Saturday, June 02, 2007

What does it mean to be spiritual ?


You go to church every Sunday and you say your prayers every day. Does this mean you are a spiritual person?

No.

You practice yoga and meditate every day. Does this mean you are a spiritual person?

No.

You belong to spiritual group and are devoted to following the teachings of the group. Does this mean you are a spiritual person?

No.

What, then, does it mean to be a spiritual person?

Being a spiritual person is synonymous with being a person whose highest priority is to be loving to oneself and others. A spiritual person cares about people, animals, and the planet. A spiritual person knows that we are all one, and consciously attempts to honor this oneness. A spiritual person is a kind person.

So, you can go to church every Sunday and say your prayers every day, without caring about loving yourself, others and the planet. You can practice yoga and meditate every day without being conscious of what is loving and what is not loving in your thoughts and actions. You can belong to a spiritual group and devotedly follow the teachings, yet still be judgmental toward yourself and others in your daily life.

There are many people who do not practice a religion, who do not meditate, pray or belong to any group, who are very spiritual people. These people naturally do caring things for others. They think about how they can help. Their thoughts are kind rather than judgmental toward themselves and toward others. When you look at them, you see their kindness in their eyes.

There are many religious people who are anything but kind. We all know of religious people who are extremely judgmental, righteous, and outright mean. Can you be both religious and spiritual? Of course! But only when you are operating in your religion from your heart rather than from the learned dogma of your mind.

Years ago I very briefly attended a "spiritual" group. People would meet in an auditorium to hear the leader of the group speak. The second time I attended I heard a number of parents yelling at their children and judging them to try to control them. These parents were being anything but kind with their children. That was the last time I attended the spiritual group. The focus of the group was surrender to God, but love was rarely in the picture! They obviously had a very different experience of God than I did.

My experience of God is that God is the energy of Love that created us and sustains us. In my experience, "God is Spirit" (John 4:24) and "God is love" (1 John 4:16). Anything that is not of love, peace, joy, truth and kindness is not of God. Praying to God does not mean that you are allowing the spirit that is God - the love, peace, joy, truth and kindness that is God - to guide your thoughts and actions. Practicing yoga or meditating does not mean that you have invited the love that is God into your heart, or that you are turning to that ever-present love to learn about what is in your highest good, and the highest good of others and the planet.

If you want to be a spiritual person, then let kindness be your guiding light - kindness toward yourself, toward others, toward animals, and toward this beautiful planet that is our home. Recognize that we all have the spark of love that is God within us, and learn to honor that love so that you can know and experience the Oneness of all that is.

About Author:
Margaret Paul, Ph.D., best-selling author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You" and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. FREE Inner Bonding course at: http://www.innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available. mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com.


Found at : http://www.bharatbhasha.com/religion.php/59900

12 comments:

Morgan said...

You know I think the problem or the confusing with spirituality is that people confuse it with religon. I know I did for many years..I was not a religous person so I had no idea that I had the right to embrace a spiritual life not dictated by the beliefs of organized religon. you made some excellent points in this post. Spirituality for me....simple is being the priciples of the spirit of God..kindness, love, compassion..whatever. The highest choices one can make that exlempify the spirt of a higher power or God....thanks for the post as well as the poem on my blog very much appreciated.

Fabrulana said...

Fantastic, I am glad you enjoyed it. If at least one person enjoys my entry I feel it was worthwhile and I am grateful. I don't normally like to touch religion because people are so touchy about it. But I do feel the need to step in when religious people squash other people's beliefs and hopes. Spiritual growth is not possible in a religion, as a religion is a doctrine one must follow. You can't make up your own mind in a religion as it is made up for you by your so called "superiors". Please take this knowledge and start to grow. Read books like God Delusion and Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins (or End of Faith by Sam Harris) even if it is just to break through the religious stranglehold of society. This is finally the day and age where we can break free from our medieval type of thinking and be truly enlightend. Its a long road still as religion will never go away, but a lot of us can get there if we stand together and support each other.

Bar L. said...

Great post, I agree with you on this topic. I found you at Metal Mark's, glad I checked your blog, it's good!

Fabrulana said...

Great ! Thanks for stopping by... you might also enjoy my new blog (hopefully final one) at effect.wordpress.com

Bar L. said...

andre, thanks so much for pointing out the philip was not on the list, I count on others to help me make sure that I did not leave anyone off. You can look for him there later today!

Anonymous said...

Wow. This is really cool. I've also experienced it like that.

Fabrulana said...

Excellent, more people need to realise this. Thanks for stopping by Tania. Check out me and my wife's new website as well :

www.homevalley.co.za

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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