Spirituality

Whether single or married you should make it a point to go to the church. IF you are into a relationship then make it a point to go to the church with your partner. Going to the church with your partner and praying is a good way to start the day. You can go to the church in the morning or evening and spend some time of your day with God. You will not realize but it is true that such an act of your will make your relationship strong. It is has been reported that couples who spend time together in church have a stronger relationship. Visiting the church regularly with your mate builds a deep bond between couples. There are the blessings of God present in your relationship that never let you part from each other. However that does not mean that couples who do not go to the church cannot have a strong relationship or That God does not bless them. It is just that a special attachment develops between the couples who go to the church together and become habitual of each other. Moreover prayers help individuals and couples to come over a difficulty faster. We have to connect to God to get closer to Him and make are prayers heard. He is the ultimate guide. When we are in a fix and not sure what is to be done then it is God who shows us the right path. But for that we need to have faith in Him.

In today’s world most of us have become selfish and self centered. We do not realize that are very existence is due to the Almighty. Most of us forget to thank Him for all what He has given us. As couples and individuals we should go to the Church to thank God for all that He has given us. Go to the Church together, pray and light candles so that God is always with you, to guide you, to show you the right path, keep you away from the negativity and bring brightness in your life for ever.

Find more information visit: spirituality.htm>Spirituality

We at Keepcondom.com are providing you the choices you can make, to select your condom brands according to your needs. Keepcondom.com

On the other hand, spirituality to some is a sense of connectiveness to the spiritual nature of the universe, the collective universe that is a part of us all. What the psychologist Carl Jung referred to as the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is the reservoir of the experiences of all humans.

Some believe that spirituality is simply getting in touch with your higher consciousness because we all have the divine spirit within us and it can be accessible. Regardless of your definition, when you begin a spiritual journey, you will begin to change your perception, learn to wean yourself from societal morals, traditional thinking and the conditioning of childhood.

Spirituality is not a fad or a brief moment but a way of looking at your overall environment or world view and is a lifelong pursuit. Regardless how one person defines spirituality, there are common characteristics. There is the development of love toward others, which is not defined as a true love or romantic love but a positive feeling of concern for other peoples’ welfare.

Getting in touch with one’s own Deity is important for those who have a Deity. It is not necessary to believe in divine being or God to be spiritual. Many people see our spirit as divine in its own right. Therefore, communicating with your inner self will be the order of the day.

Although you may not hear a clear voice, you may suddenly have a thought come to mind and as you become adept at contacting your spirit, the more answers or outcomes will take place. It’s at this time that many people contact their spirit guide, a thought or vivid dream/visualization of a person or sometimes an animal that is helpful in answering questions or steering you in the right directions.

Not everyone believes in organized religion due to the fact many types of religions tend to be more dogmatic with church beliefs rather than that of studying or worshipping a creator or son of a creator. Not everyone is happy with an idea of a supreme being, but everyone can relate to the spiritual. This is the reason why many people see a distinct difference between religions and spirituality. But when we start to communicate with ourselves--- our higher selves, we actually begin to understand ourselves and the world around us much better and it gives us a sense of the divine without having to describe it of define it.

Conrad Raw is an expert in practical techniques for personal and spiritual development. He is the author of "Forbidden Secrets Of Personal And Energetic Development." He travels the world to learn and teach and is the founder of Greater Human Potential, a website devoted to bringing you easy to learn techniques to increase your human evolution. Visit his website for a free newsletter filled with tons of great tips and advice.

Deep within the recesses of our being is a spirituality longing for expression and understanding. We begin with awareness of this longing, then we use it to express all that is human about us, so that in this the expression of spirituality can be found and polished.

We are as a diamond in the rough, with so many facets that require our attention in life. Each experience allows us to polish the facet to express the light of spirituality that is most valid to the experience. Spirituality is always an option to our growth of being.

Spirituality is not religion. Nor is spirituality contained in a single tomb or book. Spirituality is the free expression of the spirit within. The spirit is a duplicate of our material body, but with the express purpose of learning all that is spiritual in all life's experiences.

Like all talents, abilities and skills the spirit can and is exercised by our thoughts. We know we are spirit and we express this in all our experiences and we grow in spirituality. When we ignore who we are as a spirit and live only in the material body of senses, emotions, etc. we are not expressing all the 'cosmic dances of energies' that life offers in all its experiences.

Judy Merrill http://www.authorsden.com/judymerrill

There is nothing extraordinary about spirituality. Simply put, it is our personal, interior relationship with Life’s presence. It is the essence of our human nature -- always available to us as we experience our existence -- always building upon our unique, ongoing interaction with the daily environment.

Spirituality, belonging to all of mankind, is a deeply personal, interior process that experiences insight, connection, relationship with the experience of being alive – with the divine, creative presence of Life.

Spirituality is an experience -- not a belief system it is often thought to be – belief systems found in all religions rely upon prophetic revelation, doctrine, sacred texts, forms of worship and tradition. Over the centuries, these religions have acted as vehicles meant to carry the process of spiritual development. However, their belief systems differ from inborn spirituality which is a natural process of insight and awareness developing separately, informed within personal experience. Religion and spirituality can intermingle and compliment one another, they can carry one another toward enlightenment, and they often do, but spirituality always exists as a single universal process of evolving consciousness.

