An Ecology of the Spirit

Note: This is a longer essay, as it was taken and adapted from a talk I gave in 2024.

(Here’s TLDR for anyone who doesn’t want to sift through the whole thing: Your soul is like an ecosystem, and all things belong there, in balance and harmony. Cutting ourselves off from unpleasant feelings throws us off balance and is known as ‘spiritual bypassing.’ Just as predators are a necessary part of a thriving ecosystem, our inner darkness is a key part of what makes us whole and alive. Also, there’s a Mary Oliver poem at the end, so if you don’t read anything else, just skip to that.)

I moved to Norman in 2014, without knowing anything about the town beyond it being a university town. I’ve grown to love it, because it seems like everywhere I look, I see yet another small group of folks that are working together for a more peaceful world, despite all the challenges that go with that work. In a community, everyone has gifts they are drawn to give, and gifts they need to receive. It is an web of relationships. It's an ecosystem, of sorts. Ecosystems are built on connection, which is basically what I want to talk about today. What happens when we sever connections inside our souls, and what happens when those connections are restored.

For many of us in this country, myself included, our first spiritual experiences were not grounded in connection, but in separation. My very conservative upbringing led me to believe that anyone who didn't worship my idea of God, who didn't look like me, or love like me, or vote like me, was perhaps someone for me to try and save, but not to connect to and learn from. Many expressions of religion are about conformity and sameness to a set of commands and hierarchy, and without that, someone is considered as an “other.” And, the Earth is considered an other- a creation that humans have been given dominance over, or at best, a resource to consume and conserve. This idea of separation and dominance has led us further and further away from what our souls actually long for- connection, and belonging.

I feel like this was what science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin was talking about in a commencement speech she delivered in 1975: She said "If you deny any affinity with another person or kind of person, if you declare them to be wholly different from yourself—as men have done to women, and class has done to class, and nation has done to nation—you may hate it, or deify it, but in either case you have denied its spiritual equality, and its human reality. You have made them into a thing, to which the only possible relationship is a power relationship. And thus you have fatally impoverished your own reality."

For me, that impoverishment eventually led me to choose another way. It was difficult and painful. I had been devout in my own spirituality of separation- I was sent by my religious leaders to travel through parts of the United States and into Mexico and Guatemala to attempt to convert and “save” folks from their sinful ways of living. Along the way, I encountered the natural world and felt more connected to the sacred in the land, than I had ever felt in my religion. Through a long and difficult process of deconstruction, I came to feel, that if there was any sacred truth to know, if there was any healing to be had, it would be reflected back to me in nature. That we all would find that truth, not in separating ourselves from the earth, and each other, but by opening our hearts back into connection- to the earth, to each other, and to ourselves. In examining the laws of nature, we find that diversity is crucial for life on Earth.to thrive. When species face challenges, they need to adapt and become more diverse, not less. But in trying to control the resources of nature and each other, humans forgot that diversity is critical for our own life to continue. We lost our connection to ourselves and to the Earth. That's why we need ecology - not just to study nature scientifically, but as a spiritual practice to help us reconnect with ourselves and the world around us. This is where healing begins. As environmental activist Rachel Carson puts it:

Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Whatever the vexations or concerns of their personal lives, their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature-the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. ~Rachel Carson

As I deconstructed from my old patterns of separation, I reeducated myself in science and natural history - two subjects I had been formerly taught to regard with suspicion, especially if they conflicted with a literal six day creation narrative.

I learned that diversity is crucial for life on Earth. When species face challenges, they need to adapt and become more diverse, not less. But in trying to control the resources of nature and each other, humans forgot that diversity is critical for our own life to continue. We lost our connection to ourselves and to the Earth. That's why we need ecology - not just to study nature scientifically, but as a spiritual practice to help us reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.

I want to take a moment to define what I mean when I use the word "ecology." The dictionary definition of Ecology is the study of the relationships between organisms, including humans, and their physical environment.

Now of course, I’m not an ecologist. However, I want to take you on a quick tour of this web of interrelationship, as best I can with my limited ability.

Let's look at how everything in nature is connected, from tiny things to big landscapes. We'll use different views, as if we were zooming in or using the panoramic modes of a camera.

First, let's look at what we usually see around us. We often notice individual plants, animals, or people. Each of these plays an important role in nature. Plants make food from sunlight. Animals eat plants or other animals. Tiny organisms like fungi and bacteria break down dead things, helping new plants grow. All these parts work together in a system called an ecosystem. When one part of the ecosystem is healthy, the other parts flourish as well.

Now, let's look at the bigger picture. Different ecosystems are connected to each other, forming large networks across the world. For example, a forest can affect nearby grasslands by holding water and sharing nutrients. Animals move between different areas for food and shelter. But when humans cut down forests or pollute, it can harm these connections. This can cause problems in nature far away from where the damage happened. To protect our planet, we need to understand and care for these connections. Protecting one area of nature often means protecting many connected areas.

