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Thinking Critically About Spirituality

The cognitive distortion, jumping to conclusions, occurs when we accept things at face value, draw conclusions prematurely or draw conclusions based on bias. 

As spiritual scientists, we need to apply reason and logic to our spiritual beliefs and experiences, as much as we do to anything else. Let’s have a look at how we do that.

The two most likely reasons for our jumping to conclusions; are ignorance, and being emotionally invested in a particular answer. 

We cure ignorance by asking, what do I know for certain, which puts us back in touch with a healthy dose of uncertainty. From here we are reminded to think of other possible explanations, ask more questions and seek more information.

We can work at overcoming our emotional bias by asking ourselves how we feel about the different possibilities, in order to see if we are personally invested. When we’re honest with ourselves about what we want to be true, what we fear might be true, and why, it helps liberate us from emotional influences.

Let’s look at some example of these things affect us.

If someone compliments you, and you feel good, have they made you feel good? If someone criticises you, and you feel bad, have they made you feel bad? 

We all know it seems that way, but as we have seen, a brief examination shows the cause of our feelings to be our thoughts, and not their words. This is a good example of jumping to conclusions, due to ignorance. We’ve just accepted other people as responsible for our feelings because no other possibility came to mind..

We often make assumptions of other people’s thoughts, feelings, motivations and intentions, with very little information. This is most often due to emotional bias. Strong fears and desires affect both our memory of events, and our interpretation of their meaning.

Imagine a new co-worker isn’t very talkative, and they give you one word answers when you try making conversation. How do you interpret their behaviour? Do you assume they’re grumpy, or that they don’t like you? If you feel hurt, angry or defensive, that’s a sign for you to ask yourself what you want, and what you fear, and why.

As I have just mentioned, ignorance is one of the primary causes for our being overconfident in our conclusions.

Most people have beliefs which they rarely question, since they seem self-evident, but nothing’s what it seems to be. For example, many people feel they know what matter is. 

You might say, matter is made of atoms, but what is an atom? Perhaps you say, an atom is made of electrons, neutrons, and protons. Fair enough, but what is a proton, does it have parts? It seems this line of questioning goes on without end. 

We already know the space between atoms is incredibly vast, as is the space within them. According to modern understanding, everything we see which appears solid is more than 99% empty space. I think it’s fair to say that things do not exist in the way that they appear. 

‘Science’ has only described processes and has never determined the nature of things. Since we cannot unequivocally say what the most fundamental particle of matter is, beyond giving it a name, we cannot claim to know the ultimate nature of any material thing.

We must be careful too, to refrain from thinking we know the nature of non-things, like empty space. What is the true nature of nothingness? 

True nothingness can’t be perceived by the senses, nor conceived of by the mind. It can only be inferred by the mind, and thus it exists in our mind as a concept.

The idea of nothingness or empty space, is a thought appearing to the mind: that is not true space, true nothingness, that is just a concept. And as you may recall, a thing is not its name.

Anything conceivable is a thing, and no-thingness is, by definition, not that. Whatever we may think it is, it is not that. 

We have a tendency in Western culture to consider science as totally objective, but in truth, there is no such thing as an objective experience, because the definition of an experience includes a subject. 

Science is performed and evaluated by a subject. All experiences are subjective, whether we are talking about the perception of thoughts and feelings, light or sound. Even looking at an atom with an electron microscope is a subjective experience.

More recently, quantum physicists discovered that the behaviour of subatomic particles is affected by our observation of them. They can appear as energy, or matter, and this seems to depend on whether someone’s looking! 

In other words, there’s nothing solid there which can be pointed at, and whatever’s there seems to be effected by the subject viewing it. 

This understanding threatens to destroy the traditional distinctions between the apparently objective and subjective worlds. 

It also gives more credence to the understanding that we, as subjects, play a role in creating reality, and that is something I’ll discuss in another course.

For now, it’s important to remember that what matters most, to each and every one of us, is happiness and suffering, and these are subjective. So why should we value the objective over the subjective when it’s the subjective that’s most important to us? 

