My Spiritual Philosophical View

The following article was written as an piece of assignment I did for my undergrad Social Work degree in 2021. I share it here now as a testimony and for encouragement. I have not edited it although my writing has improved, choosing to keep it as is, the original written testimony of one of the many times God has delivered me. God bless you.

Thesis Statement

The spiritual philosophical view encompasses the material world which can be empirically observed, and identifies the immateriality of a higher truth, a spiritual reality.

Introduction

In philosophy, spiritualism is “… a characteristic of any system of thought that affirms the existence of immaterial reality imperceptible to the senses. So defined, spiritualism embraces a vast array of highly diversified philosophical views” (Britannica, 2020). In this essay I will discuss the Spiritual view of philosophy and attempt to define what having a spiritual view of philosophy looks like and how this relates to the profession of social work. I will discuss the work of philosophers whose philosophical views influence my own and I will give a personal account of a near death experience which gave me a glimpse of a higher reality. I will then conclude by stating my assertations of the basis on which a spiritual philosophical view can be developed and preserved.

“Spirituality also has an irreducible dynamic and holistic quality. It connects us with conceptions and experiences of profound, transcendent, sacred, or ultimate qualities. Its deepest meaning cannot be expressed, but its expressions and names are numerous” (Canda & Furman, 2020). The fundamental function of spirituality is not to merely ascertain what is physically observable but also what may exist outside of what is observable by the senses. A well-defined spiritual philosophical view should translate into egalitarianism, and the holistic care for ourselves and others. It must lead one to question the nature and finality of the material reality and engage with the essence of what is transcendent, immaterial, and yet evident in the nature of our thoughts, imagination, mind, and spiritual encounters. Having a spiritual philosophical view can enable the mind, heart, and imagination to reach beyond the constructs of a physical body, and of the society in which one lives to engage with the concept of an immaterial, spiritual mind. This should strengthen our resolve to live well in a manner that is not only contingent upon what is materially constructed and observable to our physical senses but also upon what is infinite and immaterial.

“Although researchers or social work practitioners cannot directly observe drives, they can infer them from observation of pervasive human activities that strive for profundity, meaning, transcendence, and integrity. We can also document people’s description of their spiritual motivations and purposes” (Canda & Furman, 2020). The spiritual view of philosophy is a great framework by which social work practitioners can effectively enhance practice because it’s scope of awareness addresses the nature of both physical and non-physical concerns that a client may have. “In a spacetime continuum, solidity, and volume manifest only at present, or actuality. There is no material past, nor future” (Duchesne, 2017). The past and future are immaterial, yet they occupy much of human thought, motivation, and energy. Spiritualism does not solely rely on what is empirically observed but also on what is present in the nature of our thoughts, mind, intellect and will. These unobservable elements affect our lives daily. To truly be an agent of change, one must be open and willing to engage with the physical and spiritual needs of clients (Slife, & Reber, 2009).

“The very concept of spirituality in the West as we know it today comes from Plato…” (Dardagan, 2017). Plato’s teachings and writings have influenced a great amount of Western Philosophical ideas on the nature of reality, the soul, the intellect, and many other philosophical concepts. His teachings have influenced the development of my own spiritual and philosophical beliefs. Plato’s Myth of the Cave is an allegorical piece that demonstrates the true state of reality as not only material but also immaterial. Plato identifies the immaterial reality as far superior to the material reality of existence, and the attainment of a higher state of being, something to strive for. (Dardagan, 2017). “According to Plato we should live a life which is not directed towards Lower Realm and not to be too entangled in material existence, but rather we should have been facing a "real" or spiritual existence in Upper Realm” (Dardagan, 2017).

In line with the Cartesian Scepticism method of questioning what I think I know to be true and real; I have formed my own spiritual philosophical beliefs. (Cartesian Scepticisms, 2016). I was raised in a legalistic and religious household. I now identify as a non-religious person of faith. My beliefs are best described philosophically as Spiritual. My Spiritual beliefs are based on the monotheistic Jewish God of the Bible, without ascription to any particular denominational interpretation of Biblical literature. I believe that my philosophy of the spiritual aspects of my own existence strengthens me to banish doubt in my finite material abilities, and in the inherit goodness of the intelligent designer. My belief is personal and born from my own unique experiences, and the choices I make to engage with the spiritual reality. Even though I do not believe in convincing anyone of my beliefs, I can see the immense value that my spiritual philosophical view provides in motivating me become a social worker to help others.

When I was 7 years old, I had a near death experience in Carreysburg, Liberia where my family had lived for several generations. I developed a high fever from malaria. We were poor and there were no doctors or hospitals nearby. My mother had no means of getting me to the hospital which was at least 40 minutes away with a vehicle. None of our relatives who we lived with at the time had a vehicle. My mother hoped that my fever would break that night so I could be taken into the city in the morning to find a doctor to treat the malaria parasites causing the fever in my body. My mother later told me that my temperature was dangerously high, and I was no longer breathing normally. After seeing her children sick many times and being able to bring down the fever by applying a cool towel repeatedly to our heads until we could get to a doctor or until the fever broke, she became afraid when she saw that not only my fever was climbing, but my breathing had become shallow and my eyes slightly open. I had become nonresponsive to her trying to wake me.

