Spirituality and Religion

Whenever friends, strangers, long-lost family relatives ask me about religion, I usually say that I'm very spiritual. I've never considered myself religious not because I have a problem with main stream religion. I think religion can be a beautiful thing, but I view religion as the vessel for spirituality. In being a vessel, religion does not inherently own or contain spirituality. Spirituality is that immaterial substance that breathes life and offers that deeper connection to source, to the divine, to God, to the universe (You can use whatever name you need to fit your beliefs).

Religion As a House for Spirit
In more detail, let's use this metaphor. I think religion is a form. It's a structure, and many of the world religions have done beautiful jobs in structuring a spiritual path for people. Some of the people who have been and are dear friends are incredibly religious people. In my mind, they have followed religion to a spiritual connection; they have found the essence. They are examples of cases where religion succeeds, and they do all those charitable and kind things that reveal a growing, evolving, and enlightening spirit.

When No One Is Home
But if you take away the essence from the form, the structure is all that's left. In these instances, people go through memorized routines without really understanding them. They sing hymns, meditate for hours, or perform rituals as part of the practice, but they do not feel anything. These types of people can also become exceedingly attached to the forms and when challenged, can become very angry. Without the forms, they feel adrift; the problem is that they already are adrift by focusing on these exterior concerns. They've forgotten or never learned that the exterior is simply an invitation to the interior. It's a way to focus the mind and soul towards the important things.

Finding Your Connection to the Divine
For me, I've not felt much of a need for set forms. I suppose that I enjoy the creative free-flowing space of spirituality and my own direct connection to source. I have always been lucky to have a strong connection. In this time of growing spiritual awareness, it's become easier for me to see things on this level as well.

As you discover your connection to the divine, your need for external structures will shift. Some things will fall away. If meditation got you to a certain point, you may find that you don't need it as much if at all. In some ways, you'll find yourself embodying spirit--your spirit, the universe's spirit. You'll begin to understand oneness and the illusion of separation. But I'm getting ahead of myself here. I just wanted to remind you where we're going so that you don't get caught up in definitions like what is religion or what is spirituality. They're just starting points--questions to help your begin to focus your consciousness.

Plenty to Choose From
In general, I enjoy reading religious and philosophical ideas and seeing the correlations amongst them. I like seeing how the garden of eden story relates to the hindu descent from the sat. I definitely like religions, but I don't feel a need to pick just one and give myself a designation. In some Eastern thinking, you can be a taoist, confucianist, buddhist, and probably a Christian and Zoroastrian all at once if you want. I like that. I think it leaves me in a place to benefit from all of the great religious traditions, which all seem to be focused on peace, love, and personal enlightenment if you really boil it down and get away from the fanatics who have a material and egoistic agenda.

So, go find your flavor. So long as a group is preaching love and openness, you can be sure that it's safe. There are some weird cults out there that get into mind control and fear-based tactics. They should be avoided at all costs. The big name religions you can be sure are pretty safe: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, and so forth. Study the texts that they are founded on, and they can help you along the path. But don't hold on too tight. An open hand receives from the universe; a closed hand can hold very little and receive nothing. Proceed with an open hand and a discerning heart, and things will start to shift and unfold for you.

Next blog: What Is a Spiritual Teacher?

What Is God?

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to work on building a basis of understanding for spirituality. I recognize that I'm in it so deep that it sounds like a whole new language in the way that I express it. It shouldn't. The point of spiritual awareness is to live your own life with love and kindness; it's not about setting up a new set of hurdles or ideology. If anything spirituality is ultimately antithetical to ideology. Ideology is about itself and the ideas it presents. Spirituality is about you; it's about oneness; and it's about how there's no difference between you and the other. But now, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Square 1: Believing in a Higher Being and Higher Purpose

In some way, if you're interested in spirituality and growing yourself, you probably believe in a higher purpose. If not, let's start there. What do you want? Why are you here? You don't need to have answers now. These questions are supposed to start your thought process. Obviously, we've got some idea of how you got here biologically, and we know some of the basic body "wants" (food, water, air, etc.). But a lot of the rest is up to you to decide.

