231 – Spiritual Inquiry Part 1: What Spiritual Questions Are and Why They Matter

There are many aspects of Buddhism which suggest you ought to have deep spiritual questions – questions which are not merely intellectual, but which matter to you, personally, very much. Questions which bother you so much that you are driven to seek answers in the hope that they will bring peace of mind, or reveal better ways to think or behave, better ways to live your precious life. How can you come up with meaningful spiritual questions, or choose which of your many questions you should focus on?

Read/listen to Part 2

Quicklinks to Article Content:
Why Do Spiritual Questions Matter?
What Is a “Spiritual” Question?

Types of Spiritual Questions:
Practical Practice Questions
Karmic Questions
Awakening Questions
Skillful Means Questions

Why Do Spiritual Questions Matter?

I’ve talked many times on this podcast about how Buddhist practice is about seeking a better way, or walking a path of lifelong growth. In the last episode, The Importance of Bodhi-Mind, or Way-Seeking Mind, I discussed how our energy and inspiration for practice comes from an inexplicable conviction that arises in us that there must be more than this or there must be a better way. Episode 89 is Buddhist Practice as a Lifelong Path of Growth and Transformation. My Nine Fields of Zen Practice (Episodes 98,99 and 102) describe the many ways practice can permeate your life and provide opportunities for learning and growth.

One of the important ways we make our practice into path is to identify questions we would really like the answer to. Then we explore those questions in our meditation and daily life. We look for teachings and practices that address the questions. We bring our questions to teachers and fellow Sangha members. Questions can give us something to focus on and can give direction to our practice.

It’s not so important that questions take the shape of neat and discreet inquiries we can express in a sentence ending with a question mark. What’s most important is the questioning state of mind – a mind that is curious, open, humble, and attentive. A mind aware of its own limits, aware of what it does not yet know. A mind that looks critically at life instead of coasting along on assumptions or being satisfied with superficial answers.

In this episode I’ll talk about what I mean by a “spiritual” question and describe four kinds of spiritual questions. In the next episode I’ll discuss some of the reasons we may find it difficult to come up with sincere spiritual questions and then go into more detail about how to identify questions that are meaningful to you.

What Is a “Spiritual” Question?

The term “spiritual” is, unfortunately, rather vague and comes with significant baggage from theistic traditions which hold there is a corporeal realm (that is, a physical, material realm) here on earth and a nonphysical realm of the spirit somewhere else (or, if the nonphysical realm surrounds us, it is not something we can normally perceive or access). After death, we shed our physical body and our spirit, or soul, escapes from its fleshly prison and subsequently inhabits the nonphysical realm. Generally speaking, this incorporeal realm is considered more sacred, or closer to the divine, than the corporeal one. Most religious traditions throughout history envision the universe this way, more or less.

In Zen we don’t focus on the existence of soul, spirit, or an incorporeal realm. We don’t actively deny these things, but we also don’t consider them important to our practice. In fact, we discourage people from rejecting their life and this world in the hope that something better will come after death. We discourage people from pinning their hopes on ethereal beings or places which will alleviate their suffering for them. According to Zen, “spiritual” is not superior to, or separate from, “mundane” or “practical.” Liberation is found in how we live each moment.

Despite the mismatch between the concept “spiritual” and Zen, I still use the term because in English we don’t have another good word for what I want to convey, which is this: A “spiritual” question is one raised by an individual about their own experience and choices with the ultimate aim of greater freedom, wisdom, peace of mind, and compassion. It’s an internal affair, although the answer to the question may affect one’s behavior in the world.

What I’m calling spiritual questions could also be called “subjective” questions. “Subjective” can mean (these definitions from Dictionary.com[i]):

existing in the mind; belonging to the thinking subject rather than to the object of thought
pertaining to or characteristic of an individual; personal
relating to or of the nature of an object as it is known in the mind as distinct from a thing in itself
relating to properties or specific conditions of the mind as distinguished from general or universal experience

Subjective questions might include, “When my mother criticizes my choices, what is the nature of the powerful negative reaction I have? What goes through my mind? Why do I care so much what she thinks?” Or, “I often feel lonely. Is there something getting in the way of my reaching out to other people? Or is there something I am depending on others to provide that I might be able to provide for myself?” Or, “My habit is to react with anger when provoked. What happens when I contain my anger and take a deep breath instead?” The inquiry is focused on your experience as an individual and on the choices you can make in terms of how you think, speak, or act.

