I have talked about how our minds work in this blog. Today, I will explain the meaning and difference between mind and spirit.
Although I once said that spirituality is empathy based on logic in an earlier post (this article), I will redefine it.
How to treat our minds and spirituality
Sometimes, we want to solve our mental problems and live a healthier life mentally. When we have to do things we don’t want to do, many mental works could stress us, such as forcing ourselves to be patient, disguising ourselves, trying to be liked by those we don’t like, suppressing what we love, or hesitating to live as we are. They make us lie to ourselves. That causes many mental problems.
However, we sometimes don’t know how to deal with them. That makes us push ourselves to the limit and despair when we exceed it. Perhaps the more empathic nature we have, the more we tend to be patient because empathy brings a lot of patience.
In that case, knowing the meaning of mind and spirit might help us. It tells us how to deal with them. Today, I will talk about that.
The meaning of mind and spirit
In my definition, we can define mind and spirit as follows:
- Mind: The function of reconciling the wants of society and the individual
- Spirit: The function of maintaining mental balance in a whole society
Let me explain each of them below.
What is mind?
Our minds reconcile the wants of society and the individual. Our society and we, as individuals, could have different desires.
For example, we want to sleep in bed in the early morning but have to go to work. Our bodies tell us to rest. On the other hand, our society demands that we go to work.
Our minds decide to prioritize based on which is more beneficial or crucial. If our physical state is too bad, we will give up the day’s jobs, even if we suffer some social losses. On the other hand, if we are healthy and anticipate obtaining a lot of money, we will choose to work.
That mental work sometimes causes conflict in our minds. If there is not much difference between both, we might be troubled. If we can estimate the result of a critical loss, whichever we choose, we will suffer.
In other words, society is the most influential and fundamental factor that affects our minds. Animals that create society, such as elephants, monkeys, or dogs, have minds. On the other hand, lives without society, such as bacteria, insects, or fish, don’t have them.
What is spirit?
On the other hand, our spirits maintain the mental balance of society. In other words, spirituality is the function of supporting others’ minds.
Empathy is the sense for it. When the social balance is disrupted, some people suffer due to their inability to keep up with the change. That exhausts their minds.
In such a situation, spirituality cares for their minds and provides mental resolution.
One of the typical examples is the death of a loved one. Someone’s death causes a social change, and it is unchangeable. Some people could suffer because it disrupts their mental balance due to the social change.
Spirituality takes care of them. Religion is one of the systems for that. People can accept change and restore balance in religious ways, such as through a funeral or the concept of an afterlife.
Highly empathic people can do it. They maintain mental balance in society. Empathic people with sociality tend to take care of weak people directly. Empathic people with creativity tend to create a new way of thinking.
Spirit is common in a society because it is for a society. In other words, a spirit belongs to a society. Spirit is not something that belongs to an individual.
How to use our minds and spirituality
That tells us how to deal with our minds and spirits.
The cause of mental problems is not in our minds. Society is the problem. To be precise, the relationship between our society and ourselves causes trouble.
It means we don’t have to change our minds. A changing environment or relationship with society allows us to resolve our mental troubles.
There is no point in migrating to another similar environment. For example, a place where we can imagine success and get excited won’t solve our mental problems.
A different environment is a place where we cannot predict what success will be. It means we need to know new social values.
Two approaches to dealing with society
In my opinion, there are two approaches to dealing with society based on our personalities.
- People with sociality: Belonging to as many individual societies as possible could be better. That makes it easier to find weak people to help.
- People with creativity: Belonging to as few societies as possible while having as broad a perspective on the world as possible could be better. That makes it easier to find people’s problems and create new solutions.
Perhaps this blog’s readers tend to be the latter. In that case, the more we are distant from society, the more we can live honestly because we can let go of unnecessary mental worries. That allows us to unleash our full potential.
The purpose of spirituality
The meaning of spirit tells us when to show our spirituality. Spirit is the function of maintaining mental balance in the whole society.
People don’t need spirituality during a stable period. That is why religious organizations have power in times of turmoil, and a stable society that lasts for a long time becomes atheistic.
Spirituality doesn’t satisfy our desires. It is about balancing society. It is to care for others’ minds. For example, teaching like “If you imagine it, you will attract it” is not spirituality.
We don’t have to force ourselves to use spirituality during a stable period. It is for a confused era. Our broad perspective would allow us to find what to do with our spirituality.
Conclusion
The above is the meaning of mind and spirit.
Mind is a function to reconcile with our society. Spirit is a function to maintain mental balance in a whole society.
Understanding them might help us know how to deal with our mind and spirituality.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you in the next one.
