Spirituality for Believers
What is spirituality? Considering the diversity of the people who frequent this website, I have divided my Spirituality page into two sections: Spirituality for Believers and Spirituality for Skeptics. You will probably be better off starting in the section that you feel most applies to you, but I encourage you to examine both sections eventually regardless of your beliefs. People of all opinions on the matter may have something to learn from both, and I am open to suggestions about changes that you would like made on either.
Introduction
For those who believe in it, spirituality is undeniably one of the most important aspects of life. In fact, some would say that it is by definition the very place where meaning and value reside.
What, then, is spirituality? This question is best answered through experience rather than definition, but spirituality can be defined as the conscious or mindful exploration of all matters of the spirit.
What is 'spirit,' you ask? Good question! Many different spiritual traditions view spirit in many different ways, but there are several common themes. Spirit is that aspect of ourselves which carries meaning and consciousness. It is generally understood to be non-physical, or at least composed of a very fine and ethereal sort of energy that is quite different from our everyday experience of physical reality. The spirit of human beings nd often other life forms is also commonly believed to endure after death, either indefinitely or eternally.
My Own Understanding of Spirit
My own understanding of spirit comes from a mix of personal experience, scientific understanding, and communication on matters of spirit from sources both corporeal and non-corporeal. Here are several traits that I attribute to spirit:
- Spirit is 'in' everything; all is spirit. I consider spirit to be synonymous with the Universal Energy Field, an energy which spiritualists have understood for millennia but science is only now beginninig to study and understand. When I am referrinig to spiritual energy in general or in a particular instance, I use the term 'spirit' with a lower case 's'; when I am referring to the holistic and conscious organization of all spiritual energy in the world, I use the term 'Spirit' with an upper-case 'S'.
- Spirit is conscious. To varying degrees, all spirit - and hence, all matter - is conscious. This simple fact shakes the contemporary 'Western' understanding of consciousness down to its very foundations. This principle is called animism, and is strongly related to pantheism, which essentially argues that all of the world is inherently conscious and divine.
- Spirit is divine. This, to me, is a definition. Divinity is that sacred spark that resides in each of us; that spark is also known as spirit.
- Spirit is love. When the spirit in you perceives the presence of the spirit in another -- be it another human, an animal, a plant, a rock, a non-corporeal entity, or any other being -- varying degrees of empathy result. Empathy is a result of the principles of harmonic inductance and sympathetic resonance. When your spirit comes into contact with another spirit, you may tend to shift your vibrational patterns to match those of the other spirit. This process is called empathy, and it engenders the sense of union and connection that we call love. In its most complete and profound form, empathy temporarily involves the actual experience of the other's consciousness as though it were your own. The only reason why love is not everywhere and empathy is not automatic to all people is because there are blocks in the flow of spirit as a result of the confusions and illnesses we have encountered in our dense material form.
- The human spirit endures after physical death. I believe in reincarnation -- not out of some arbitrary faith, but because the principles behind it and the evidence in favor of it have actually been demonstrated to me. I've read several stories and studies that demonstrate the phenomenon quite thoroughly, and I've spoken to a fair number of friends and acquaintences who recall past lives. At this point in time, I don't have any clear memories of my own past lives, but I do have impressions and knowledge on the subject.
- Spirit is magic. Since all is spirit, the shifts and transformations in the non-corporeal realm can affect change in the corporeal realm through the principles of harmonic inductance and sympathetic resonance. This process of spirit creating a shift in the material world is called 'magic.' [This is not to be confused with stage magic and prestidigitation (sleight of hand).] In a sense, the whole of corporeal existence is magical since all physicality is simply condensed or crystallized spirit. However, the term 'magic' is often used by people such as myself to describe the conscious use of spiritual energy by human beings to affect change in the physical world. All human beings are capable of magic and even practice small feats of magick on a daily basis. This said, there is also a vastly more focused and conscious magical ability available to us through study and practice of the conscious channeling of spiritual energy.