Spirituality is a very broad term, often misunderstood and it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what it means: it can be given different interpretations depending on one’s perspective.
If you look up its definition on Google what you find is: “the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”, which is a great definition in my opinion.
Let me tell you how I see it.
First of all I believe that we are all spiritual, regardless of what we do or believe: it is in the essence of what we are, spiritual being. We are greater and powerful than what we imagine, because divine light is in all of us. Spirituality is simply the discovery of this powerful and authentic self. Some people’s spirituality is more developed than others, which means that some people are more aware of their connection with something bigger than themselves.
A spiritual person knows that we are all One, and consciously attempts to honour this Oneness. A spiritual person has a respect and love for self and an understanding of their connection to others. A spiritual person sees beyond the five senses, looks beyond outer appearances using their intuitive perception. A spiritual person is on a quest to find the greater meaning in life and one’s existence in this world.
So what about God and religion?
I like the way the renowned American medium James van Praagh in his book “Adventures of the soul” explains his idea of God: “To me, God is an energy and I am made of it. I am not separate from God, and neither is anything you see”. For a spiritual person God is Love, it’s the “Omnipresent Nurturing Energy” to whom we are all connected. Religion is a man-made beliefs system consisting in rituals, teachings, doctrines, etc. and different religions can look quite unlike one another. Spirituality is beyond all religions, it doesn’t involve written dogma: spirituality is to practice the higher ideals that we associate with God in our daily life.
So can we be religious and spiritual at the same time? Can one be spiritual and not religious or vice versa?
I believe that religion and spirituality can blend beautifully. Regardless the worship, the kernel of religion is spirituality: religion is designed to be our spiritual source of comfort and advice, a structure to provide moral guidelines and a caring community. However there are some religious people, who go to church every Sunday, follow the religious rituals and pray every day, who are not kind and do not care about loving themselves and others. At the same time there are people who do not practise any religion and do not belong to any spiritual group who are spiritual people: they are loving, kind, do everything from their heart and have a deeper meaning of life.
I was raised as a Roman Catholic and I have been practising my religion on and off all my life. After losing my daughter Esther last year, I started to research about the afterlife and the true meaning of life. Since becoming a bereaved mother I have also become more spiritually minded… I do struggle to marry my religion and spirituality sometimes, but my personal spiritual journey has just begun and it will end only when I will finally be reunited with my precious little girl.
Love and Light.
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