The Benefits Of Authentic Spirituality And Practice

Spiritually is the dimension that lifts us above the mundane things of this world and focuses our gaze on the most essential, lasting things of God. Understanding authentic spirituality and practice means realizing the cohesion between mind and spirit and uniting the realities of a heavenly life with a seemingly meaningless worldly existence. There are many spiritual practices as there are many faith traditions. What are the things that make you realize that a spiritual practice is authentic?

Every spirituality is measured by its capacity to lift the mind to God or a higher power and to edify human relations. Deepening one's faith in God is one of the crucial elements in the journey through this life. Spiritual exercises are intended to deepen the consciousness of the ever presence of a loving God amidst the vicissitudes of life. The conviction that God is benevolent and loving and is at the center of our lives should be the sterling force behind every spirituality and practice.

The question is to understand how spirituality can be authentic. What differentiates concrete and authentic spirituality from sheer piety? It is the attitude with which it is lived and the fruits it produces in the soul. It is not the number of pious devotions and prayers that you say every day that draws you closer to God but the way they affect how you live with your fellow brothers and sisters. Hence, authentic spirituality becomes that spirituality that leads to action. The perfect example would be the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola that propels the practitioner to move from contemplation to action.

True spirituality is that which produces fruits. The most important of these is love. Understanding that God is love and that He lets both good and wicked men live means there is no bias in Him. No one can contemplate God in all honesty and foster thoughts of greed, violence and evil towards others. Authentic spirituality leads to mature love - the love that creates room for others and opens hands to embrace every one of God's creatures. Such is the spirituality of communion. It disposes the soul to be more tolerant towards others. It can disagree with the opinions and philosophies that others hold without excluding them.

Another aspect of true spirituality is the tendency to seek the good of others. Someone who has grown closer to God through meditation and prayer will also share the same hunger as God, the hunger to create a better world. By entering into the spiritual realm, he or she shares the same creative gift of God and strives to foster values that enable the world to be a better place.

Anyone seeking meaning in life will definitely open his heart to the power and the light that flows from an authentic spirituality and practice. In this world filled with evil and pain, there is only one thing that can enlighten the human mind, it is the light that comes from his or her contact with the Divine. It is understanding that we cannot acquire inner freedom and peace of mind except in the will of Him who holds all things in being.

By: Jeremy C. Winters

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