Chapter Eighteen: Discover Your Spiritual Self -Part Three

In our search for meaning to our lives, we come to a place where we question life itself. We question our place in the world and the universe. The search usually occurs when we are young. Guides will be there to assist us. If we are fortunate, we will recognize the guides and invite them in. Our good fortune may come in the form of another person seeking the same answers. When you need a teacher, one will appear. When you need a student, one will appear. Our good fortune will be our discovery that we are all students and teachers. Being aware of this notion has helped me on my spiritual quest.

There are numerous people who serve as my teachers. Often it is their questioning life that has contributed to my learning. In my effort to provide some answer to them, I come to a clearer understanding about my own spiritual life. There is a young man who is currently struggling with making some sense of his own spirituality. His parents are quite religious. For them a strong belief in God is extremely important. His perception of their responses to his questions is one of them insisting he just have faith and it will all work out. I get the impression that they would prefer to not have the discussion. They want, maybe even expect, him to accept their approach and everything will be all right. If he just gets more involved with the other young people in the church his questions will be answered.

There is another person, an older woman, whose own search has led her to the belief that God does not exist. My impression of how she came to this conclusion is from having experiences similar to the young man. On top of that, she has witnessed so many instances of man’s inhumanity to man, that she could not help but come to the point of view that there is more to spirituality than organized religion.

They are both examples of people beginning to question organized religion. They are not too happy with the examples being set for them. However, they continue to seek a spiritual answer. Their sharing their experiences has helped me to come to some conclusions of my own. Earlier I posted a list of books that have also had a great impact on my spiritual quest. I would suggest that we could all review our lives to identify those people and books that have had an impact on our spiritual quest.

Is it possible to be spiritual without being religious? Probably. Is it possible to be religious without being spiritual? Not very likely. For me, spirituality has more to do with the energy that connects me to the universe than it does to connecting to a specific religion. I do understand that most religious believers are sincere in and committed to their beliefs. I will not argue that this faith brings them great comfort and solace. However, I am concerned that this faith may limit their search for spirituality. (This probably shows my own ignorance of their view of the world.) My understanding suggests that there is no room in their belief for conflicting religious views.

Is it possible that spirituality is the larger category and religion a subset of that category? If we view spirituality as the ultimate energy of the universe, the answer is yes. It seems possible and most probable that the “glue” that binds everything together is this positive energy field, that I choose to call Universal Love. I am also aware of the notion of yin and yang. It is most probably present with the spiritual energy. Evidence of that, in my view of the world, is the narrow view of the world taken by fundamentalists of every organized religion. Their fixation on doing things their way or be damned to fire and brimstone is a prime example of the negative energy operating.

We all have choices. Most people, who practice their religious beliefs, agree with that concept. The ones who choose to believe in the narrower, negative view do serve a greater purpose. A purpose that is greater than they realize. If we observe them in their daily lives we learn that they are waiting for the “after life” for their positive life experience. To that end I wish them well. However, we must be alert to their efforts to force the rest of us into believing as they do. The Positive Spiritual Energy will serve us better to serve others.


Jack’s Nugget: Spirituality is an important part of us all, it defines our humanness.

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