In this article, we will examine the crux of being human. This entails grappling between our eternal and temporal natures. While this post focuses on parents, we will also explain how it applies to the homeschool curriculum. First, however, let’s explore reality as it is. I look outside my window in the morning. The golden sun shines upon the trees who shine back. I observe this picture with joy, breathing it in, as it were, through my senses. I also inhale physically what the tree exhales and vice versa.
All things in nature arise and persist in an inextricable web of relationships. It’s as if originally there was only one thing that existed. It was a pure potentiality. Then, this one thing manifested itself into the manifold forms of creation. Since they all came from the same source, the one caveat was they had to relate to one another. Relationship is the true nature of earth existence.
I am part of this web. Everything is in me, and I am in everything. I cannot, in truth, be torn from the world whole. Yet, I am born on the Earth and someday wake up feeling somehow alienated from everything else. As soon as I wake up to my “I,” I appear to be separate from creation. In that I am a sensing being, this is true, for I am confined to my body. Indeed, the body of an individual is an instrument through which the world whole sees and becomes aware of itself.
The Full Picture of Reality
If I would stitch myself back into that world-whole, I must add something supersensory to my physical sensing; that something is thinking. I cannot grasp by mere sensing how the tree and I depend on each other for our existence. However, I can weave my sense impressions of breathing, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and even the complementary shapes of trees and my lungs together to intuit in thinking that we are inextricably linked. If I would become one with the world, I must do so in thought. Thereby, sensing confines us to our individuality, and thinking reconnects us to what is universal.
Being Human in the Light of Something Spiritual
So, if thinking is a universal process, it becomes the basis for a worldview that transcends the earthly-sensory self. Back when I taught in Asheville, I noticed a kind of psychic phenomenon happen frequently. Someone in the class would start humming or singing a song randomly, and another student would exclaim, “Oh man, I was just thinking about that song!” This happened so frequently it became commonplace. The same occurs now in my home. This spiritual aspect of the self appears in little ways like this all the time in daily life.
This may seem like a simple, innocuous example, but think of the ramifications for how we think about being human. Spirituality really matters in this conversation, expanding our definition of what we truly are. Yet, in the West, few seem to care about these phenomena. When science emancipated itself from church dogma during the Renaissance, it seemed to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Rather than recognize reality consists of two parts – what we observe in sensing and what we intuit in thinking – Francis Bacon’s new empiricism -which was a necessary development – went too far. This eventually led most in the field to conclude this sensing being is all we are.
Western culture has since become calcified in materialism. In our modern time, this hits youth the hardest as they battle a crisis in meaning. Yet, we can compensate by planting the seeds of a holistic science in our children from a young age. For example, during the 6th Grade Astronomy Block we can illuminate connections between the movements of the planets and stars with the formative forces in plants. Another example would be diagramming the treelike form of the human lungs and teaching about how plant chlorophyll and human blood perform complementary functions; they also happen to be complementary colors. These seemingly mundane examples start to reveal to the students these inextricable relationships in the world.
The Cosmic Human Being
If we think these thoughts to their end, we must conclude that ultimately there is no separate Self. I am the wind, the rain, the lover who comes with a request, etc. The universe is a giant being with many eyes through which to see and come to know itself. “I” am one of these eyes and so are “you,” and so are all things in existence. We are all on our way to becoming fully conscious of ourselves as portals through which the universe comes to know itself. I am that cosmic being, you are that cosmic being. Your mother and father, brother and sister, husband and wife, all your friends, even your dog and cat are that. That cosmic being that thou art is your true destination in life.
The Earthly Human Being
At the same time, we live in a world of duality, along with all its attendant problems. Being human is more than sitting in a cave and realizing our non-duality with all of creation. We have to eat, clothe ourselves, attend to our health, make money, cultivate our relationships with others and the environment, etc. It would not be practical to walk around all day acting as if all is one and that’s all we need. O, that such were only true!
Nay, we find ourselves split between two natures – the eternal which is already joined with all that is, and the temporal who lives in the world of duality and division. We are eternal beings with temporal needs. This is the crux of being human; we all bear this cross within ourselves. If in the West, the tendency is to never taste the spirit and so remain sense-bound, it is more common in the East to reject the sensory and seek only bliss. Neither will do.
A Way Forward
The real question is, therefore, how do we bear this cross of harmonizing our eternal and temporal natures? I think in the West particularly, we need to bring the spiritual into the practical. It is necessary to take time each day to taste the eternal, and there are many ways to do this. However, we then need to manifest that in practical ways. We need to bring heaven to earth life.
This means renewing all aspects of culture in light of spiritual truth. We need to bring it into education by emphasizing to students not just the sensory phenomena of the world but also their unseen relationships. Economics is another area in major need of renewal, to where we replace the profit motive with the brotherhood motive. We also need to bring knowledge of the spirit into medicine, agriculture, the arts, technology, government, law, etc. Truly, nothing else will do.
How We Can Help our Youth In Being Human
I have written this post for parents, but I would tell my students many of these same things. Albeit, I would clothe these principles in stories, images, and concepts appropriate for their age and level of consciousness. While there are many methods to plant these seeds in the youth, especially through the curriculum, it will start with your own recognition as a home educator of your own crux of being human. If you can live each day with one hand sincerely pointing to the heavens and the other to the earth, that is the first step towards educating our young to become fully human.
Teen Empowerment Class
For those of you who want support in this, we offer a Teen Empowerment Class that meets weekly. We are always accepting new students. If you want your youth in a tightly knit, warm, and welcoming group of peers with a loving guide who keeps them focused on the good, the beautiful, and the true come check us out. Visit us at the following link to signup or get more info: https://enkindleacademy.com/live-teen-empowerment-class.
Parent Mentoring
We are also considering offering parent education here at Enkindle Academy. This could take the form of live parent training groups, individual mentoring, short blocks on how to teach various subjects like math, history, language arts, etc. It could also take the form of families submitting student work for feedback on how their student is doing. We are open to whatever other suggestions you have. If this interests you as a homeschool parent, please Contact Us, and let us know your wishes.
How Else You Can Connect
Enkindle Academy offers prerecorded and live lessons for students in grades 5-9. We teach all academic subjects plus fine arts, creative writing and language arts, and empowerment groups for teens.
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