History and Spirit As Forces in the Individual
In this post, I described how human beings inhabit the dual dimensions of history and Spirit.
Our quest is to order ourselves rightly around and between these dimensions. We know when these aspects of our being are working in concert because when this is the case, we become makers of history and not its automatons merely. When we live too much within the domain of history, we surrender our agency, constantly reacting to developments within the long chain of temporal cause and effect.
Most people live this way. Most people do not exercise the spiritual capacities they possess. So long as these lie dormant within the individual, he remains captive to the forces of history, unable to transcend.
Because history is the domain of loss and tragedy, the man dominated by historical forces, the man whose spiritual capacities remain asleep, consigns himself to more than his share of suffering.
Suffering demands one of two responses. We must either submit or transcend. The man who submits normally does so through blame. He blames his mother, he blames all women, he blames his boss, the system or God.
Enough of this, and his mindset becomes that of a victim. Thus does he bring onto himself more suffering. When he operate from his victim mindset he operates from a vision that sees only the forces which are most visible within the realm of history.
He may become obsessed with vengeance or material gain. He may seek to lose himself in sex or other pleasures. Life may seem to be about little more than getting what he can get in order to stave off pain and experience a few moments of pleasure.
His chief obsession, however it may disguise itself, will be with power because a certain sort of power is the primary social mover within the historical. Whether his obsession manifests as consuming interest in sex, wealth or status, it is the desire for power that truly moves him. All his surface obsessions are merely disguises for what he really wants: the power to escape his suffering without doing the work required to cultivate his spiritual capacities.
Thus, does the historical man reduce himself, not merely to the animal level, but to the level of the machine. His will has been surrendered totally to the historical domain, leaving him operating according to his programming. Wherever there is a chance of gaining power to salve his ache, he goes without mind or sense. History flips his switch and the robot shudders and launches into is hunt.
Fortunately, few of us are totally surrendered to the historical domain. We use our spiritual capacities to, at the very least, guide us through daily life in a way that safeguards our dignity. We hold transcendent values and sometimes, when push finally comes to shove, act on them.
Most of us however do not use these capacities enough. Our lives and souls remain more dominated by the historical domain than is good for either us or our neighbors.
A good measure of how fully we are bringing our spiritual powers to bear on the forces of history is how much we feel like a victim. The greater the sense of victimhood, the lower the exercise of spiritual power to transcend and shape the forces of history in our lives.
The temptation to surrender to history and its tragedies is great. We must resist. When we give up and let our spiritual capacities lie fallow, we surrender more than we know because we surrender the essence of our humanity.