Spirituality is the dynamic impulse that motivates all of us — from the primitive human being to the most civilized citizen of the world — to reach out ceaselessly for greater levels of understanding, awareness and betterment. It is the irresistible inner force that drives us, individually and collectively, along with all beings in the Cosmos, from one state of conscious realization of ‘who we are’ to a higher one.
The idea of PROGRESS most commonly held today is centered around an acceptable standard of living regarding the material aspects of our lives. This idea is so broadly accepted that we readily define the degree of progress of societies and nations by their economic and material achievements.
In our changing times, however, there is a growing sense that focusing exclusively on improving our standards of living is leading to major unbalances in our societies and in the natural world. The realization is also dawning that defining who we are by our economic position is not addressing the development of our full potential as human beings. As a result, the idea that progress must be approached in a different way is becoming clearer in the minds of many.
Today there is a growing realization that we human beings are not bound, merely, to material, emotional and intellectual achievements. Many are beginning to see that there is “something” within us which makes of us the agent of a power (still little understood) to transform ourselves and Nature in a profound way.
The fact is emerging that, in spite of appearances, at the core of our being we feel tremendously attracted towards Goodness and that this inner drive toward betterment has the potential to truly change our world and the lives of everyone around us if we so choose.
Goodness is a natural psychological impulse to live in harmony and peace with ourselves at all levels, with others and with the environment.
But it is not the false harmony of resignation and mediocrity. It is the active, gratifying harmony born of a constant creative interplay between our being, others and the environment; in this interplay we use our intelligence, we accept full responsibility and we care for others.
Goodness is present in all of us. Because of this, we all, as individuals and as Community, have the essential need for realizing Goodness in ourselves, as well as in others, and of practicing it actively.
This attraction towards Goodness deeply characterizes all of us, regardless of the kind of circumstances and living conditions that one may be experiencing. When we allow this inner drive to manifest and when we choose to consciously cultivate it, we usually describe it as “our spiritual life” or as “our spirituality”.
However, a close study of ourselves will reveal that this compelling attraction towards Goodness is not just limited to our so-called spiritual life. It is by means of this attraction for all which is Good that we human beings have unfolded ourselves into the integrated individuals that are evidenced today.
This deeply felt attraction to Goodness is the very reason of progress in all the many areas of human activity. Thus, the work of the scientist, the leadership of the politician, the vision of the educator, the revelation of beauty by the artist, the enterprises of the economist and the mystical aspirations of the religionist are all, among many others, spiritual undertakings when they promote Goodness for the whole.
We can easily expand this broader definition of spirituality with a vision in which the entire Universe (including the natural world) is made of a SPIRITUAL ESSENCE and is motivated by a SPIRITUALLY INTELLIGENT IMPULSE. In this vision of ourselves and the Universe there is no room for the arbitrary division between a physical world and a spiritual world. Instead, all beings and all elements of the Universe are seen as parts of a SPIRITUAL WHOLE. All the natural processes of the Universe are seen as existing for the sole purpose of sponsoring an expansion in the direction of Goodness.
It is in this dimension that we can see how our development as human beings and our ultimate destiny are intimately bound with the unfoldment of the Universe, and how we all are, without exception, spiritual beings.
This Truth emphasizes that we are in the process of discovering WHO WE really ARE and how our ultimate destiny is to be an embodiment of Goodness. It is this Truth at the center of our being that gives meaning to Spirituality.