If you truly wish to practice critical thinking, and approach life as a spiritual scientist, then you must ask yourself why you believe the things you believe.

Thinking critically means, being able to separate the subjective interpretation of an experience from the immediate reality of what was seen, heard, and felt. To think critically is to witness the creation of meaning, and to know that meaning is subjective, not objective.

Let me take you through some examples of how we can apply our critical thinking skills to a spiritual or supernatural experience. 

Let’s say you’re meditating and you see a spirit, either in the room, or appearing to your mind. Let’s say it’s made of white light and appears to have wings. It’s probable this form will remind us of an angel, and if we’re not thinking critically, we might just conclude that that’s what it must be.

If we are thinking critically, we might think to ourselves, this looks like an Angel (rather than believe it is).

Now say the spirit speaks to you and says, I am an Angel. If you’re not thinking critically, you’d take this at face value and think, it must be an Angel because it looks like one, and says it is one. Seems reasonable enough. 

If we are thinking critically, we may think instead, it looks like an Angel and claims to be one. 

This example shows you what it means to separate interpretation, from observation.

Thinking critically requires having a clear understanding of what was actually observed as being separate from the meaning we as humans give it.

The Spiritual Scientist remains open to possibilities, without committing to a particular interpretation of events, unless there is a lot of evidence, and even then there needs to be some practical use to the information. After all, why believe very strongly in things as existent or non-existent, possible, or impossible, if it doesn’t impact your day to day life? It’s better to remain open so that you can learn from the experiences of other people, without making assumptions. 

Not committing ourselves to beliefs about what is and isn’t true helps ensure we are in a position to have new experiences, and interpret them without bias.

Let’s continue our example. 

A religious person might conclude, that since they saw an angel, and angels are mentioned in the Bible, that other things the Bible mentions must be true as well. Or perhaps they already believe in what the Bible has to say, and that’s precisely why they think this thing’s an angel – but something’s true or false independent of what anybody thinks. No one is an authority on the truth.

If the person’s over zealous they might convince themselves that what they saw was a specific angel from the bible, like archangel Michael. 

For the critical thinker, all of this gives rise to even more questions. First of all, what is an angel? That is just a word. What exactly does it mean? How did what you see or feel prove it was an angel? If you had never heard of angels, and had never seen a picture or drawing of one, would you have concluded that it was an angel? You wouldn’t have been able to. Therefore, the meaning you have given the experience is not objective, but subjective, since the meaning you gave the experience was dependent on pre-existing knowledge. 

There’s nothing wrong with having a framework to help describe, understand and organise the things we experience, but the danger in adhering to a particular philosophy, is how easily it leads to all kinds of assumptions. We must remember that ‘the meaning’ isn’t something we have observed, but something we invented.

Say you believe the archangel Michael appeared to you while you were meditating, and you meet someone else who says claims that they have also seen archangel Michael. Many people would assume they shared an experience and possibly feel closer to each other for it. 

Do you take it at face value? How can you be certain you met with the same being or had the same experience? You’d want to find out if the person was familiar with angels before having this experience. What was the context in which it happened, was it spontaneous or were they meditating too? What were they meditating on? If you were meditating on angels, or wanting to encounter an angel, that may make a difference in how you interpret what you experience.

Most importantly, what did you each feel in the angels presence? What did you each learn from the experience that was meaningfully relevant to happiness and suffering? 

As I said before, if something isn’t practical, there’s not much reason left to cling to it as true. If we learn nothing of practical use, the experience is little more than an oddity that fades in memory. 

In this example we may have been quick to assume we shared a very similar experience, when we don’t really know that to be true. 

The opposite can also happen, and we might assume we had a very different experience from someone else when in truth they were really very similar. For example, people from all backgrounds pray and meditate, and many of them feel a great sense of love or joy when doing so. One person is inclined to think since they spoke the name of Jesus, that this feeling comes from Jesus, but someone else who spoke the name of Allah or Muhammed felt this love and joy as well. These people would be more inclined to think that their experience was meaningully different, perhaps even thinking, the love I feel is different from the love you feel because I was praying to Jesus, while you were praying to Allah. 

