The thing which must be most remembered, the idea most important, is that 'existance exists'... this is not an idle statement, but the prime axiom, one so prime that even any attempt to refute it requires its usage - and thus its acceptance... what does this axiom mean? it means that what exists has ALWAYS existed, and always will - that something cannot, by its nature, come from 'nothing' (which is not some other 'kind of something' but is merely a designation of the absence of something... the second thing which must be remembered is that, by its nature, what exists is integrated - that there are no contradictions in reality, that when one is perceived, then there is a need to check premises, for one or more of those are in error... this integratedness is important to remember with regards to spirituality, for it is the hallmark which, in reality, removes the notion of any mind/body dichotomy, and which points out that if one is perceived, then there is an error in the perceiving... this also points the way that a 'spiritual visualizer' helps in practicalizing the ethics of being human - by showing examples of the integratedness between the non-material and the material of reality... of, as it were, 'being as one with the universe', an integrated aspect of it in living and flourishing as humans...

Spiritual comes from the word, 'spirit', which meant 'wind', referring to one's breath, 'wind of life', as it were.. there is a sense of it when the phrase 'he/she has spirit' or 'the horse is spirited', meaning there is much life in the individual, be it human or animal... so, from the beginning, there was a recognition in reality of a non-materialness involved within the fabric of reality... the major error of understanding it came with the notion that there was such a thing as the supernatural, a supposed realm somehow 'outside' reality which 'somehow' affected reality... but since the universe is the sum of that which exists, there can be nothing 'outside the universe', that the notion is a fantasy bourne from the times of primeval ignorance, when there was little understanding of the nature of reality, or how it operated, and virtually no understanding of the self, of the mind, and how it functions... the consequnce of pandering to that fantasy was that there arose the notion, again false because of its non-reality orientation, that the spiritual must, then, pertain to dealing with another 'life', one which must be more desirable than the squaller that abounded among the humans of ancient times... the consequence proved to be a very deadly one, as instead of attention being paid to learning more of its true nature, and the improvement of being human and living in the world, the focus turned to demanding acceptance of the squaller as a normalcy, imposing the most evil notion possible to foister on to the ignorant and innocent - the damning of them for the mere fact that they existed, that they were human and as such should be ashamed of being such... one doesn't even give a cockroache or a dog that distinction, nor rats or snakes... only the hatred of one's fellow humans would produce such an abomination, hatred which sanctified domestication of humans - physically as in slavery, and mentally or spiritually as in slavery as well, instituting the false dichotomy of a mind/body split which had one part supposedly 'warring' against the other, and demanding that the 'mind' part be concerned with matters NOT of the real world, but of some 'realm beyond the grave', where all the desires could then be had that were not to be had in reality... this mis-understanding of what 'spiritual' really means persists yet today, despite the overwhelming evidence that life in reality is and can be most wonderous and not to be despised...

Spirituality pertains to the mindfulness of a person, the non-material aspect of reality that DIRECTS the usage of the material - NOT, as so often presumed, opposes the material... there has always been a despairing of the attainment of goods, yet the plentitude of the goods and their variety enriches our lives - so it seems only fair to utilize the 'this earth' attitude to justify the 'good life' and mark the accumulation NOT as being frivolous, but as having real depth to the wellbeing of the living... one could say it makes for the practical application of the ethics of viable values... it falls in line with Rand's assertion of aesthetics being 'the technology of the soul'... while she used the word 'Art', I in turn (since she equated aesthetics with art) use the broader term, because I consider the utilitarian aspects as much 'technology of the soul' as the contemplative aspects... spiritual needs involve 'meaning in life'... this covers both short term purposes as well as long term... as much of importance, it pertains to the real world, NOT the fantasy of some 'other world', or of the notion of the 'supernatural', which claims an incompetancy of humans, that they are incapable of knowing on their own,and thus must remain perpetually as overaged dependants - children - instead of the self-responsible independant adult... from a psychological standpoint, spirituality means operating at a high level of consciousness - engaging in self-awareness and self-examinations, integrating the issues of values and life... it is considering how one experiences existance - not thru the delusion of faith and negation of the mindfulness - but thru consciousness committed to its own growth, cultivating the ability to see reality in all its manifestations, and as such remaining truthful to 'that which is', emphasizing the difference between believing and knowing... this means reliance on the mind - which involves the issues of independence, self-responsibility, the contrasting of meekness and self-assertions... this, in turn, involves the courage to treat oneself and one's convictions with respect... the end result is living purposefully - creating one's own meaning of and to life, and being a participant as opposed to being an observer... it also raises the issue of integrity, which involves the issue not of how perfect we are in integrity but how concerned we are in correcting breaches...

One of the things which have come to mean so much to me is the recognition that the purpose of an artist is far more than has generally been considered... an artist is, by the fact of 'showing' that which is of importance to that artist, a Spiritual Visualizer, a person who has undertaken the responsibility of elucidating moral ideals... in effect, this means the practicalizing of the personal, of giving meaning to the material of the universe - NOT, properly, in any supernatural or fantasy mindset, but by dealing with reality, by integrating the non-material with those materials with which the person possesses and has,by that possessing, given importance to... note that to elucidate is not to moralize like a philosopher, but to act as a visualizer - to show possibilities in the world around us, according, properly, to a rational being (that is, a human being acting according to its nature)... note also that this personalness is in contrast with the social, which is the political, which - properly - is the ethics of dealing with persons qua persons, individuals together as aggregates... and note further that this integrating is not just the short-term of item by item, but the long-term of the being as a whole dealing with its purposefulness...