Religious
or Spiritual what does it really mean?
A
fundamental quest of life is the search after happiness and how to overcome
suffering. Not just our life, but anyone’s life. In fact, any living creature
searching for satisfaction, happiness, or pleasure, is trying to overcome
suffering.
What
is the goal of spirituality?
The
goal of spirituality is the complete cessation of suffering and the attainment
of inner joy. In essence the, goal of spirituality and of our lives are
identical. The difference lies in the way they can be attained.
In
general, our approach to solving issues of life has two parts, the conventional
and the spiritual way.
We
hear it often said: “We are spiritual, but not religious”. Let us start with
examining conventional religion as an inquiry into happiness. First we need to ask ourselves, what is the
greatest amount of happiness we can imagine for ourselves? To do this we need
to establish a norm of measurement. We need to ask, what are the conditions in
which we can experience this happiness, joy, bliss, love?
One
would assume, that the joy of life is easier expressed when we are young. We
have our whole life in front of us; we are optimistic, vigorous, and full of
dreams and ideas. However, the latest research on the elderly shows, that this
is not necessarily the case.
Common
sense suggests that happiness and well being should decline with age. After
all, with creaking joints, memory lapses, and the sense of edging ever closer
to the end of life, the stereotype is that older people mourn their lost youth
and vitality, their active social lives, and the anticipation of a long and
happy life. But research shows that this is not so. Older adults report higher
levels of positive affect and lower levels of negative emotions than do young
adults. Moreover, older adults have a higher feeling of well being than do
younger adults. How can this be?
While
there is no definitive answer, some of the reasons suggest that older adults do
not experience emotions, particularly negative emotions, as intensely as the
young. Another explanation is that negative events don't have the same
devastating impact that they have on younger people. Older people have learned
how to "roll with the punches”.
Now
we may ask, is there anything more to life; is there another kind of happiness?
The answer is yes, but not necessarily of this world. The belief is, that after
death one can go to higher realms, a better environment, where we get a finer
form of enjoyment
What
are the requirements to obtain happiness in the world?
To
attain happiness in the world, we need three things, a body, an object of
enjoyment, like music, art, food, vacation etc. – things to do in the world and
an environment in which to do them..
We
may have all that we need in an earthly body, but none of these experiences are
very spiritual, it may just be a fun place to be.
Then
there are the ideas people have of the afterlife, where one can go to and be
happy. This is what religion tells us. Yet how do we know that such a place
even exists? We simply have to believe.
What
does Christianity tell us about heaven?
"Now
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).
No
tears or pain in eternity
"And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death,
nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have
passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
Perfect
peace
"The
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust [shall be] the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
My holy mountain," says the LORD (Isaiah 65:25).
Houses
and vineyards
"They
shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their
fruit" (Isaiah 65:21).
Fruitful
gardens
"The
wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1).
Popular myths picture heaven as a
fanciful place where spirits sit on clouds playing harps or float around in
nebulous space. However, in John 14:2-3 the Bible says that Jesus is building
mansions in heaven for those who accept salvation. He is preparing real
buildings with real tangible materials for real people who will inhabit them.
Additionally, when Jesus went to
heaven he told his disciples: "But I say to you, I will not drink of this
fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My
Father’s kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). This means that in heaven real
vineyards will produce real grapes.
The Bible even refers to heaven as a
country (Hebrews 11:16). Before sin came into this world, the world was a
physical paradise — a beautiful garden full of fruits, trees, and animals.
Similarly, when sin is finally eradicated from this universe, we will get to
live life as God originally intended for mankind when He first created the
Garden of Eden — not as spirits on clouds, but in a tangible, material Heaven.
The Bible speaks about hosts or
inhabitants of both heaven and earth. "Thus the heavens and the earth, and
all the host of them, were finished" (Genesis 2:1). The Bible mentions
that angelic beings rejoiced at the
creation of the earth. "When the morning stars sang together, and all the
sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38: 7). The biblical prophet Micaiah
said: "I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven
standing on His right hand and His left (2 Chronicles 18:18).
Perfect unselfish love governs all
relationships in heaven
The Bible says: "He who does
not love does not know God, for God is love" (1 John 4:8). Those who love
God keep His commandments (John 14:15). The inhabitants of heaven obey God’s
commandments of love (Psalm 103:19-21).
We will have physical bodies in heaven
Our bodies will be free from
disease, pain and death in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:40-49). We will still have
physical bodies. The Bible says: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which
we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform
our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body (Philippians
3:20,21). The body of Jesus after His resurrection was physical. Jesus said:
"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for
a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). We
will be able to recognize our loved ones. The Bible says: "For now we see
in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall
know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).
