Reasons why spirituality seems suspicious
Reasons why spirituality seems suspicious
I will talk about the reasons why spirituality is often perceived as suspicious. From a spiritual perspective, there are several causes for why people might think spirituality is dubious.
Even I, if I had lived an ordinary life like anyone else, might have thought spirituality seemed suspicious.
First, regarding the left and right brain: the left brain is skilled at organizing words, logical reasoning, calculation, and comparison. It tends to excel in recognizing the visible, material world and generally works in a more analytical, scientific way.
The right brain, on the other hand, is skilled at recognizing rhythms in music, perceiving images, intuition, and overall atmosphere. It tends to excel in sensing the invisible, emotional, or spiritual aspects, and generally works in a more creative or humanities-oriented way.
Ideally, a balanced development of both hemispheres is desirable. However, humans are creatures who seek value, and imbalances often occur. As a result, differences in thinking and values naturally emerge.
In Japan, the education system places high value on knowledge that can be seen and shared as common understanding. It also tends to promote the belief that only what can be seen is true. Therefore, it is natural that spirituality, which cannot always be expressed or verified visually, is often perceived as suspicious.
Regarding schemas, a schema refers to a framework or diagram, and humans use the schemas they possess to recognize and interpret things.
For example, when there is a cup in front of you, you recognize it as a cup because the information in your mind—such as “cups are hard” or “cups are containers for water”—matches what exists in the real world.
This may seem obvious, but it is not. For instance, if a cup that should not move starts rattling, the information in your schema no longer matches reality. This discrepancy triggers heightened caution and stress, as your mind may perceive it as something potentially harmful.
Schemas can also work by forcing a match with things that are merely similar. For example, an object that roughly resembles a cup might be recognized as a cup because your schema aligns it with the concept of a cup.
One reason spirituality is often seen as suspicious is that people’s existing schemas for “suspicious things” can overlap with spiritual experiences. When the information aligns with those schemas, spirituality appears dubious.
In such cases, memories of events like the Aum Shinrikyo cult or scams by people claiming psychic powers can make spirituality seem suspicious to those who carry those associations.
Regarding the growth of the soul, as discussed repeatedly in this blog: the growth of knowledge occurs through individual insights, and the growth of the heart—spiritual development—also occurs through individual insights of the heart.
When spiritual development increases, one’s existential presence strengthens in a mental sense, the ability to fulfill the hearts of others increases, and the broader the insights, the wider one’s perspective on life becomes. This is not a difficult concept; it is about becoming an adult in a spiritual sense.
Low spiritual development means weaker existential presence in a mental sense. People with low spiritual development tend to prioritize satisfying their own hearts over others’, and because they have fewer insights of the heart, their perspective is narrower. This is also not a complex idea—it is akin to being a child spiritually.
A characteristic of spiritual development is that people with low spiritual development struggle to notice the values of those with high spiritual development, while those with high spiritual development perceive the less developed as spiritually immature.
Japanese education tends to place high value only on individual insights of knowledge, giving little weight to insights of the heart. As a result, people with low spiritual development are more common.
Because of the lack of heart-based insights, noticing the value of spirituality is difficult. It is therefore natural that, in Japan, many people perceive spirituality as suspicious.
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