Spiritual Path offers a transformative approach to understanding astrology. This book invites readers to explore astrology as a profound journey of self-discovery and personal evolution, revealing how astrology can serve as a powerful guide to uncovering unconscious patterns, embracing inner growth, and aligning with life’s natural cycles.

Whether you’re a seasoned astrologer or new to the practice, Astrology as a Spiritual Path offers valuable insights. See the book website: astrologyasaspiritualpath.com.

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