I don’t like the word “spirituality” so much. In our culture, it has some unfortunate connotations.
It can be seen as airy fairy. Escapist. Elevated. Elitist. And probably much more, depending on who you ask.
I like to think of it as just human, for many reasons:
It seems that an awakening can happen through anyone, sometimes out of the blue
Awakening seems to be a natural part of our developmental and perhaps evolutionary process. (As individuals and a species.)
An awakening process often feels very human. It includes a quite deep healing, maturing and reorganizing as a human being.
Living from an awakened context is also very human. It’s still an ordinary human life, only within a different conscious context.
When I use the word “awakening” here, I mean the process of (a) spirit awakening to itself as all there is, and (b) our human self reorganizing and realigning within this new context. The first can be sudden, and the latter often takes time.
I would like to use the word “human” more often, just as I tend to use the word “life” instead of Spirit or God. I probably will, when the context makes it clear what I am referring to.
The word fits, since we are talking about life (or reality, or Spirit) awake to itself through this human self, so it is all very human.
The word also has its drawbacks since spirituality is about reality itself, expressed through and as everything in the universe, and life can awaken to itself through many possible beings, not just humans. (Does a dog have Buddha nature? Woof!) For instance, if there is life throughout the universe, life can awaken to itself through them too, and will be expressed through their unique psychology and physiology. Spirit will still awaken to itself as all there is, just be expressed through a quite different type of being.
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notes…..
– the word spirituality, often has unfortunate connotations
– instead, deeply human
– although also all beings, not only humans
– is really just about life itself