What is Spirituality?

Posted: May 3, 2021

By: Phoenix Giardino

“The internal and the external are in absolute harmony. There is no division. But man has created the division and has created much anxiety about it. Drop the division and go beyond anxiety. Dropping dualities, one becomes religious. Don't think yourself separate from the world. That's why Zen people say: The world is Nirvana. There is no other enlightenment.” --Osho

***(image courtesy of morguefile.com)***

Unlike religion, spirituality states that God is not separate from us, but within us. It reminds us all matter on this planet is a creation of the Almighty. Therefore, we are divinely connected to each and everything we encounter, as are they. Spirituality expands our awareness that we are each in control of our own life. It encourages us to listen with our hearts and to embrace our intuition. From this perspective, we learn not to judge ourselves nor others. We accept the fact we are all imperfect, that we will and do fall short of the glory of God, the Universe, the Source, or whatever you choose to call your Higher Authority. In spirituality, there are no punishments nor rewards, only consequences that reflect our decisions. There are no rules to follow, only universal ethics to uphold; the only rituals are the ones we create for ourselves. There is no fear in spirituality, only what the ancient Greeks called “agape”, which we translate into English as “unconditional love”. Every decision that originates in unconditional love empowers us, makes us stronger, and nourishes our soul.

According to Dr. Harold Koenig, professor of Medicine at Duke University, after reviewing more than 600 studies, he determined people who hold more spiritual beliefs fare significantly better in mental health and adapt more quickly to health problems than those who are less spiritual.1 He goes on to say, “The benefits to mental health and well-being provided by spirituality have physiological consequences that impact physical health, reduce the risk of disease, and influence the healing outcomes of treatment. Spiritual beliefs have a direct, positive influence on the activity of the immune and endocrine systems that are critical for health maintenance and disease prevention. Spiritual patients exhibit significantly better indicators of immune functions, such as higher white blood cell counts and antibody levels and experience significantly lower infection rates. They also exhibit lower levels of adrenal stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine (secretions that directly repress the activity of the immune system) than non-spiritual patients”.2

The health-enhancing influences of spirituality are centered in the optimism it promotes. Whether it’s the dread of suffering, the foreboding of death or of something in between, our body is, and always will be, a mirror of our greatest fears or our deepest desires. In every instance, replacing the negative experience of anxiety with the confidence of a positive outcome, our cells, organs, and tissues immediately begin to recover from the effects of prolonged exposure to stress hormones. The power of positive belief instantly increases our energy and adds fuel to the fire of our self-empowerment, regardless of physical evidence of our certainty or not.

Despite my clear leaning toward spirituality, I am not asking you to toss the proverbial baby of religion out with the bath water. There is room for both religion and spirituality to reside within us simultaneously. The key to this balance is introspection. I’m asking you to take an honest look inside yourself. Are you absent-mindedly following the tenets of your religious affiliation? Or are you communicating directly with your Higher Authority through your intuition? Are you judging others based upon your religion’s convictions? Or do you accept them whole-heartedly as the mirrors of your own imperfection and love them anyway? The bottom line is this: if your decision doesn’t bring your heart to a place of absolute peace, don’t do it. Hold off on your final answer until you find an outcome that does. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was your life.

Take time to affirm your actions; they affect us all. Be certain you’re making the best decision for the best outcome for the greatest number of lives involved.

Next up:

The Science of Spirituality

1. Koenig, Harold. Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications. ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, Article ID 278730 as quoted by Dr. Bruce Lipton in The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles. Hay House, Inc. Carlsbad, CA. 2015.

2. Koenig, Harold. Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications. ISRN Psychiatry, 2012, Article ID 278730 as quoted by Dr. Bruce Lipton in The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles. Hay House, Inc. Carlsbad, CA. 2015.