The New Earth as heaven
Real earth, real houses, gardens, hobbies,
loved ones, are all part of the perfect future life in store for those who are
faithful to God’s Word. This becomes more believable when we realize that the
Bible says that the greater part of the future existence of human beings will
take place right here on our planet earth, which will be recreated and restored
to its original perfection. This life will be free from sickness, war, crime
and anything harmful. The future life will have the best of this life plus
additional joys beyond our imagination. (see Revelation 21:1-4; Isaiah
65:17-25; John 14:2-3)
Bible prophecy points to the fact
that Jesus will return the second time. He will come in secret , in the clouds, first at the
rapture, and then seven years later, every eye shall see him when He descends
to the Mount of Olives (Revelation 1:7) at the literal second coming of Christ
to the Earth.. At the rapture, those who have accepted Jesus as their personal
Savior will be taken to heaven for a period of seven years, during the tribulation
on Earth. . They will live with Christ in the mansions Jesus is building. After His
second coming and the thousand year reign of Christ on Earth, when He has put
all His enemies down, then He will bring the New Jerusalem down to earth. God
will recreate a new earth and a new Heaven, and our heavenly life will take
place right here.
What is the spiritual perspective?
From a spiritual perspective, we
realize, that our true nature is Happiness, Joy, Love and Bliss itself, However,
this state can only be realized, when the mind is still, but most of our minds
are agitated. What agitates the mind is unfulfilled desire for things,
relationships, heaven, all of which are a concept of the mind. Some things we
can obtain, which satisfy the mind for a while, but this satisfaction won’t
last. We always want more. What we think is that the attainment of our desires,
or that place, that job, that person, makes us happy. But this is not the case;
it is our inner happiness when it shines forth that makes us happy.
When we realize, that happiness is
within, we know that it is there at all times. It can only be obscured by our
restless mind. Here we may ask, would it not be wise to just calm our mind and
let all those desires go?
Our entire consumer economics is
driven by the psychological forces of tension and release of tension. We build
up desires through advertising, we get the object, it releases tension and that
release of tension we call happiness.
People on the spiritual path who are
convinced, that they are not this body nor this mind, but have a body and mind
and that there is a spiritual reality within them, which transcends the
limitations they seem to have, can experience
happiness of this and the next
world right now.
If one’s goal is to realize his true
identity, if this becomes the pursuit in life, and if one is convinced that God
exists, that God is real and can be realized or experienced, he can go beyond
the sorrows of this world. Experiencing God or God realization is the purpose
of life, but we must step away from the mad pursuit of the world outside. To do
this, we don’t have to become a monk. We can perfectly live in the world, take
care of family, do our job, but internally we need to resemble something like a
monk, searching for spiritual realization.
The key to this is, I want to know
who I am, I want to experience God and I need to integrate life’s activities
into my spiritual life. We can convert all life activities into spiritual life.
Child rearing, shopping all the normal activities can be lifted to a service to
God.
Spiritual practice is almost the
opposite of what a person is doing in the world. We generally think, that if I
work for my career and for my family, I will be happy, whereas the person on
the spiritual path reverses this. He works for the happiness of others. It
could be for the small circle of the family, for the community, or for the
world at large.
Once we come to this place in our
lives, what do we do? We perform spiritual practices. An ideal leading to God
union is the practice of Yoga.
Yoga, the Pathway of Spiritual
Dimension
There are essentially four paths,
each one suited for a certain temperament.
There is the path of action, karma
yoga. The path of selfless work, where every action is offered to God
Then there is the path of the
intellect, jnana yoga the path of discrimination between that which is real and
eternal and that which is temporal, non – eternal
There is the path of love, devotion,
bhakti yoga, where the worshiper merges his ego with the chosen ideal. For
Christians this would be God, Jesus.
The enemy of the heart is of the
form I want, I desire, passion. Spiritualized love means streams of rays of
love are channeled into the world and then directed to, I love God.
The last path is the path of prayer
and meditation, rajas yoga. This path is predominately for people who lead a contemplative life, but also can be
incorporated into our normal life.
Among the teachings of Jesus there
are many examples which could be classified according to one or another of the
yogas. For example, “Inasmuch as you have done unto the least of these my
brethren, you have done it unto me”. He was teaching in the spirit of Karma yoga;
worship God through service of man.
Jesus taught discrimination and
renunciation. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also.
No man can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else, he will hold to the
one, and despise the other, ye cannot serve God and mammon (the world).
We have essentially been discussing
two paths. One is to be happy in the world and try to get to heaven. The other
way is the path of spirituality through God realization.
At this point we need to be aware,
that we no longer seek happiness only from the world, but we combine spiritual
life and our worldly life.
For people new on the spiritual path,
even a little practice is a step in the right direction and is never lost.
God is the source of happiness in us.
There is an ocean of joy within us. Once we realize this, we go even beyond
this, to God realization.
We go from the worldly happiness, to
the happiness of spiritual beingness, the attainment of God.
2 Corinthians 5:5 (NLT)
God himself has prepared us for
this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
