You hear this a lot lately, people describing themselves as being spiritual, but not religious. This familiar moniker is on online dating profiles, overheard at meetups, gatherings and is a general verbal calling card when dealing with people, perhaps, ones you don’t want to deep dive with.

More and more people are distancing a bit from traditional religious affiliations and preferring the, oh, yeah, I’m spiritual, but not assigned to a church, synagogue or mosque. It’s a safe parking space for most folks who are leaning towards the abstract meme “there’s more to life than what we see”, but not quite at the “everything is random and you are a happy accident” polar opposite. It’s a broad spectrum. I’m not sure we even know what spirituality means anymore.

But, where do highly sensitive people tend to congregate? Because of our sensitivity we are more likely to be more spiritual (inwardly focused) and due to our heightened sensory awareness we gravitate towards spiritual ritual for some peace and quiet. Let’s do a little exploring on this spirituality thing for HSMs.

As a species we have always strived to connect with the cosmic thread, driving the urge to connect with something greater than ourselves. From an instinctual, survival perspective, I’m not even sure this urge is essential to continuation of our tribe, but, nevertheless it still persists almost universally.
At its essence, it’s not even about connecting with other souls, but rather a connection with the infinite, tethered at one by our longing to connect and at the other to the omniscient and infinite --  a lifelong path that ends in our reconnection to the infinite.

So, we create religions, a man made construct, and embrace philosophies to help us obtain this link with the dimension of spirit. As humans we look for connection and confirmation to our abandoned status in the physical arena we call life. We reach out to our “good books” and religious leaders and institutions for that guidance. They sometimes help, sometimes deflect, and sometime obfuscate the matter. But do we really need them?

HSPs, we know, are always turning inward for guidance, rest and regrouping. We are naturally drawn to the contemplative life, but does that make us more prone to being spiritually attuned? We seem more intuitive and are more open to internal inspiration than most and rely more heavily on our own internal receivers to drive our thoughts and behaviors. Does that deep connection create the environment for a richer spiritual life? And if so, are HSPs also likely to be spiritual leaders?

How many of the great spiritual teachers were HSPs? If you look at the big three, Jesus, Buddha and Muhammad, examine their lives and read their philosophies, you will see elements of what one would consider to be thoughts similar to what one would expect from a sensitive, compassionate, and contemplative individual. There was also an emphasis away from the teacher and more focus on the teachings. Each came to bring the fold pack into the spiritual pen, so to speak.

Looking at today’s spiritual landscape, it would seem that some of the most profound spiritual teachers are men and women of high sensitivity. Some of these spiritual leaders move towards the more esoteric and often borrow from multiple doctrines with an emphasis on loving compassion, acceptance, tolerance and hope. These are all principles that resonate with HSPs, which is not to say that all HSPs are potential great spiritual leaders or that all HSPs are further along the spiritual path than others, but as a whole we tend to lean into spirituality naturally.

We are made and equipped for spiritual journeys. We as HSMs are looking for our path to follow, maybe more so than other non-HSP men. It may be a trait more than a calling. With that said, being able to easily look into the spiritual mirror does not always mean the image is any clearer for us. We need to be seekers and acknowledge that quest for meaning.

Starting a spiritual path, if you haven’t already done so, is an important step for HSMs. The path is of your choosing, whether a strict religious path or a loose and evolving spiritual path, addressing this element in your life, complements the other work we HSMs need to do (body, mind, etc.).

What can HSMs do to explore their spirituality?

• If you have not done so, begin a spiritual practice. Sit in your evaluation room, a metaphor for the internal space in your mind, and meditate, contemplate and ruminate. Like most HSPs this should be natural and easy for you to do. They key is the repetition and discipline of regularity. This is not a one and done effort. You don’t get spiritual by taking a pill.
• Explore the great religions, interpret them for yourself. Examine the different teachings, many are common across the religions, embrace what resonates for you and incorporate into your practice. To limit the infinite to one teaching is ludicrous. Accept that truth and help others understand. The concept of rightness of way is man-made and limiting; don’t fall into that trap. 
• Use your intuition, let go of knowing, open up to reception and faith. Empty a space for the messages you will receive.
• Be tolerant. Spirituality is a sensitive topic, with many ways of expression. Many will disagree with your beliefs. As they say, there are many paths with a single destination.
• Intend to be hopeful. Hope is a choice. It’s not a state we are in. We lay hope over the morass which is life because we believe that things will work to our benefit. So intend to be hopeful.
• As you follow your journey, recognize the infinite, the omniscient, which you are a part of and wish to commune. Give it space in your life; see it in everything around you.
• Show gratitude and make it a spiritual ritual. Like hope, we choose to be grateful not just when it’s easy, but when it requires deeper examination and evaluation of circumstance. Lay down a blanket of gratitude, it will keep the sand spurs off your ass.
• Let your kindness, be your teaching. It’s what you can give easily and you know everything you need to know about it and have since you were a child. Receive kindness too; there are lessons on both sides of this gift.

