Taking The Path Of Spirituality (Part 3)
The religious mind-set is sometimes threatened by the approach of spirituality (discussed over the last couple of days) and sometimes calls it a self-absorbed approach. Spirituality calls it the awakening of the self or the soul so that it can realize its true form and nature. It also reminds us that everything and everyone are interconnected. While we are all unique and have individual characteristics, we are also members of one spiritual family. If each one of us wake up spiritually and restore our personal link with the Source, with God, then that in itself will benefit all others around us. Seen in this way the enlightenment of the self becomes a spiritual service to others.
This does not mean that the religious person is not spiritual. Many are naturally spiritual and carry a healthy and positive criticism about organized belief systems and the institutions which are built around them. They are often attracted to the universal truths found at an intellectual level in all religious philosophies. But an intellectual understanding is not enough, as the saints have reminded us through the ages. Having had direct experiences of a Supreme Being, they remind us that God can never easily be put under scientific investigation, but rather will be found in the personal experience of spiritual communication/connection. For this reason, in spirituality, there is always an emphasis on the practice of meditation/contemplation and the purification of the soul.
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