According to the oxford dictionary definition :
“Spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things”.
If you believe that human soul is immortal/you are a religious person, then you are, kind off.. “automatically spiritual”, right?
Millions of people are atheists; how do they become spiritual, or keep being spiritual, despite all the struggles of life? “Material and physical” is tangible; so clear to see, and our life and safety is dependent on it- food and shelter, for example.
But what about our feelings and emotions? They are not tangible and yet we couldn’t exist without them; and love- the most wanted thing of all? Isn’t it an essence of spirituality?
“Love in its essence is spiritual fire”.
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Love is perhaps the main thread in the fabric of spirituality, but there are other precious fibres, too- such as gratitude, meekness and humility, just to give an example- also see beautiful quotes below:
“It is through gratitude for the present moment that the spiritual dimension of life opens up.”
-Eckhart Tolle
“Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers”.
-Swami Sivananda
May be one becomes spiritual as he gets older? Older people, they are kind, wise, thoughtful, tolerant and loving, right? Most of them are, yes; but not all of them, sadly.
To grow your soul, or, rather, to become aware of the greatness of your soul, we need to put some effort in, it seems. Just paying attention to the little things, being thoughtful and kind, and tolerant… this attitude becomes a habit, and, eventually, your second nature.
Swami seems to agree 🙂
“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul”.
-Swami Vivekananda