Mary K DeLurgio, MFT

Trusting the emerging process of inner wisdom and its schedule for insight and inspiration was a 25 year project completed now as OUR JOURNEY TO THE SKY – A GUIDE TO THE PROCESS OF SPIRITUAL FORMATION. During this extended period, Mary K DeLurgio led hundreds of personal journal keeping, self exploration workshops and classes. Observing the life process of these participants as well as her own has led to deep insight into the natural process of spiritual formation at work in the ordinary life of any human being. She recently published a companion e-book work book KEEPING A SPIRITUAL JOURNAL. Using her book as a manual, as well as the companion work book with its detailed instructions. she leads ongoing groups as they develop their spiritual awareness using journal writing techniques. She is a practicing psychotherapist living in Southern California with her husband and she is the mother of four sons. Carrying Spirit Forward

I believe that my next experience with thinking about spirituality was at the age of five, when my uncle who was in his early twenties, suddenly died in an occupational accident on a ship. I remember being abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by loud fearful crying and shouting, when my parents received the news of this tragedy. After associating feelings of grief, anger, sadness, and shock with death, I started feeling a little confused about the concept of "heaven." As a youth, questions began filling my little head, like - "If people actually go to heaven to be with God after they die, why is everyone around them looking so sad, angry, and confused?" and, "If only good people get to go to heaven, how bad do you have to be to go to Hell? After receiving numerous conflicting answers by well meaning adults who apparently had not figured it out yet for themselves, I decided to take some advice from my father and put these adult subjects on the shelf until I became an adult. I also subsequently took his advice to never get into a discussion on the topics of religion and politics with anyone, which I thought would protect me from ever having to think about these "spiritual things," again.

I think that my uncle's tragic and fatal accident influenced the way that I thought about death and spirituality up until my early twenties, when I re-examined my beliefs after my first spiritual experience. This means that I had not sincerely thought about spiritual things for almost a period of 15-years. I may have felt sad, angry, or confused after attending some church services, relatives' funerals, or viewed movies addressing the subject, but I held tight to my childlike beliefs of spirituality.

Over the years, and after many discussions with others, I've realized that it's the "norm" for most people to not want to change their opinion on topics such as spirituality and religion unless they are directly confronted with new information or personal experiences related to sickness, injury, old age, and/ or trauma associated with war, famine, disease and/ or natural disasters. So, I would like to take this time to share some thoughts with you concerning spirituality, religion, and death with the hope that you will revisit your previous spiritual mindset and make some modifications or adjustments since you may be twenty years (or more) older, and may also desire to think and act as a more responsible adult with regard to some of the most important things that can give meaning to your life at this time.

Spirituality and Death

Many young people due to a feeling of invincibility derived from a very short period of high-risk behavior with minimal consequences have difficulty acknowledging that life tomorrow is not guaranteed today. Most of us have realized, however, that there are at least two un-escapable truths in this world: 1.You will pay taxes, and 2. YOU WILL DIE someday. Since we already know what happens after we pay our taxes (we pay more taxes until we die), lets' examine the most popular beliefs on what happens after death. I've discovered that most peoples' beliefs concerning life after death fall into one of three categories:

1. When you're dead - you're dead.

2. When you're dead - you are reincarnated.

3. When you're dead - you go to Heaven or Hell.

Let us now consider these three points of view concerning life after death:

1. When you're dead - you're dead.

This is a medical and sometimes legal definition of death that declares that there is no life after death. When your heart stops beating and your brain stops working - you are biologically dead. Since there is no credible documented scientific evidence (replicated unbiased research involving objective facts that can be observed, tested, and measured by others) indicating that anyone has ever lived after being dead for any significant period of time, (many have returned after near death experiences), then when we physically die our bodies are merely returned to the earth and we cease to exist.

This is the secular, logical, intellectual, rational, and scientific point of view that claims that since you can't observe, measure, or test anything that is spiritual, you can't prove that anything that is spiritual exist. Therefore, a spiritual life after a physical death cannot exist.

2. When you're dead - you are reincarnated.

Reincarnation is the belief that after we physically die, we are reborn or incarnate on earth again and again into different bodily forms, according to a divine plan until we learn the necessary lessons for our spirits to evolve toward oneness with creation and God. Some believe that this rebirthing is the curse of the individual who must keep returning to earth to struggle through life, learning lessons and paying back their karmic debt. The goal is to achieve enlightenment and break the cycle of reincarnation. This spiritual evolution gives its' followers an evolving understanding of their lower personality and nature to correct things that need to be corrected, and to expand their awareness of their higher divine spirit. Life then continues in other spiritual realms as our consciousness gradually evolves into oneness with God.

This major belief system is documented in the Bhagavad-Gita - a Holy text of Hinduism, and is popular in many other eastern religions (e.g. Buddhism, etc.) and more recently in some western Spiritualism philosophies.

3. When you're dead - you go to Heaven or Hell.

This is the traditional Judeo-Christian and Islamic belief that you only go around once in this world, and then you die and either go to an eternal blissful paradise with God or an eternal place of damnation with the devil. The "angel" of death is merely your transportation to one side or the other (some believe in an in-between state - called purgatory, for those that are not yet good enough to get into Heaven or bad enough to get into Hell).

These major belief systems are documented in the Holy Bible's Old Testament (Judeo/ Jewish), New Testament (Christian), and the Quran (Islamic/ Muslim) Holy Scriptures. Simply stated, the Old Testament and the Quran (56, 16-41), both teach that if you are good - you go to Heaven and if you are bad - you go to Hell. In other words, if you obey the laws of the Torah and/ or the Quran and due good works (e.g., give to charity etc.), on Judgment Day - your good deeds will out way your bad deeds, and with God's mercy you will be granted into heaven for eternity. The "Christian" New Testament scriptures indicate that one is saved from eternal damnation not by good works or a life of trying to be good, (Eph. 2: 8-9) but, by having a personal relationship and belief in personally and spiritually identifying with the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of "our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ."

Before we move on, I think it is appropriate to discuss at this time, a growing phenomena that the medical community is finding increasingly difficult to ignore. I am referring to near-death experiences (NDEs). Once regarded as rare meaningless hallucinations, NDEs have been acknowledged to be reported by 33% of people who have come close to death and have become the subject of serious medical research. A Gallup poll estimated that about 5% of the American population, or about 13 million Americans in 1992, had reported NDEs.

This information on Near-death Experiences was so fascinating to me that I thought you should get it from the "horse's mouth." So the following three excerpts were extracted from the Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1998, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 566-567:

"Raymond Moody, the psychiatrist who coined the term near-death-experience, used it to refer to an ineffable experience on the threshold of death that may include hearing oneself pronounced dead, feelings of peace, unusual noises, a sense of movement through a dark tunnel, a sense of being out of the physical body, meeting other spiritual beings, meeting a being of light, a life review, a border or point of no return, a return to the physical body, frustrated attempts to tell others about the experience, profound changes in attitudes and values, elimination of one's fear of death, and independent corroboration of knowledge gained while out of the body."