How can they be sure the love they feel is different? Maybe they were in touch with the same force, or entity, that they have merely given different names, not unlike the fact that there many languages, and in each, a word for love.

As a critical thinker, we don’t want to reduce diversity and claim everyone is having the same experience. It would be wrong to assume there’s one God that goes by different names, even if this seems appealing. The truth is we don’t know what other people are experiencing. 

At the same time, we don’t want to get lost in stories and mythology in a way that prevents us from recognising the more meaningful and practical themes which may indicate a shared experience. 

If we relate to each other, not through stories, but through feelings, we’ll come to understand each other a lot better. Like I said, the effect our experiences have on the way we think, feel, and behave, are what is most important. How have your experiences changed you? Have they made you more adaptable, more resilient, more loving? That is what really matters.

This may still leave you with the question, if any of these things, like spirits and chakras are real, why do some people experience them and others don’t? Well, there is at least one psychological explanation for this. 

Take this example. In my High School psychology class, we were shown a video of two teams playing basketball. There were several balls in play and we were told to count how many baskets each team got. When the video had finished, our teacher told us that someone in a mascot suit had danced slowly across the center of the screen, not once, but twice. When we watched it again, and rather than count baskets, we were looking for him, we were shocked to see him there. By no one means was he hidden. He took up a good portion of the screen. He didn’t look familiar. 

This is an example of filtering. If we only pay attention to the things we know and are familiar with, we will overlook things.

There is a reason spiritual energy is sometimes called subtle energy, because it is subtle. If you’re not paying attention, you may not notice it. This explains why people who firmly believe that subtle energy, chakras and so forth do not exist, are far less likely to experience them.

Teachings on other dimensions, reincarnation, heavenly and hellish dimensions, and spiritual energies, exist for a reason, because other people have experienced them. 

It may be tempting to take a purely scientific approach to spirituality, and consider only those teachings which appear to fit modern psychology as realistic but we would be missing out. 

Most religions and spiritual philosophies have a branch of mystical teachings related to the presence of spirits, the use of spiritual power or miracles, and all kinds of rituals for healing, fertility and abundance. 

At times these teachings may seem impractical, if not bizarre, but other times you find some gems, and so I encourage you to keep an open mind.

So long as you remember, feelings follow thoughts, and that you want to be happy, you can transform any idea, philosophy or spiritual practice into a practical healing tool.

You don’t need to believe or disbelieve anything. You don’t need to have an opinion. It’s totally okay to be uncertain. Knowing what we do not know is essential to our personal growth and, contrary to our intuition, growing comfortable with uncertainty will provide a greater peace of mind than a mistaken sense of certainty ever could, because:

  • Uncertainty is truth.
  • We will eventually encounter information that contradicts our beliefs.
  • Acknowledging uncertainty makes us more receptive and adaptable.

When we feel very certain, we must defend our position against conflicting information and points of view, but when we acknowledge and abide comfortably in uncertainty, there’s nothing to defend and we can honestly say to other people, without being condescending, that anything is possible, while still acting on what we think is most probable. 

Humility can help us keep an open mind about things, so do your best to embrace humility by considering the following facts:

  • Modern human beings have been around for 70,000 years, and the Earth is said to be 4 billion years old.
  • Only 200 years ago we didn’t know bacteria, viruses, or atoms existed.
  • You haven’t even seen a tiny fraction of this world with your own two eyes.
  • You’re smaller than an atom when compared to the size of the Universe.
  • Your lifespan is less than a millionth of a second when compared to the age of the galaxy.
  • You are just one of eight billion people alive today. They know things you do not know.

We’re not learning to think critically in order to argue with people. We’re learning to think critically to free ourselves of negative and self-limiting beliefs. 

When we keep in mind that everyone wants to be happy and free of suffering, and that everyone’s feelings are determined by their own thoughts and beliefs, we can have compassion for ourselves and others. Rather than obsessing over who is right or wrong and arguing against someone’s point of view, we can ask instead, how a way of thinking functions:

  • How do these beliefs affect the way I think?
  • How do these beliefs affect the way I feel?
  • How do these beliefs affect the way I behave?