The opposite of a “subjective” question, then, would be an “objective” question. Objective can mean:[ii]

not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased
intent upon or dealing with things external to the mind rather than with thoughts or feelings
being the object of perception or thought; belonging to the object of thought rather than to the thinking subject (opposed to subjective)

Objective questions are about things external to us, including physical processes, universal principles, the behavior of others, and the most effective course of action we might take to achieve a particular goal. Such questions might include, “Is there life on other planets? Why did human beings evolve to have a sense of self? What policies should we adopt in the U.S. to curb gun violence? How can we solve homelessness? How can I get my spouse to respect me more? Why does my child resist my instructions? Is there life after death? Are human beings going to phase out fossil fuels before they drive themselves to extinction?”

Note that many objective questions can be translated into subjective ones. “Why did human being evolve to have a sense of self?” can be translated into “In what way can my sense of self be seen as positive thing, functioning to help my survival?” “Why does my child resist my instructions?” could become “Do I secretly hold any negative judgments or agendas when interacting with my child, which might cause them to be more defensive or resistant?” “Are human beings going to phase out fossil fuels before they drive themselves to extinction?” could become “What do I feel called to do in response to the climate crisis?”

Objective questions, as personal as they might feel or as much as we might care about them, are the domain of science, psychology, politics, or philosophy, not our spiritual practice. However, our spiritual practice should never cause us to disregard objective questions! We should avail ourselves of every source of knowledge at our disposal, and seek to be responsible and compassionate people. To shut ourselves off from the practical concerns of the world in so-called “spiritual” contemplation (a.k.a. navel gazing) and appease our conscience by sending “thoughts and prayers” is an appalling misuse of spiritual practice for self-serving ends.

At the same time, the scientific and problem-solving approaches of the world are never going answer our subjective questions for us. Only we can know our own experience, only we can truly know the content of our own minds and hearts. Only we can shift the way our minds work, heal our hurts, accept our lives as they are, learn to make healthier choices, respond to others with more authenticity and compassion, and give up our attachment to delusion. Coming up with sincere spiritual – or, if you prefer, subjective – questions is a way to empower ourselves.

As 8th century Indian monk Shantideva wrote in Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva:

How could one kill belligerent beings
Who are as infinite as space?
Vanquishing this one angry mind
Is like defeating all those foes.

How could there be sufficient leather
To cover the earth entirely?
With just the leather for my soles,
It is as if the whole earth’s covered.

Likewise, although I am unable
To keep external things at bay
I’ll keep this mind of mine in check—
What need to ward off anything else?[iii]

I will continue to use the word “spiritual” because it is a warmer and more holistic term than “subjective.” Subjective sounds like a position we take in our minds, but spiritual suggests the inclusion of the body and heart. “Spiritual” points us toward something greater than ourselves – something we definitely believe in in Zen, even if we don’t believe that-which-is-greater is dependent on the existence of a soul or an incorporeal realm. (See Episode 8 – It-with-a-Capital-I: The Zen Version of God.)

Types of Spiritual Questions

I think there are four basic types of spiritual questions.

Practical Practice Questions

The first type I’m going to call “Practical Practice Questions.” These are inquiries about Buddhist teachings and practice, about the way Sangha works, and about how to apply the teachings and practices to your everyday life. Actually, many of these questions are objective, not subjective, like, “What does Dogen mean by ‘playing in the entranceway?” Or “Why do Buddhists bow?” Or “Is there a way I can sit zazen with less pain?” Other practical practice questions are subjective, like “How can I be more mindful in daily life?”

Practical practice questions are very important, especially when we first start studying Buddhism or Zen. If your Bodhi-Mind has led you to this path, there’s a lot you can learn about it that will be helpful to you. Generally speaking, practical practice questions have fairly straightforward answers – answers you might get from a teacher, a book, a podcast, or a fellow practitioner.

The next three types of questions are thoroughly subjective, and are usually not as obvious or straightforward as practical practice questions. It can take effort to learn how to identify these questions for yourself, to face the limits of your understanding, and to open up to whatever answers you may end up finding.

Karmic Questions

Karmic Questions are about understanding yourself as you have manifested in this lifetime – in this body, with this mind, with this set of tendencies and this conditioning. Although we aim to see that the self is empty of any inherent, enduring, independent self-nature, we do not say that the self does not exist, or that it should be ignored. In fact, we can only transcend our limited sense of self by fully facing and embracing who and what we are. As Zen master Dogen says in “Genjokoan:”

~~ To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be verified by all things. To be verified by all things is to let the body and mind of the self and the body and mind of others drop off.[iv] ~~

All that important spiritual work involving forgetting the self and being verified by all things starts with studying the self. This means facing the truth about ourselves, even when it is not something we want to admit. It means learning where our wounds are, and then healing them. It means searching for and addressing the ultimate sources of our fear, anger, longing, judgment, greed, and delusion so we can liberate ourselves in a lasting way.

