Some time ago, I came to realise that much of the spiritual
writings I read are actually not that useful to me. They are, I realised,
geared to the needs of NTs, not aspies. Well, no surprise there really. But
what, I wondered, would an aspie-centered spiritual code look like?
This is my attempt at it, based on my own experience, and
those of a few other spiritually-minded aspies I've talked to or seen the
writings of online. Note that I'm not trying to start any arguments here,
rather I'm thinking of those autistics who are already spiritually-minded, but
aren't sure how to approach their spirituality from an autistic standpoint.
The Divine Power is logical. The Divine Power is many
things - Cosmic Intelligence, the silently beating Heart of the Universe, the
Force that created, shapes and connects all of the Universe and is immanent in
it, the Ultimate Enigma, and much more. What it isn't, is some irritable
old man (or old woman) sitting on a throne on a cloud, throwing thunderbolts at
anyone who transgresses moral codes a saint couldn't keep to. That defies logic
and common sense. We need a logical God.
The true nature of the Divine Power is Love, a love
so powerful it is beyond comprehension, totally unconditional, and way, way
beyond all the restrictive petty things that often masquerade under the name of
"love". We don't have to 'earn' that love, and we won't lose it if
we're 'bad' in the eyes of the rest of the world. Of course it's better to
behave in certain ways, for our own sake as well as others, but, like a Perfect
Parent, the Divine continues to love us no matter what. Even if no-one else
does, you are loved by Spirit.
All are Children of the Divine. We are all sons and
daughters of the Life-Force. Many aspies have little difficulty with regarding
all as inherently equal, due to our lack of ability to see the social
distinctions that others insist on. My feeling is we need to build on that,
make it a central focus of our spirituality, allowing no prejudice against any
other, no matter who or what they are, to enter our hearts and minds.
The Divine doesn't play favourites. It has no bias on
the basis of gender, race, sexuality, nationality, religion, sect, etc, etc;
and therefore, it follows on, It has no bias on the basis of neurology or
able-bodiedness either. The Divine didn't create us as we are, only to judge us
and reject us for being exactly that. That also defies logic.
All of us can experience the Divine. No matter what
our beliefs, regardless of whether we belong to a formal religion or not, or
what name we call the Divine Power, we need to experience It for
ourselves. We tend to 'learn by doing', and so mere dogma out of a book, no
matter how holy, will almost certainly not suffice. We can build a solid
relationship with the Divine through prayer and meditation. In my experience
Divine support tends to be either fairly indirect, or not quite in the shape I
might expect or think I want, but it does happen.
We need to keep our spirituality simple. Convoluted
theological abstractions tend to tie our brain in knots. Especially if we're
the visual type of autistic, as we almost certainly can't understand what we
can't create a picture of inside our heads. That doesn't mean that we can't
develop a moral code, as we can easily imagine concrete examples of behaving
morally, and understand and follow rules. Nor does it mean we lack
intelligence, just that it's better that we keep our spirituality not too
complicated.
Don't hate the world. It's hugely screwed-up, yes,
and functions by rules and values that are often not ours. Plus, we're often
treated badly by it. But Hate only damages you in turn, and separates you from
the Divine. So many in this world are deeply damaged, and have lost their way,
and lash out at others as a result. The world is a troubled place, and it needs
compassion, but if you can't manage that then work on pity. Or at least
indifference.
Don't hate the Divine either, for what people do.
Yes, the Divine is immanent in everything and everyone, so we all have a core
of Spirit within, whatever we call it - 'Higher Self', 'Christ Consciousness',
etc - but some drift a long, long way from that Spirit within, or they
deny or suppress it. We all have free will, and unfortunately some people use
it to do bad things. If we are a victim of these people, that doesn't mean
we've been forgotten by the Divine.
The Divine wants us to protect ourselves. Being
spiritual doesn't mean we have to be patsies. Whether we can feel compassion
for the world and the screwed-up people in it or not, we do nonetheless have
the right to protect ourselves from those who would harm us. Just as we might
feel sorry for the tiger in its cage at the zoo, but we wouldn't jump in the
cage and try to pat it, "there, there, poor kitty," we have the right
to distance ourselves from or eject from our lives any toxic, abusive or
unwelcome people. This is an act of self-love, self-respect, and
self-nurturing, which the Divine wants for us.
And perhaps most important of all... The Divine Power is
Eternal and Unchanging. You know how we aspies dislike change. Even people
that love us and that we love can die, or leave us, or fail us in some way. The
Divine will not. Ever. Even when we think It has, It's working for us behind
the scenes. Remember that tale of the footprints in the sand? It's there for
us, forever and ever, amen. I think that's pretty cool.
So there you go. Maybe this works for you, maybe it doesn't.
I'd like to know, either way. And maybe you can improve on this, write
something better. I hope so. I would never think that I have the last word on
anything, so I'm open to new ideas.
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