Beyond the Rules: The Journey from ‘Ideal’ to ‘Spirit’

An unwavering adherence to the 'ideal' of any human experience is not an adherence to the 'spirit' of them. Paradoxically, to truly understand the spirit of the experience to which we subject ourselves, we must first adhere to the ideal of it—or the rules that make the experience possible. Without the rules, or limitations, of the experience, we have no edges to define where the experience begins and ends. Only when we learn to operate within the limitations of an experience can we then begin to grasp the spirit of it. Yet once we have entered into the spirit of any human experience, the initial rules to which we must necessarily adhere then become secondary and even transcended—or at least can be transcended if needed or desired. In other words, that's when you can move beyond the rules that govern the experience—or the limitations that allow for the experience to occur in the first place—and thus can maintain the spirit of the experience without an absolute adherence to the ideal, rules, or limitations that created the experience. 

This thought recently occurred to me, and I made a note of it. It speaks to the relationship between rules, boundaries, and the essence or spirit of a particular human experience. It is sort of a two-step process in understanding and moving beyond the strictures of any given experience. This is a new thought for me, so I will attempt to make more sense of it. 

Structure

At first, it's important to understand the structure or 'ideal' of an experience - the rules and limitations that shape it. This could be anything from writing a book, exploring a philosophical concept, or entering a relationship. Rules and limitations provide a framework that shapes and defines the experience, giving us clear boundaries within which to operate. They are like the grammatical rules of writing: they define the borders of communicating a thought or concept.

Knowledge

After we've understood and adhered to these rules, we can then begin to grasp the 'spirit' of the experience — the essence, the ethos, the 'why' of it. This understanding comes only from a deep immersion into the experience and internalizing the rules to the point that they become second nature.

Transcendence

Then, the process shifts. Here, we gain the mastery necessary for moving beyond these initial rules and limitations, and doing so without losing sight of the 'spirit' of the experience. This stage of mastery then becomes revolutionary, where we may bend or even break the rules, while still maintaining the essential spirit of the experience. Here, the writing analogy broadens: once we understand how to write within the rules of grammar, we can then choose to write in a way that violates them, while still producing an expressive, meaningful work.

Conclusion

This could present itself in various ways, such as an artist deviating from the initial sketch while still maintaining the overall expression of the world he aims to bring into existence, a psychotherapist using unconventional methods that nevertheless adhere to the ethics of her field, or a foreigner adapting to another country's culture while bringing in their own unique perspectives. In all these cases, there is an element of transcendence of the limitations that initially made the experience possible without abandoning the spirit of it or, worse, failing to identify the essence of what makes the experience meaningful.

This process reflects the journey from novice to apprentice to master, with the tension between rules, limitations, and the spirit of any human experience being the very phenomenon that gives rise to our transcendence, our psychological, experiential development.