By Steve Taylor, PhD, via Psychology Today

One criticism which is often made about spiritual seekers is that they are narcissistic, too concerned with their own well-being and not concerned enough with the well-being of others. In a related way, they are often criticised for being too passive, and disengaged from the world. They become indifferent to worldly affairs and are content for the world to remain as it is, without interfering. After all, isn’t this what monasteries, hermitages and other forms of retreat are for—to get away from the world, so that we can become completely absorbed in ourselves? And in a smaller way, isn’t this what we do when we sit down to meditate—to close our eyes to the world and disappear into our own being?

These beliefs aren’t completely without foundation. Some spiritual traditions do have traditions of other-worldliness and detachment—most obviously the monastic traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. Some spiritual traditions and teachers (such as Advaita Vedanta and some modern day non-duality teachers) also maintain that the world is an illusion, and so cultivate an indifference to pain and suffering. Why should we be concerned with suffering when it’s fundamentally unreal? Or from a slightly different perspective, some teachings hold that although the world may be real in itself, its seeming difficulties are unreal. The world exists in a state of perfection, so how can problems exist? Such attitudes certainly promote a detachment from the world, and an indifference to social or global problems.

However, in my research into spiritual awakening, I have consistently found the opposite of this: that awakened individuals tend to become more altruistic, and often become more engaged and active.

When people undergo spiritual development—or fully fledged spiritual awakening—they develop a strong sense of compassion, as their self-boundaries become softer. They develop a wide perspective, a universal outlook, rather than being immersed in a narrow world of personal problems and concerns. They also develop a more all-encompassing and unconditional type of morality. They don’t practice ‘moral exclusion,’ but extend their benevolence to all human beings indiscriminately. For awakened individuals, justice and fairness are universal principles which transcend laws or conventions. They may even be willing to break laws if necessary, and even to potentially sacrifice their own well-being—perhaps even their lives—in order to uphold moral principles. This is why, throughout history, many of the world’s great idealists and social reformers were spiritually developed individuals, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Gandhi, Jesus, and possibly figures such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

As a result of these characteristics, spiritually developed people feel a strong impulse to help alleviate other people’s sufferings or to help them to fulfil their potential. They feel a strong idealistic desire to change the world for the better, an impulse to serve other people, and to contribute to the human race in some way.

Awakened Activity

Another result of spiritual development is an ability to be, or to do nothing. The need to do things just for the sake of it falls away, and we begin to relish the present moment, and to spend more time just taking in the reality of our moment to moment experience. At the same time, spiritually developed people don’t necessarily become passive and inactive. In many cases, they actually become more active and engaged.

This increased activity usually expresses itself through creativity or altruism, and sometimes both. When spiritually developed people express themselves as artists, they are often extremely prolific. For example, two of the world’s most famous poets, Walt Whitman and William Wordsworth, were highly spiritually developed people, who were wrote thousands of poems with inexhaustible creative energy. The British author D.H. Lawrence wrote 45 books, despite dying young at the age of 44.This prolific creativity is possible because there is so little interference between the awakened artist’s own mind and the transcendent source of creativity. Other artists might struggle with ‘writer’s block’ or a lack of inspiration, when their own thoughts and concepts obstruct the creative flow, but awakened artists are like channels that always remain wide open.

There are also many examples of awakened individuals who have pursued altruistic endeavours with incredible energy and determination. One of the best examples of this is Florence Nightingale, who is best known for creating the profession of modern nursing, founding hospitals and training tens of thousands of nurses. She initiated many other social reforms too, revolutionising health care across the whole of society, at the same time as writing many books. She was famous for her endless energy, which became known as ‘Nightingale power.’ But what is less well known about her is that she was a deeply spiritual person, who wrote several books on Christian mysticism. The great scholar of mysticism. Evelyn Underhill, called her ‘one of the greatest and most balanced contemplatives of the nineteenth century’. As Nightingale wrote, ‘Heaven is neither a place nor a time. There might be a Heaven not only here but now. Where shall I find God? In myself. That is the true Mystical Doctrine.’

And Florence Nightingale’s life of intense altruism is by no means unprecedented amongst Christian mystics. The 14th century Italian mystic St. Catherine of Siena spent three years living as a hermit and an ascetic before undergoing permanent transformation. At that point she abandoned her solitude and was active in society for the rest of her life, teaching, serving the poor and the sick and trying to bring peace to the warring states of Italy. Similarly, her 15th century compatriot (and namesake) Catherine of Genoa spent four years living as an ascetic, until she attained a stable state of awakening, in which—in the words of her 19th century biographer—‘her mind became clear and free, and so filled with God that nothing else ever entered into it.’ And from this point on, she was extremely active as a theologian and nurse, tending to the sick and the poor of Genoa and eventually becoming the manager and treasurer of the city hospital. Similarly, the mystic St. Teresa of Avila lived a life of frenetic activity, including founding 17 convents and writing several books.

Part of the reason why it’s possible for awakened individuals to be so active and so energetic is because their energy comes from a transcendent source. They don’t have to make an effort—they simply allow action to flow through them. In Daoist terms, they engage in ‘actionless activity.’ Since they are in harmony with it, the Dao expresses itself purely through them.

So spiritually development usually leads to more altruism, and to more productive and meaningful activity. This doesn’t always happen, of course. There is a shadow side to spiritual development too, a possibility of imbalanced narcissism. But in general, spiritual awakening is a shift into a healthier, higher-functioning, more expansive state of being—and increased altruism is one of the ways in which this expresses itself.

About the Author

Steve Taylor is a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University, UK. www.stevenmtaylor.com