Insight 87: Being Spiritual

It seems being religious and being materialistic at the same time is acceptable because I've heard hundreds of times affirmed by religious leaders and followers that it is all right. When I was a kid I beloved what the adults said but as I come closer to the age of reason this paradoxical concept confuses me.

Today, since I am more spiritual, I realize this two don't mix well. It is okay to be rich and have abundance but the question is why would you want so much of everything? Once you step into a different level of spirituality your love for nature and the environment heightens and you understand we are a part of everything which is energy and that evolution is inevitable. It's not about purchasing lands and properties, raking in the big bucks and having something to show to the world that makes you who you are. The self and personal discovery is within and has no price tags.

Working for a living is one thing but working to accumulate wealth is another. Although I have seen more people simplifying their lifestyles with less clutter in their homes but the majority still want to go to their place of worship and fill their houses with things. This ironic indulgence just doesn't make any sense when society, on the whole, just want abundance for the sake of having it even when they know happiness doesn't come attached to it.

Religion has always been contradictory in its entirety even since it was introduced. While teaching about the love of God they also tell you about the God of war. While saying 'money is the root to all evil' they also tell you it's okay to be rich and wealthy. They demand that you serve God but they put in the same demand that you serve man. They preach about forgiveness but sanctions the ideals of punishment. But on a spiritual level you learn to embrace all things great and small, to not draw a line between right and wrong because there is no need to and to be considerate, responsible and compassionate while religion teaches you to be tolerant, exclusive and sympathetic.

Spirituality is about clearing the baggage, not gathering them, simplifying the things we can, not complicating them, searching for the truth, not distorting it and sharing the journey with everyone, but not color coding or creating a social hierarchy with a set of commandments.

Here, as I sit and writing this, some religious ceremony is going on outside my apartment window. There are solemn prayers alternated with pop songs. I'm not sure if it is a part of the ceremony or being religious and secular at the same time helps deepen their faith.

And finally spirituality is about hope, not helplessness.