Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

[Orecha]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

There is no mundane. When one compartmentalizes, that is where imbalance begins. If you treat all life as spiritual, all actions as sacred, and live your life accordingly, then everything starts to fall into line. The trick is seeing through the illusion of black and white that we westerners have all been raise in. Good/evil, male/female, me/everything else, etc. --this is all illusion. All is sacred, all is connected, and separation is the road to ruin.

[DON]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I agree they are one.
My entire day is made up of doing mundane things while in communication with spiritual things.
I don't go "hey, it's 7 p.m. and time for my appointment with the creator of the universe".
I go through my day in steady conversation (not out loud lol), observing things, asking questions, recognising blessings and such.

When this isn't happening, then I find my mundane life tends to get messy.

[SleepingCompass]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I just read a Witchvox article which began by saying that one's mundane life must be in order before one's spiritual life can follow. Perhaps it's a commonly distributed bit of advice.

I'm trying to do things in reverse. I had assumed that my mundane life being out of whack was just a symptom of the underlying issue, and that getting my spiritual and emotional affairs in order would translate into a better, more organized and calm daily life by providing an anchor of sorts.

What do you think?

I agree with you, I think, if I'm understanding this right.

When my mundane life is a mess, usually I've been forgetting about my spirituality. But if I'm putting effort into keeping my spiritual life active and healthy, then my mundane life seems to just follow along and is so much better and happier too.

On the other hand, if I do it like that article you read says and continue to ignore/forget my spiritual life in favor of fixing my mundane life back up to par first, then nothing seems to get fixed on either front.

To me, the spiritual parts are the life blood of the whole deal; without the spirituality, it just all seems dull and rather painful.

Anyways, that's the way it is for me, though everyone is different.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Or... spiritual IS finding beauty (for lack of a better word) and meaning within the mundane...

[Heka]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Agree with Thal, and all that have added to her post.

But - I find that if I'm not eating properly, oversleeping, and all other mundane shit is going to hell, then I do not have a 'spiritual life'. (equilibrium of about 99 mundane - 1 spiritual)

For me, it's about learning to find the spiritual in the mundane ALL THE TIME.

[ChainLightning]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Agreed.

So, my answer to the initial posit?


This:

Which is more important? (mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)


Yes.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Yes!

I *say* balance alot...but really I don't believe in it. I believe (and despite what the dictionary says, they really aren't the same thing) in equilibrium. Because, with equalibrium, the system is always in flux depending on changing demands...in "balance" there's this subversive subconscious idea that things must be "equal".

The mundane *is* sacred, there's no separation between the two...but, sometimes something will be more "high minded" and something else more "nitty gritty", that I think makes us feel as if there is a division. More because our minds very much lean towards dichotomous thinking--very black and white...but real life is a spectrum (or, more than a spectrum...its a spectrum in 4 dimensions...or like a hyperbolic function, which you have to crochet or knit to see).

I agree. We (collective use) tend to use "Balance" to describe it but I agree that it's not really balance in the concept of a 50 - 50 ratio but more of a dynamic ratio that is in constant flux and movement to create a whole of 100 percent. Some days the mundane gets the total 100, some days the spiritual gets it but most times it's a constant sliding scale as it changes through out my day.

[anubisa]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I don't think they are separate. I don't think there is a mundane life and a spiritual life...you either have a life where you find the divine in the mundane and the mundane in the divine, or you don't. Personally, I think assuming they are separate and one comes before the other is courting imbalance.

I agree with thalassa as well. I don't think they are separate. I just don't think they can be. The mundane is part of your spiritual life. At least that is my opinion.

[Rowanwood]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

....its a spectrum in 4 dimensions...or like a hyperbolic function, which you have to crochet or knit to see).

/start thread derail

This is totally why I struggle with crochet. I try....but it's like hand-eye coordination calculus and I'm lucky I can walk and chew gum.

Though I can totally pull a Robin Hood with a bow. I don't get that.

Anyway...

/derail

[thalassa]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Balance is overrated.

Yes!

I *say* balance alot...but really I don't believe in it. I believe (and despite what the dictionary says, they really aren't the same thing) in equilibrium. Because, with equalibrium, the system is always in flux depending on changing demands...in "balance" there's this subversive subconscious idea that things must be "equal".

The mundane *is* sacred, there's no separation between the two...but, sometimes something will be more "high minded" and something else more "nitty gritty", that I think makes us feel as if there is a division. More because our minds very much lean towards dichotomous thinking--very black and white...but real life is a spectrum (or, more than a spectrum...its a spectrum in 4 dimensions...or like a hyperbolic function, which you have to crochet or knit to see).

[Rowanwood]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I'm with Thal that I don't see a distinction. My mundane life IS my spiritual life. It's just all my life.

However, trying to find perfect balance is like juggling knives. You are going to hurt yourself. I just try to hang on to the safety bar as the roller coaster flips over so I don't fall out. Balance is overrated.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I just read a Witchvox article which began by saying that one's mundane life must be in order before one's spiritual life can follow. Perhaps it's a commonly distributed bit of advice.

I'm trying to do things in reverse. I had assumed that my mundane life being out of whack was just a symptom of the underlying issue, and that getting my spiritual and emotional affairs in order would translate into a better, more organized and calm daily life by providing an anchor of sorts.

What do you think?

I think the mundane has to be in order for the spiritual to work. Consider that no matter how much the spiritual feeds your body it will die unless the mundane body is feed as well. Yet if you do not have the means to feed the mundane then the body can not be feed. So you have to have the means to obtain food to feed the body. That means a job or whatever but the mundane has to be in balance and working before you can dedicate the time and energy to the spiritual.

Sort of like social development I suppose. Artistic endeavors didn't develop until basic mundane needs were filled. Once you had a balance or surplus then you could dedicate the time to the other. Well unless you were of the religious class and others provided to you which not to many of us have today.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

Which is more important? (mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

What do you think?

Yes.

[Chris]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

you've got to listen to yourself and find what works for you.

nice one !

that works for me too...the spiritual side of things works fine...the mundane side...blimey how many psychologists have you on hand....balance is something that every one of us has to find for ourselves

there is no right and no wrong balance....just what works

[Ophidia]

Re: Which Is More Important? (Mundane Life vs. Spiritual Life)

I'm confused by your response. If they each need equal tending, how then does a balanced inside equate to a balanced outside?

There's no right or wrong answer - each individual has to find their own balance.

For me, it was the realization that I don't need to be out in the woods to feel spiritual. I don't even like the Great Outdoors unless there is a hotel with a bar, good restaurant & hot running water nearby. Once I learned that a city could be my personal sacred space, it cleared up a lot of time I had spent looking for time when I could 'get away from it all'. My tapwater is sacred, the food in my fridge is sacred and I'm sacred. When I need to reconnect, I take a hot shower or go out in my backyard & wave to the Moon, or even just close my eyes and focus on my breathing for a few minutes.

But that's what works for me - you've got to listen to yourself and find what works for you.