"Typical aftereffects reported by many independent researchers include increases in spirituality, concern for others, and appreciation of life, and decreases in fear of death, materialism, and competitiveness. Persons who have NDEs tend to see themselves as integral parts of a benevolent and purposeful universe in which personal gain, particularly at another's expense, is no longer relevant. These profound changes in attitude and in behavior have been corroborated in long-term studies of people having NDEs, in interviews with their significant others, and in research comparing these persons with survivors of close brushes with death who do not recall NDEs."

"In addition, cross-cultural studies do not show the expected variations in content of NDEs, and individuals often report experiences that conflict with their specific religious and personal expectations of the passage of death. Furthermore, people who had never heard or read of NDEs describe the same kind of experiences as do people who are familiar with the phenomenon, and the knowledge individuals had about NDEs previously does not seem to influence the details of their own experiences."

Spirituality and Choices

Once I heard an energetic young Pastor proclaim that the human race could theoretically be divided up into three categories:

1) Believers,

2) Unbelievers, and

3) Make believers

I understood his teaching to mean that "believers" were all those individuals in the world that believed what he taught or were committed to some other religion; "unbelievers" were all those people that were absolutely sure that God did not exist; and the "make believers" were those individuals who were just not sure or ready to make a decision. This Pastor believed that the "make believers" represented the second largest group out of the three. He went on to preach that these were the people that lived in their own fantasy worlds and/ or who either did not know, want to know, or care enough to discover whether there was a God, spirit world, and/ or life after death. It's interesting that the Greek word - agnostic comes from its root word ignoramus or ignorant. One who calls himself an agnostic is simply taking the position that he/ she is unsure if God exists or simply put would answer the question - Does God exist? - "I don't know."

Although there are various definitions for the above categories of individuals who have different beliefs concerning God and spirituality, most would generally fit into the following three groups:

1. Atheism - (4%)- An atheist is a person that denies the existence of any

and all Gods or deities;

2. Agnosticism - (15%) - An agnostic is a person that admits his/ her ignorance or that they just don't know, but is open to the possibility of a God or Gods, but also believes that there is no method to prove that a God or other Deities exist; and

3. Theism - (81%) - A theist is a person who believes in a specific God, Goddess, or a combination of Gods or Deities.

Spirituality and Atheism

It's interesting to note that only 4% of the world's six billion plus (6,654,377,099 as of 3 Mar. 08), people on earth are absolutely sure that God does not exist. In other words, 96 out of every 100 people in the world believe in the possibility of God's existence, and 80% of them are absolutely sure that God does exist. Although small in number, atheists have for centuries made valid scientific arguments against the existence of God. Since matter is all that has ever been proven to exist by the scientific method of inquiry, the existence of the supernatural must be denied. After all, if you cannot observe, test, and measure something, then it must not exist. How can anyone believe in something that they cannot see, hear, taste, touch, or smell?

On the other hand, we place our faith daily in many things that our five senses cannot detect. For example, visible light waves are the only waves in the electromagnetic spectrum that we can perceive with the human eye, but this does not stop us from believing in the existence of thousands of pictures, songs, and voices filling the air around us constantly. If our human senses could detect radio waves (AM, FM, TV), radar, light waves (infrared, ultraviolet), microwaves, x-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays, we would not continue to spend a huge portion of our paychecks on instruments (e.g., radios, televisions, microwaves, computers, and other communication devices and services, etc.) that are able to decode these waves. Many people cannot believe in something that they don't understand, and so spiritual things are rejected because they cannot be systematically observed, analyzed and experimented with and comprehended. Everyone I know, however, uses electricity on a daily basis and I have yet been able to find one intelligent person who was able to give me an intelligent answer to: What is electricity? In reality, we just use things by faith because they work.

By the way, if you "Ask Jeeves - kids on the internet (AJkids.com), he will tell you that there is no correct answer to the question (What is electricity?), because there is not one substance called electricity that exist. Huh? That's right, when we ask the question what is electricity - it's like asking the ex-world boxing champion George Foreman to tell us what his son George is like. Because the father (famous boxer - George) named all of his 9 or 10 sons (I think I am slightly exaggerating) George - He cannot answer your question because the question itself is wrong. You have not identified which son George. In the same way there is no one substance called electricity, but there are many electrical phenomena that we all group together for some odd reason and call electricity such as: electrons, voltage, sparks, electrostatics, electromagnetism, electrodynamics, electric current, electric power, and imbalance of charge, etc. etc. So when we attempt to answer the question: What is electricity? - Even teachers, engineers, and scientists will often come up with many contradictory, incompatible, and confusing answers.

I would like to give you another scientific example concerning "matter." You are probably placing your faith or your full weight on the chair that you are sitting in because you believe that it is solid matter. I mean, who would sit on something that they believed to be mostly empty space. The hard scientific fact, however, is that an atom and thus all matter has been scientifically proven to be mostly empty space. The electrons in the atoms of your chair are moving so fast around their nucleus that they are giving you the illusion that your chair is solid matter. If all the electrons in your chair would stop vibrating for even an instant, your chair would disappear. So what you are sitting on is not solid wood (e.g., plastic, metal, etc.) but vibrating energy. We can't see the vibration because our five senses can't perceive vibrating waves of that speed. The same is true concerning everything that you have ever seen, tasted, touched, smelled, and heard. Questions? How much of what you know comes from scientific observations you yourself have made? If we as humans cannot trust our five senses that severely limit our perception of the physical world to the point of it being an illusion, how can we have absolute certainty that the supernatural/ spiritual world does not exist? I think that Albert Einstein - one of the greatest scientific thinkers the world has ever known, said it best: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind (Einstein, A., 1941).

Spirituality and Agnosticism

In spite of the above chapter questioning atheism, my intent is not to persuade, influence, convince, or convert anyone to my spiritual/ religious personal beliefs. My goal is to help others to clarify and identify where they presently stand at this point in time, so that they can consider charting a course to get from where they are to where they desire to be someday. After all, you cannot make flight reservations if you don't know what airport you will be departing from. So if you are content with your atheistic beliefs, do not let me persuade you otherwise. I am however interested in the fence sitters or those individuals that have not clarified their beliefs concerning spirituality and religion.

