I'm always up for a good challenge, even if it involves talking about my beliefs and the way I relate to other things around me in this world. Yes, you guessed right: Normally I don't like to divulge too much about my own kind of spirituality. Not because I don't like to share, but because I understand that it may be tiring to dive deep into the ways someone looks and feels about the world, particularly if it comes unsolicited. This time, however, there is a whole challenge built around it, organized by the good people of the @naturalmedicine community, which makes me want to drop my concerns, and just flat out share.
"Not Religious, But Spiritual!"
I have heard many people express how they don't buy into the doctrine of a religious organization, but at the same time like to look for the divine in the world. But if the difference is how many people share a belief, all these non-religious-but-spiritual people should fall into the same category. Or at least a similar one, as there tends to be quite a bit of difference even within one branch of one religion.
As for me, I don't mind. Since I only discuss my beliefs in exceptional cases, I consider it something between me and the divine. I've never felt it important to convert anyone. On the other hand, I realized how incredibly easy it is to find common ground with others. Does this mean we have the same beliefs? Sure, why not, until we reach our differences, that is.Whenever that happens, the joy of experiencing our commonalities has already made up for the differing views, which are inevitably bound to arise.
The Whole World, The Sacred And The Profane
So what is spirituality for me? How do I see the divine? What do I consider to be "spiritual"? What belief systems do I follow?
I guess the closest thing would be call myself pagan, meaning that I tend to see divinity in nature. It includes the concepts of infinite wisdom, a force of incredible power, as well as the notion of benevolence and protection. These attributes of god can be all found in many religions too, but to me they are most obviously manifest in such "coincidences" like how water starts to freeze and evaporate at its right temperatures, or how even after the entire vegetation of a remote island has been razed by a fire, it will come back to growing lush in its due time. Of course, I have to add, that nature's forces on our planet are only so protective and benevolent because we are ... let's say "the chosen ones", that's to say we have evolved here and adapted to the conditions.
Even seemingly ugly things, like the way tarantula hawk larvae feed on a paralyzed but alive spider, fit into the grand scheme of things. The checks and balances built into the way ecology self regulates, is admirable to say the least. At a closer look, we get to see true wisdom in action, humbling any human attempt at emulating it.
So how foolish would it be not to appreciate nature at least, if not outright worship it? But being aware that we are part of nature, dynamically interacting and enhancing its complexity, is only the first step for me.
You Are What You Eat ... And Everyone You Meet
When considering what is truly divine for me, I always bump into the question of what I am, or rather what kind of stuff I am made up of. Here we could immerse ourselves in biochemical processes, of plants harvesting sunlight, converting it into carbs, which then animals eat and change into protein. So by eating both, I am becoming a more complex form of sunlight. Already, this is a pretty neat concept, but it goes on:
Water is one of the basic building block of organisms (here on our planet), and one awesome property of it is how the individual water molecules stay the same. So (some piece) the water in my drinking bottle may have been part of Zarathustra's liver, in the tail of a prehistoric hippo living north of the arctic circle, and may even have been urinated out by Keith Richards the day he first picked up a guitar. Pretty cool thing to imagine, making me want to take a sip right away!
Taking the same concept to another level, I want to mention human interactions. Who are we, but the sum of all our outside impressions, as well as our inside reactions to them? So in a way, each encounter with humans, but also animals, trees, mountains, lakes, even abstract situations and concepts, not to mention books, films, musical pieces, etc. enriches our own existence. It co-creates what we are, and helps us continue creating.
Being aware of this, in my opinion, is what spirituality is all about. And yes, I do keep discussing it with others all the time. It's just that I rarely mention the words "beliefs" or "spirituality" or even "god". For me, these words just create confusion, resulting in not knowing exactly what we're talking about.
Contest Guidelines
So now that I've revealed a little bit of my ideas regarding spirituality, let me see if I completed the requirements for this contest:
- It's more than 300 words long.
- The question addressed is the first one: What spirituality means for me.
- It's published in English (though I could have made it bilingual).
- It's in the NaturalMedicine community (though I used PeakD to post it).
- The users I'd like to invite to this challenge are @pablo.santiago and @mudhaeh. Both of them are new users I recently onboarded, and I think this challenge would be a good way to start - after writing their intro posts, of course.
- I think I should have at least 5 recent comments in the NaturalMedicine community.
- I'm using the #naturalmedicine and #spirituality tags.
- And finally, I'm going to post a link to the challenge post as soon as I hit the publish button.
The deadline of this contest is April 17, so if you feel like participating, please visit its prompt. There are 50 HIVE to be won, plus the invaluable worth of interaction with other Hiveans!