Source: Ben's thoughts on bringing life to ourselves
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BenSibelman
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''This is chapter 1 of [[SolSeed: The Book of Life#The "SolSeed Gospel" according to Ben|Ben's portion of SolSeed: The Book of Life]].''
Imagine waking up on a Monday morning excited and energized by the knowledge that you're going to spend the day doing something you love: work inspired by your innermost dreams and desires, and their intersection with the deep needs you see in the world around you. Do you know what kind of work that would be? Are you doing it already? If so, then by the SolSeed Movement's definition, you are spiritually fulfilled. If not, then regardless of whether our particular vision interests you, we want to help you work toward finding or founding the tribe that will support you in doing what you feel called to do.
This definition of spiritual fulfillment may seem strange to you. Isn't spirituality mainly about things like prayer, meditation, and attending religious services? We don't oppose these practices (though we find the concept of praying to a supernatural entity rather dubious), but we value them only as a means to an end: preparing your mind for the hard but rewarding work of turning your passion into positive action.
: Passion drives us.
: Without Passion,
:: Empathy and Wisdom are impotent.
:: I pledge to identify and channel my Passion,
:: to embrace my animal nature,
:: to be my true self, Happy in the Sun!
::::~ from the SolSeed Creed
Passion originates in your emotions, not your rational thoughts. These emotions are the source of snap judgments you make automatically and immediately on encountering almost anything: a person, an idea, a piece of art. You're instinctively attracted or repelled, and this subtle emotional response shapes your subsequent interactions, often without your consciously realizing it.
Not all of these reactions are appropriate or positive, of course. For example, many if not most people have an instinctive fear of difference, which drives all the various forms of prejudice and discrimination that still plague our highly diverse modern societies. So it's important to recognize passions that contradict our values and prevent them from shaping our actions. This is one reason why the SolSeed philosophy seeks a balance between Passion, Empathy, and Wisdom.
But it's a mistake to pit our intelligence in a direct battle against our Passion. Your neocortex, the top layer of the brain where advanced thought resides, was not evolved as a control system that would override the much older, less intelligent parts of the brain. Rather it serves as a guide to help the so-called “reptile” and “mammalian” parts of the brain meet their goals more effectively. The neocortex is like a small person riding a large elephant (a metaphor more deeply explored in Brandon's part of the book). If you don't like what your “elephant” wants to do, you can't fight it directly, because it's too much bigger and more powerful; you have to change what it wants.
Luckily, our ancestors have been social creatures for many millions of years, so Empathy (a main topic of the next chapter) is built into the deep layers of our brain, and merely has to be emphasized when we're worried that we might do something harmful to others.