And it is through my spiritual awareness that I become intimately connected to all.
Since I am part of all and all is within me, my spiritual being encompasses my physical and social being and my environment, as well as my consciousness. My physical being includes my body, my social being includes my family and the social groupings and societies in which I am involved and my environment includes all the things that surround me in the material world. These are all part of my spiritual being. And, as a result, my spirituality needs to reflect them all.
This is a wonderful, sunshine world and to make it a wonderful, sunshine life I need to fully participate in all being with the energy of all existence.
Our spirituality is often portrayed by religion as a way to perceive some "real truth" that goes beyond material reality and our physical selves, as if these were non-spiritual things. The scenario is that we have either left our spiritual purity behind in some Fall or that material reality is an illusion and we are wallowing in suffering or karma as a result. But we have not and are not.
My "soul" or "true self" is not confined or limited by the world and the physicality of my body. Material existence is not a fetter upon my spiritual development and I should not ignore it in some search for spiritual "purity". Instead, I should fully accept it into my spiritual being through my spiritual practice, and thereby open myself to the glory of all existence. Spirituality is uniting with my body and the world around me in all its glory. It is the union of myself and the world, in the world. So, I should rejoice in the world: live life to the full, but with constant awareness of that unity, of my interdependence with all, and with a deep respect for all - an awareness and respect that needs constant practice to achieve.
My spirituality is my own. It has evolved within me, entirely emanates from me, and is me. Thus, spiritual knowledge is not about knowing the Gods or their “Truth”, nor is it about waiting for deliverance or preparing myself for final release. Thus, my spiritual being is not limited to a non-material essence, nor is it a gift to me. My spirituality is about me, living now, as part of all.
My spiritual awareness is in a constant state of change; it is constantly in both a state of harmony and balance and a state of disharmony and imbalance. Thus, trying to achieve perfect spiritual or mental harmony is impossible. Thoughts will always come, even if I can lose some of my attachment to them. And I never totally lose that attachment, otherwise they would not arise. This is important to remember, because I can never totally free myself from my thoughts, the world, or the laws of nature. I can never achieve that perfect equanimity that some gurus tell us about. It is an impossibility, just as the perfect release they mention is an impossibility. Being an individual on this planet is about attachment and that attachment is itself spiritual.
Loved comments under "Labels - Spirituality". Glad to see you are active! And better? Love
ReplyDeleteBettee de G, Cape Town