The British philosopher and sociologist, Herbert Spencer who was initially best known for developing the evolutionary theory claimed that we cannot know whether there is a God or not, because we cannot know anything that we can not practically observe and experiment with empirically. Even though Spencer was a severe critic of religion, he could not bring himself to take the position of an atheist. He argued that Theism cannot be adopted because there is no way to acquire or test knowledge of God, but he also argued that while we cannot know whether God exist, neither can we prove that God does not exist. So Spencer adopted an agnostic position and was quoted making the following famous statement:

"There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation." - Herbert Spencer

I grew up hearing the phrase; "Don't knock it, until you try it." Spencers' - Principle of Contempt Prior to Investigation has similar objectives:

1. It bars (prohibits, prevents, and/ or forbids) against acquiring any new information;

2. It is (a false) proof against all arguments; and

3. It cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines - Contempt as the open disrespect and/ or willful disobedience regarding a feeling that someone or something is inferior and undesirable. Investigate - means to observe or inquire into carefully - or to examine systematically. I believe that Spencer is stating that if you openly disrespect someone or something before you get to know that person or thing, then this willful disobedient feeling you have from "disrespecting the other person," will keep you from learning anything about this person or thing. It will continue to keep you in a state of ignorance about this person or thing and it will become your only argument against changing your mind about this person or thing.

I could never say with absolute certainty that you have never had a personal experience with someone or something, if I had not first observed, examined and/ or investigated your entire life from the day you were born until the present moment. I can say that "I" personally have had an experience with someone or something, therefore only "I" can say that God may or may not exist for me. I could never say that God does not exist for you. Who am I to say that there is no God if I have not personally investigated God for myself? Even if I have made a few feeble attempts at getting to know God, how can I absolutely without a doubt know for sure that God does not exist. Someone once said that it takes more faith to believe that God does not exist than it does to believe that he does exist.

So, as noted above, there are many choices to consider when thinking about a spiritual lifestyle. There is one thing for certain however, and that is whatever spiritual lifestyle we choose, it will require some faith to live it out.

Spirituality and Faith

Since we commonly associate spirituality with faith, I think it is appropriate to ask some questions about faith at this time like: What is faith? Do I need faith? Does everyone have faith? How do I get faith?

Webster's dictionary defines faith as:

1. Allegiance to duty or a person;

2. Belief and trust in God;

3. Confidence; and

4. A system of religious beliefs.

Two of these concise definitions concern God and religion, but the other two do not. So I think that it would be fair to say that it is possible to consider "faith" in a practical sense apart from anything-spiritual and/ or religious. After all, we can all have confidence in a person; a belief that a system is trustworthy; and be loyal to a cause or a position without being a devoted member of a religious organization or being on a spiritual journey to Tibet. How many of you drive through intersections at 40 to 50 miles an hour without slowing down or looking both ways, just because you see a "green" light? Can a "red" light bulb physically stop a speeding motor vehicle? We continue driving without even slowing down because of the faith we have in the laws of our governmental traffic system and the faith we have in our fellow drivers.

How many of you open your eyes each morning in bed believing that you will have sufficient oxygen to breath, water to drink, a roof over your head, electricity for lights, food for breakfast, clean clothes to wear to work, and a job still waiting for you when you get there, not to mention that we also expect (believe, trust, and have confidence in) our social, legal, financial, healthcare, and local, state, and national government systems and services to perform exactly like they always have.

We all go to work each day because we believe, trust, and have confidence or have faith that our employers will pay us the wages promised, so that we can continue to pay for our daily needs. So you can see that all of us need to have "faith" in order to survive in this world. Those that have little faith in themselves, others, and/ or a higher power seem to be more consumed with worry, anxiety, and fear that can and often does lead to mental health problems (e.g., depression, suicide, etc.).

Most of us have a pattern of behaviors and activities that we get comfortable doing, (e.g., going to work, hanging out with certain friends, sitting in our favorite lazy-boy, eating "Bon-Bons or Cheese-its," controlling the remote control, and watching TV, etc.). We tend to get set in our ways so to speak, and avoid trying anything new or different, because we fear that any change may make us uncomfortable. Some folks have called this group of activities their comfort zone and it can be described as a wall that protects them from the "big bad" world or a wall that prevents them from growing into a mature, responsible adult. Whenever new opportunities come along, we all have the choice to either shrink back and avoid change because of the fear of failure or confront our fears by stepping out in faith and trying something new which ultimately increases our self-confidence and self-esteem to try bigger and better things in life. I believe that this latter choice is the practical way that we all can develop a faith in ourselves, others, and ultimately - God or Spirituality.

Practically speaking, I believe that we are all born with a portion of faith and that most of us place our faith (belief, trust, and confidence) in what ever motivates us or gives our life energy and this becomes the focus of our spirits or our spirituality. For example, if you are preoccupied with sex, drugs, and rock and roll or in this day and age - rap, bootie, blunts, and "bling-bling," then your values, beliefs, priorities, and goals will be focused on these things in an attempt to give meaning to your existence. Taking a personal inventory of where we spend the majority of our free time and money (e.g., look at your checkbook and monthly credit card reports, etc.), usually can give us a good idea of what or who we are placing our faith in.

Note: If you are feeling a little disappointed at this time because you had hoped to see an in-depth theological dissertation on spiritual faith from your own personal religious perspective, don't get too discouraged at this time, because I have saved a similar analysis for a later article.

Spirituality and Decisions

To assist those interested in clarifying their personal spiritual decisions for their advanced spiritual directives, the Spirituality 101 Inventory is presented.

Please read the following partial statements and choose one option by placing an (X) next to the appropriate letter (e.g., a. b. c., etc.) to complete the statement that Best describes your belief. Note:

Choose only one option.

