What is spiritual humanism? How can a humanist who does not have any beliefs about the supernatural also be spiritual? What does practicing spiritual humanism look like? I created this website to offer my personal answers to these questions.
I am not selling the answers to all of life’s questions. I am not selling the solutions to all of life’s problems. I am not selling a worldview that is somehow better than other worldviews. I am simply sharing a perspective on ethics and spirituality that I happen to enjoy.
I am agnostic about the supernatural. I do not deny the supernatural. I simply have no convincing evidence of the supernatural. Without evidence of the supernatural, I have no basis on which to form beliefs about the supernatural. Without beliefs about the supernatural, I cannot practice any spirituality that relies on beliefs about the supernatural. I need an approach to spirituality that does not involve any beliefs about the supernatural.
Drawing on ideas from the Dalai Lama’s books Ethics for a New Millennium and Beyond Religion, I define ethics and spirituality in the following ways:
- Ethics is my commitment to help reduce suffering and promote well-being for the benefit of all.
- Spirituality is my commitment to cultivate personal qualities and values that improve my ability to reduce suffering and promote well-being.
My approach to ethics and spirituality is humanistic because it sets aside beliefs about the supernatural and focuses on life in this world, here and now. It searches for ways of responding to difficult conditions of human existence such as suffering, aging, and death. It adopts an attitude of thinking about how to live a worthwhile life, taking into account both what is important to me and what impact my life has on other people.
Practicing ethics and spirituality requires more than merely defining ethics and spirituality. I use ideas and practices from Buddhism to help me fulfill my ethical and spiritual commitments.
- I do my best to uphold 10 ethical guidelines taught by Buddhism.
- I study Buddhist teachings to cultivate a more compassionate worldview.
- I use Buddhist practices to calm my mind.
However, I do not limit myself to Buddhism. I supplement Buddhist teachings and practices with ideas from poems, religions, philosophies, and the sciences.
My approach to Buddhism is not typical. I camp at the edges of Buddhism. I have already decided not to grow angry or argue with anyone who says that I am not a Buddhist. I may indeed be so atypical that, for many people, I fall outside the borders of Buddhism.
The photo of the blue flower on this page was taken by Gilberto Olimpio. It is available for free at https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-blue-flower-3686216/.