God Is

For those you with a sense of what you want, you may be looking for a deeper connection. This is where God steps in. My sense of God is probably unique. I don't see God as one individual spirit. I don't see God as a man or woman. I believe that God is all that is. God is in you, me, the cat next door, the sun, the Andromeda Galaxy, and everything else. God is the universe. God is.

I know that some religions (Buddhism) don't believe in a God perse, but the Buddha starts to encompass a lot of those quasi-God-like qualities akin to Jesus. Nirvana can sound a lot like Heaven, although they're conceptually very, very different. The point is that there is still a connection for the believer with something bigger and more expansive than he or she is.

Bad Substitutes for Divine Connection

There are plenty of bad substitutes for divine connection. Money is a big one. Sex is another one. People are so desperate for connection that they sell out themselves and others. Just think how much time is invested in a bad relationship for the safety of companionship or to get sex. Or consider all the hours put into a miserable job to get lots of money. Ultimately, that money is supposed to bring fulfillment and happiness. But whatever modicum of satisfaction comes from having the three car garage home or the trip to Maui is overshadowed by the daily grind.

People join a lot of organizations to try and make this connection as well. Fraternities, the Peace Corps, volunteer organizations, and lots of other groups are put in as substitutes of relative positive or negative impacts. It varies, and there's nothing wrong with joining well-meaning organizations. However, they are still human run organizations with all the faults and flaws that humans bring to them. Whatever deeper connection or meaning they may offer will always be somewhat incomplete compared to your own connection with God.

Making Your Connection

People pray. People meditate. People read spiritual literature. People spend lots of time in nature. Really, God is everywhere. However, the intention and aspiration to connect to God is key. Until you look for that higher source, this blog post is just malarkey. It's a whole lot of BS that you don't buy into. That's fine. You're still caught up in your life. Live it fully. See what's there. See if you find the fulfillment you truly want.

For others of you, you know that you're restless in heart. You're looking for the way back to connection. God, the universe, Mother Earth, or whatever name you seek to use, is there for you, waiting with open arms to take you back home.

Next blog: What Is Intuition?

The photo comes from my friend and reader, Becky Stiller. You can check out her beautiful work on her flickr link.

Read: Start Your Own Spiritual Literacy Program

One of the biggest pieces of the spiritual process is simply getting connected to Truth. Yes, that's truth with the big T. It looks impressive, doesn't it? There is a big difference between truth and Truth, and that's why it's important to immerse yourself in stuff with the big T. You already know a lot of the literature. The Bible, the Koran, the Baghavad Gita, and many others are examples of where you can find it. Plus, there are many new teachers springing up left and right such as Eckhart Tolle, Don Miguel Ruiz, and more.

Read, But Read Smart
Thich Nhat Hanh has said:

"We must not be attached to a view or a doctrine, even a Buddhist one. .. . The Buddha said that if in a certain moment or place you adopt something as the absolute truth, and you attach to that, then you will no longer have any chance to reach the truth. Even when the truth comes and knocks on your door, and asks you to open the door, you won't recognize it. So you must not be too attached to dogma--to what you believe, and to what you perceive. [in an interview with Diane Wolkstein featured in Parabola Vol 30 No 4]"

Along with not getting attached to concepts, the point of all the reading is to use your discernment. Start to find what feels true to you in your heart. Blind faith and adoption of doctrine doesn't get you anywhere. In some respects, it'll drive you further from the Truth because your intellect really isn't engaged. If all you're practicing is some kind of rote memorization, all you really know is what you're remembering. You have to learn to take lessons and apply them to yourself. You also have to take the knowledge and find out if it fits your life circumstances. It's not that you get to be selective in what you do or don't buy into exactly, but there's a lot of excess stuff that gets in the way of seeing everything clearly and knowing yourself.

