Scientific Spirituality

I'm on a quest for truth. I had a thought this morning: Can one apply the scientific method to the spiritual journey? I think in one sense, yes, but in another sense, no.

When we have a goal in mind, say, the reduction of suffering, then we can apply experimentation and data collection techniques to see what practices lead to the reduction.

But then there's the question, should the spiritual journey be free of suffering? There's a YouTube channel I occasionally watch by a woman named Kerry K. She recently posted that she likes being physically comfortable in her clothes and shoes. She also likes being uncomfortable in her emotions and feelings. To her, uncomfortable emotions are a sign there is still some healing that needs to occur. Rather than bury the wound, emotions point to it.

So what should we do with painful emotions? For me, I've been doing breathwork. I find that it calms my nervous system down and reduces the pain. I don't change anything about my life or circumstances. I just breathe through the suffering until it dissipates.

Where the scientific method comes in for me is I experiment with breath variables. Tempo, duration, orders of rhythm to holds. I'm looking to see what pattern brings about the greatest relief.

Maybe I'm shirking my responsibility as a human. Maybe I ought to be more actively involved in changing the world. What I do know is there's a truth in the saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I don't have enough insight into humanity to even know what to change in the world.

For now, I'll stick with reducing suffering inside of me and trust that a healed Mike moving in the world is good enough. For now.


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