Zen and spirituality

I am reminded of a time when I was just a boy, six or seven or so, and I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. He was a simple man, I remember him fondly. He was soft spoken and moved slowly, but with a certain swagger. I never heard him raise his voice. On Saturday mornings, Grandpa and I would drive across town, a very small town with only one traffic light, to Saint John’s Lutheran Church. Grandpa was the caretaker, he would mow the church lawn, and dust and clean the inside. I used to help…well, some of the time. I went to church every Sunday with Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa and I would go up in the belfry to ring the bell signaling that church was about to start.

After church was over, the adults would usually stand around and socialize and apparently back in the day, adults didn’t care too much regarding what they talked about in front of anyone, including me, and it sounded a lot like gossip. Now, I don’t want to give the impression that all church goers are like this, but there are some who think that as long as they go to church on Sunday, they can do anything they like with the other six days of the week.

Here’s my whole point in explaining all this; being religious is not necessarily being spiritual, and conversely, being spiritual is not necessarily being religious. In my opinion, one has nothing to do with the other. Going to church every Sunday does not give you a free pass to act like a jackass the rest of the week.

Spirituality is about helping others and being true to yourself without any thought of reward. In fact, that first paragraph about my grandfather? That was more spiritual than anything that went on inside or outside of the church, and though I did not realize it at the time, those Saturdays at the church and those Sunday mornings in the belfry were great Zen experiences for me.

Spiritual healing requires a complete holistic process that considers the whole person. The American Indians are greatly skilled in the art of spiritual healing and believe in healing the person, not just a part, or the disease.

Learning Qi Gong is an excellent way to begin spiritual healing. It is this process of meditation and stretching that gives me a sense of balance, calmness, and a positive outlook. The stretching meditation of Qi Gong helps me develop strength and flexibility and that adds to my positive outlook as well.

To help improve my ability to spiritually heal, I need to focus my energy. I focus my energy by Qi Gong stretching and it helps the energy flow through me. By practicing Qi Gong, meditation, and a martial art, I have an excellent trilogy that leads to improved health and compliments the trilogy of the body, mind, and spirit and it can greatly improve or eliminate many health issues.

Practicing meditation and maintaining a healthy positive mental attitude is the key to leading a healthier and happier life. I have more energy and experience a great sense of balance.

Developing spiritually can lead to a happy and fulfilling life. If you decided to take the path to spiritual development you will need to take a comprehensive and critical look at your belief system, examine your motivations, and understand your feelings.

It is also important that you do this on a regular basis and consider the decisions you’ve made and how they have affected your life and those around you. You will continue to strengthen your good qualities and work on eliminating any negative traits.

The realization of spiritual awakening happens when one experiences a strong connection with others and Nature, an overwhelming appreciation, smiling frequently, not worrying about the little things, a loss of interest in conflict, and living in the moment.

Spiritual awaking also happens when one enjoys each moment, when there is no interest in interpreting the actions of others, no interest in judging others, and no interest in judging one’s self. There is also the realization of increased happiness, acting spontaneously rather than from fears based on a past experience, the ability to love without expecting anything in return, and being in the here and now.

To deepen your spirituality and help it grow, you should continue to work on and improve your values, morals, beliefs, and positive experiences. Improving these qualities helps you develop meaning in your quest for spirituality and ultimately helps you psychologically become a happier person.

Often times when your spirituality grows you may understand the meaning of your life’s purpose. You will gain wisdom from your connections to those close to you and around you and gain knowledge from experiences, actions, and how you react to the situations that develop.

Recognizing the connections that you have in your environment; the people, nature, plants, and animals and being respectful of all that there is will help you spiritually grow and develop Zen.