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Writing is thinking’s true form. In fact, writing is more than thinking, writing is destroying thought. Writing is as spiritual as it gets.
When you write, you pick thoughts and put them on paper to convert them into a more graspable symbolic form. But by doing so you have started hunting season.
As soon as a thought is on paper, it’s in the cross-hair of your mental sniper rifle and the bullet is the proceeding thought or sentence. When thought is formlessly floating around, there’s not much you can do about it. But when a thought hits paper, you can look at it from all directions and angles.
To me, that’s spiritual writing. You question your thoughts by writing them down and unpacking your whole arsenal of attacks. Or to say it more poetically, you let ‘er rip.
Spiritual writing to some extent is creative writing, but the paradox is that creative writing is actually destructive writing. When you write with the intention to write something true, you don’t create, you destroy.
No amount of thinking about thoughts enables you to dismantle them in the same way writing does. That’s why writing, in my humble opinion, is one of the most important and spiritually transformative activities we can do.
It doesn’t matter if you’re Shakespeare reincarnated or if your writing is worse than gibberish. If you want to do some serious thinking, you need to write. Writing will clear out your mental attic better than most spiritual practices.
But here is a word of warning.
Writing with the intention to cut through self-deception and delusion can destroy your self and your world (most definitely not literally, but at least your preconceived notions of them).
In 1893 Edward Bulwer-Lytton has created the metonymic adage “The pen is mightier than the sword” and oh boy, he wasn’t exaggerating. Although this proverb is supposed to indicate that the written word is more effective than violence as a tool for communicating a point, the kind of spiritual writing we’re talking about here goes beyond communicating a point.
Turning a sword against yourself might do more harm to the body, but no amount of sword can do the damage a pen can do.
Using Spiritual Writing to Dismantle Falsehood
“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” – William Faulkner
Take any emotionally charged thought, preferably a cherished belief, and see if it can withstand ten minutes of serious, focused hack ‘n slash. In my experience, no belief can keep its composure in the face of serious scrutiny.
This is because, as the name indicates, beliefs are beliefs. If they were ultimately true, they wouldn’t be called beliefs. And because virtually everything, including knowledge, is based upon unproven assumptions, everything can be dismantled in this way.
Well, you might wonder, why would anyone want to do this? Good question.
The answer is
1. because you have a strong desire to figure out what’s true for yourself, and
2. because living life without a bunch of heavy beliefs is a much more effortless existence.
If we define spirituality as cutting through delusion and moving towards some kind of ultimate truth (obviously you’re free to define spirituality in any way you like), then writing might just be the most spiritual thing I have devoted myself to.
Is Spiritual Writing Right For You?
“Writers write to influence their readers, their preachers, their auditors, but always, at bottom, to be more themselves.” – Aldous Huxley
The truth is that this kind of writing can quickly become a source of great discomfort and distress. Seeing your cherished beliefs and ideas fall apart can make you feel like you are feeling apart.
But that’s the spiritual journey in a nutshell. Spirituality can be a rough business.
As many spiritual seekers and writers (spiritual or not) can confirm, the more you want to get to the bottom of things, the darker it gets. The Marianna trench is a pretty dark place, so you better bring a light.
But as many brave explorers before us can attest, if you keep going, you’ll eventually break through the bottom and are greeted by a clear brilliant light.
At this point, you might wonder if this is still about writing or something else completely. My answer is, it’s both. Read any of the world’s classic literature and you’ll realize that writing was the spiritual vehicle these courageous humans have chosen.
It was their spiritual path.
Sincere writing is dangerous to your self, your world, and everything in it, but not writing is the greater danger.
On the other side of writing is liberation and on the other side of not writing is the unexamined life. I’m not saying that one is better than the other or that writing is the only viable spiritual practice.
And yet, what do you have to lose by giving it a shot? The time is ticking my friend, so what will you write today?
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The previous questions would’ve been perfect endings for this article, but I want to add another point and didn’t know where to put it, so here we are. Another positive side effect of this whole writing thing is a surge in creativity. Regular writing will not only make you a more creative writer but a more creative human.
Luka
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Hace poco escribí mi primer cuento. Después de muchos intentos fallidos, al fin. No es mucho, lo sé. Pero fue satisfactorio después de escribir poemas, dos artículos y dos manuales. Nada se saboreó igual. Éste blog me alentó a ello. Gracias Luka!!!