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ChainsandFreedom -> RE: Spirituality and BDSM (9/6/2007 2:40:08 PM)
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quote:
Xak, Thank you.
It was well worth the wait.
You, Sir, have described the beliefs of the two that I seek better than anyone else I've listened to, here or on the other side.
I would very much like to hear Giselle describe her beliefs.
But I do have a question for you.
Do you believe there is a connection between all people? Between yourself and all Life?
Thank you Bob.
I feel encouragement and an outlet for expression are two of the most important tools for intellegence and growth.
I know from post's of yours I've read, you've done quite a bit of positive soul-searching yourself.
I also know you're being rather modest about sharing your own beliefs on the topic-more power to you for keeping quite and hearing from the rest of us.
Whether or not the Madame feels compelled to reply to the thread, I'll discuss it with her and relay anything she would like to add if she does not post it herself.
as for your question...
the connection between people is, to me, a very real connection. However I see it as more biological than anything else-and this biology drives spirituality. As Stephan pointed out, there seems to be a historical/evolutionary drive toward spirituality amoungst groups of people.
the way I see it, there could be two siblings from the same parents. Although one might have an agressive temperment and the other passive, although one might be amazing at math and the other not, the vast majority of their genes are quite similar. And when compairing two unrelated people, this also holds up-almost all of their genes are the same.
So any two given people are likely to react similarly to similar enviromental and developmental stimulus. Although there is variation in personality, because people are more similar than differant, they can usually at least understand where the other is coming from.
Throw into the equation that people are social creatures and have been since even before homo sapiens (You've cited anthropological/fossil records in other posts, hopefully you see where I'm coming from.
The result is that we have evolved to be inclined to be able to understand one another and to desire community with other people.
It is because of these dual inclinations, in fact, that I think misunderstanding and conflict are so tragic and detrimental-misunderstanding and conflict with one another go against the natural order of our specise. We desire to understand and bond with one another. Competition for resources, differances in intellectual conclusions, differeances in modes of survival and the like can drive us apart, but we lament the fact we have been driven apart.
So the connection between human beings, to me, gets really important between individuals when their personalities and experiences mesh and compliment one another. It is rare in the modern world, so divorced from the natural order of things, to find another person or a group where-in conflict and differance are minimal.
I think the individual pressures of an altered state (technology and modern society) drive us apart and are so prevalient, that a true connection is quite rare. Rare enough to be sacred. Rare enough to be divine. Just as our ancestors bonded out of love for their small communities because this was a mode of survival, we feel the drive to bond together with anyone we're lucky enough to find who has a personality similar enough to ours to minimize differance and conflict.
So, yes, there is an inherent connncetion between people. This conncetion matters a great deal. This connection is under duress in the modern world or any world where resources are scarice. This connection is so primal that if is the very glue that holds families, friends, and religions together. This connection is what allows Christians to love their nehbors and turn the other cheek. This connection is what brings buddhists to believe there are very few if any differances between individuals which truly matter, zen practioners to believe we are all of one "mind" (way of perceiving the universe).
Look at me and my Madame as an example, if you will. One of us grew up in New Jersey in the NYC diaspora, and one of us grew up in Upstate NY in a valley nestled between two colleges. One suburban/urban, one suburban/rural. One where sucess since an early age was largely judged on materialism and professional drive, one where sucess since an early age was mostly judged by intellectualism and the pursuit of hedonism.
Because these enviroments are artificial human constructs, our naturally-endowed similarities in personality is a bridge between the two-as is possible for two people from any two enviroments, if their personalities match. Although connections between people can be altered by life experiences, they can also be stengthend because of the infulence of other personalities-our families, friends, and aquintences from each respective place led us to many common, if seperate, experiences and pursuits. Where the world drives a schism between our selves and create conflict, the ability to compliment one anothers experience and talents bridges ourselves.
While this match is possible, it is such a long shot as to be devine. So many differences in belief and enviroment seperate people, that natural connection bringing them together becomes increasingly rare. The bonds that match rather than break and cause conflict are so powerful they are imbibed with a spiritualistic quality. Thus you arrive at me choosing in some senses of the word to be worshipping her as a goddess, even though our lives and our personalities and our pursuits are in many ways quite differant from one another.
So, yes, to me, connections between all people and between specific individuals exist and they are inherently spiritual in nature. They are spiritual because of their importance, tenacity, and their scarcity.
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