The Stages of Spirituality
Many people make the mistake of assuming that spirituality means a person is very religious. This is not the case. The term spirituality actually means that a person believes in something, anything, so strongly that when times get tough they are able to cling to that belief no matter what is happening around them. If a person is truly spiritual they will be able to hold tight to their beliefs, even when they have nothing else.
One of the reasons so many people have a difficult time with spirituality, why the can lose faith, is because they are looking for something outside of themselves. True spirituality is something that comes from within. The key to being a truly spiritual person is being able to look inside yourself. Instead of seeing all of the bad stuff, all of your flaws, you are able to look past things and find the good stuff. The idea is that by being able to find that core of inner strength and goodness, you will slowly start to become a better person.
The Buddhists believe that an individual goes through stages of spirituality. That you must go through each of these stages before you completely believe in yourself. Although it takes time for an individual to move through the stages of spirituality, each person takes a different length of time.
The very first stage of achieving spiritual fulfillment is taking care of yourself and making sure that you basics needs are met. If a person has some money in the bank, food on the table, and a roof over their head they can stop worrying and focusing on improving themselves.
The second stage of obtaining spirituality is called ambition. This stage is tricky because everyone has a different idea of ambition. The idea is that the person needs to set a goal so that they can embark on a journey.
You can’t get so focused on yourself that you forget others. That is why the third stage of spirituality is called duty. We have a duty to help someone other than ourselves. When we help others, their accomplishments help us feel better about ourselves.
Severing your need for rewards is the fourth stage of spirituality We need to learn to give ourselves to others without expecting anything in return. Gandhi is an excellent example of someone who embraced the fourth stage of spirituality He believed in his causes and the goodness of people and he never expected a reward.
The fifth stage and final stage of spiritual development is called the transient stage. Few people ever reach this point in their lives. When a person has reached the transient stage of their life they are actually able to leave their own body at will. Their soul is able to connect to the spirit world. A person cannot do this unless they are totally at piece with themselves. Shamans are examples of people who have successfully achieved the transient stage of spiritual development.