It is the heuristic you must use to assimilate the vast scope of knowledge you will never have, things you will never know. It is what keeps you from the poisonous fear of these things or the heady confusion of believing you can have some meaningful knowledge or even worse, control, of everything. Death is the main unknown that spirituality aims to offer you an approach to. I think it is of critical importance that contemporary nascent left begin to seriously grapple with matters of faith. I don’t see any path forward without it.

IMO the Abrahamic notion of an afterlife is generally toxic, but this is not to say everything coming from these spiritual traditions must be rejected. You can find something meaningful and worth exploring in any spiritual tradition. Because even rejecting a position in spiritual philosophy brings you closer to understanding what you do believe and why.

And I would also recommend taking mushrooms. That’s where spirituality meets materialism. Start with a small dose and move up as you feel comfortable. Do it with someone if you can, just make sure you’re safe and comfortable. And never forget that, this too, shall end.