Exercise in Spirituality

Is Spirituality a religion?

I was asked recently what it means to be Spiritual. I stopped and thought. My answer was simple, it means to "feel." Spirituality to me is not religion. Religion is based on set beliefs determined by past doctrines adopted by groups as a way to live.

Religion has set rules and standards to live by. There are deities to worship, commandments to follow and rituals to adhere to. Religion works. It gives people something solid and comforting to live on. It is a Rock, hard, solid, and rarely changing. It offers community and safety in numbers.

Spirituality on the other hand is a feeling. It exists without thoughts, without order, without rules, without buildings. Spirituality resides within a body. It can lay dormant never being unearthed or it can vibrate through you throughout the day.

Spirituality is spirit, singular. Each being has a spirit and is therefore capable of experiencing spirituality. Spirituality is felt. It must be felt. It existed before any doctrines, before any deities. It just is. Spirituality is your connection with life, with energy, with death, with the unknown. Spirituality is unmalleable. It just is.

How to find and realize your spirituality is a question often asked. There are plenty of books to be read and to be scrutinized over. Spirituality has been explained and taught throughout the years. But in truth it does not exist in a book. It exists in you. Instead of reading and learning about spirituality try this:

Sit quietly and breath. Hold your hands up about chest level with your palms facing up. Close your eyes and imagine spheres, about the size of a baseball, of contained heat. This isn't burning heat, it is radiating heat. Feel the heat in your hands. Feel your hands tingle. Feel the imaginary weight. That feeling in your hands is your conscious awareness of spirit. It is energy that already exists within you and through this simple exercise you can feel it. It always exists. It doesn't just come with imagination, it doesn't just exist in your hands, it is always present. With practice you will be able to feel the energy move up your arms and throughout your entire body.

This energy is power. It is your power to live through spirit and discover the inner workings of your soul.

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