Spirituality and Democracy
The Practical Guide
By isolating autocracy, the different parties and factions of our democracy are gradually uniting under a common vision, one that sees politics within the bigger picture of life. In its broadest sense, this is spirituality, allowing for different beliefs, religious and nonreligious, to coalesce around a developing vision of social interaction beyond the physical. The first hurdle we have been overcoming is getting beyond the differences of our physical appearance, treating each other equally.
Seeing one another spiritually is the foundation of spirituality in democracy, without losing sight of the good, bad and ugly of what is physically before us. We can say that spiritually we are light, beyond our physical appearance. And while this is symbolical, subject to each of our own interpretations, it does hold common meaning between us by describing our shared experience as conscientious life, the basis for the singularity of democracy.
We can also say that, spiritually, there is a unity that exists between our light, a common level of intelligence called the light of Word (the Word of Life or the Word of God, depending on our beliefs). It also exists in full in each of us, blind to it or not in our democracy. The word ethnos in Greek bears this out, meaning citizen and nation. Citizens exist within a nation and their nation exists in each of them.
Therefore, if we love Name (Life or God), we do so from the light of Word, the singularity of our unity as it exists on both levels. This is who we are, citizens part of a nation and citizens each reflecting our entire nation. And that is what makes democracy work, a singularity understood by its spirituality.
Those of us who do not know who they are are still part of the singularity of our democracy. Both levels of our singularity are still used, in full, to love Name and, in full, each other, despite some of us being unaware of the entire nation reflecting in them. Possessing such awareness is possible because of the intelligent love in our singularity. It flourishes according to the principle of conscience (suneidesis)1—making all others more important than ourselves without being against ourselves, explained in The Practical Guide below.
With the light of our singularity, we see through the illusion of those who do not know who they are, loving them as enemies of themselves, enemies of their own position in the singularity of our democracy. We are not against our positions though. So we bear with the bad they do before our eyes and resist the ugly, while still loving them as enemies of their own position in our national conscience.
The Practical Guide
Four Basic Rules
Visually respect all others in your heart by making the light of their identity (without gender, ethnicity or age) more important than your own in the light of Name. With the goodness of the light of Word, see their light through yours without blocking either so that you can give Name all your agapé through them.
While visually respecting everyone like this, reject any illusion in anyone who does not know who they are in the light of Name—seeing through their illusion with every thought and feeling in the light of Word.
While visually respecting everyone and rejecting all illusion, see the inner act of disrespecting others as the loss of spiritual will. Assuming it is willful when we cannot know only tempts us to judge others or ourselves.
While visually respecting everyone and rejecting all illusion, see the act of carrying out such actions physically as the loss of physical will. Since we cannot know on the spiritual level, we cannot assume we know on the physical level. Either way, distinguish between the good, bad and ugly and bear with the bad but resist the ugly—while still loving those who commit them in regards to who they are in the light of Name, not who they blindly think they are in their physical attributes.
Three Refined Rules
Visually respect Name by loving the aspect of its light that perpetually cleanses (yirah) the eyes of our heart. But at the same time, it blinds them with fear when we do not do our part, through our oneness in the light of Word, to fully restore our spiritual and physical wills and respect all others on both levels. Seeing the light of the cleansing aspect both ways at the same time helps us realize that nothing originates in totality from our position in Name’s light. We partake of everything in the light of Name through the light of Word and are blessed or cursed in it by our own choices, individually and collectively.
Visually respect Name by loving the aspects of its light that cleanse our eyes and fill us with a healthy anger, one directed toward those of us who do not respect all others. At the same time though, they are misusing Name’s aspect of anger in themselves so as to disrespect others, trying to make anyone fear who they can through misuse of Name’s cleansing aspect. Seeing these aspects both ways at the same time frees us from thinking anymore that we can see anyone independent of the light of Name. We are blessed or cursed in it by our individual and collective choices.
Visually respect Name by loving these two aspects together with the purity of desire for Name and its memory in us. It fills the eyes of our heart with the past and present goodness of Name in the light of Word and reveals it in the disrespectful as well. They misuse even this in themselves to foolishly strengthen what binds them, binding themselves tighter in Name’s anger. They do so to hopefully see fear in those they disrespect, making their binding complete in these three aspects of the light of Name. Recognize them, without anything of their own, blindly wrestling with the light of Name in themselves, despite the outer appearance that they are in control of themselves. Witnessing it empowers us to see through their illusion and bless them for who they really are in the light of Word. This keeps us aware of the singularity of our democracy and its full blessing in the light of Word—while resisting the ugly things they commit without judging them in the light of Name. For we are not against ourselves.
With the light of Word, visually respect these three aspects as one in Name, the single light of cleansing, healthy anger and good desire. Consider how the anger of this light is used by parents protecting their children and democracies protecting their oppressed. But are they keeping the eyes and desire of their heart true by using the cleansing of this light?
Since Word is everyone’s life, however you define this according to your beliefs, the anger of Name’s light protects Word in everyone, including those of us who do not know who they are in it. Name’s anger protects Word in those whom some parents judge and blindly hate when protecting their children with limited love (agapé) and in those whom some democracies judge and blindly hate when protecting their oppressed with the same.
Of course, Name’s anger equally protects Word in these parents also and their children, as well as in these democracies and their oppressed. However, Word encourages us to test ourselves with these words to see if we know who we are: to the measure you did good or bad to these the least of my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. Choosing to do the good, all parents and democracies can learn to use unlimited agapé to defend their children and the oppressed, without tearing at our collective awareness of—the singularity of Word in and between all families of our democracies.
The Practical Guide helps us differentiate between knowing who we all are in the light of Name and not knowing. It opens our eyes to the loss of will that comes with not knowing and the resulting bad and ugly things done. It starts with judging others, thinking we are right in assuming that they know what they are doing in the light of Name, regardless of what they know about their physical actions. This is a clear indication that we do not know concerning ourselves but—again without judging—may be beginning to realize that we do not and are ready to know who we are. We should all want to know whether or not we too are blindly wrestling with the light of Name, individually or collectively.
The spirituality of democracy is not a matter of faith, although it does not hurt to see it this way in whomever or whatever we may put our faith. If it were though, we would have already come to understand what loving the enemies of conscience means. It is difficult or painful to understand at times. But it is all worth it when our mind and conscience transcend in us collectively, the growth of democracy. And it is during the worst of times that democracy grows the most.
Spirituality and Democracy Plus One
Suneidesis is pronounced soon-eye-day-sis. After reading the link explaining it, you will see how central it is to this teaching. Using this foreign word regularly in discussions helps us get accustomed to experiencing something new and positive in our awareness. When the word conscience is used, it will refer to the aspect of suneidesis that involves right and wrong, but this aspect cannot be separated from our co-conscientious awareness.