I believe:

___ a. When you're dead - you're dead.

___ b. When you're dead - you are reincarnated.

___ c. When you're dead - you go to Heaven or Hell

I believe that religion should be:

___ a. Individualistic, subjective, informal, and inward directed

___ b. Community focused, objective, systematic, and outward directed

My past religious experiences have been:

___ a. Positive

___ b. Negative

___ c. Non-existent

I believe in (that):

___ a. one God

___ b. many Gods

___ c. a supreme enlightenment - not in God

___ d. God and nature are one

___ e. there are two opposing forces/ Gods

___ f. there is no God

___ g. In parts or all of the above beliefs depending on the situation

___ h. I'm still not sure what I believe

I believe that I am a(n):

___ a. Atheist (I don't believe in God)

___ b. Agnostic (I don't know if there is a God)

___ c. Theist (I believe in God or many Gods)

I believe that for my personal contentment, satisfaction, and security, I place my faith in (e.g., rely- on, cling to, trust in, etc.):

___ a. Things that satisfy my eyes and make me feel secure (e.g., money, materialism, beauty, etc.).

___ b. Things that satisfy my body and make me feel good (e.g., food, sex, music, alcohol, drugs, etc.).

___ c. Things that satisfy my ego and make me feel like I'm in control (e.g., power, fame, personal pride in accomplishments, etc.).

___ d. Spiritual Things (a supreme being, faith, hope, love, etc.).

___ e. Other: ______________________________________________

Qualifying Note: This article was not written and should not be viewed or considered to be a formal theological treatise on spirituality and religion. It is merely a simplistic introduction to these topics to reveal how critical they are to the addiction recovery process with the hope of assisting individuals to reassess their values, and reexamine their priorities to redefine what is really important in their lives. My intent is not to persuade, influence, convince, or convert anyone to my personal beliefs. My goal is to help others to clarify and identify where they presently stand at this point in time, so that they can consider charting a course to get from where they are to where they desire to be someday. After all, you cannot make flight reservations if you don't know what airport you will be departing from.

References:

Aday, R. "Belief in Afterlife and Death Anxiety: Correlates and Comparisons," Omega, 1984 18:67-75

Allport, GW and Ross, MJ "Personal Religious Orientation and Prejudice," J of Personality and Social Psych 1967, 5(4):432-443

Batson, CD and Schoenrade, PA. "Measuring Religion as Quest: 1) Validity Concerns," J for The Sci Study of Religion, 1991 30(4):416-429

Batson, CD and Schoenrade, PA "Measuring Religion as Quest: 2) Reliability Concerns," J for The Sci Study of Religion, 1991, 30(4):430-447

Belcher, AR et. al. "Spirituality and Sense of Well-Being in Persons With AIDS," Holistic Nurs. Pract. 1989, 3(4):16-25

Bergin, A. and Jensen, J "Religiousity of Psychotherapists: A National Survey," Psychotherapy, 27:3-7

Burkhardt, M. "Spirituality: An Analysis of The Concept," Holistic Nursing Practice, May 1989 :60-77

Byock IR. Missoula-VITAS Quality of Life Index (version 25S). VITAS Healthcare Corp, 1995. Byrne, JT and Price, JH "In Sickness and In Health: The Effects of Religion," Health Education 1979, 10:6-10.

Chambers, LW et. al. "The McMaster Health Index Questionnaire," J Rheumatology 1982, 9:780-784

Clinch, JJ and Schipper, H. "Quality of Life Assessment in Palliative Care," The Challenge of Palliative Med, p. 61-70.

James Slobodzien, Psy.D., CSAC, is a Hawaii licensed psychologist and certified substance abuse counselor who earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He is credentialed by the National Registry of Health Service Providers in Psychology. He has over 20-years of mental health experience primarily working in the fields of alcohol/ substance abuse and behavioral addictions in hospital, prison, and court settings. He is an adjunct professor of Psychology and also maintains a private practice as a mental health consultant.

1) Universal guidance and support. Let’s face it; life’s trials and challenges can often leave you feeling battered and alone. A strong belief that you’re being guided and supported by universal forces can help you feel stronger and better able to cope with difficulties and disappointments.

2) Purpose and meaning. Belief in an afterlife may make you feel happier and more secure because you’ll know that your trials and tribulations aren’t without meaning or purpose. Knowing that you’ll go on from here to a better place may provide a measure of comfort and hope to sustain you through difficult times.

3) Deeper connection to others. It’s easy to perceive yourself as being separate and distinct from other people, which can result in a sense of isolation and disconnection. However, with a spiritual foundation comes a greater awareness of your interconnectedness with everyone and everything around you. This awareness can help you feel more connected even if it doesn’t show up in obvious ways in your outer circumstances.

4) Seeing the bigger picture. Spiritual beliefs can give you an expanded view of life that you wouldn’t otherwise have. Rather than seeing only the physical characteristics of people and the world itself, you realize that there is more to life than just the physical things you can see and touch.

5) Deeper inner connection. Lack of spiritual beliefs can often make you feel like your life is empty and meaningless, while a strong spiritual foundation can help you see that there is a deeper part of you. You might call this your soul, spirit, essence or divinity, but the name doesn’t matter as much as the realization that this part of you is timeless, infinite and wise - which helps you feel like “more” than you would as a limited physical person.

There are many more benefits to be gained from a spiritual practice, but only you can say whether such a practice would help you to feel happier in your everyday life.

It’s important to note that spirituality and religion are two distinct practices. You may feel resistant to spiritual practices because of negative religious experiences when you were younger, but a spiritual practice can be quite different and pleasing. For example, taking walks in nature could be considered a spiritual practice. Sitting quietly and journaling your deepest thoughts and feelings could be considered a spiritual practice too.

If you like the idea of a deeper life experience that contributes to greater overall happiness, choose a spiritual practice that interests and inspires you – whether it involves religion or not. Simply follow your heart to the right type of spiritual expression for you, and you won’t be able to help feeling more centered, fulfilled – and happy!

About the author:

Iain Legg is now giving away powerful mind power secrets in his free ecourse. Find happiness by discovering your purpose in life with pre programmed dreams. Free mind power course reveals all...

