The following questions were submitted by you, the readers.
I (James Park) have first answered these questions privately
and then revised these exchanges for this wider audience.
I welcome further questions arising from the cyber-sermon
—and from the following discussion.
I will answer all questions by private e-mail.
My e-mail address is: PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU .
Some of your questions have caused me to revise the essay itself.

    About half of the questions submitted and my answers
have broad enough application to publish here.
When your questions are used, your name does not appear.
But you will be able to recognize your questions below.
Thanks for raising these very provocative questions.
They have stimulated me to further thought about all these themes.

    If you are coming across these Questions and Answers
before reading the feature article from which they arose,
these Q & A will make more sense if you read the article first:
Loneliness of Spirit: Deeper than the Reach of Love .

Q1. How does one take the existential leap?

    I think I have experienced the difference
between interpersonal loneliness and existential loneliness,
but I am not quite sure.
How, exactly, does one move
from existential loneliness to Existential Freedom?

A1. Spiritual development is a slow process.

   As babies we had to crawl before we could walk.
And as children we had to walk before we could dance.

    The life of the human spirit seems similar.
Becoming aware of our existential loneliness is crawling.
And from there we learn by trial and error
how to stand and walk, spiritually speaking.

    And finally we may be able to discover how to dance and leap.
So, spiritual development is slow and very individual.
Each person in this process comes to the posture
of being able to take the leap in his or her own way.
When spiritual or existential loneliness becomes intense enough,
and after one has developed the right 'spiritual muscles',
then one is ready to make the leap to Existential Freedom.

    In my more mature thinking, I have moved away from
using the concept of the existential leap.
If leaping does not seem quite the right metaphor,
then some other figure of speech might be better.

Q2. Is the 'leap' a leap of faith?
Is this form of spirituality connected with other forms?

A2. This question opens up the whole area of
language and myth in describing spiritual changes.

    Those who use the expression "leap of faith"
usually stand within the Christian tradition.
The expression comes from Søren Kierkegaard,
who was the first to formulate existential spirituality.
You will find reviews of his major books
on the Existential Spirituality Bibliography:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~parkx032/B-XSP.html

    But the actual spiritual change called making the leap
(from existential loneliness to Existential Freedom, for example)
does not depend on any particular formulation.
Thus, those who reject Christianity completely
do not need to close themselves off from Existential Freedom.
The spiritual quest is not a search for the right words.
What we need is figures of speech
that empower us to make the necessary spiritual changes.
Thus, instead of asking whether any particular expression is 'true',
we should ask whether any set of words or ideas
helps us to make the actual existential or spiritual changes.

    The spiritual dynamics described here in existential terms
have previously been expressed in a wide variety of mythological terms.
Myths need not be right or wrong.
A better question would be:
Do these expressions empower us to make the changes?

    Here's a little illustration of how myths work.
When we are asked to locate the muscles that operate our fingers,
almost all of us say that these muscles
will be found in our fingers themselves.
But this is a mythological explanation.
The muscles that operate our fingers are actually located in our forearms.
(You can confirm this by holding your forearm
while you wiggle your fingers.)
But for all practical purposes it does not matter
that we have always believed
that the muscles that operate our fingers
are located in our fingers themselves.
What matters is that we are able to operate our fingers .

    Playing the piano or the violin requires considerable manual dexterity.
But it does not require a doctor's knowledge
of the physiology of the human hand and forearm.
We make music by 'telling our fingers' how to move.

    Likewise, mythology enables us to make spiritual movements,
even if we do not correctly understand
what is happening within our spirits.
Better models of the body might help us to understand our physical lives better.
And better models of our spirits
might help us to understand our spiritual dynamics better.
But neither kind of action (physical or spiritual)
depends on having a 'correct' understanding of
what is happening 'under our skin'.

    Even someone who misunderstands the operation of fingers
is still able to make those fingers move in all the desired ways.

    Therefore, we can use whatever images or ideas we find helpful
for making the existential changes.

Q3. Why is "freedom" the opposite of "loneliness"?

A3. Existential Freedom is a technical expression.

    The complete expression is "Existential Freedom".
Existential Freedom is always written with the capital E and F,
to remind everyone that this is a technical expression.
Existential Freedom should not be confused with other meanings of "freedom".
Several other technical expressions are also kept in CAPS:
our Existential Predicament, Existential Malaise, or Existential Dilemma.

    Existential Freedom means the condition of living beyond
existential loneliness or beyond existential anxiety.
I chose this general expression—Existential Freedom—
to point to the complete condition
of being free of our Existential Malaise.

Q4. Did people thousands of years ago feel existential loneliness?
What about people in so-called "primitive cultures" today?

A4. Yes, our Existential Malaise comes with human existence.

    Our Existential Predicament came to human awareness
with the dawning of human consciousness,
perhaps 100,000 years ago—when we began to speak.

    If readers know of other ancient writings
that deal with what we now call our Existential Malaise,
I would be delighted to learn about them.

Q5. What about people
who have no awareness of existential loneliness?

    Some people seem to be just plain happy.
They don't think about their "Existential Predicament".
Perhaps this is due to genetic or biochemical factors.
Could biochemistry explain "existential loneliness"?

A 5. Yes, most people do not notice their underlying Malaise.

    It seems to me that only a small percentage of people on Earth
have enough awareness of our Existential Predicament
to be able to deal with the ideas presented in
"Loneliness of Spirit: Deeper than the Reach of Love".

    Being physically and emotionally in good condition
can mask the Spiritual Problem.
How we might communicate with people
who have no awareness of our Existential Malaise
has been a long-time puzzle for me.
Any suggestions?

    Of course, there are lots of sensitive and inward people
who deny that there is anything like "our Existential Predicament".
Each individual must look into himself or herself
to decide this question.

    Some of the chemicals in our brains
make us less aware of our Existential Predicament.
And some make us more aware.
But biochemistry is probably not the best way to deal with our Existential Malaise
—any more than aspirin is the best way to deal with a toothache.
Aspirin can take away the pain,
but the tooth decay remains to be dealt with.

    Additional questions and comments are welcome at any time.
Write to James Park: e-mail: PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU
I will respond to all comments by e-mail.
And your question (and my answer) might be added to the 5 Q & A above.