Spirituality is eating rice and watching the moonrise. It is also the sound a frog makes when it slips off of a lily pad. It can be doing the laundry or dishes and includes changing diapers. There is no difference between spirituality and living an aware life.
There is a Buddhist phrase that says, "Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water." This simply means that being enlightened, or spiritual, is found in the awareness of the holiness of all things. Once we embrace the perfection of life in all its forms, we will still continue doing what we do. But now we will do so with great peace and patient equanimity and with a determination to ease the suffering of others.
Spirituality, as I define it, is the integration of living fully in the present moment while seeking what Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, the patriarchs, saints, gurus, and all the holy personages of history sought. What did they seek? Peace, compassion, service and honoring the divine in everything. Spirituality is not a mystical awakening as much as it is an awareness of the holiness in each moment.
Perhaps the best definition of spirituality is what Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694, one of Japan's greatest poets, said, "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought."
No comments:
Post a Comment