Take, for example, the Buddhist mandate to do no harm. It's great statement in principle, and as you come to really understand and embody this principle, you'll be amazed at the peace and stillness that comes from truly understanding it. However, if you aren't using your discernment, you can get caught in mental abstractions that don't help you. One thing that comes to mind is a situation for a lot indigenous arctic tribes. A lot of Buddhists become vegetarians because they don't want to harm animals. If you're in the right circumstances, that's great. But if your main dietary need is met through eating seals as is for an arctic tribe, then this principle becomes problematic quickly.

I know that I'm taking a what seems to be a rather far-fetched example and am running with it, but there are plenty of other examples where you have to look at a principle such as "Do no harm" to really understand it and embody it. If you don't fully understand it, you'll be frustrated by the impossibility of the statement. You'll realize that antibiotics kill bacteria in your body when you take them. So is it okay to take that? You're killing plants to eat. Is harming vegetation okay? Under what circumstances is it okay to harm something? These are ways that the mind can get out of control. So while you develop a deftness of intellectual discernment in reading, you'll also have to understand that at some point the mind must be let go to reach the truth of Being.

What I Read these Past Three Summers
Okay, so I've read these in other summers, as well as winters, autumns, and springs, but here are some of the books that have helped me.

• A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
• The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz
• The Sufis by Indries Shah
• The Bible
• The Baghavad Gita
• Ethics for the New Millennium by the Dalai Lama
• The Art of Happiness by the Dalai Lama
• What's Right with Islam by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
• Rolling Thunder by Doug Boyd
• Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

There are plenty more. These build up through the years in the depths of your soul. They help to build your intellectual framework so that you can hold space for the spiritual experience. Most of our minds are much too small and caught up in useless minutae to understand and process the depth of a spiritual awakening. But with your own spiritual literacy program, you'll be turning the mind to a deeper, sacred purpose. In so doing, you are taking the first steps towards your own freedom.

Next blog: Building Your Spiritual Foundation

Why Do You Want a Spiritual Awakening?

Spiritual awakening calls in the winds of change

This question is really important. Why do you want to awaken? I can think of any number of good reasons that you wouldn't want to, which may seem antithetical to the purpose of this blog. But this is one of the most important parts to the spiritual process: understanding your intention and setting an intention in alignment with what you truly want.

Understanding Your Intentions
Knowing what you want in life is so important to getting it. This is probably part of your pre-spiritual awakening homework. You can do it as you go along the way, but the better you understand what you're trying to get, the stronger the intention you can set. For instance, you may want to be happier in life. That's a great intention. The spiritual path can lead you to amazing happiness. But wait, do you want to be happier in just your romantic life and want all the rest to stay the same? Or do you want a more fulfilling career and would like to leave the rest alone? Ah, herein lies the rub. Spiritual awakening changes everything. You can't line item veto some part of the process. If you are willing to let go of everything to embrace a deeper more full happiness, then you're in the right place.

Know Thy Self
You'll notice that this subhead is much the same as the above one. It continues to keep the focus on you and what's going on inside you. It's important to note that spirituality doesn't change the world. It changes how you see and interact with the world. To use Wayne Dyer's words, "When you change the way you look at the world, the way the world looks changes." Of course, the spiritual path is much more than just a slightly new vantage point. The depth of your perception changes too, but all this comes from work within. You have to want to look at your beliefs, core suppositions, your deepest darkness, and your brightest light.

This is no small thing. That's why I'm writing this blog. I'm telling casual spiritual seekers who enjoy the occasional retreat and listening to gurus that it's time to get out now before real change hits. The spiritual path isn't an occasional retreat-high that burns off. It's an every day introspection and every day challenge to interact with deep integrity with the world. You can't limit it to one aspect of your life. And you can't make excuses like:

• "It's not a good time."
• "I need this job to put the kids through college even though I hate working here."
• "He's okay when he's not drinking."
• "I'm afraid of what might happen if I let go."

Seriously, this path is merciless. You'll be challenged on every front and then some.

