A Spiritual Worldview

There are some 2 billion Christians inhabiting the Ile Inurere (the Home of Humanity). There are approximately 1.2 billion Muslims, 800 million or more Hindus, and over 700 million followers of other religious traditions. If we take the broader view of religion, a personal set or institutionalized system of religious beliefs and practices, we come to recognize that more than half of the world’s inhabitants, almost the entire human population, believe in and acknowledge the existence of a Divine, Supreme, and Sentient Being responsible for the creation of the world. When we speak of a spiritual worldview we broaden the family of believers even further for here we are referencing all of those seen and unseen manifestations and forces that affect the human spirit or soul in transcendent ways.

When my youngest son was just a little boy of five or six years old we started playing a game. It was a very important wisdom game to help him in developing a spiritual worldview. A spiritual worldview and a religious worldview may be related but they are not necessarily the same. When we speak or think of a religious worldview or more specifically a religion we are generally referencing a particular creed or dogma that is distinguished from some other religious ideology and belief system. However, when we speak of a spiritual worldview we are referencing a way of seeing and being in the world that is able to appreciate and even embrace the core idea in all of the various religions and even those beliefs and practices that would not necessarily be viewed as an organized religion. As my son and I would drive to our destination I would point to or reference a particular thing like a bird, a tree, a car, a house, the sky, or a mountain, and I would ask him whether it was made or created. The key to his answers was the idea that God creates things and man makes things from what God has created. That was the first level of our wisdom game.

At the next level of our wisdom game he was taught that what God creates, the sky, the sun, moon and stars, the birds, animals and trees, the fish, rivers and oceans, the land and the mountains are all infused with spirit; and anything that has spirit should be respected and honored because it is an expression of the creative impulse of the Creator of All Things, The Greatest Creator of All. With this wisdom he was taught the lesson that all of these things are a gift to humans from the Creator, that we are dependent upon them for our survival, and that we have a responsibility to care for them as we would care for a beloved relative.

Next came the understanding that when we humans use that which is created to make something from it, we must be careful to honor and try to preserve the spirit of the things that we use. In other words, when we cut down a tree to build our house we need to be in the right frame of mind, have the right attitude and show proper respect, appreciation and gratitude for the Creator of the tree, for the water, earth, and air that sustained it and helped it to mature, and for the spiritual energy that resides in the tree itself.

As I traveled in Southeast Asia and Africa, and in my experiences with our Native American brothers and sister it was clear to me that there are still many of us who still have a spiritual worldview and who understand this spiritual way of being in the world. However, it saddens me to see how too many of us conduct ourselves in the world today. Many of us, especially in the so-called modern and advanced Western societies, and increasingly in the developing and underdeveloped parts of the world, have lost or are loosing our spiritual way of being in the world. And we will suffer great hardships because of the decline of the spiritual worldview. Science is a wonderful thing. The scientific method is a reflection of who we are as human beings. But science that is devoid of a spiritual worldview, that is infused with arrogance and disregard for the spiritual nature of the world, says that whatever can be done should be done. This is a dangerous road to travel. When science is guided by a healthy respect for the spiritual nature of our world, its interrelatedness, interconnectedness, and interdependence it will lead us to frontiers of discovery that will not destroy Ile Inurere or the life that thrives on her abundant gifts.

The Prime Directive of the Human Family as described in the Handbook On Being Human is based on a spiritual worldview that adheres to the principles of Interrelatedness, Interconnectedness, and Interdependence. (1) To seek pleasure and avoid pain for yourself and other. That includes all of our relatives, all created things, the plants, the animals, the land, and the animals. (2) To transform negative energy into positive energy through our conduct in the world. Do no harm and wherever possible be a healer for all aspects of Ile Inurere. (3) To nurture life and struggle against death for the welfare of the planet and the co-existence of all living things. What we make from the created things should not kill the spirit of those things. When we build our house from a tree we should want the positive spirit of the tree to be a part of our house. Managing this earth and the many gifts that it sustains is not an easy task. As the human population continues to increase our challenge will become even more difficult. But we are brilliant creatures in our capacity to solve problems. We simply need to align with a Prime Directive that will inform and guide our problem solving efforts.

Living in alignment with the Prime Directive

is a choice to which everyone should be invited!
You have been invited!

Create Peaceful Space! 
Trust Your Process!

Peace, Love, and Health!

Preview The Handbook On Being Human, vol. I