Finally, let's look at something very small, like a tiny drop of water on a flower petal. At this level, we find that our bodies are like mini-ecosystems. We have trillions of tiny organisms, mostly bacteria, living in and on us. These aren’t freeloading hitchikers, but tiny helpers are crucial for our health. They help us digest food, make vitamins, support our immune system, and even affect our mood. This shows how deeply we're connected to other living things. Sometimes, it's hard to tell where we end and the rest of nature begins.

I invite you to consider that just as this pattern of interconnection is found in all beings of Earth, that it might be that the pattern of relationship continues inwards to our spirit—the immaterial part of us that reflects our inner self, that is in turn connected to others in our imeediate surroundings and our wider communities. Spirit definition from Oxford dictionary:

the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul."

those qualities regarded as forming the definitive or typical elements in the character of a person, nation, or group or in the thought and attitudes of a particular period.

This isn’t an idea I’m trying to sell you on, but I’d like you to play with it, turn it over in your mind as if it was was an interesting rock you just picked up on a walk- That your spirit is not a solitary, isolated entity, existing in some vast void of your own subjective experience. Rather, your spirit is a vibrant and interconnected system of of feelings, thoughts, memories, dreams, desires, and intentions, connected to your own body, and in turn to other beings as well.

Let's talk about how this inner ecosystem works. We all have different parts of ourselves that sometimes disagree with each other. For instance, on a Sunday morning, part of us might want to go to church, while another part just wants to sink back into that pillow, go back to sleep and attend what I like to call "The Church of the Bedside Assembly."

Sometimes, though these inner conflicts can be downright disturbing. We might try to ignore or push away feelings we don't like, such as anger, grief, or desire. We often do this because we weren't taught how to handle these emotions when we were young, or we were told these feelings were sinful or weak.

This is similar to how humans have treated nature. For a long time we thought wolves were problematic to humans, and tried to eliminate them completely. Our government awarded financial compensation to hunters who killed wolves, and there was a time when wolves was nearly eradicated in many areas of the united states. But when the wolves disappeared, it led to worse problems- there were too many deer, which caused disease in deer populations, and overgrazing that led to environmental destruction, and numerous other cascading effects in the local ecosytems. When wolves were brought back and reintrodroduced to the land, everything became more balanced again, the ecosystems recovered, and the beings in the area flourished.

When we ignore or are afraid of the components of our spirit, it can cause problems in our lives and relationships. Medical studies have shown that repressing our emotions can lead to physical health issues like unexplained pain, trouble sleeping, high blood pressure, and a weaker immune system. As the Sufi poet Rumi said, "These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them.”

It's important to find safe times and places to explore our buried thoughts and feelings. Sometimes, it helps to do this with a trusted friend or spiritual teacher, or a mental health professional. There are therapeutic approaches that help us understand and connect with all parts of ourselves. For example, Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapy that sees our mind as having different "parts," each with its own role. If you've seen the movie "Inside Out," you're already familiar with this idea.

Listening to our emotions and inpulses doesn't mean we let them control us. It means we try to understand what they're telling us, and realize they are communicating important information. For example, anger often shows us when someone has crossed a line or that we feel unsafe in some way, or that something very dear to us has been lost. If we can notice anger early and listen to it calmly, it doesn't have to turn into rage to get our attention. C.S. Lewis said "I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief."

This is where a meditation practice can be very helpful- meditation allows us to get quiet enough that we can see and hear what we normal miss in our busy days. So, This talk is not an excuse to go key the car of the next jerk that cuts us off in traffic. It’s an invitation to become quiet, and curious about what we’d normally just ignore. The spiritual teacher Ram Dass says “When you notice a dark thought- a thought that isn’t going to get you anywhere- you witness it, and you love it. You love your dark thoughts. The witnessing is part of the soul- and the soul, loves everything.”

And it’s important to name that there is wonderful potential hidden in us too, potential we may have cut ourselves off from. When we uncover what’s been repressed, we also discover new talents and creativity. Carl Jung, a famous psychologist, believed that our "shadow" (the parts of ourselves we try to hide) contains not just negative things, but also good qualities like instincts, insights, and creative ideas.

Our shadow self is a womb for art, music, poetry, and deep connection. When we accept all parts of ourselves, we discover that we're part of a much bigger and more wonderful world than we ever imagined. In this season of shorter days and longer nights, perhaps we can find an invitation to reacquaint ourselves with our own shadow, and see what potential lies buried there.

An ecology of the Spirit leads us back into connection with ourselves, and with the Earth, because all the elements of our experience begin and end here. The Earth holds the meaning we are seeking, and any ideas that we can separate ourselves from the Earth are the illusions of a dominator culture. Any notions that the Earth is just a resource for our consumption dissolve as illusions in the context of the Web of Interconnection. We can answer the questions of what our environment means to us by seeing that our environment is us, including those thoughts and feelings and impulses that we buried out of fear. An Ecology of the Spirit is really just a modern take on what our ancestors knew, what the ancient shamans and healers knew, what poets, artists, and musicians know. Our inner life, our emotions and reactions and dreams and fears also belong in this body of Earth, in balance and harmony with everything else. The Earth is where we find our own bodies and spirits entangled and connected with the bodies and spirits of other beings- humans, plants, animals, bacteria, stars, galaxies and all that constitutes this universe.

Closing meditation: “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.