Spirituality -The way to be.

A very nice read..

What is Spirituality?

The term spirituality or being spiritual is being used quite frequently these days, but what exactly does it mean and how does it relate to life?

Many people like to tell others they are a 'spiritual' person probably to let them know they are not materialistic or superficial and that they 'get it'. That's fine if we all understand and agree on what we're talking about.

Traditionally being spiritual signified having an attachment to religious values, or matters of the spirit, rather than material or worldly interests.

More recently it has also taken on to mean reaching higher levels of consciousness using meditation, yoga and similar practices.

I consider spirituality to be a state in which we are connected to God, Nature, each other, and the deepest part of ourselves.

Why is spirituality important in our lives?

In order for us to function fully, all aspects of ourselves must be balanced. Our mind, body and spirit have to be in harmony with each other.

We cannot focus on the material and neglect the spiritual. People may think that being spiritual is difficult and demanding, but that is not the case.

You can experience being spiritual when you enjoy listening to a beautiful piece of music, looking at an amazing work of art, or reading an inspirationalbook or poem.

How is that spiritual?

It is spiritual because when you are immersed in, and deriving pleasure from it, it touches your soul and connects you to the artist and creation itself (God).

You experience spiritual moments when you walk through the woods and connect with nature, walk along a beautiful beach, or when you see the sun set.

You experience a spiritual connection with others when you work together to reach a common goal, such as raising funds to help those in need, playing on a sports team, being in a musical band or orchestra, or anything that involves teamwork and cooperation with others

When we are in tune with God, Nature, each other, and ourselves, we are being spiritual. There are so many wonderful ways that we can make, and take the time, to "connect".

How to Become More Spiritual

·         Take time for yourself. Rejuvenate your spirit and nurture yourself by listening to relaxing music. Read inspirational literature; get a massage.

·         Help those in need of your assistance. When you help others, you automatically connect better with the rest of humanity. Volunteer as a big brother or sister, coach little league, donate to the food shelter. Every little bit helps.

·         Practice gratitude. There are so many things to be grateful for in life. Take time to reflect on them and acknowledge how fortunate we all are for family, friends, and endless opportunities.

·         Practice mindfulness. Become aware of your environment. Be aware of yourself within your environment. Enjoy the colors and smells of nature around you. Enjoy the feel of rain falling on your nose and the wind blowing on your face. It will put you in a revitalizing, fresh state of awareness.

·         Express yourself. If you don't already engage in artistic or expressive activities, learn to dance, sing, play a musical instrument, or take art lessons. Doing so puts you in touch with your creative, right brain side. We all need to balance the logical, linear aspects of ourselves. 

Being aware of, and cultivating spirituality greatly contributes to our overall joy and happiness. It's never too late to develop it further and enjoy the benefits it brings.

Looking inward to act more wisely

For many millennials looking inward is an ethical endeavour. Being spiritual to them implies seeking to better understand one’s inner life in order to act more wisely in the world. For many, becoming more contemplative or aware of their inner life allows them to interact with others in a way that is less reactive, less harmful and more authentic to who they think themselves to be.

Thus, there are certain virtues which have come to be associated with spirituality: compassion, empathy and open-heartedness. These virtues naturally flow out of the introspection inherent to spirituality because they ultimately require a high level of self-knowledge. That is, knowledge of why we hold the beliefs we do, knowledge of why we act in certain ways, and most importantly, knowledge of our interdependence within ourseleves and with God.

This knowledge — acquired either through practices like meditation, self-reflection and (in some cases) psychotherapy — leads one to become more sensitive to the emotions of others, and even to one’s surrounding environments, both social and natural.

Spirituality does not mean any particular practice. It is a certain way of being. To get there, there are many things to do. This is like a garden in your house. If the soil, sunlight or stem of a plant is in a certain way, it won’t yield flowers, you have to do something. You have to take care of those things. So if you cultivate your body, mind, emotions and energies to a certain level of maturity, something else blossoms within you – that is what is spirituality. When your rationale is immature, it doubts everything. When your rationale matures, it sees everything in a completely different light.

Whenever any human being experiences something bigger than himself, the traditional way of looking at that is, “this is God…” The whole idea of God is just that – anything bigger than you. It could be a human being or an experience or some aspect of nature. But is this spiritual? No, this is just life. When I say “just life“, I am not trying to dismiss it as a small thing. It is the greatest thing. Only when life becomes an overwhelming, powerful, blissful experience for you, you want to know what could have created this.

If you want to know the process or the source of creation, the most intimate part of creation for you is your own body, isn’t it? There is a captive creator here, trapped within you. You shouldn’t miss him here. If you don’t miss him here, if you know the source of creation within you, you are spiritual.

Does Belief in God Make You Spiritual?

An atheist cannot be spiritual. But you must understand that even a theist cannot be spiritual. Because an atheist and a theist are not different. One believes there is God, another believes there is no God. Both of them are believing something that they do not know. You are not sincere enough to admit that you do not know, that’s your problem. So theists and atheists are not different. They are the same people putting up an act of being different. A spiritual seeker is neither a theist nor an atheist. He has realized that he does not know, so he is seeking.

The moment you believe something, you become blind to everything else. The whole conflict on the planet is not between good and evil as they are trying to project it. It is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief. The need for belief is more psychological than spiritual. You want to cling to something, you want to feel secure, you want to feel like you know it all. That is coming from a very immature mind. What is the problem if you don’t know anything about this existence. You actually don’t know anything. It’s beautiful! And you see how to make yourself beautiful and joyful within yourself, which is within your hands.

What is a Spiritual Experience?

Going to the ocean or to the mountain and seeking an experience may be beautiful, you must enjoy the world the way it is, but you must understand, the fish in the ocean doesn’t think it’s a spiritual experience, nor does the mountain goats think the mountain is a spiritual experience because they are there all the time. If you bring them to the city, they may think it’s a spiritual experience. It is the breaking of the barrier within you – something broke within you. You were in a shell. This broke and became a bigger shell. What I’m saying is, if you get used to the bigger shell, it feels the same way as the previous one.

So if you want to become boundless and you are trying to attempt it through physicality, you are essentially trying to go towards boundlessness in installments. Can you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and one day count to infinity? You will only become endless counting. That’s not the way. Through physical means, you can never reach towards boundless nature. Every human being is looking to become boundless. If you give him whatever he wants, for three days he is okay. The fourth day he is looking for something else. Somebody may label it as greed, I just say this is life process in the wrong direction. If you want to know boundless nature, you must experience, you must perceive something which is beyond the physical. Something you might have touched when you jumped into the ocean, when you saw a mountain, when you sang a song, when you danced, when you closed your eyes, in so many ways it could have happened to an individual. You touched it, but now the question is of sustainability.

A Simple Practice

One thing is, we can put you on to something very simple, which is subjective. Any subjective technology cannot be taught to you in uncommitted atmospheres. So if you are willing to give yourself a small space of time that is very committed and focused, we can put you on a simple practice, where investing just 21 minutes a day (Inner Engineering), you can start your day with a very phenomenal spiritual experience within you. A very powerful experience that leaves you peaceful and joyful throughout the day.

Apart from that, to sustain it, one simple thing every human being has to do is, make your sense of involvement indiscriminate. If you look at a person, a tree, or a cloud, you are equally involved. You are equally involved with your own body and the breath. If you have no discrimination as to which is better, and you are equally involved with every aspect in life, then you will be constantly spiritual. Nobody needs to teach you what is spirituality

 some author*********