Produced by David B. Alexander
THE ESSENTIALS OF SPIRITUALITY
by Felix Adler
The Essentials of Spirituality
The first essential is an awakening, a sense of the absence ofspirituality, the realized need of giving to our lives a new andhigher quality; first there must be the hunger before there can bethe satisfaction.
Similar effects are often produced by widely differing processes. Inthe psychical world that quality which we call spirituality may beassociated with and evoked by Theism, or the belief in a DivineFather; by Pantheism, as in the case of Spinoza, whose face at thevery first glance impresses you with its spiritual cast; or even bythe Buddhist belief in Nirvana. It may also be attained by followingthe precepts and striving after the ideals of Ethical Culture. Forspirituality is not indissolubly associated with any one type ofreligion or philosophy; it is a quality of soul manifesting itself in avariety of activities and beliefs.
Before we proceed further, however, we must hazard a definitionof the word. In the region of mental activity which is called thespiritual life vagueness is apt to prevail, the outlines of thought areapt to be blurred, the feelings aroused are apt to be indistinct andtransitory. The word 'spiritual' becomes a synonym of muddythought and misty emotionalism. If there were another word in thelanguage to take its place, it would be well to use it. But there isnot. We must use the word 'spiritual,' despite its associations andits abuse. We shall endeavor, however, to attach a distinct anddefinite meaning to the word. Mere definition, however, is tooabstract and nakedly intellectual. Perhaps a description of sometypes of character, combined with definition, will be the betterway.
Savonarola is surely one of the commanding figures in history. Hisfiery earnestness, his passion for righteousness, the boldness withwhich he censured the corruptions of the Roman Court, thepersonal qualities by which he—a foreigner and a mere monk—madehimself for a short period the lawgiver, the prophet, and virtuallythe dictator of Florence—that Florence which was at the time thevery gemmary of the Renaissance—his sudden fall and tragic death;all combine to attract toward him our admiration, pity, and love,and to leave upon our minds the impression of his extraordinarymoral genius. And yet, though a spiritual side was not wanting inSavonarola, we should not quote him as an outstanding exemplarof spirituality. The spiritual life is unperturbed and serene. Hisnature was too passionate, he was too vehement in his philippics,too deeply engrossed in the attainment of immediate results,too stormy a soul to deserve the name of spiritual.
Again, our own Washington is one of the commanding figures inhistory. He achieved the great task which he set himself; hesecured the political independence of America. He became themaster builder of a nation; he laid securely the foundations onwhich succeeding generations have built. He was calm, too, withrare exceptions; an expert in self-control. But there was mingledwith his calmness a certain coldness. He was lofty and pure, butwe should hardly go to him for instruction in the interior secrets ofthe spiritual life. His achievements were in another field. His claimto our gratitude rests on other grounds. The spiritual life is calm,but serenely calm; irradiated by a fervor and a depth of feeling thatwere to some extent lacking in our first president. Lincoln,perhaps, came nearer to possessing them.
Again, we have such types of men as John Howard, the prisonreformer, and George Peabody, who devoted his great fortune tobettering the housing of the po