What is Spirituality?
Published March 3rd, 2008 in Life, Love, New Thought, Peace, Positive Thinking, Positive Vibration, Relationship, Religion, Self Image, spiritness, spiritualI 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
(www.Rhymezone.com)
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.
Right on, Jim! Excellent post.
You may be true that it’s all about us… but we should always attached ourselves to God. My faith is my only strenght to hold on to I really am and who I should always be. But as human, we sometimes fall and loose our faith.
Thanks Ester. Of course I agree. The fact is that we are all connected to God whether we believe it or not, whether we like it or not, and whether we know it or not. It is our knowledge of this connection to our source of life that makes life interesting. You are who you want to be. Hold that vision and God will guide.
Jim I read and think that spirituality is a term describing our ability to raise above daily perosnal wishes and needs and wish positively to change and or improve soemting in the universe.
I understand your using the word love, however, love for me personally has some questions: to each one of us Love means something else, and also soemtimes in life or usually other people use this word to define with us or towards us not always altruist positive and active positive waves or thoughts.
This is why fo rme personally I prefer to use other words as definition: it is something e feel and wish that is altruisitic, or and universally positive.
Spirituality is perhaps among so many other definitions or experiences what I feel when I see a work of art I like that moves me in such a way that it gives me an immediate urge and positive active energy to continue that positive atmosphre in being creative and let others enjoy the creativity, continue and inspire others so that such moments will be experienced again and even more.
So in this case the end of the line definition is doing good to ourselves whice is coming to doing inherently and coherently good to us.
Regards
Miky
Needs to be in the end phrase:
Doing good to others which comes from doing inherently and coherently or ingenuiinely good to us,
And again the term good is relative…but soemthing that we feel so good that we wish to ….
Miky
Thanks Miky, You refer to both love and spirituality as feelings. To me feelings may result from the experience of love and spirituality, but both love and spirituality are intrinsic non-physical and thus non-emotional ideas. They are what we are without the physical and emotional. Just like God.
Ji,
Perhaps the word feeling used by me shoud be acknowledgement, if the word feeling is not correct by your definition.
However it seems to me that when we talk about spirituality we also can use th ewords sensation, idea.
Regarding the use of the word God as a fix one for each one’s idea, is abit risky. It puts God meaning as a one absolute defined terminology.
Exactly like the too abandoned use of the word Love-which like God has so many differentinterpretations by different people, in different moment or thier lives.
I would personally use instead of God the words that relate to our perception at the tim eofuse and our state of mind and sporit, like a universal positive spirit, or universal positive power or better, a universal positive energy.
But I know and admit that this is a highly personal perception adn concept.
I would perfer as a ,
“A universal positive energy”. I like that. Thanks Miky