Walking is a perfect way to get to know more about the world around you. You’re moving at a slower pace than the car, and you can always stop whenever you want to take a closer look. You get to meet more people and share with them whatever’s going on around you.

You know, when you go out walking you will begin a journey that will help you become fitter in both body and mind.

Yes there’s a spiritual dimension to walking too. When I say spiritual, I do not mean in any religious way. You can have a spiritual outlook without holding on to a religious belief.

Walking can be a form of meditation. You may have done meditation as a sit down activity, and if you have hold on to the purpose of meditation, because the walking form is the same only on the move.

If you haven’t done meditation and are uncertain as to what meditation is, then I’ll start this section off by giving you a brief definition and explanation.

Really, meditation is what is called being ‘mindful’.

Instead of letting your head run away with thoughts of what happened yesterday, or last week or last year, or get lost in what might happen tomorrow or next week etc., what you do in meditation is try and keep your thoughts on what is happening right now.

Being mindful means paying attention to how you are feeling, what you are hearing, seeing, doing, thinking etc. In some circles being mindful is called ‘being in the now’.

Doctor Joan Borysenko, PhD, amongst others, has called meditation a process of being, ‘...pleasantly anchored in the present moment.’

In meditation, you work to stay focussed on what is happening to you now.

Thinking about the past and the future are said to be two of the major causes of stress related illnesses, so meditation is something that won’t take us there.

The aim of meditation then is to calm us and increase our sense of well-being.

This may seem to be at odds with walking, as meditation seems to suggest that you need to be still. That’s why some people think you can’t meditate and walk at the same time.

Well, I’m here to help you prove that idea wrong.

You don’t need any special equipment or preparation to do a walking meditation. You can do it almost anywhere that’s flat and free from any potentially dangerous obstructions.

You can do it in your back yard if it’s big enough; you can do it in the local park, or even on a city street.

However, it’s not where you do it, but how you do it. Moreover, there are several ways you can do it.

You can spend from 20 – 60 minutes on walking meditation or longer if you feel okay about them.

Be aware that walking meditation is not done at high speed. You will be able to move freely, but with grace and calmness, walking as always from the centre. Mental and spiritual well-being is the object. Here is a very simple walking meditation to get you going. If you’ve done sitting meditation, you will already be aware of the basic principle.

Mindful Breath Walking Meditation

In this walking meditation, you focus on your breathing and its rhythm with your steps.

• Breathe deeply from the diaphragm as you walk.
• As you draw a breath in, count how many steps you are taking.
• As you breathe out, count how many steps you are taking. It’s as simple as that!

You could repeat this on the out breath if you are taking as many steps as an in breath. On the other hand, you could think of something else of a similar nature.

By the way, it is not unusual to have a different number of steps for each breath. I generally take five steps for an in breath and seven on the out!

Play with your breathing and steps. Try taking more steps or fewer steps. Allow your breathing rate to remain the same despite the number of steps.

What’s important is that you are mindful of what you are doing. Allow nothing else to distract you. Don’t begin to dwell on things that are not involved immediately with the walking meditation you’re doing.

Walking meditation helps you become more aware of yourself. Practice will help you learn more about yourself by helping you to let go of all the millions of thoughts swimming around your head. The start of spiritual awareness is learning to know you.

Walking is a pathway to spirituality, and you can take it every day!

Phil Bilzon is the author of ‘The Walk Right Book - How you can develop body and mind and help make the world greener by learning the basics, and secrets, of effective walking.’ www.greenersteps.com

I had a friend who learned Transcendental Meditation and practiced almost every day. She felt happier, more relaxed, even blissful as long as she meditated. If she missed a few days, she found that she didn't feel much different than before she began to meditate. Although she felt better when she meditated, it wasn't solving her underlying problems.

I've known many people who've used spirituality and meditation as a way of avoiding dealing with their issues. Since they feel good when they're pursuing a spiritual path, guru, or new technique, they think that will make all the uncomfortable stuff dissolve and go away. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Spirituality is no more a magic bullet than anything else.

According to Lawrence LeShan, a psychotherapist, meditation teacher and author of "How To Meditate," meditation can help strengthen the structure of our personality, making us better able to deal with our challenges. And it may give us more insight into our issues, but meditation doesn't do away with them. It may reduce overall anxiety, make us feel safe, therefore better able to face ourselves, but we still need to do the internal work needed to bring about change.

Anything that allows us to feel bliss and euphoria, whether it's drugs, lust, romatic love, alcohol, achievement, spirituality or meditation, can become addicting. We become enthralled to the feeling and want to repeat it as often as possible. It makes the bad feelings fade away. Spirituality is a healthier escape than any of the others, but it still can be an escape. We need to ask ourselves, "What am I trying to escape from or avoid?"

There needs to be a balance and a grounding at the same time. Getting carried away with bliss can mean not attending to day to day affairs, such as paying the bills, eating right, and having healthy relationships. I knew a woman like this. She was so wrapped up in her pursuit of peace that when she received a chunk of money in a settlement, she didn't want to be bothered by trying to invest it. Instead, she gave the money to a friend to invest it for her. Unfortunately, the friend put it in a high risk investment, which failed, and she lost all of her money. The euphoria from spirituality and meditation doesn't erase our personal responsiblities.

We seek to recognize our wholeness through spirituality and meditation. Instead of feeling like we have a "hole in our soul," spirituality helps us to understand that we are truly whole and complete as we are. It allows us to be more fully present in our world and expand our awareness of who we are. But as long as it's being used to avoid our feelings and deep issues, we can't move forward. We're either resisting discomfort or moving toward wholeness. We can't do both.

We have to be able to balance our spiritual practices with our everyday and emotional lives. Spirituality and meditation gives us a sense of connection that we can then take into the rest of our experience. When we are able to acknowledge our issues, work through them, and accept all of ourselves, we're honoring our spiritual essence.

What is spirituality, and why and how would someone want to develop it?

Spirituality is nothing less than a conscious awareness of your own basic nature, which is essential sprit, and not material. Why to develop it?

We develop our spirituality in order to bring ourselves closer to all creation and the creator. How to develop it? The answer is easily within you.