Earlier in the course, I talked about distinguishing what is real, from what is imagined. 

We’ve also talked a lot about valuing the truth, and cultivating a sincere interest in seeing the way things are – which is what’s observed when we have no beliefs. 

At the same time, when it comes to thoughts, stories, explanations and meaning, there often is no concrete truth, and there tends to be a level of uncertainty to it all. With such things it’s more important to ask whether it is useful or not.

Your task, as a spiritual scientist, is to keep an open mind about everyone’s beliefs and experiences. To remember the power of imagination. To explore how different concepts effect you, and to use your imagination in a purposeful way to generate the feelings you want to feel.

If you’re familiar with spirits, energy work, and other esoteric or mystical things, I’m asking you to loosen your grip on the language you use. Let go of the idea they are firm realities, existing in exactly the way that you conceive. Be more open and more flexible in your interpretation of how these things exist. Look for commonalities, not differences, when trying to relate to other people. Honour the feelings more than the stories.

If you’re not familiar with spirits, energy work and other esoteric or mystical things, I’m asking you to let go of any beliefs you may have about them. If you believe that they’re not real, practice letting go of that. What do you know? Not very much. if you believe it’s bad, or delusional to believe in or practice these things, practice letting go of that. There is something useful there, which you’re missing out on. Remember, imagined experiences are real experiences. To make proper use of your imagination, you must be willing to explore new things

  • The cognitive distortion, jumping to conclusions, occurs when we accept things at face value, draw conclusions prematurely or draw conclusions based on bias.
  • The two most likely reasons for our jumping to conclusions; are ignorance, and being emotionally invested in a particular answer. 
  • We cure ignorance by asking, what do I know for certain, which puts us back in touch with a healthy dose of uncertainty.
  • We can work at overcoming our emotional bias by asking ourselves how we feel about the different possibilities, in order to see if we are personally invested. When we’re honest with ourselves about what we want to be true, what we fear might be true, and why, it helps liberate us from emotional influences.
  • ‘Science’ has only described processes and has never determined the nature of things. 
  • Quantum physicists discovered that the behaviour of subatomic particles is affected by our observation of them.
  • Thinking critically means, being able to separate the subjective interpretation of an experience from the immediate reality of what was seen, heard, and felt. To think critically is to witness the creation of meaning, and to know that meaning is subjective, not objective.
  •  There’s nothing wrong with having a framework to help describe, understand and organise the things we experience, but the danger in adhering to a particular philosophy, is how easily it leads to all kinds of assumptions. We must remember that ‘the meaning’ isn’t something we have observed, but something we invented.
  • If we relate to each other, not through stories, but through feelings, we’ll come to understand each other a lot better. Like I said, the effect our experiences have on the way we think, feel, and behave, are what is most important. How have your experiences changed you? Have they made you more adaptable, more resilient, more loving? That is what really matters.
  • Most religions and spiritual philosophies have a branch of mystical teachings related to the presence of spirits, the use of spiritual power or miracles, and all kinds of rituals for healing, fertility and abundance. 
  • At times these teachings may seem impractical, if not bizarre, but other times you find some gems, and so I encourage you to keep an open mind.
  • So long as you remember, feelings follow thoughts, and that you want to be happy, you can transform any idea, philosophy or spiritual practice into a practical healing tool.
  • When we feel very certain, we must defend our position against conflicting information and points of view, but when we acknowledge and abide comfortably in uncertainty, there’s nothing to defend and we can honestly say to other people, without being condescending, that anything is possible, while still acting on what we think is most probable. 
  • We’re not learning to think critically in order to argue with people. We’re learning to think critically to free ourselves of negative and self-limiting beliefs. 
  • When we keep in mind that everyone wants to be happy and free of suffering, and that everyone’s feelings are determined by their own thoughts and beliefs, we can have compassion for ourselves and others. Rather than obsessing over who is right or wrong and arguing against someone’s point of view, we can ask instead, how a way of thinking functions:
    • How do these beliefs affect the way I think?
    • How do these beliefs affect the way I feel?
    • How do these beliefs affect the way I behave?