I was always sure that a person was originally bright, originally spiritual. After all, each of us comes to the world with clear eyes and a pure soul, and over the years it gradually plunges into hassle, overgrows with protective masks and bones under the onslaught of harsh reality. But somewhere inside, in the very depths of our true self, there has always been, is and will be a spirit – something immaterial, eternal and transcendental – not subject to either experience, knowledge, or time. It is this indestructible “something” that is truly valuable in every individual. And approaching this “something” is the main goal of any spiritual practice. Indeed, only through knowledge of our own spiritual nature can we come closer to understanding – all living beings are united within this “something”.

What is spirituality? Does a modern person need it? And is it possible to develop the spirit in worldly life without breaking away from society and without going to monasteries and ashrams?

The term “spirituality” has many philosophical and religious interpretations. In a common sense, spirituality is a personality trait that is expressed in the predominance of moral, spiritual and intellectual interests over material ones. Spirit is a certain fundamental principle, equal and at the same time opposed to matter. A spiritual person is a person who considers not the body, but the soul as the primary principle in himself. The life goal of a spiritual person is not the accumulation of material wealth, but the search for answers to the question “Who am I?” and “why did I come to this world?” Gradual knowledge and awareness of the inner essence – disembodied spirituality – is inevitably associated with the renunciation of materiality. A spiritual person is aware of the finiteness of the material body and recognizes the immortality of the soul. It is for this reason that only a spiritual person is capable of serving other living beings without regard to personal gain. Spirituality is that position of the internal scales on which “They” outweigh the “I” simply because a person cannot do otherwise, clearly understanding the temporality of his stay in the world and feeling responsible for the eternal unity with nature.

The concept of “spirituality” in the modern world has become blurred, ubiquitous and partly fashionable. It is used in a wide variety of spheres of life – from politics with its “spiritual revival of the nation” to business, advertising and trade, which use the soul as a certain object, the requirements and aspirations of which can be quickly and efficiently satisfied; from religion, each of which promises the only true spiritual path, to numerous sects, actively offering the spiritual seeker the most different paths to his inner essence. Philosophers, psychologists, ideologists, psychics, healers, gurus fight for spirituality – at the same time each of them has completely different meanings in the concept of “spirituality”. Meanwhile, spirituality is not connected either with religions, or with ideologies, or with practices. Since any philosophical or religious movements are the level “from the outside” with ready-made answers and rituals, and spirituality is the level “inside”, unconditional and rhetorical. Spirituality is the fundamental principle that exists in every person, regardless of whether he is a layman or ascetic, regardless of belonging to a particular religion or spiritual course. People differ only in the degree of clouding of their spiritual beginning, the degree of fouling with protective masks under the yoke of the prevailing reality. As the philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said: “We are not human beings with spiritual experience, but spiritual beings with human experience.”

Spiritual life is a work … monotonous, painstaking, everyday work to find your inner divine principle. It is necessary to understand: we are not the body, not the mind, not the ego, we are only the eternal soul. However, in modern society, most people live a completely non-spiritual life. The highest principle, the Spirit remains outside the life of man. People gradually lose their relationship with their original spiritual nature under the pressure of feelings, desires, impressions, experiences and problems. They are completely immersed in bodily life and cease to experience even the smallest spiritual experiences. People stop wondering, feel delight, forget about contemplation, reflection and lose touch with nature – both external and internal. They identify themselves with the body – material and finite, and therefore they burn their lives out of fear of losing even the slightest chance of momentary joy and pleasure. To awaken the spiritual principle again, it is necessary to nourish it with spiritual food and spiritual experiences. Gradually, through these inner experiences, the space of the soul becomes as real and tangible as the body shell. And the spirit is recognized as a true beginning, which, unlike physicality, is not subject to decay and therefore is paramount

Often the definition of “spiritual man” is ascribed only to those people who are closely engaged in spiritual practices, move away from worldly life and lead an ascetic lifestyle. Spirituality becomes a sign of a certain selectivity, exclusivity, which separates the practice from supposedly ordinary, typical, gray people, living only with mundane interests. This is an illusion, this is spiritual pride. The world is not divided into material and spiritual, it is one and harmonious in its duality. Any person is material and spiritual at the same time. Spiritual people differ from ossified materialists only by awareness of their inner nature. No more. A material person is simply a clouded spiritual person. He lives for his own sake and his own survival for the simple reason that he lacks knowledge, lacks spiritual experience, and teachers who would help him take off his “husks” and look at the world from a different angle.

The most important question about spirituality is how to develop a spirit in yourself. What are the ways to move from the usual material life to an unknown spiritual essence, which is deeply hidden from our eyes and feelings? How to feel the inner nature, no doubt believe in its existence? How to daily overcome the widespread spiritual crisis that engulfed society, while remaining in secular life? To move from the dualistic belief that a person and the world around him are separate, in order to realize that the Spirit is one, and reality includes all the variety of living beings and inanimate matter, it is necessary to deepen awareness of reality through spiritual practice – through reading spiritual literature, communicating with spiritual mentors, respect for nature, help and complicity in need, sanity in decision-making, rejection of meat eating as recognition of the equal rights of all living beings on the planet, the study of the laws of karma and einkarnatsii, meditative experience, pure creativity, and finally unconditional love. Spiritual life is not a special secret practice, which is revealed only by special people in special clean places. Spiritual life is the everyday steps to transform your “I” that any sane person can and must take.

One more question remains logical: why does a modern person in a rapidly changing world have such an “uncomfortable” spiritual life? Everything is simple. Everyone is looking for happiness in his life. The path to happiness through external attributes – home, clothes, friends, food, impressions – is unstable. The path through spiritual development, through gaining inner peace – is the only true one. Because external happiness, no matter how luxurious a person may be, cannot be permanent and sustainable without inner harmony.