Considering the Creation

Perhaps there is not a man (or woman) alive or that has ever lived that has not marveled at one time or another at various signs of creation.

Creation being the entire observable and unobservable phenomenon in our universe.

The macro cosmos (larger creation; the stars and our earth) or the micro cosmos, the great miniature universe within ourselves; for example our cells, and our structure and its function.

A simple consideration of its complexity and the number of exact combinations that would have to be met for life to exist can bring the greatest skeptic and atheist to their knees.

Impossibility of Creation

Physicists are now at a basic common agreement that the principles of Quantum physics are about as close as we can understand the mechanics of creation.

They have come to the conclusion the entire universe is made up of thinking (intelligent) non-stuff (particles or waves) with no matter or mass. They further equate this non-stuff with thought. So our entire universe is only thought?

Creation then is impossible. Yet with our intelligent non-stuff and the impossible number of co-incidences required for creation (yet alone “life”) to exist, we have our universe in its entire splendor.

Spirituality in our Everyday Lives

We live, we are told, in a material world. Yet, our material world bounds with so-called miracles, miracle workers, and contradiction. These are no more than signposts to indicate the “real” is not so real as we suppose.

Taking that for granted, we must develop our own spirituality so we become closer to what is real rather than what is not.

Do we fix our consciousness on a creation made up of thinking non-stuff, or do find our own basic nature, align ourselves with that, and start to harmonize ourselves with our basic nature?

Certainly the latter is correct.

Exercise for Developing Your Spirituality

Sitting in a quiet place, and in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and watch your breath. Watch mentally the air coming in and out.

After a few moments, and when you are relaxed, imagine you are free to travel wherever you wish. To another city, to the moon, to the stars.

Feel yourself free in this travel and marvel at the beauty and perfection of the creation all around you.

Try to feel allied to creation, and be a casual observer. Let your imagination run where it will. Let your imagination be a sort of cosmic gypsy, and wander where your imagination takes you.

Do not force your thoughts, let them flow of themselves.

Sitting as long as you can, slowly bring your consciousness back to your here and now. When in the here and now, consider the greatness of creation and the creator, whatever religion you have, use your own symbology.

When you arise from this exercise, your spirituality will have been enhanced.

The more your ponder and wonder, the more your spirituality will develop. Your own beliefs will be reinforced, and you will see even your mundane life improved by this harmonization with creation

"One's lifetime pattern of religious service attendance can be related to psychiatric illness," says Temple University's Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., an assistant professor of public health and co-author of the study, which appears in the January issue of Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Conversely, men who stopped being religiously active were less likely to suffer major depression when compared to men who had always been religiously active.

Maselko offers one possible explanation for the gender differences in the relationship between religious activity and mental health. "Women are simply more integrated into the social networks of their religious communities. When they stop attending religious services, they lose access to that network and all its potential benefits. Men may not be as integrated into the religious community in the first place and so may not suffer the negative consequences of leaving," Maselko said.

The study expands on previous research in the field by analyzing the relationship between mental health -- anxiety, depression and alcohol dependence or abuse -- and spirituality using current and past levels, said Maselko, who conducted the research when she was at Harvard University.

In the study sample, comprising 718 adults, a majority of men and women changed their level of religious activity between childhood and adulthood, which was critical information for the researchers. "A person's current level of spirituality is only part of the story. We can only get a better understanding of the relationship between health and spirituality by knowing a person's lifetime religious history," Maselko said.

Out of the 278 women in the group, 39 percent (N=109) had always been religiously active and 51 percent (N=141) had not been active since childhood. About 7 percent of the women who have always been religiously active met the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder compared to 21 percent of women who had stopped being religiously active.

"Everyone has some spirituality, whether it is an active part of their life or not; whether they are agnostic or atheist or just ‘non-practicing.' These choices potentially have health implications, similar to the way that one's social networks do," Maselko said.

Alvaro Castillo has specialized in helping people with their sleep for the past 10 years with successful results. For more information go to www.mynighttimehealth.com

Spirituality is an innate quality we all have in various degrees. For that spiritual quality to move from an innate to an active mode, however, depends upon three things. If any of the three are missing, spiritual tendencies could be smothered by our instinctive reactions of greed, hatred, and delusion.

Every day, we are caught up in the struggles of life. Making a living and providing for our loved ones is becoming increasingly difficult in a shrinking world, and when things don't go our way, we fall back on our inherent instincts. Whether those instincts are primal, survival reactions, or whether they are advanced, spiritual reactions, depend upon three elements.

The First is broadmindedness and a neutral view of things. If we are set in our ways and want to hold on to what we have, we won't have the capacity to look beyond that. Since it is true that everything changes, we limit ourselves severely if we fail to look beyond what has happened in the past. Creativity involves letting go of the past so that we can see with new eyes as situations change.

The second element is intellect. Without a certain amount of intelligence, which promotes discrimination between what is true and what is false, what is helpful and what is harmful, a spiritual quest may quickly turn into simply following along with a group that is picked either by random or tradition.

The third element is sincere interest and passion regarding life's deeper meanings. A passing interest, or an interest based upon merely fending off boredom with a new hobby or activity, will only touch the surface of spirituality. This means that it will not penetrate into our heart. When spirituality is only an intellectual pursuit, we tend to revert to our primal and survival modes when the going get rough.

These three elements are necessary for any serious foray into the spiritual life. Of the three, I would say that the third is most important. There is an outside chance that a person without the first two elements of broadmindedness and intelligence could get lucky and fall unwittingly into a practice that would develop true spirituality. If one has interest and passion, as well as intelligence and equanimity or no favoritism regarding the various paths and religions, then there is less of a chance of falling for paths that lead nowhere regarding the deeper aspects of spirituality.

To monitor whether we are on a path that leads to fundamental changes within ourselves, or on a path that merely entertains us and provides no deep-seated changes, we must objectively observe how we react to our everyday life situations. Not, how we should react, but how the mind actually reacts initially to situations when we find ourselves in conflict with our desires. If we react with anger and try to hold on to what we have, we are still reacting from a primal mode. Even though we might espouse the opposite reaction, that of love and understanding, we must be true to ourselves regarding what we actually feel, otherwise no progress will ever be made in the spiritual life and we will remain caught within the denial of shallow pretenses.

