Padriag
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Joined: 3/30/2005
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quote:
ORIGINAL: pollux
But you don't see the "top" side of things represented, or if it is, it doesn't show up in any kind of positive or affirming way. Except for in Nietzsche, maybe *laughs*
Religions require submission, which is generally anathema to dominants. What was nice about Nietzsche is he confronted the Master vs slave mentality and asked what is noble rather than what is shameful.
quote:
ORIGINAL: NakedOnMyChain
I was wondering if any of you have experienced this as well? How has your particular religion or non-religion affected your choice to enter into this lifestyle, if at all? Have you found that being in your particular headspace can bring on a sense of the sacred?
I'm not looking to offend atheists or agnostics, I simply thought that this man's viewpoint was truly unique and wanted to share it and hear other peoples' experiences with the topic. Thanks.
I'm not offended by it at all, actually I'm glad you brought it up. Being an athiest I don't naturally relate to the idea of this lifestyle or anything else being spiritual, yet I've wrestled with the concept trying to better understand what others meant by it. That was important to me personally not because I felt a need for spirtuality, but because I realize most submissives I've know have felt that need and I wanted to better understand it so that I could better connect and understand them. In the process I learned quite a bit about spirituality, some of which surprised me. I'll share some of that since it may prove useful to others, even those of you who are spiritual, in better understanding what spirtuality is.
To begin with, my very first question was simply, "what is spiirtuality?" I had a hard time getting an answer to that. Everyone I asked about it had their own unique answer, many of which were quite vague and nebulous. People used words that in some cases I don't think they even really knew the meaning of and that in itself told me they didn't understand what spirtuality was themselves. Yet somehow each person seemed to know what it was for them, even if they couldn't articulate it. They were seeking something, but they didn't necessarily have a name or word for it.
So my first lessson was, spirituality is a deeply personal thing. Each person's experience is unique to them, there is no universal spirtuality though there does seem to be a nearly universal desire for it.
After digesting that, my next question was "Alright, what is this nearly universal desire, if so many people want it there must be a reason for that, they are looking for something... what?" That took a lot longer to sort out and eventually I came to this. Its a desire to make peace with the universe, to come to terms with one's place in and relationship to the universe... to connect the "inner" with the "outer". Everyone has their own way of doing that, depending in part on their concept of what the universe is and how it works, but also depending on what is most important to them.... which is why everyone has their own unique experience with spirituality... each person has their own perspective and needs from it... you may experience essentially the same thing, but your perception differs. Two artist paint a picture of the same tree... yet each paints a different picture because they saw the tree differently. A christian experiences spirituality in the context of the christian faith, its concepts of god, of how the universe is ordered. A buddhist likewise experiences spirituality within the context of their beliefs. And so on for a wiccan, or catholic, or a muslim, or a shinto, or any of the multitude of other religions. But a person also experiences it with the context of what is most important to them, what they most feel the need to connect that inner part of themselves with that is outside themselves.... whether that be their relationship to their religious faith, their family, their community, their master, and so on.
After digesting that for awhile longer I began to have my own little trancedental experience of a sort. Spirituality is the quest to answer that basic question, "why am I here, who am I supposed to be, what am I suppose to do, where do I belong.... what is the meaning of my life?" Well, okay that's actually several questions but they're all interconnect... interconnected, now there's a spiritual word... after all that's really what this is about. Spirituality is about seeking out those connections between things, between family, friends, community, the universe... and oneself... how all these things interconnect and interrelate and how the one exists within the whole. When someone seeks a trancendental experience, they seek to step outside themself and see things from a wider perspective... "through god's eyes" as it were, or more simply, to see things from the third person rather than the first... from the perspective of others rather than one's own perspective.
Having gotten that far, here's the kicker. I'm an atheist... and yet I'm probably as spiritual as anyone, maybe more than some. The difference is I found my own way of getting there, my own "path to enlightenment" you might call it. I never quite asked the questions the same way others did, but then I never saw things from any common perspective... I don't believe in a higher power, I don't believe in a cosmic order to the universe, I don't believe in pre-destination, destiny or fate, I don't believe that my life has a preordained purpose. Yet despite all I don't believe... I believe in me. I believe in my capacity to give my own life meaning, to find my own path in life, to make my own connections with family, with friends, with community, with the world at large and I do see them as interconnected. I have an awareness of my relationship to all these things... of the inner with the outer... not in the context of any religion or faith... except the simple faith in myself. Which brings me back to Nietzsche.
Nietzsche asked, "What is noble?" Not what is shameful, not what is sinful, not what needs to be purged or cleansed... but what is noble within me... if I desire tobe noble in character, what must I embrace to become so? He looked at the nobility in duty, in facing those things which we must do as though they were priveleges, which cheer and not resentment. Because those higher standards, those duties, ARE priveleges... they are what make us noble. And in that there is a lesson for dominants which is simply this... for submissives we become an important part of their universe, their world, we sometimes become their gateway to spirituality, to connecting their inner selves with the outer world... if we are not noble in who and what we are, what kind of connection do we provide them? If their path to enlightenment is found through us, where are we leading them if we are not noble of spirit ourselves?
Not bad for an athiest, aye. 
I'm actually looking forward to reading what others think of my own bit of "enlightenment", especially submissives. Afterall, I wrestled with this not for my own sake, but because I wanted to be a better master, a better guide, to whatever submissive is in my future. It will be interesting to me to see how well others relate to what I've tried to say. Do I get a passing grade? 
_____________________________
Padriag
A stern discipline pervades all nature, which is a little cruel so that it may be very kind - Edmund Spencer
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RE: A Sacred Take on BDSM - 
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