 
Thanks for dropping by, until next week…


References:
http://www.hsperson.com/pages/2Feb11.htm

http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/7-traits-highly-sensitive-people/

http://www.circleofa.org/library/acim-commentary/manual-commentary/ten-character-traits-of-the-spiritually-advanced/

https://michaelhyatt.com/characteristics-of-spiritual-leaders.html

Special note: Well, I missed my target date to restart by about two weeks, but now I am back in the saddle, in where else but Texas; settled in and ready to continue the blog.

Hey gents, for those of you who slept through high school biology class, here’s a little news flash for you: we all start out as females. So when I mention honoring the anima, Jung’s delineation of the unconscious female mind in all men, then you realize that perhaps a biological component played a part in creating that facet of men. You see, about nine weeks in for the fetus, the testosterone kicks in for males, and it just keeps kicking in throughout our lives, even when the hormone dries up, the after effects of all those years of raging aggressive hormones, leaves its residue on our psyches.

For thousands of years of human history, the male domination of culture, religion, politics and civilization has left the planet exhausted and nearing depletion. It’s an unsustainable path, with no room for escape.  And Gaia will revolt if we don’t alter our course.

We must all embrace the role of the feminine energy that permeates all of life on this planet. We are cut off from our sacred creative core, when we only follow the destructive path of unbalanced masculine energy. Without the calming, nurturing and creative alliance with the feminine, we are on a one way ticket to hell. Balancing the aggressive yang energy with calming, life giving yin energy means all of us must embrace that side in us that brings healing. This includes men accepting and encouraging feminine energy within and without of themselves.

This does mean honoring the feminine energy in all things. As HSP males we are perhaps perfectly suited to usher in what appears to be an impending era of female leadership and feminine spirit. As males that are often more in touch with our emotions we unconsciously embrace both the masculine and feminine. We are in tune with the subtle differences between the two and can aid in leading this movement forward in conjunction with wise female leaders. We do know of the anima within and must learn to accept the gift that it brings.

Yet, this movement requires more than just HSP males to champion the transition. Highly sensing males must aid other men to acknowledge and promote the critical need we have at this juncture in our history to restore the ancient wisdom of feminine inspired leadership.  The need for a feminine influenced direction is dire as we witness the destruction of our planet, our human values, and the decency of nurturing our planet back to its point of equilibrium.

Embracing the feminine does not mean that men have to become female. It is not about the vanquishing of the masculine energy either. It has and always will be about balance. It’s clear for those who have eyes to see that we are in an unbalanced and destructive time. We have shifted too far in to masculine dominance and it will take both male and female leadership to correct the problem.

HSP males are going to have to put themselves out there. This is not a comfortable position for most sensitive men. We need to push back on an aggressive and powerful force that has long been entrenched in our culture.

We will need to convince not only males, many who have profited from this current era of male dominance, but females who are still entrenched in the old male authoritarian model.  Many women need to be educated and liberated from this antiquated philosophy and some may only listen to male figures, rejecting the advice of their own feminine peers. This is a place where HSP males might be quite useful. Our sensitivity and compassion coupled with our male personas might help with these females’ transitions.

So how can we men embrace the anima within and facilitate the change to the divine sacred feminine?

1. Acknowledge and own your emotional self. I’ve been preaching this for HSP males for the last few months, but this is true for all men. If you want to cry, then cry damn it, if you want to laugh and feel joy, do it. If you want to be angry, don’t hold it back. Open yourselves up, men.
2. Acknowledge and own your nurturing side. A great place to do this is at home. If you are a parent, get in there and help your partner with the kids. If you are not a parent, then look for the need around you: an elderly parent, someone in need, a daily act of kindness. Nurturing changes you. And the changes I speak of must come from within.
3. Acknowledge and own your intuitive side. This means paying attention to your gut, listen to your heart, be quiet sometimes, and let the wise inner self help you.
4. Acknowledge and own your creative and spiritual side. If you follow the third point, this should become easier and easier. Creativity and spirituality comes from within but is sourced from a greater place than you. I’ll leave it at that, mainly because there are about a billion interpretations of where that is, but you can be sure, there is a there somewhere.
5. Acknowledge that there is strength in feminine energy. Think about this for one minute. We have a long history of human species on this planet. There has been a female involved with every person that every existed. Without that foundation, nothing exists. Thank the divine Mom in every woman. There is incredible strength in feminine nature. You see it every day. Never forget that.
6. Acknowledge and own the masculine within. There is boldness and action in the masculine. This energy will be needed too. Embrace your own masculine energy, balance it with the anima, and you can become a nuclear fusion of loving change.
7. Finally, participate in the revolution to the sacred feminine; it’s really an evolutionary cycle and like a wave, you can ride it or you can get swept away by it; either way, you wind up on the shore.

 
Thanks for dropping by, until next week…


References:
http://www.menshealth.com/health/3-signs-you-started-as-a-girl
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/llewellyn-vaughanlee/international-womens-day_b_1327637.html
http://www.carl-jung.net/anima.html