Spiritual well being

Spirituality is unique to each individual. Spirit refers to the deepest part of us, the part that lends meaning to our world. Our spirit provides us with the revealing sense of who we are, why we are here and what our purpose for living is. It is that innermost part of us that allows us to gain strength and hope.

Spiritual wellness may not be something that we ordinarily think of, yet its impact on our life is unavoidable. The basis of spirituality is discovering a sense of meaningfulness in our life and coming to know that we have a purpose to fulfill.

For some of us spirituality may be equated with traditional religions such as Christianity, Hinduism or Buddhism. For others, it may mean growing in our personal relationships with others, or through being at peace with nature and the world.

Assessing your Spiritual Health

Where are you at this point in your spiritual life? Take a moment to reflect. Do you feel a sense of worth, hope, purpose, commitment, peace, joy, love? Do you have a positive outlook on life? Or do you experience feelings of emptiness, anxiety, hopelessness, apathy or conflict? These may be signs of spiritual poverty in your life and may be the reason for unhappiness or dissatisfaction.

Spirituality and Wellness

Many wellness behaviours can benefit our spiritual health. Such behaviours include feeling connected with others, feeling part of a community, volunteering, having an optimistic attitude, contributing to society and having self love.

Here are some ways to help improve our spiritual health:

·         Be quiet. Take time for yourself every day, even if it's just before you go to sleep, or when you get up in the morning.

·         Be open. Spiritual experiences can happen anywhere at any time.

·         Practice being non-judgmental and having an open mind.

·         Be receptive to pain or times of sorrow. It is often in these times when we discover how spirituality can help us cope.

·         Practice forgiveness.

·         Pray, meditate or worship.

·         Live joyfully.

·         Allow yourself to believe in things that aren't easily explainable.

Be Thankful, be Happy, be at Peace.

Spiritual Qualities

Fearlessness

Purity of heart

Perseverance of acquiring wisdom in the practice of yoga

Self discipline

Charity

Control of the senses

Study of the scriptures

Straightforwardness

Non – injury

Truthfulness

Renunciation

Compassion for all creatures

Absence of greed

Gentleness

Modesty

Lack of restlessness

Radiance of character

Forgiveness

Patience

Cleanness

Free from hate

Absence of conceit

Patanjali’s yama – restrained:

Harmlessness

Truthfulness

Honesty

Control of sex force

Non - covetousness

Niyamas – the disciplines.      

Purity of body and mind

Contentment in all circumstances

Self study

Contemplation and devotion to God

Spiritual Life, a perspective

What is matter?

What is Spiritual Life?

From a non duality perspective, there is no matter at all. It is all consciousness or spirit.

We all want to experience pleasure in life, but do we look for it in the right places?

We see matter and conclude that it is reality. Based on our sense experience we validate our assumptions, but do we look for at the truth behind our perceptions?

Our whole life is spiritual. We cannot do anything without spirit. Spirit is also that which is eternal. What we perceive as matter is changeable or non permanent. We can see the proof of this all around us, nothing material remains the same forever and this includes our bodies.

We place much value on satisfying our ego, we go out of our way for the experience of pleasure. Give me this and it will make me happy and so it can go on. This leads to a very short sighted happiness and attachment in contrast to enlightened self interest which is sharing and giving.

Sacrificing one’s life for others is another level on the spiritual journey. It is an extension of the self. It is dharmic living, living a moral and just life; it indicates a jump from matter bound awareness to spirit. However, it will still prevent us from getting a glimpse into higher realities.

A further stage is the search for immortality. We ask the question, ‘Who am I, what is the purpose of my life and my relationship to the cosmos. Here too we need to be careful as we look at unity and encounter separation. We may just see the projection of our own ideas. One can see that the closer we come to look at truth the narrower becomes the way. Perceiver and perceived represents duality not unity.

Yoga teaches us, that filling our lives with that which is not real, is ignorance and not worth while striving for.

Spiritual Living and the nature of the soul

Dharma – righteous living, is not imposed from the outside, it is a sense of build in integrity. It is essential for man’s inner growth and forms the basis of success and right action.

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     Negating Dharma brings confusion and misery into life.

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     Artha – The means for material wellness states, that money must be acquired righteously, it ought to serve our spiritual growth otherwise materialism may lead to greed, power and misery.

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         Kama, the fulfillment of desires, must also be viewed righteously.

     

     These three ideals belong to the material existence.

Note: It is fine to accept the gift of the Giver, where we may fail is our attachment to them.

Moksha

We must always remember that our aim is freedom and the Bliss that follows it, which can only be realized in the realm of Spirit.

