What does 'be Spiritual' mean?

 

What does ‘be Spiritual’ Mean?

I have been asked this question many times over the past 2 – 3 years. I have ruminated over this question and tried to analyse what it means. The answers I have given to different people may have been different depending on the context with which it was asked. I will try and include all those points in this post based on my limited understanding of the subject.

Primarily, being spiritual means having a feeling or sense or belief that there is something which is greater than ‘myself’, something more than just sensory experience and that the greater whole of which we all are a part of is cosmic or divine in nature. A spiritual person first begins to love himself and then that love expands to include all beings living or otherwise. A spiritual person cares not only about people but also animals and the planet as a whole. Such a person knows from within that we are all One, and consciously keeps trying to honour this Oneness.

Spirituality is often confused with religion; people think that both are the same. The basic difference is that the different religions are a path to find the One God that lies within us. Unfortunately, religions which are basically just methods of worship are thought to be the destination rather than the path – the destination can only be reached through spiritual practices which include being a good human being! So, the religion of human beings is humanity and not Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Judaism, etc!

With the arousal of your spiritual curiosity, you become a seeker, once you become a seeker you find your spiritual guide or Guru, who guides you onto through his teaching and through meditation to look for your own ‘self’. This search for one’s own self is the foundation stone of spirituality. The journey within which commences through meditation, the experience of divine energy, the feeling of oneness by merging one’s own identity with that of the cosmos – that is the goal – where universal knowledge gets transferred with ease.

A true seeker will always be humble, questioning, testing, validating all his/her own spiritual experiences. The deeper one dives within one’s own inner world, the truth starts unravelling slowly, the divine experiences commence – you start getting the fragrance of rose, jasmine, havan, etc when there is no rose plant or perfume anywhere nearby; you start feeling cool vibrations, feelings of oneness with nature – a sense contentment, satisfaction, serenity envelop you from within. Once all this is internalised – your being radiates your spiritual nature. You stop getting affected by things which happen around you and remain at peace with yourself and with the world regardless of the circumstances!