It is where the phrase, 'divided by a common language comes from.' We assume if we share a common language that we understand each other well but that is not the case. Just as an example, we all know what a cat is and when we use the word 'cat' we recognise, at least as English speakers, the animal which we call cat.
However, beyond the literal meaning of the word, cat can mean many things. For one person it may be delightful companion and gracious pet; for another it may be dirty animal and ungrateful pet and for someone else it can be the source of allergy, asthma, suffering and fear. But the thing about a cat or a dog or a horse or a rose is that it is easier to fully explain what these things mean to us in particular. Not so with a word like spirituality!
A cat or dog is a material thing. We can look at it, study it, take it apart and gain great understanding of it even though we may never experience its 'catness' as a shaman or seer might. We can't do that with Love however. That is an intangible thing. Love is like gravity; we know it exists because we can see its effects but we don't understand what it is and we can't prove its existence in any empirical way.
And that is the same with spirituality. More so with spirituality because it is a word like 'God' which has negative connotations for many. Not only is it misunderstood by those who would embrace it but it is also misunderstood by those who would reject it. Many people would put 'spirituality' in the same category as 'religion' or something equating with God. It can be associated with those things but it does not need to be and that is not what it really is. At least not to me. It may very well be all of those things to someone else.
When I pick up a book or decide to read an article which contains the word 'spirituality' I am expecting to find explorations and explanations emanating from a perspective of connectedness, holism and a capacity to see this world, human beings and our lives as being about more than the material - as being part of something greater, more complex, more connected than most believe.
Living my life as a spiritual and material being means that I believe everything has meaning, even though I may not understand what the meaning is and everything works just as it should even though I may not like it.... it is weaving a tapestry of the tangible and the intangible. We do not understand gravity; but we know its effects and we do not understand spirituality; but we know its effects ... or at least we do if we choose to look, explore and experiment.
Spirituality can be a part of religion but it does not need to be although religion benefits. Spirituality can be a part of science although it does not need to be, although science benefits. Spirituality embraces everything, even that which we do not understand and draws upon the rational and the intuitive; the known and the unknown; the 'certain' and the uncertain; the mythical and the mathematical; the logical and the illogical... you get the picture... and it does so with reverence, awe, curiosity and enjoyment.
All of which would probably have those who choke on the word 'spirituality' recoiling in horror anyway. So how can I more simply explain what spirituality means to me? Let me try to apply it to one of my great loves, cooking.
Taking a spiritual view of this I don't just need the knowledge of cooking... the scientific aspect.... I also need the ingredients ... the material ... and I need the spiritual which includes the art, the intuition, the reverence for the ingredients and the recipe .... both need to be of the best quality and all need to be respected and a belief that the honouring and respecting of the ingredients, the process and the end result, the eating, adds another ingredient... love.... which will not only influence the quality of the end result but which will also be offered to and received by those who eat it.
Seeing life from a spiritual perspective also means that I believe the food has its own energy; the act of creating a dish has its own energy and the appreciation, honour, reverence, attention etc., which I put into the process also has its own energy. And all of these energy sources come together to create the final dish and contribute to its flavour, it's texture and its nutritional value.
I suspect that the materialists would find it easier if I used the word 'art' to describe spirituality but that is missing the point. The best art is deeply spiritual and materially excellent; the spiritual does not need art but art needs the spiritual.
Living a spiritual life is seeing the world as one; a connectedness of consciousness whether it is you, me, a cake, a cow, a skyscraper, a stone, a tree, a television set.... everything which exists at the material level is sourced in the spiritual. And in that belief there is wonder, awe, fascination and delight. The world is a truly wonderful place and even more so when we see it through spiritual 'eyes.'
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