My mother said she then backed away from the bed I was lying on because she did not want to witness my death. According to her account, mother prayed on her knees as she wept. She prayed to the Christian God of the Bible for my healing while keeping a distance from me. I do not know how long this went on for but according to my mother she suddenly heard me breathing normally again. She drew closer to me and saw my eyelids were fully closed and beads of sweat could be seen on my forehead and neck. The fever had broken. According to my mother’s account, she shook me and spoke to me as she had been unable to wake me before. She asked, “Precious, are you going to die”? I woke up briefly to tell her clearly that the man who had sat on my bedside said I wasn’t going to die, then went straight back to sleep. The next day, I was back to normal without a trace of fever or illness.

I saw something different in the same room as my mother. I remember opening my eyes that night. The room was bright like it was day, but it was evening in our time. A very unintimidating man in white sat on the left hand side of my bed. There was no one else in the room besides us. I asked him,” am I going to die”? He smiled and said “No”. That’s all I remembered. I did not even remember my mother waking me up and asking me if I was going to die until she told me what I had said.

In my true sceptical mind, I have replayed this experience in my head many times as an adult and tried to make sense of it. I question if the vision was caused by the fever, my imagination or anything else. The most definitive evidence I have that I had the experience is my mother’s testimony of what I told her when she tried to wake me and the fact that I had never seen a book, movie, or image of anything or anyone like that before. Before this experience, I had only seen and heard of images of great, powerful angels, fairies, the blonde, blue eyed Jesus and of other eastern religious deities. At 44 years of age, I still have yet to see an image with my own eyes like I saw that night.

I believe that had my imagination or the fever had been responsible for the vision and the interaction I experienced, it would have been of a fairy, an angel with wings and a sword, a Caucasian, blue eyed Jesus, or of God, the Father (Judeo Christian) on a throne because these were all physical and mental images, I had acquired before this experience. I had an experience that I was not materially observable with my own physical senses however, through the spiritual philosophical view, I believe my encounter was with an entity in an immaterial reality in which we both existed. My mother who was fully conscious did not see him. The room which was dimly lit by a candle in the evening was bright as day and the man I saw was so unimpressive in appearance, that I spoke to him without any hesitation, fear, or timidity. I also miraculously recovered from the malaria without medical or medicinal aid.

Conclusion

The definition of a thing is not the sum of a thing (Canda, 2020). We assume as a species that the answer to a question is more valuable than the question. I believe that with the spiritual view of philosophy, the questions we engage with demonstrate an awareness which is more valuable than the answers we seek because spirituality takes the intelligent and holistic awareness of all realities into consideration to create a frame of reference from which to explore the nature of time, space, reality, appearance, truth, and self-organisation. Philosophy by nature must engage with the whole, not simply what is materially observable. “Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing” (Euripides, 450.BC).

When it comes to the crux of an individual’s spirituality, I believe it to be a matter of faith. I believe faith to be the epitome of freewill. What we choose to have faith in is contingent upon our experiences, awareness, observations, and conditionings, which are all uniquely and personally interpreted and expressed. It is my experience that individual spirituality is as unique as a thumb print which cannot be duplicated or changed, unless subjected to an oppressive external force.

As a constructionist, I believe one’s experience of material and immaterial reality to be subjective and personally constructed. For this reason, I believe that neither science or personal faith can prove or disprove the existence of God, and what is spiritual, or dictate a specific spiritual view universally. It is a matter of faith and faith is an individual’s inherent right. “That is why experience / perception is fundamental in the development of all matter, but especially in intelligent beings: because we need it in order to be able to choose” (Duchesne, 2017).

References

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020, May 6). Spiritualism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiritualism-philosophy

Canda, E. R., & Furman, L. D. (2020). Spiritual diversity in social work practice: the heart of helping (Third). Oxford University Press.

Cartesian Scepticism - Neo, Meet Rene: Crash Course Philosophy #5. (2016, March 7). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKrmw906TM

Dardagan, A. (2017, May 13). Plato's spirituality (The Eternal Soul and the "Real" World). https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/qjw2t

Duchesne, L. R. (2017). Aether: Immaterial Substance & the God of Physicists (Part III). Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research, 8(4).

E. (2017). Euripides - Rhesus: “Question everything. Learn something. Answer nothing.” Scribe Publishing.

Inman, R. (2017). Omnipresence and the Location of the Immaterial. Oxford studies in philosophy of religion, 8.

Leonardo DiCaprio & The Nature of Reality: Crash Course Philosophy #4. (2016, February 29). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-8YsyghbU

Slife, B. D., & Reber, J. S. (2009). Is there a pervasive implicit bias against theism in psychology? Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 29(2), 63.

Talitha, cumi