spirituality

Spirituality is that dimension of human life where we live, experience and perceive through our spirit. It is the substance of the human soul. It encompasses the prajna (wisdom) of Buddhism, the Jewish life of righteous perfection, the Muslim's islam (submission). Christian texts say it is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. It is the inner life of the soul, the essential reality, the ultimate source which gives lasting meaning in our life.

But spirituality also encompasses those aspects of our soul which we express through art, music, dance, and poetry. Beauty and truth are the intrinsic province of the spiritual. When we think of grace, hope, courage, endurance, we are seeing the spiritual aspect of life. When we live with generosity and magnanimity, we are expressing our spirituality.

Truth and beauty are not inherent properties or qualities of things, but a way of seeing them. It is the capacity of our spiritual nature which perceives truth and beauty in the objects and experiences we encounter. Spirituality arouses an awareness in our hearts and minds which makes us feel that they are beautiful and true.

We have an insatiable urge to invest experience with meaning. We are beings who crave meaning, who make our lives meaningful. It is the spiritual aspect of our natures that drives our quest for meaning.

Humanity has evolved an extended capacity for consciousness. We apply it to everything we experience, everything we perceive, contemplate, think about. We are conscious not only of the vast range of diversity of the material universe, but also of the vast universe of ideas and concepts. We have developed the aptitude to look beyond the merely temporal and material to envision an inner life.

Our spirituality is the aspect of our awareness which perceives the living whole of all existence. It sees an inherent unity of truth running through all things and through ourselves. It is our spiritual nature that propels us to leap into the heart of existence and participate in the magnificent flow of life. It is our spirituality that urges us to set aside our own self-involvement and reach that wider place where we find ourselves a living part of the whole.

However we have come to be as we are, what we are is a fusion of materiality and spirituality. We are both material and spiritual. We experience ourselves as an inner reality of spirit expressing itself through the particular materiality of our present life.

Our materiality provides the vehicle, our spirituality gives the direction, shows us the way to become our truest self, to become who we really are. It is our spiritual nature that will lead us into our genuine humanity.