Soul, what is it?

It is the reflection of Spirit.

Difference between soul and Spirit

Spirit is ever existing, ever conscious, ever new joy.

Souls are individualized aspects of Spirit; they co-exist with Spirit and are of the same essence, just as the sun and its rays are one.

The soul is incarnate, but belongs to Spirit, which is none changing in contrast to all material forms, which constantly change.

An analogy for understanding the existence of the soul

The moon is reflected in a cup of water- the cup breaks – the water spills out, where is the reflection of the moon? It can be said, it can be said, that it returned to the in severable identity with the moon.

We can apply the same analogy to the body.

Does the soul retain its identity after death?

The liberated soul even though one with Spirit, retains its individuality in the sense, that it will always remember that it had been ‘ us ‘, but it also realizes that it is Spirit and that there is no longer any assumed separation from the source.

Man’s individualized incarnation can never be erased from him.

In summary:

The Self or soul is unborn, though born in the body;

It is eternal, though its body dwelling is impermanent;

It is changeless, though it may experience change;

It is ever the same;

The soul is not slain when the body dies, and even when it returns to Spirit, it does not lose its identity, but will exist eternally.

Shankara

The yoga sutras of Patanjali outline the art and science of traditional Yoga meditation for Self-Realization. It is a process of systematically encountering, examining, and transcending each of the various gross and subtle levels of false identity in the mind field, until the jewel of the true Self comes shining through.

When the mind becomes purified like a mirror, knowledge is revealed in it. Care should therefore be taken to purify the mind.

Action cannot destroy ignorance, for it is not in conflict with it. Knowledge (truth) destroys ignorance, as light alone destroys darkness.

The Witness can never be attained, because it is ever-present.

Sri Ramana Maharshi.

"There is no reaching the Self. If Self were to be reached, it would mean that the Self is not here and now but that it has yet to be obtained. What is attained will also be lost. So it will be impermanent. What is not permanent is not worth striving for. 

Simplifying one’s life

At some point we all strive for a simpler life. Something quiet, less complex. For some this search for simplicity comes from a spiritual conviction, for others just from the busyness and complexity of modern life itself which drives us to look for what makes life simpler and to go back to a more natural state of existence.

How can we do this in both inward and outward ways?

The truth is that our lives are always spiritual and the truth is always simple, but we want to realize this more and more and want to live in that spiritual reality.

What we see in front of us, even our own bodies and minds are simply reflections of the true reality. It is Sat, Chit, Ananda covered by name and form, And like a container of water which gives us a reflection of either clear or muddy depending on the water itself will remind us that what we perceive is reflected completely depending on the purity or impurity of our mind. If our mind is pure and clear, the reflection on it will be true.

We need to uncover the reality of God which is always present and simplifying our lives can help us in the process. We need to remove the ignorance from the mind for it to become pure and focused.

We need to realize, that it is divine consciousness that appears to us in its many forms.

Sometimes simplifying our surroundings can help us to uncover the truth about ourselves and about the world around us.

We can also simplify our thinking. Jesus said, except ye become like little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

We can look at Zen and its simple gardens.

We should aspire to plane living and high thinking.

It is better to do without, than to have pocessions at great cost.

By simplifying our lives, we will feel much freer having done so.

Spirit how do we experience it in our lives?

Non Dual Vision

In our daily lives, we experience this consciousness in deep meditation; from it is derived intuition and grace, the power of the spirit.

We cannot will intuition and Grace, as it is a gift of Spirit.

Most people we meet experience confusion in this area. They are clear with body consciousness. However, they confuse the experience of the mind or psyche with that of spirit. They will things to happen. 

Spirit is beyond mind. It transcends mind.

Being in spirit means complete surrender of ego identity and full reliance on intuition and grace.

It means being God conscious. It means

knowing that God walks in this body, thinks in this body, sees through these eyes, God is all there is.

There is only One and all happenings are a reflection of this one Reality.

The daily activities of an un-illumined person are carried out on the gross physical plane. His experiences are mainly confined to gross physical objects. What he considers to be his soul is pure consciousness which becomes limited when identifying with mind and body.

The daily practical life of the average person who lives in I consciousness, carries out the activities of speaking, walking, doing through the organs of action.

Through the inner organs of the mind he experiences doubt, determination, memory, I consciousness, perceptions and others.

These experiences constitute the daily practical life of the average person and he doubts the reality of anything that is beyond his grasp.

As long as he identifies himself with the outer world he cannot perceive any subtler world. It is said that man in his daily life deals only with shadows.