Thank you for reading and commenting.
My belief in reincarnation and eternal souls was for background and how I come about my world views without formal education in such matters (I have a BA from U Penn and a JD from NYU). Those beliefs of mine really does not matter for these purposes and should not be used to distinguish. For example "when I use the term spiritual, I use it in a manner that transcends the binary of theism versus atheism. One can act entirely spiritual with or without a belief in “god” however one understands that term. Spirituality only requires love, empathy, compassion, humility, honesty and courage.
As I define spirituality, there is a flip side to the coin and all those positive feelings— accountability, both personally and holding others accountable for their words and deeds."
We are philosophers, https://medium.com/illumination-curated/marriage-of-philosophy-and-spirituality-742dc1d639f6, and can agree not to agree about everything, with moderation, by which I mean as written by David Brooks, "Moderation is not an ideology; it is a way of being. It stands for humility of the head and ardor in the heart. When you listen to your neighbor, you see how many perspectives there are and you’re intellectually humble in the face of that pluralism. When you listen to your neighbor, you see that deep down we’re the same and you hunger to deepen that connection," and discussed by me here: https://medium.com/illumination-curated/can-we-please-all-find-the-space-within-which-to-breathe-the-same-air-and-agree-not-to-agree-6b6b2c8077ec
The ethics and the views on fairness/unfairness/stop complaining are what matter. My intent with you was dialogue, not necessarily agreement.
I do respect the letters after your name--part of my awakening has me thinking that I would like to go back to school despite being almost 55. I have in mind designing a multidisciplinary MA / PhD for myself in spirituality, philosophy, non-fiction writing, maybe psychology, and even economics and political science, with an eye to becoming a teacher or professor. The unifying element of all that would be a focus on ethics.
