Spirituality and Rationality

Before we start silent meditation, I would like to say a few words about the general topic of rationality or reasoning and why it can sometimes be an obstacle on the spiritual path.

The desire to understand the world and ourselves is a basic human instinct. It may have intensified in us after we acquired language, as our brains became bigger and more complex. The understanding of ourselves and our surroundings through reasoning and rational thinking has helped us to survive. Yet I believe it can be an obstacle when it comes to spiritual practices.

Broadly speaking, rationality is understood as our ability to provide reasons and justifications for our observations and experiences, as well as our behaviors and beliefs. To give an example, if someone asks me why I am shivering, I may respond by saying that I feel cold because the weather is cold and I have not dressed properly. Reasons and justifications can continue from there. We can next ask why the weather is cold, and the answer may be that the air particles have less energy. We can then ask, “Why do the air particles have less energy?” and we may answer by explaining the earth's axial tilt and its orbit around the sun. During wintertime, one hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and it receives less energy from the sun; hence, less energy is being received by air particles. Of course, the explanations do not stop here. We can ask the reason for the earth's tilt, etcetera, until we may eventually arrive at the ultimate question of why there is something rather than nothing.

Such explanations are convincing and most people will accept them because they invoke general scientific principles and laws about the world which cannot be reasonably denied. Moreover, in the process of giving such rational explanations, we learn something about ourselves and the world. But rationality is only one aspect of being human. We cannot demand rational explanations for everything we experience in life, as there may be none available. There are certain questions that cannot be answered by invoking generally accepted principles of reason. Take, for example, the questions that we all ask ourselves at some point in our lives: “What is the purpose or meaning of life?” or “What should the goal of one’s life be?”

Each person answers this question differently based on their own experience and beliefs about the world—not based on a general principle which can readily be accepted by others. Suppose you are in love. You may respond to this question by saying that the purpose of life is to be in love. And if someone asks you: “Why is this the purpose of life?” you may give an answer about the inner and outer beauty of the person you love and that such experiences should be the ultimate goal of one’s life. Your interlocutor may tell you that they do not see these characteristics that you see in the person you love, or that they have never experienced such love for another human being. Since you are experiencing love, you do not take such reasoning seriously. Rationality and reasoning will only be relevant to you if you should stop experiencing love.

There are as many answers to the question about the meaning of life as there are people. Religions and mystical schools attempt to answer such questions. Broadly speaking, there are two religious approaches. One approach centers on faith, and it presents us a theory based on scripture to explain the creation of the world and the purpose of our lives. The second approach, which is taken by various mystical schools including Sufism, is based on spiritual practices and experiences. In this approach, the practices and experiences are the very meaning of the life of the person who pursues a spiritual goal.

At times, our faculty of reasoning is a hindrance to a spiritual way of living. We may be having a spiritual experience such as feeling compassion towards everyone or oneness with our surroundings, and in this state, we are less likely to get confused by our rational mind. But then our intellect intervenes and will try to persuade us that engaging in spiritual practices makes no sense. For example, during meditation our mind may raise such doubts as: “You are engaged in an activity which is irrational, involving no words and reasons, and therefore should not be trusted! There is no proof that the practice of meditation will lead you anywhere.”

Our intellect and our faculty of reasoning cannot understand our spiritual practices and experiences, and it constantly nags us, claiming that such practices and experiences make no sense and should not be trusted as true. But we know that the experience of love is real, and we feel completely fulfilled when we give and receive love and support to and from another human being.

There is still another problem that a spiritual seeker may face with respect to our rationality. It is the fact that our intellect is the guardian and protector of our ego. When our beliefs or behaviors are challenged, we constantly try to justify them by providing reasons. In a way, this is related to my earlier point that the development of the rational part of our brain is very much connected with our survival as a species. It is perhaps understandable that, from an evolutionary point of view, we need to protect ourselves through our mental faculty to survive. We need to reach for logical explanations for our situation so as to avoid harm and try to improve or influence outcomes.

Rational thinking and justifications make us feel that we are in control of our situation and of our lives, and perhaps it is the reason why it is hard and in some ways counterintuitive to let go and give up this illusion of control, and put our trust in something that has no logical or rational backing or justification.

But our survival is one thing, and using our intellect to justify our beliefs and desires is another. If you are practicing Sufism or Buddhism, you are taught that the experience of having an ego is an illusion and that the ego is a veil in our path towards the truth. You can be sure that you will face major resistance from your rational mind when you try to ignore your ego and egotistical desires.

Our intellect constantly asks for reasons and justification for our actions and beliefs. But there are some questions for which we cannot provide rational answers, and our best bet for a satisfactory answer is to engage in a spiritual practice. In our contemporary world, social media has given people an unlimited opportunity to express their opinions and provide personal reasons. The belief that words and reasons are the ultimate arbiters of truth is becoming more ubiquitous and pervasive.

It seems it is now harder than ever to resist the dominance of words and reasons as the path to answer all of humanity’s problems. Nevertheless, when we experience positive forces in the world such as love and friendship, we experience something beyond logic, rationality, and words. That gives us a chance to resist the temptation of following our rational mind with its constant demand for justification and reasons, and to follow instead something that transcends explanation.