Spiritual Integrity: What Does it Mean to be Spiritual?

By Dylan Harper

Being spiritual has become a popular thing these days. We have more spiritual people, teachers, books, events, and even stores, than ever! But what does this all really mean? Is being spiritual better, and if so is our world better due to all these spiritual concentrations?

From as far back in history as we can glimpse, something has driven the human being to search for and connect with that higher, deeper and broader part of itself. From this sense, spirituality is no new fad. At some point the spiritual path became organized, known more traditionally as religion. However, as we’ve seen through the centuries, religion has created more enslavement than liberation of the human spirit. Thus today, as more and more people are awakening, it is no coincidence that they are turning away and leaving organized religion. In doing so, many are coming back to that original spiritual quest. However, just like the word “natural” today has many meanings and misconceptions, so does the term “spiritual”.

My intention for this article therefore, is to help you explore and expand your consciousness about what being spiritual actually means, so that you get the real and tangible benefits of spirituality by cultivating spiritual integrity. After all, if we want depth, we must go below the surface.

Defining Spiritual

Do you think that you are spiritual? What makes you think so? Have you ever considered what it really takes to be spiritual? Is it in being part of a religion, or not being part of a religion? Does one need to study spiritual disciplines or have some accreditation in spirituality to be spiritual? Is it in the books one reads, or events one attends, or rituals they practice? Does being a good person make you spiritual? And what does it mean to be good? Is spirituality found in how we talk, how we act, what we wear, or what jobs we hold? Does being spiritual mean you have to forgo material goods or financial wealth? Is spirituality inherited or is it learned? All of these are important questions to consider for yourself to explore your ideas and beliefs about spirituality because what limits our growth and fullest life expression is not how spiritual we may ever become but how restricted we are by our belief systems. The more rigid and narrow our thinking, the more we miss and dismiss the big picture of it all.

In truth, spirituality isn’t one fixed state, it is dynamic. It is also not easily defined. It is expressed in degrees, along a spectrum that will vary and change throughout out lives. Sure, spirituality can include all, some or none of the things mentioned above. They are all more like the decorations on a holiday tree. What we want to get at, to best understand spirituality and what it truly means to be spiritual, is the core. In the case of our analogy, the tree itself. The core of your being is where we will find the best representation of your spirituality. Let’s explore this further.

Notice that the word spiritual has the word spirit in it. Right off the start this should imply some good understanding of and connection with our spirit, and Spirit in the bigger sense. How well do you know yourself to be more than your body or mind? In truth, we are neither of these things, and the more we grasp and feel and know this, the more we tap into the core of spirituality. There is more to you and more to life than meets the eye, and it is in that internal knowing that we access the deepest states of spirituality and parts of our spiritual nature.

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