When people hear the word spirituality, they often associate it with astrology, tarot, crystals, fortune telling, or perhaps those witches we saw in movies as children—mixing all kinds of roots and plants in a big, smoking pot. Growing up with Hungarian folk tales, we heard stories from an early age about magical potions, spells, and all kinds of dragons.
But what exactly does spirituality mean?
Some people would say it is about religion, prayer, going to church, connecting with God, meditation, or practicing yoga. But is that all it is? Do we need all of these things to consider ourselves spiritual? Do we need to meditate to be spiritual? Do we need to pray, follow a particular religion, or practice a certain tradition?
If we believe in a Creator who placed something of itself within its creation—within each of us—then aren't we already connected to something greater than ourselves? If that presence lives within all of us, doesn't that mean that, in some way, we are all spiritual?And what about the musicians and singers who move people through their art? The painters who create something that makes us feel something we cannot explain? The hospital workers who care for people day and night? The firefighters who risk their lives for others? The people who build, create, teach, protect, serve, and quietly make life better for someone else?
Are they not spiritual? Perhaps spirituality isn't always something we practice. Perhaps sometimes it is something we live.
Shanti always said, “It doesn't matter what we do, but how we do it.”It doesn't matter what kind of job you have or what religion you practice. What matters is how you live your life and how you treat the people around you.You can meditate day and night, go to church every Sunday, practice yoga, pray, or follow any spiritual tradition you choose. But if you do not treat others with respect, kindness, and compassion, what does any of it really mean?
Because God is love, and that love lives within all of us. If you can love yourself and love others, if you can treat people with kindness and respect, then perhaps you are already living spiritually. You don't need all the rituals, the labels, or the hocus-pocus to prove that you are spiritual. We are all different beings, walking different paths and having different experiences. What works for one person may not work for another, and we cannot expect the whole world to follow the same practices simply because they work for us. There is no single path to spirituality. Some people find connection through meditation, some through sport, medicine or teaching.
Love is what makes us spiritual. Love allows us to recognize something of ourselves in another person, even when we are completely different. Love is the highest energy that lives within all of us.
Sathya Sai Baba, the Indian spiritual teacher, said, “Love All, Serve All.”
No matter what religion we follow, what race we belong to, or what language we speak, we are all connected. Beneath our differences, we are spiritual beings sharing this human experience.Perhaps that is what spirituality really means—not what we believe, what rituals we practice, or what labels we carry, but how much love we are willing to give and how we choose to live with one another because “A person’s true worth is measured by what they are able to do for others.”