When people said they were spiritual,
visions of hippies or wannabe-cool chicks
popped in our heads. Many people I talk
to have a misperception when it comes
to spirituality or being spiritual. Many think
it MUST have something to do with “religion.”
According to dictionary.com, the word
"spiritual" has 12 definitions:
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
2. of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished
from the physical nature: a spiritual approach to life.
3. closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.:
the professor's spiritual heir in linguistics.
4. of or pertaining to spirits or to spiritualists;
supernatural or spiritualistic.
5. characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit;
ethereal or delicately refined: She is more of a spiritual type than her rowdy brother.
6. of or pertaining to the spirit as the seat of the moral or religious nature.
7. of or pertaining to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.
8. of or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical: lords spiritual and temporal.
9. of or relating to the mind or intellect.
–noun
10. a spiritual or religious song: authentic folk spirituals.
11. spirituals, affairs of the church.
12. a spiritual thing or matter.
In the first definition, the word ”incorporeal” is used.
Definition: of, pertaining to, or characteristic of non-material beings.
We can now look at this word “spiritual” in a number of ways.
The two that come to my mind first:
- A way of being
- A being
A Way of Being
Spiritual as a way of being incorporates a force within
ourselves, that is ourselves, and all things at once.
Luke 17:20-21 (King James Version)
20And when he was demanded of the Pharisees,
when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said,
The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold,
the kingdom of God is within you.
Romans 14:17 (King James Version)
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink;
but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
I reference The Bible, not to endorse Christianity, but
to acknowledge the purity in the messages before they
are distorted and twisted.
As a Way of Being, spiritual means you accept that all
you need is within you. Not that you’re a container,
but that it is a part of you just as you are a part of it.
This is what Eckhart Tolle means when he says,
"Love is a state of Being. Your love is not outside;
it is deep within you. You can never lose it, and it cannot leave you."
Since many religious people believe that
“God is Love” and Tolle states “Love is a state of Being”,
then “God” cannot be a separate entity outside
of you, but “God” is a state you can choose to be
in at any time.
As A Being
As mentioned before, incorporeal meant “non-material being”.
You are a non-material being. You are not your reputation.
You are not your material belongings. You are not your status
in society. You are not your clothes. You are not your body.
YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND.
What are you then?
You are the non-material being
that observes all these things.
By your very nature, you are a spiritual being.
Being in a spiritual state is your nature.
Peace and joy are abundant when you are
in this state of being. You are born pure, awash
with joy, and overflowing with love.
Peace
