What is Spirituality?
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I see many articles and blog posts on various aspects of spirituality and religion. Lately I have been asking myself this question: "What is spirituality?" Many will begin to answer this by referring to their religious practices, or their times of meditation. But is this really spirituality? Is this real spirit?
Let's begin with a definition of the word. Some definitions of "spirituality" are as follows:
concern with things of the spirit
1 : something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such
2 : clergy
3 : sensitivity or attachment to religious values
4 : the quality or state of being spiritual
(http://www.merriam-webster.com)
I think the first definition relates more to the true meaning of the word. The Merriam-Webster definitions show how the word has been adapted to religion or religious values. Of course religion is an expression, or is meant to be, of spirituality. Where I have found religion to be failing is that the "spiritual" practices and traditions no longer are spiritual. They no longer aid the spirit of man or woman to experience spirit.
As "spiritual" has to do with the "spirit", what then is "spirit"? The Bible states that God is Spirit. It is also generally accepted that we are all spiritual beings, meaning that we have a part of us which is also spirit. So what is "spirit"? Spirit is that life force which exists outside of and independent of this physical realm. It is that which holds everything together. Spirit is that which connects each of us to the other. Spirit is life itself, the unseen force behind all existence.
"Spiritual" then is anything pertaining to this realm of "spirit". So when I meditate and connect to my inner being, my spirit, and thus connect to the wider spiritual world, to God, to other spirit beings - that is spiritual. If I pray to a higher being, acknowledging their higher powers and request their assistance, that is spiritual. If I connect to another human being and feel what they feel, and enter into an understanding of their deepest nature, that is spiritual. And if I do a service to a fellow man, whether that be a coin to a beggar, a gift to a charity, a smile to a passer-by, a word of encouragement, or an act of helpfulness, that too is spiritual.
But what about deeds of wickedness and destruction? What about taking from others by force what is not yours, or living the way you want and not caring if someone is hurt , injured or killed? Is this also spiritual? Has this anything to do with "spirit"? If you accept that we are all here because we choose to be here, to fulfil a specific purpose, then whatever a human being does, must be in some way spiritual. It is his or her expression of who they are and why they are here.
Now I realize that those holding to religion may disagree with this. You may believe that God is the creator of all good, but not the evil. Others will of course argue that God created both, for how can we know the one without the other? You may also believe that any act of prayer or meditation or good deed done onto God is spiritual, but never an evil deed done out of selfishness and aimed to destroy. Yet it seems to me that if we are to accept the common idea that we are here by choice, we choose to be here, we even choose our families, then it must follow that whatever we do here, however we live, is a spiritual expression of our being.
It is my growing belief that we are all spiritual beings, whether each individual believes it or not. Anything pertaining to discovering that spiritness or living by its otherworldly power is spiritual. The act of me writing this is spiritual. My thinking of these words is spiritual. Your reading this and other such writings is spiritual. Just sitting and thinking about your inner being, or that otherworldly spirit existence is a spiritual act.
Have you ever tormented yourself by thinking "I am not very spiritual just now," "I don't feel spiritual," "That was not a spiritual thought"? Then rest assured that as much as you are human and alive in the body, you are even more of a spirit being. You can't be anything other than spiritual. You are spiritual all of the time, no matter how you feel or what you do. Now that is not meant to be a licence to perform all sorts of evil. It is merely a statement of what you are.
So, spiritual being, go discover the real you, the ever present spirit that is you. As you and I and all men and women become aware of who we are, we will become aware of our connectedness. This is why when you hurt I am hurt, when you have joy I have joy, when you grow into Light and Love my spirit rejoices. This is why the ultimate form of spirituality is LOVE.
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Comments
Hi Jeromeo, thanks for the comments. Actually I agree with you, that we have a spiritual body as well as this verious obvious and present physical body. It is interesting when you say "Man will foresake his spiritual self in order to sastisfy, his physical self". I have just been listening to Dr. David Hawkins who says much the same as the New Testament that "Man will foresake his physical self in order to sastisfy, his spiritual self". An interesting reversal and I believe a necessary one. After all, the spiritual is the true reality.
This physical world is full deceptions (non intentional) and we have labeled things to such an extent that we no longer see the truth behind the label. Even your mention of "sin" is one such deceiving term. We have been taught to believe this to a term referring to some offense against God who will punish us for it. I believed this for 40 years, and at the same time I couldn't believe that God could be so cruel. I now realize that much of our understanding is twisted. The word "sin", as I'm sure know, means "missing the mark". But what is the mark, or the target being missed? I believe all men have an equal chance to hit the mark. That is a life of integrity and love and awareness of the Divine Life within, our connectedness to God. Without this integrity love and awareness of God, well our lousy life is our own fault, right. What results from a life without the divine input is missing the mark, missing the purpose why we are here, missing out on the blessing of living in spirit and all that that brings. "Sin" then is nothing other than an absense of the Divine - not a punishable act. God is there drawing us to him, and whoever doesn't hear him or listen, his disatrous life is his own fault, his own hell.
Mmm. This was almost another article!
Very interesting discussion and thanks for sharing.
Wow, and I thought only Jenny is capable of writing something like this! You definitely earned the place on Hubpages pantheon, and as soon as you decide God of what you wish to be, I'll dub you :D Oh, and if you don't know what I'm talking about - read here http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/3289
But it seems like punishment, because we have been conditioned to believe it as such, and because it (punishment) is in response to our actions that happened to Hve been outside of the divine order of things. People don't seem to get the point, they want to blame "punishment" on God or someone else, instead of looking to themselves.
Ah Misha, I am honored. Thank you for your compliments. This all comes from my past decades in church life which finally threw me up as incompatible content (wow, that was a good phrase). My wife and I are right now in Vegas writing more of our book due out later this year. That will talk more of our experiences in a rather cute and unique way. But that's secret for now :)
Hi SparklingJewel, you are so right. If more people would look inward instead of outward many problems would simply disolve.
Great discussion here on the meaning of spirituality. Thanks for sharing it! For me, spirituality has nothing to do with religion; it is the mystical process of breathing in the Light, going into the Light, and letting the Light shine. Feel free to see how I try to help others in new ways too. Sincerely: Gary Eby, author and therapist.
Jeromeo says:
2 years ago
Hello jummurdoch,
You have an interesting prospective on spirituality. I found most of it to be dead on.
Where my idea of spirituality differs form your's; or may be not is: to me the spiritual man is seperate from the physical man.
Man will foresake his spiritual self in order to sastisfy, his physical self. And though the physical will not always sustianded, the spiritual. If properly anchored the spritual will always support he physical.
Yes God is a Spiritual being, and we men must worship Him in spirit. so when you give a coin to a begger you are in fact worshping God through that spirtiual part of you.
No God did not create evil, Satan did that, and then through Eve's ambition for self rule, and Adams, displaced loyalty to Eve, man kind adopted sin. This is the sin we all must share now.
But over coming this sin is not as hard as some may think. Only thing is; any thing worth doing is worth doing right. Turning your back on sin means turning your back on all things sinful.
It's up to us as individules to find out for ourselvels what that means for us in our lives.
One man may have a provblem with stealing, he's hungry and he thinks it's OK. Another may have a problem with pornography, which is a form of fornication. It is all a matter of being honest with ourselves and finding the key to being a truly spiritual person.
I enjoyed your hub will read more in the future.
Jeromeo