If our purpose for spirituality is to find more peace and serenity we may be missing the point. If that were the case then buddhism, or even just doing deep breathing and a having a balanced psychology should work just fine.
But if the role of spirituality is to get in touch and live in relationship with a very specific SPIRIT, the one that made you, spirituality is a lot deeper than peace. It looks more like the relationship of two people. A father and child, or between lovers. It would be a conversation, kindness and misunderstanding, forgiveness and reconnecting. It would be trust, flex, and obedience. It would be anger at times. The reason spirituality gets confused with serenity, I think, is because if you’re in touch with the spirit that has your future in his hand, you quite often feel more peace than most as circumstances in the world get out of hand.
But it’s not always peace. In fact I think that if our purpose for spirituality is to separate ourselves from the trouble and stress of daily living, we would not be fully living the gift the creator has given us. If we separate ourselves from our selves, and our pain, like I believe Buddhism promotes, I think we are not fully living. I think we are supposed to feel deep pain, cry deeply, let it run its course through us, and understand our creator and the world he has created better through it.
At least this is the way I understand spirituality to be.
Raw Spoon, 7-17-17