In addition, karmic questions have to do with changing our behavior. It’s extremely unlikely we’re going to become saints in this lifetime, but that doesn’t matter. We do the best we can to adhere to the moral precepts and change habits of body, speech and mind that cause suffering for ourselves and others. We try to let go of selfishness and to cultivate the sublime social attitudes of goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. We aim to open our hearts and see ourselves as being in the same boat with all beings. At the very least, we engage in karma work because it’s the thought that counts.

Awakening Questions

The third kind of spiritual question I’m calling Awakening Questions. These are existential questions about the nature of your experience as a human being. You share awakening questions and their answers with all sentient beings – they are about aspects of life you have in common with all beings. They aren’t about the details of your particular individuality, such as your personality, habits, skills, job, possessions, everyday responsibilities, or relationships. Awakening questions point us beyond the domain of our discriminating mind and limited sense of self. They point us toward the absolute, or the independent dimension of our life.

At the same time, awakening questions arise right in the context of our particular life. In some senses you might say they are objective questions, in that their answers are based in Reality-with-capital-R, “not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice.” The answers to awakening questions reveal universal principles, and yet there is nowhere for this to happen except within your life just as it is. So awakening questions are simultaneously entirely subjective questions. There is no incorporeal realm to which we escape in order to answer our awakening questions, no disembodied, transcendent space we attain in order live in accord with ultimate truth. Awakening happens right within your own mind and body and is intensely personal – more personal, in a way, than any of the details of your karmic manifestation.

I’ll say more about awakening questions and how to come up with them in my next episode, because, of the four kinds of spiritual questions, these are the trickiest to identify. These are not the kinds of questions we’re used to asking – questions which arise where the objective and subjective overlap, the answers to which are the keys to our liberation. Adding to the difficulty, awakening questions can rarely be phrased in a straightforward way. Instead, poetic language or imagery may point is toward the edge of our experience. A moment of undefended mindfulness may give us a sense that our question is near. A thousand secondary questions may arise because of an awakening question, requiring us to trace backwards to find our foundational doubt.

Skillful Means Questions

The fourth kind of spiritual question I’m calling Skillful Means Questions. Thankfully, these kinds of questions are more straightforward than awakening questions! They’re about how to engage with life and other beings in a more enlightened way. At some point in our practice we recognize we are in the same boat with other beings, and that benefiting other beings also benefits ourselves.

We naturally become very interested in helping others, but we want to do so in a way that is truly generous, compassionate, and beneficial. We don’t just charge in and start doing things we imagine are helpful, carrying an agenda based on our own opinions about what’s good, or an inflated sense of our own wisdom and potential. Instead, we approach with humility, patience, and willingness to learn. We pay close attention to beings and notice what will actually get through to them. What will truly be of benefit? Whatever actions we take are not primarily about us. They’re not about our superiority, or the inferiority of those we want to help. They’re definitely not about obtaining confirmation about what a wonderful, talented, or insightful person we are.

Skillful means questions can give us more than enough material to keep us busy for many lifetimes. They are about where the rubber meets the road – where our practice gets put into action, and we get real, live feedback on how we’re doing. At the same time, even though skillful means questions contain an objective element – they’re about interactions with the world and with other beings – they remain primarily subjective. The focus remains on your experience as an individual and on the choices you can make in terms of how you think, speak, or act. It’s like you are learning how to dance with the world; you can only control your own body, speech, and mind, and can’t directly change anything your dance partner does. Still, what you do with your body, speech, and mind may very well influence your partner.

Sometimes people are by nature very selfless or generous, and they want to focus on skillful means questions more than they want to deal with karmic questions or wrestle with awakening questions. This desire arises from a good place – wanting to help others, to teach others, to share our wisdom and experience, to fight injustice, or work for a good cause. However, from the point of view of Buddhist practice, the skillfulness – that is, the effectiveness – of our efforts will be limited if we have neglected our karmic questions or tried to skip over awakening questions.

I will talk more about karmic, awakening, and skillful means questions in the next episode, including how to search out questions that truly matter to you. I’ll also discuss a few of the reasons we may resist coming up with spiritual questions. I hope you’ll tune in, thanks for listening!

Read/listen to Part 2