This Doesn't Sound Fun at All
No. A lot of it isn't. This isn't the sugary-sweet, woo-woo, spiritual message that seems to be really popular lately. This is put on the heavy gloves and boots and grab your shovel. We've got some karmic crap to dig out of your soul.

And of course, it's beautiful too. The depths of connection and love and perception that you can touch when you clear away the garbage you've buried your soul under will leave you dizzy. The heights are unlike anything you can imagine. And the daily intensity of your own presence will astonish you. You truly are a beautiful and radiant being, and if you are ready and willing to embark upon the spiritual path, an awakening may come to you to show you just how amazing you really are.

Next blog: You're Going to Change

Today's lovely photo comes from my friend and reader, Becky Stiller. Please feel free to check out her beautiful work on this flickr link.

What Is a Spiritual Awakening?

A spiritual awakening is a realization of what is real. Wow. That's not very helpful at all, is it? It's just this side of circular logic: "realization of what is real." But that's about as close to truth as you can get for explaining it. I'll go on for awhile longer, but ultimately, an awakening is felt throughout your body, heart, mind, and soul. It's a sudden, penetrating energy-filled ripple that fires through you, and then you get it.

Reality Versus Illusion
From the perspective of the mind, you have a clearer understanding of what is real versus what is illusory. You can perceive all the things that are made up, and when you get right down to it, just about everything is made up. This little piece of an awakening is earth-shattering for most people because they start to see how they bought into a certain way of living, decided some things were important and others were not, and so on. The basics of life also become very simple as the focus moves towards things like unconditional love, truth, and integrity to others. But in awakening, it means giving up and letting go of tons of illusions about who you are to get to that point.

I Get It!
This is an amazing moment, and it comes in all shades and shapes for everyone. I had one friend who says that she went around for a couple of weeks, just saying, "I get it." And there's nothing more to be said really. This is very frustrating for all of us in the West where we quantify and explain the importance of everything. This blog is in itself a bit of an oxymoron because I can't really explain a spiritual awakening. It's more like what Eckhart Tolle says in that I'm creating sign posts that point to something. These signs are pointing to something--to the awakening, but these words and descriptions won't be like your awakening. They probably won't be anything like it at all.

Awakening in Eugene, Oregon
I had several different types of awakenings and realizations, but the one where I really was suddenly "there" was in a motel in Eugene, Oregon. I love saying this because so many spiritual seekers are running all over the place to India and ashrams and sacred sites to find themselves, but really, we're always right here. You're always with you. You can't get away from you--even if that's sometimes what you want to do.

No, no, my awakening wasn't in any sort of spiritual place. It was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling of a motel room. It wasn't a comfortable bed. I remember it being stiff/hard and far too small for me. There was no aromatic incense in the room, and I'm not sure that I'd even meditated that day. But then, there it was. It was like all the noise shut off in my head. It was like coming out from a really noisy concert into a quiet inner room. And I didn't need to do anything or go anywhere. All desire dropped away except possibly the desire to share the experience, which came later.

But I was there. And if you touch it, you'll probably feel like Jim Carrey who said that ever since then, he's been trying to get back there.

The Purpose of this Blog
As I mentioned, there is this desire to share this experience that I have, so I feel called to write and to share how I've opened up spiritually and how you can too. This is not an easy path, but it's highly rewarding. You don't come to it if you're happy with your life unless you've found that all the things you've won and achieved haven't given you the fulfillment you truly desire. You may also be one of those people who've failed at everything, and in failing, you're willing to open up to something greater because you feel like you've got nothing to lose. Or perhaps, this type of spiritual awareness is simply who you are and what you've always wanted. Regardless of who you are, I am here to help and to share thoughts. Feel free to comment and respond. You can also submit questions or suggestions for blog posts on this contact link.

Ultimately, the point of an awakening is to be able to live your life as freely and without fear as possible. It's about touching the deepest levels of love and connection, and if you are ready, I invite you to read on.

Today's picture is a gift from my regular blog reader, Ricci.

Next blog: Why do You Want a Spiritual Awakening?

You can also enjoy my video on the topic here: