And let me be clear, this is not because I am wishy-washy in my spiritual perspective, but I adopt the posture of student, and I value immensely an open mind, and I recognise how much I don’t know, and how much of what I think I know, has not necessarily been translated into habitual behaviours, lived experiences or areas of my life that I could consider yet to have mastered. Some conclusions I have arrived at are simply philosophical points of view, that from my current position in life make sense to me at the moment, others have more weight and heft behind them, and others are simply the result of my conditioning, upbringing, lack of understanding, or common sense.

Additionally, I think from a values point of view, I should caveat – that, when it comes to Spirituality I am only interested in talking, philosophising or pontificating about what I would call ‘Practical Spirituality’. And the reason for this is that so much of what passes for Spirituality and so many of the ‘systems’ which humanity subscribe to for some kind of spiritual upliftment has no practical application whatsoever, and often the only reason we subscribe to some of these modalities is because we either feel compelled to subscribe due to cultural, perhaps familial obligations, or because we have not taken the time to think and consider enough the tenets of what it is we are subscribing to, or as yet the ‘agenda’ of Spirit has perhaps been put on the back burner of our consciousness as the agenda of the ‘Body’ – of survival, has taken precedence over more existential matters. 

However, The Idea of a Man™ is all about integration. Therefore, I feel it is important to address this area, even if it is not where you currently locate yourself on the path. It may be something which you eventually encounter. The other factor is that intentionality is very much a value which The Idea of a Man™ wishes to impress upon us as men to learn to live with intentionality when it comes to the area of Spirituality as opposed to simply going with the flow perhaps of systems which are past their sell by date in our lives. Of course this may require critical overhauling as you discover deeper your Idea of a Man™. 

Just as in other areas of your life you may need to reevaluate the value in worshiping things outside yourself or giving money, time and energy to causes which give little or nothing in return. Therefore, as you do the work to ascertain what your values are and what your Idea of a Man™ is and to what ideological perspectives that Man subscribes and how those ideas and perspectives enhance His life and enable him to realise his purpose and potential and exude a generativity which makes him a valuable person to encounter or interact with, likewise at The Idea of a Man™ we’ll explore how this also has relevance in the area of Spirituality and how we can enhance our lives through beneficial Spiritual practices which sharpen our edge, centre our connection to the universe and enlarge our capacity to meet life where it is and deal with the manusia life so often presents us. 

So, let’s explore the ‘agenda’s’ briefly so that we can have a ‘practical’ foundation for what will follow. We are all conscious of ‘The Agenda of the Body’, but perhaps we have never thought to coin it that way, and also the agenda of the body as opposed to what? Well for this conversation, I’m referring to the agenda of the body, as it stands in contrast to; ‘The agenda of the Soul, and ‘The agenda of Spirit’. What do I mean? 

Your body is a body in a long, dare I say; ‘long’ line of bodies which have been emanating from wombs all the way back to the original womb which released your most ancient ancestor through their portal into this physical dimension. When we use the phrase family tree, we recognise that our bodies are a part of a lineage which stretches back and contains the DNA inheritance of myriads of previous generations. Although we don’t see the physical connection from our body to our mothers once the umbilical cord is cut like bluetooth or wifi, that connection continues unbroken via cords which transcend our consciousness until, like we just did, we bring those connections into our conscious awareness through acknowledgement.