Spiritual humanist vs. Material humanist

Recently I went to a talk on general spiritual/scientific stuff. In a part of the talk the speaker was talking about being human and human duties and so forth.., and identified a difference between the secular humanist whose perception and attitude must mostly revolve around matter because they don't identify a spirit, and a spiritual humanist who relates to others both on material and non-material level.
Obviously the material humanist will be friendly to others, but still operating with ego consciousness (The idea of 'I' am distinct from 'that'). While the spiritual humanist will not see distinctions, and say "I am that".

Anyway, it got me thinking about how I relate with others (Especially 'strangers'). I would say that I am a spiritual humanist because I don't identify a clear difference between freinds, and people generally. This means I am equally friendly to most, regardless of how long I've known them. While I think most people have this idea of... "these are MY designated friends" so naturally everyone else outside the group must be "Not friends". I find this idea of exclusivity can be alienating so I like to be open to all. But this is difficult as most are still operating with the idea of 'I HAVE'.

What are your personal thoughts and experiences on this? Can you really be everyone's friend?

Originally Posted by she who plays

Can you really be everyone's friend?

No, not without watering down the meaning of friendship substantially.

A friend isn't merely someone you are "friendly" with. A friend is someone who also shares, to some extent, your interests, worldview, and character. Not everyone can be a friend.


eudaimonia,

Mark