The difference between an effective spiritual quest and an ineffectual pursuit is our determination to find the underlying cause of our problems. If we see that we are not making progress personally, in other words, if we talk about spirituality but can't live it comfortably in our deepest reactions to life, then our intelligence, our open-mindedness, and our passion to find the truth hasn't kicked in.

These three things are what lead us to actively investigate the fundamental problems that cause our unrest and keep us from experiencing true spirituality. These are not connected to beliefs or dogma; these are working, proactive tools for us to become literally free from our ignorance of how things actually are. When we employ these three elements of broadmindedness, intelligence, and passion, we begin to get to the nitty-gritty of our problems.

By employing these three elements, we can get a glimpse of the fundamental desire in all of our interactions, and how that desire builds a "self" that must be protected and propped up. We begin to understand that unless our mind is made calm by practicing going deep inside, we will be unable to transcend the busy thoughts that have ruled our lives so far. And we will come to understand that our mind can be altered regarding its consciousness, and subsequently how our mind reacts to the outside world.

In other words, we begin to move our spirituality from an innate mode to an active one through our own efforts. Nothing can be accomplished without effort; and how we employ that effort will affect our quality of life. More importantly, our effort will affect the quality of the afterlife as well.

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-nine years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

Feel-good spiritual paths espousing light and love and the prospect of some kind of an enlightenment with little or no effort are plentiful, but have they really changed you? A trend is developing toward a serious approach to spirituality involving personal, in-depth, permanent changes in perspective, and the trend is rapidly growing. Practitioners are becoming increasingly wary of recreational spirituality because their lives have not fundamentally changed; the same troublesome problems exist with the same old "self" in control, and they are no closer to the new consciousness that is evolving in the world than they were years ago.

Sometimes we can feel as if we are in a spirituality supermarket, everything looks so good, so enticing. We put a little of this in our baskets and a little of that . . . and check out. We go home, try a little of this and a little of that, and have lots of fun. Everything is interesting and keeps us busy and absorbed, and we really believe that we are making some kind of transformation.

Then one day, perhaps suddenly, we are faced with a situation that confirms that all the old tendencies that we thought we have left far behind were only hiding, waiting for the right moment to remind us that nothing has changed at all.

We cannot keep our cake and eat it too, we cannot keep our old ego, our old idea of us, and expect to change into something else. We are only play-acting if we think this way. This begs the question; do we really want to change or not? Because change involves letting go of who we are. If we are fundamentally in love with who we are, and only want to touch up a few edges of our personality, then a fundamental change will never take place. Only at the end of personality is where that big one happens, and few want to go that far.

If you haven't thought about this in depth, you should. Before spending money on self-help books, CDs, and spiritual paths, make certain that you really want to change, because real change means letting go of everything that you currently believe in, and that can be a radical step for many people. Without letting it all go, the core remains unchanged.

If you find that you really don't want to change that much, then the spiritual path becomes no different from any pastime, like knitting or tennis. As matter of fact, knitting and tennis are a bit more honest - no pretenses.

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

Roxanne Howe-Murphy, Ed.D. www.lifewisecoaching.com

Have you had the experience of reading self-help books on spirituality or going to spiritual workshops, and having an uplifting, perhaps even an ecstatic experience, yet having nothing change in your daily life? That seems to be a common experience and frustration among people who are seeking transformation.

There are many definitions of spirituality, and I do not pretend to encompass all of these definitions here. One of the myths about “spirituality” is that we have to “go somewhere,” such as into a trance or into another world so that we can transcend our day-to-day lives. Certainly, it can feel like a relief to escape from the human condition and merge with other-worldly realms. I spent the early stages of my spiritual journey trying to do just that, thinking that I was ‘working’ my path. What I have come to learn* and know from experience is that anything that takes us away from direct contact with our own human realness, from the experience of being absolutely here in this moment can also take us away from our Ultimate nature.

This temptation to avoid the human experience in favor of finding something “out there,” reinforces a dualistic perspective. What if we could stay “right here” to connect with the present moment experience of being in this grounded body, having an open heart, and quieting the chattering mind? How would that affect one’s capacity to experience that which is more than the small me (also known as the ‘egoic me’)?

Let me offer some examples. Have you ever carried around an emotional hurt, such as grief over some important loss in your life, or the accumulated stress of trying to do too much over an extended period of time? You do your best to ‘hold it (whatever “it” is) together,’ then someone looks into your eyes, and quietly gives voice to your experience. Perhaps the person simply says, “I see the you’re in pain.” That’s when the tears roll. You might recognize that relief arises, as well. You have been seen, your experience has been recognized, named and brought into the light. You allowed your feelings to be there, without pushing them away. You have a direct experience of your inner environment, and then you notice that some or all of the pain lifts. Something has changed for you. Perhaps you have an experience of being lighter, more spacious.

Another example is one that I experienced recently while on an annual women’s retreat with a group of friends. While some of us see each other more frequently, as a group, this one time per year offers a chance to nurture our longtime bonds, and engage in many activities that we love to share. This year we noticed that something was missing from our time together. With some exploration, we realized that we had not remembered to create a container for each person to be in the moment, and share her current experience, with no one barraging her with questions. When we consciously created the space for each person to be in truth with her current life, we were all deeply touched. We saw each other from a new perspective. We were changed. The depth and realness experienced made a powerful difference in how we felt about the entire week-end.

“Are these really spiritual experiences?” I would affirm that they are. There was contact with the truth of Now. There was an awakening and a deepening of experience. Internal change occurred. Hearts were touched and opened. And through contact with self, perhaps there was a recognition of something larger than self. A sacred moment occurred. It’s one of the great paradoxes of life.

The Enneagram offers a profound approach to the spiritual journey based upon realness. Used with right intention and guidance, we discover that our direct experiences with what is Real can be translated into our day-to-day experience—right here, right now.

* The author would like to acknowledge the pioneering work of Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson with the Enneagram.

© Roxanne Howe-Murphy, 2007