Personalism as Belief, as Philosophy

"So then in love, in freedom, there is a conscious will for another person's good, an unqualified good, a good unlimited, that is a person's happiness." --author unknown

Personalism stands great as a philosophy and a compass for modern man. It is what the modern, current of 'human rights' stands upon; it supports the modern view of relationships, especially marriage, and it advocates the rights of animals and children to name a few areas in which Personalistic philosophy has something to say about man and modern, life values.

The ideas and ideals of personalism came into the fore with the increasing developments of science and technology during previous centuries. While often identified with Christian values, personalism is a wider concept and practice. The Hindu, Ramanuja of the 12th century advocated for it; elements of the philosophy are tangible in Judaism and other religions of the East.

While many of us encounter personalistic attitudes on a day to day basis, for example in areas like human rights, very few of us consider the basis for such a belief or practice like 'human rights.'
Most simply stated the notion of personalism necessarily carries that a person is a created being of worth and dignity; that all persons are valuable, none are expendable and all must be regarded as one, whole and complete. Personalism believes, protects and advocates for natural life in every and all instances.

Personalists regard every person as a creation of free will, possessing agency of the self, a personality unique and distinct. Personalism regards the role of metaphysics as the right justification of the person; through self awareness and knowledge-experience, one grasps value and meaning by these same experiences. In the metaphysical realm, the experience and understanding of a creative force, a god who created the self along with the universe is first contacted and known through the experience of a unified, whole and complete, giving love.

The French writer, nobleman and adventurer, Antoine de St. Exupery follows this personalistc mould closely. He writes in his book, Wind, Sand Sea and Stars that it is love, finally, when the will enters into the equation, providing a conscious commitment of one's freedom in respect to another person, in recognition and affirmation, providing a creative contribution of the love that develops between the persons. Thus love is between persons, existing in a space that is neither one nor the other, is created, and not possessed. So then in love, in freedom, there is a conscious will for another person's good, an unqualified good, a good unlimited, that is a person's happiness.

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward in the same direction. "           --Antoine de St. Exupery

We desire moreover to make the beloved happy, to please them and see to their good. It is this precisely that makes possible for a person to be re-born in love, to become alive, aware of the riches within himself, of his creativity, his spirituality, of his fertility. The person, in love, compels belief in his own spiritual powers; it awakens the creativity and the sense of worth within the individual. And yet for all its lofty abundance, human lovers must learn to translate their highest impulses into the everyday world. Personalism carves a way for this sense-experience and translates it into life experiences borne of justice, peacefulness, friendship, compassion and love.

Love, Sex and Sensuality

Sentimentality must be clearly distinguished from love--Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla

So much of our deepest, spiritual longings center around acceptance, both of self and other. We want to freely love and be loved, what some call "unconditional love." Yet in the everyday world, in the practice life, this can be confusing, contradictory even. We consider the element of free will and its role in love, yet with free will and our natural responses to others, love and sex can become disordered, confused for something that it ultimately may not be. While the whole of our feelings are natural and a guide to our behavior, it is less important to know what our feelings are than what value or how we respond to them. Accepting our feelings is first and foremost.

Writing in his book, Love and Responsibility, Karol Wojtyla notes that, "however, as we know, a human person cannot be an object for use. Now, the body is an integral part, and so must not be treated as if it were detached from the whole person." Doing so threatens to devalue a person. Let me say here, there is no such thing as pure sensuality, such exists in animals and is their proper instinct. What then is "completely natural to animals is then, sub-natural to humans."

This is to say that sensuality by itself, while a natural response to a body of the opposite sex, is not love. Sensuality may be love when it is open to inclusion of the other elements of love, such as desire, friendship, good will, patience, understanding, and so forth. Alone, sensuality is notoriously fickle, seeing only a body, turning to it simply as a possible object of enjoyment. And it is not only the physical presence of a body which may trigger sensuality, "but also the inner senses such as emotion and imagination; with their assistance, one can make contact with a body of a person not physically present."

However this does not go to show that "sensuality is morally wrong itself. An exuberant, and readily roused sensual nature is the making for a rich, if not more difficult, personal life." Sensuality can indeed be a factor for making a free will love, an ardent and fully formed love.

Sentimentality as an experience must be and is clearly distinct from sensuality. As previously stated, a sense-impression typically accompanies an emotional response (a "value" response). Direct contact by persons of the opposite sex always is accompanied by a direct impression which may be an emotion. The inclination to respond to sexual values such as masculine and feminine, should be called sentiment.

Sentimental 'susceptibility' is the the source of affection between persons. In contrast to sensuality where the most immediate sense-impression is perhaps the body, sentimental regard views the person as a whole; it includes the body in its sense-impression, but does not limit itself to that aspect.

Sexual value then continues as the totality, the oneness of the person. Affection is not an urge to consume. It is appreciative, it therefore goes with the values ascribed to beauty, to a strong feeling and value for a person in their masculine and feminine natures.

However in affection, in sentimentality, a different desire than simple use or lust is evident; it is the desire for proximity, for nearness, a longing to be together in a physical presence. Sentimental love "keeps two people close together, it binds them, even if they are physically far apart. This love causes them to move in a similar orbit. It embraces memory, imagination and also communicates with the will." Tolerance, understanding and tenderness enter into their relationship. Being a love not wholly focused on the body, this love is sometimes called spiritual love.

Nonetheless with distance, sentimental love may turn to disillusionment. So it is not always immediately apparent that a particular sentimental love is really able to discern the true, inner values of a person. Thus love cannot be "largely a form of sex-appeal." For a human love to grow, Wojtyla says, "it must become integrated, a whole to a whole, person to person. Without this developing integration, a love is not a durable, human, love; thus it simply dies.

This article appeared here previously on May 14, 2009

Other Mudras

"the soul must empty itself to be filled with God." by St. John of the Cross

While many perceive the yogic mudras as part of esoteric Asian practice, the Simple Mind would confer with others who see them as signs and gestures, common in all human communities. Everything from the simple upheld hand to hail a taxi in New York to the upturned palm to indicate sincerity in Beijing or honesty in Rome, hand gestures or mudras are everywhere. In some spheres of life we are all connected in some way or another. It is part of what makes us human as opposed to another animal species.

Writing in the book, Christians talk about Buddhist Meditation, Buddhists talk about Christian prayer, edited by Rita Gross and Terry Muck, Donald Mitchell writes "One's day is offered to God in a way that changes one's attitude toward others -- one lives more for their happiness... Vows [are] aspirations to pursue a higher good...' Mitchell continues, speaking on his topic with reference to the Buddhist teacher, Robert Aitken, he notes: 'as Aitken says, realization must be sustained; healing and reconciliation must be sought when unity is broken... this healing and reconciliation includes one's relationship with God. Dharani, Mudras and chanting, in both Buddhism and Christianity, [each in its customary forms,] creates an atmosphere... where one's mind is transformed." Gestures, both great and small, play their part.


With physical practice and devotions such as prostrations, chanting and other physical responses the practitioner may then move the awakened mind into a sense of wholeness, unity and glimpses of the divine, moved with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes Mitchell, concluding his essay. Resting in the 'now moment' there is the experience of life as it is, just this moment. 

The Buddhist precepts as discussed by many, lead the practitioner to awareness that there is no lesser nor greater, no aware or unaware, not even large or small; yet there is just this moment. Likewise Christians too, it seems, seek to live in the 'now moment.' The practice of Christian symbols, or Mudras have long played a part in that from the earliest times of persecution to modern devotional practice. Today mudras are part of many personal and communal practices worldwide.