WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY
By Rev. Dr. Arthur Chang
(Excerpts from Rev. Dr. Arthur Chang’s book, Stealing fire, Igniting Coal)
Under the title “True Spirituality,” an unknown writer has the following dialog:
The master was asked, “What is spirituality?”
He said, “Spirituality is that which succeeds in bringing one to inner transformation.
“But if I apply the traditional methods handed down by the masters, is that not spirituality?”
“It is not spirituality if it does not perform its function for you. A blanket is no longer a blanket if it does not keep you warm.
A Man with a Blanket, But No Longer Warm
“Spirituality changes?”
“People change and need change. So, what was spirituality once is spirituality no more. What generally goes under the name of spirituality is merely the record of past methods.” (Anthony de Mello, The Song Bird, 11).
Father de Mello’s insightful comment is “Don’t cut the person to fit the coat.”
Spirituality is the single fountainhead from which the tributaries of religions flow. If religions radiate from the single point of Spirituality, then, in some way, they must inevitably point back to their point of origin, which is God—the “Sacred Wholeness,” where “wholeness” and “holiness” are one in meaning. The priestly writer of Genesis caught the holiness of creation when he wrote, “And God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (1:31).
Spirituality is a special way of feeling whole in the solar plexus of the mind. It takes us to a place well beyond the surface of things. Spirituality is an inexplicable assurance that, despite contrary appearances, the universe is blessed, good and unified. It is the realization that although each of us is a whole, we are in addition, a part of a greater whole. Spirituality means the proper interplay between personal and universal wholeness—a dance rather than a struggle, and an empowerment that comes from letting and flowing, rather than grasping and holding. True Spirituality means right relationship between the Sacred and us—the Source and its emissaries. It is the consciousness of this covenant relationship that gives rise to the mastery of self and empowerment over our affairs.
What is Spirituality - Spiritual Harmony
Throughout the Ages, great spiritual leaders were those who awakened to the relationship between themselves and the Whole—God. Initially, people stumbled onto it, guided by their own natural inclinations, but eventually humans developed a way towards this happy accident. Humans learned, not only that luck is the residue of design, but also that happy accidents happen most to those who are most well prepared. One of the reasons religions developed is that the less spiritually gifted wanted a way to come into this more desirable state of being which could ward off evil and danger, and bless their food supply. So, after the experience of wholeness, mystics, shamans and sages retraced their steps through reflection to show others “the way.”
The spiritual path is the way of magnified power and of love—both being aspects of wholeness. It is understandable that many of these spiritually enlightened leaders called their path to wholeness, “The Way,” “The Law,” “The Lord,” “The Covenant,” or simply “God.” In the Hebrew tradition, for example, the notion of properly relating to the Divine was expressed as a covenant, a holy or whole relationship to God, the Creator and source of the universe.
When our lives are centered on wholeness, spiritual wisdom suggests life becomes more integrated, harmonious and empowered. On the contrary, when our lives are centered only on our personal concerns, we become less and less whole, harmonious and joyous. We become stressed and agitated, irritable and easily frustrated. With a profound sense of separation from our world, our lives are characterized by feelings of fragmentation, fear and defensiveness.
Wholeness reveals itself in intuitive glimpses as if seen through a rip in the fabric of eternity or through a split in a moment of time. We are then left with memory’s snapshot of the Kingdom of Heaven. Isaiah, Buddha, and Jesus are some who have had such experiences of wholeness.
Spirituality - No Spearation - Only Unity
When we catch an intuitive glimpse into the nature of truth, we learn to appreciate more deeply how a countless number of stem cells within our bodies know precisely how to become particular organs, bones, tissues and kneecaps in a purposive and intelligent way. Stem cells are imbued with consciousness, an intelligence that informs them, and a creative law that provides a way for them to become whatever the body specifically needs them to be. The laws governing stem cells are the same spiritual laws informing our creative efforts to bring our desires into life. Spiritual laws are universal laws responding alike for Jews, Gentiles, Buddhists, Christians, believers, and nonbelievers, each according to his understanding or faith. As the flash of lightening precedes the roll of thunder, so does the flash of insight into spiritual laws precede their expression into words.” I want to know the thoughts of God. The rest is a detail,” says Einstein.
Spirituality is the deeper sense of the Wholeness from which all things come and by which they are sustained. Mystically, we can become one with the Holy.
Wholeness, Complete, One with All
