A true spirituality is about developing a common sense, practical and functional spirituality that is effective within the modern world today. That means no need to be anything other than yourself and no need to become a monk, priest or nun in order to maintain a connection.
From a common sense point of view you can see that there’s something not quite right with the world we live in. It’s strange that everyone has to give up their lives to large corporations in order to just get by, it’s strange that everyone has to strive to achieve titles and materialistic trophies just to say ‘Hey, I’m OK, can I be accepted now?’ and it’s strange that somehow this all takes place under the guise of normality.
From a common sense point of view you can see that travelling down that ‘carrot on a stick’ scenario is pointless, futile, and even detrimental. From a common sense point of view, something is wrong.
Also from a common sense point of view it must be acknowledged that something else burns from within the human. A lust for life, for freedom, for joy, for happiness. A longing for wholeness. A longing for wisdom. For understanding.
That’s the path I went down. Seeking answers. Seeking life, freedom, adventure, happiness…. aliveness… and understanding. And here’s what I found: deep within there is a real, and true, inner spirituality. And that spirituality is an inner energy that completes you, that satisfies you, that supports you. It’s a connection. It’s a live relationship. An understanding. As well as an on-going, evolving journey.
From a common sense point of view it’s kind of like a mixture of many styles of spirituality and it’s also life itself. Life is the real teaching. The ‘live’ teaching. But some of the major components of that spirituality from my experience and understanding involve:
- the self-discipline and meditative aspects that can be found in buddhism and eastern mysticism.
- the idea of developing virtue, your character, and the warrior self as found in Stoic philosophy and that era.
- the understanding of softness and the feminine power and a respect for nature as outlined by the Taoists.
- The deep understandings of energy and the inner domains associated with shamanism.
- The idea of manifestation and the notion that we are creating our own reality as outlined by many modern new age movements.
- And the understanding and idea of the eternal self, the higher self, as alluded to by Taoists, Hindus and others.
So a true spirituality, in my view, is a way of combining the wisdoms that have been brought down through the ages with the wisdoms you are experiencing in the now. When you understand that the eternal force is manifesting through many different cultures and many different ages, including right now, you can start to see how they are all just different components and different expressions of one deeper wisdom. And now, more than ever, I believe, we are ready to drop more and more dogma and reach for more and more liberation.
