Question by crazy_chick1988: I want to do something Spiritual with my life. Is it possible with a degree in Metaphysics?
I asked this question a few years ago. (as you can see by looking at my asked q’s history.) However, some random rude guy was the only answer. I need honesty here – not for people to put ‘Lol! loser’ and not help because they may be embarrassed or afraid to show their belief in their God and/or chosen belief.
My whole life I’ve been interested in Spirituality. Sure, I’m 20. I’m still young. I love music and I would LIKE to be a web designer. But, it’s not my passion. I love helping people, I love talking about the Spiritual side of life. Does that make me a bad person somehow? It almost seems in America it is. Ever since my family got the internet when I was young (around age 7; what can i say? we just loved technology. 😉 I have poured and devoured over websites and books that talk about Spirituality. I’ve learned about religion, Reiki, Auras, Meditation, Chakras, Spirit Guides/Guardian Angels, the other realms..sorry if I sound crazy to you, but I belief I’m finally past my first few steps of study. It’s been years, tho! There is always so much to learn. And there always will be.
But, don’t sugar coat it. Please be honest. Do you – think that it is possible for someone to have a good honest living in Metaphysics? Can someone do this and not be looked upon as a loon?
Thanks.
Best answer:
Answer by animetuc
There are many people who do study metaphysics. At most Colleges your would have to create your own major (talk to you advisor) in order to find the right courses for a career in metaphysics. Many people who study that field become highly respected within the MP community and they go on to write books and articles for magazines proposing new theories and reviewing spiritual practices. In my humble opinion, if you want to study this GO FOR IT. If you allow people to dissuade you from studying what you please (i.e. calling you a loon), you will end up back in school–after graduating with some inane degree–to take what you really wanted.
Add your own answer in the comments!
Philosophy is an exceptional field to enter, and to those who really have a desire and love of the subject, it can be extremely rewarding both personally and financially; however, if you are going to enter the field of philosophy merely to obtain some level of spiritual enlightenment, you should reconsider.
Metaphysics is in reality a branch of philosophy that deals with understanding reality in its purest form. Your senses and subjective beliefs cause you to misunderstand and misinterpret what reality actually is. Color, for instance, is completely perceptive. It exists (as it is defined) only under the external stimulus of a light source and your observation. So when you say “This apple IS red,” you’re not really making an observation about reality as much as you’re making an observation about your subjective viewpoint about reality. Metaphysics seeks to get at the heart of reality … what is substance? What is being?
In this sense, metaphysics may seem like an enlightening branch of knowledge but it is highly objective. Metaphysical enlightenment is not necessarily homomorphic to religious or spiritual enlightenment because the latter is somehow intended to make one understand reality through the experience of visions or the experience of one’s “aura” vibrating at a higher frequency; whereas, the former opens the human mind to what is real non-subjectively and so gives one a sense of having a level of perception and ideas that transcends ordinary opinion. Your comparison of spirituality to metaphysics is like comparing the personal philosophies of Sylvia Brown to those of Ayn Rand. Both of these women sought reality but from extraordinarily different angles.
I guess what I’m trying to say is one should not look at philosophy and metaphysics as an equivalent to spirituality. Spiritualists approach the question of reality in a much different way. I am a philosopher and I am Buddhist. My belief system feeds my interest in philosophy and vice versa but there are spiritual experiences I’ve had that the philosopher in me says are too subjective (too sensory). Similarly, I’ve discovered certain reasonings in philosophy that my religion and beliefs would say are in many senses nihilist.
If you are spiritual, do spirituality as a profession. If you love to help people, then aid others as a career. If you love philosophy (as the field has been formally defined by our society), then philosophize. But, as Ms. Rand might say, do what you do because you love it and have a passion for it; the good that your profession brings to others will naturally follow from your passion.
Child – You are created & cared for
Adult – you care for yourself.
Parent – You create & care for another
You are being called a loon for trying to put a child’s paradigm on an adult world.
An ‘honest’ living is where you provide something of tangible value to others in exchange for some kind of recompense (typically money)
So can you make an ‘honest’ living in Metaphysics, which is the study of non tangible / non provable stuff? Not really – you want real money for non tangible stuff.
You want to do something ‘Spiritual’ which again is non-tangible.
This is recognized by most as a childhood fantasy world devoid of the pragmatic task earning ‘real’ money by providing a real service. A bit Like a WOW gamer wanting to be paid for slaying online dragons.
Lunacy is expecting your imagination to translate into reality without genuine work. That is why you are being called a loon.
Do you think that Angels matter?
Get one to mow my lawn & I’ll give you $20.
“Wonder is the foundation of all philosophy, inquiry the progress, ignorance the end.” -Michel de Montaigne
Religion and philosophy are NOT the same thing. If someone hates God and thinks theology is pig dribble they can still be a great philosopher. What you are saying is that you want to be a theologian. Try asking in Religion and Spirituality room.