Performative spirituality

Dealing with the challenges of human life requires a more resilient and integrated presence to be spiritual and live in the world.

It is not possible to have all of ourselves focused on the inner as we here as we are human thus much of daily life is living in the personality, but if we maintain a conscious connection to the inner it can change over time how we evolve and present to the outside world.

To be spiritual means living in the world but not of it thus we live in the world as a human that interacts with humanity and deals with daily life while maintaining an anchor into the deeper part of ourselves. We do not need to force our minds to be quiet to bring about this. Our souls are already quiet and untouched by the chaos of life.

Spiritual practices, rituals, burning essence and chanting om do not proof a person has a connection to the inner. A strict monastic life and isolation from society is a false example of the path to enlightenment. Just because monks have the time to meditate for hours a day doesn't mean they will reach enlightenment before those who do not.

Monks have the luxury of living in an environment with low demand and one that distances them from the challenges of the outside world. Spending many hours a day in silent meditation can end up becoming a tool for avoidance or even dissociation. Spiritual growth is not about escaping the human experience or trying to deny the personality. It is about allowing the soul to gently guide us as we go about our ordinary daily lives. When we step away from the dogma, we have freed ourselves to live in the real world without the propaganda.

There's much more to spirituality than meditating or other man-made rules that make a person spiritual. Meditation is good when we are learning to connect as it helps us create an anchor into the inner, but once we have done that it is in question whether we need to formalise the meditation anymore. For many after many years of medication it has become a ritual more so than a means to connect to their spiritual selves. Sometimes we may need a quick check in to reconnect and centre ourselves but that takes only a minute.

Sitting crossed leg on a cushion doesn’t make someone more conscious or evolved than having another living with the complexities of daily life, if anything it is more real to the life we came here to live. We are after all spiritual beings living a human life, and we are here to learn, experience and understand. That doesn’t happen by sheltering from the human experience.