Spirituality is…..

What is spirituality? Have you ever asked this question to yourself? Let’s start together. I am asking this question to myself from past many years. When I was in school I heard and read many times that India is a spiritual country, who said that and why. The foreigners who visited India in past, may be they said that or the whole world but why India is a spiritual country. Why they said this and still saying that India is a spiritual country. Some say that India is a birth place of many religions and religion is spirituality. So according to them religion is spirituality, other say faith is spirituality, one person say spirituality is peace of mind, other one say love is spirituality, so there are many answers just for one question.

Let see what the etymology of the word spirituality:

The term spirit means "animating or vital principle in man and animals". It is derived from the Old French spirit which comes from the Latin word spiritus (soul, courage, vigor, breath) and is related to spirare (to breathe). In the Vulgate the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruah. The term "spiritual", matters "concerning the spirit", is derived from Old French spirituel, which is derived from Latin spiritualis, which comes from spiritus or "spirit". The term "spirituality" is derived from Middle French spiritualité, from Late Latin "spiritualitatem" (nominative spiritualitas), which is also derived from Latin spiritualis.

According to the above etymology spirituality is something related or concerning to spirit or soul or ruah or atma. So the question arises here, what is spirit or atma? It is animating or vital principle in human and animals. As described in Bhagavad Gita, "For the atma there is neither birth nor death at any time. It does not come to be, has not come to be, and will not come to be. It is unborn, eternal, undying, and primeval. It is not slain when the body is slain . . . .The atma can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. This individual atma is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. It is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable, and eternally the same”. According to Qur’an Prophet Muhammad once said “The soul is one of the things, of which the knowledge is only with my Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.” Bible has two different meaning for soul and spirit. Soul is “the life of a person” and spirit refers to that which gives life to a body. They are related but are not same.

Let’s come back to our question. What is spirituality? By above discussion we can say that spirit is which is beyond us, it has no shape or size, it is unborn and it gives life to a body. So spirituality is concerned about this spirit. Spirituality does not come from religion. It comes from our own self or within us. So we have to find out that what our spirit wants and needs. Our spirit don’t need any materialistic things like money, food, luxury items, etc. So its mean that our spirit want or needs are different from our body. Is love is the thing which our spirit wants or it is peace or it is any type of relationship? Is different person’s spirit wants different things? Or spirit is just a spirit which don’t need anything? There are many questions those are still unanswered, but now we can conclude that “everything is temporary; emotions, thoughts, people and scenery. Do not attached to them except your spirit. Be nice to your own spirit, this is true spirituality.”

Comment below spirituality is ___________. According to you.