Ever met people of different religions and found some to be spiritual and others not? You could have a Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, Christian...
all "religious"...
yet not "spiritual"...
in fact...
the atheist next to them could be more "spiritual!" So...
this raises a question...
Exactly what is it that makes a person "spiritual?" What qualities set them apart and are really central to any kind of "spirituality?" Well...
here's my take on it.
First...
spiritual people exhibit a warmth of heart and loving presence.
If that isn't there, no matter how supposedly enlightened and wise they claim to be, they don't cut it in my books.
Second...
there's a sense of aliveness and passion...
an enthusiasm...
a love of life.
It's not about being some detached, near death, zombie! To be desireless, unengaged with life, living in some secluded monastery, does NOT turn me on.
If that's being "spiritual" I'm outta here.
Third...
they're at peace...
content with life.
They can be who they are and accept others and life as it is.
Even if they're advocates for social change and self-improvement...
they're at peace with "the ordinary".
To them the ordinary is extraordinary...
there's no need to have to change and fix things in others or the world in order for them to be happy.
They appreciate the awesomeness of existence itself.
The wonders of life on this incredible planet, the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly.
Now here's a test for authentic spirituality.
Is a person able to stay in peace in the midst of chaos, stress, difficult times? Sure it's easy to live in peace in a secluded monastery.
It's too easy for spirituality to become a form of escapism from living in the real world.
Where meditation becomes a tool of tuning out reality and shutting down the "unhappy" feelings.
Beware of this trap.
So what do we see here? That being "spiritual" is really a certain way of being...
a particular approach to living...
a way of relating to life.
To see spirituality as a way of being is to take it out of a traditionally religious context.
It's not about believing certain things...
an "ism"...
but about who and what you are and how that shows up in HOW you live...
even though beliefs play a role in shaping that.
This then allows for non-religious people to be "spiritual," avoiding the conundrum of atheism versus religion.
So how do you get there? What is it that you have to do to become spiritual? Are there certain practices and principles to follow? Well...
yes! There are key steps and principles that are central to truly becoming a spiritual person.
There's a reason and a method to opening up that sense of love connection with life, that passion and enthusiasm, the aliveness and sparkle in the eye spiritual people have.
These will be presented in parts 2 & 3 of this series of articles, The Essentials on GETTING Spiritual.