On a deep emotional level we are all aware of our spiritual nature and underneath the surface level of life there is a dimension that we all long to have a connection with.
There are many views and definitions of what spirituality really is, but what I would like to do here is to present 5 quotes about spirituality from 5 very influential people; people who have made vastly different contributions to life and our understanding of what it means to be a human being in this world.
1.Pierre Teilhard de Chardin – What You Really Are
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Most people believe the exact opposite of what Pierre Teilhard de Chardin teaches us. So many people flock to churches on Sundays looking for a spiritual experience. After an hour or so they then go back to live their as usual.
The truth however is that you are not your body. Your body changes every day and almost every cell in your body gets replaced every 10 months. You do not have the same body you had 2 years ago.
You are not your mind either. What you know now is vastly different from what you knew or thought about almost everything just a few years ago.
You are not your emotions either. Emotions fluctuate daily and they are always just the result of your thinking.
So, what about you remains unchanged?
It is your spirit. Your soul. It is that which you really are which remains unchanged and is who you really are.
At the deepest level your life is your spirit’s journey in this physical world. Think about this and you will come to realize that this is the truth.
2.Joseph Campbell – Be Loyal Only To Your Highest Self
All you can learn is what your own inward life is and try to stay loyal to that.
Joseph Campbell
The first quote on spirituality was about realizing that you are indeed a spiritual being. The second is from Joseph Campbell and he encourages us to live from this highest self and not from the worldly ego.
Joseph Campbell was a man who spent a lifetime writing and thinking about the mysteries of life and the wonders of the world inside us.
In our ego driven world however, we all tend to look around for approval and for how to act and behave instead of surrendering the freedom of the world inside.
We tend to compare ourselves to others to determine where we are in life and also where we ought to be going.
Spirituality calls on you to look deep within to find your own unique place and path in life. You are unique in every way and on a spiritual level you have a journey tailored to suit only you.
When you look within you will discover that authentic spiritual part called your ‘Self’ through which your entire life is lived.
Joseph Campbell tells us to find this part of ourselves and then to stay true to that instead of always looking outside of ourselves for answers.
True fulfillment in life will never come from living up to someone else’s expectations or living your life the way you believe you ought to. It will never come from the attainment of goals or achieving what’s considered to be success.
The ultimate purpose of life is to find out what you are about on that deeper spiritual level and then to live it.
3.Mother Teresa – How To Find God
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa
The quote about spirituality from Joseph Campbell was about finding your own authentic path in life. In this quote from Mother Theresa, she tells us how to do it. When mother Theresa offers spiritual advice I for one am willing to listen.
She gives us a very profound spiritual lesson and that is to embrace silence. God is the friend of silence and when you quiet your mind, you get to reconnect with God on a personal level.
In our crazy-busy world, time for silence is probably the last thing on most people’s list of priorities, yet this is where true authentic power in life comes from.
When you empty your mind from all the mundane demands and you return to the centre deep within you are once again connected with that divine power that orchestrates the entire universe.
4.Albert Einstein – Life Is a Miracle! Pay Attention
In a world dominated by new trends and technologies it seems like there is an even greater demand on our attention from every direction. We marvel at the latest inventions and the wonders of new technology, but still it’s all very temporary and only lasts until the next best thing comes along.
Even when you look beyond all the man-made wonders and venture into nature to observe a sunset, a shooting star or a thunderstorm, there is one thing that is universally mysterious about it. Even with our technology and scientific knowledge, there is still a huge chunk of it that we simply do not understand. This is what Albert Einstein had to say about it:
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
Albert Einstein
Behind all the surface wonders of the world lies a deeper mystery – as if there is a divine hand behind it all that silently orchestrates and organizes it. This is the true wonder of life.
At the heart of spirituality is this wonderful and mysterious force that is the essence of life.
Spirituality is about really waking up to life and to develop a higher awareness – an awareness of that mysterious force behind all of life. If you are not absolutely fascinated with life then you simply don’t know enough.
It’s ironic that our modern day scientists are becoming more and more spiritual because the more we find out about the true nature of life, the more they are realizing that there is an indescribable force behind it all.
4.Vivekananda – How To Get Rid of All Problems
The Blossom vanishes of itself
Vivekananda
As the fruit grows.
So will your lower self vanish
As the Divine grows within you.
At some level we all do the things we think will fulfill us. While many of our daily pursuits are driven by physical comfort, the overriding drive is to feel fulfilled and to have a happy life.
Seeking spiritual fulfillment and seeking the Divine is born into us. We all go about many different ways of “finding” it and finding our true selves. For some it is religion, for others it is a ritual
Vivekenanda gives us a great insight. We don’t have to struggle with overcoming things in our outside world. We simply have to allow the Divine to grow within us.
As it does, all the outer problems will vanish. We all have a multitude of external “problems” and issues that tend to dominate our lives. We spend countless hours and dollars trying to fix these problems.
The problem is that the more attention you give to it, the more it grows in your life. What you resist persists.
Vivekenanda’s advice is to go beyond the surface level problems. By allowing your higher self to become the dominant voice in your life, the external problems will vanish of itself.
This does not mean that you ignore issues and problems on the outside world. It simply means that you come at it from a different perspective – a perspective that truly empowers you because ultimately you are in charge of your life and the reality you create.
An Overview of The 5 Quotes on Spirituality
These 5 quotes about spirituality are from 5 vastly different people, but their message is the same: beyond the mundane activities of life there is something bigger; a higher force that some call God.
It is in your nature to know this Force. By discovering your own unique place in the world, by embracing silence and making contact with God you can awaken an awareness deep within yourself that will open your eyes to a whole new way of life.
Life was never meant to be a struggle but if you are consumed by the outside world and fail to live from your Highest self then it will be your experience.
Spirituality is not about changing yourself. It is about changing who you are not.
Find out what you really are at the core of your being and then be that. That is your ultimate purpose in life.
