What Does it Mean to be “Spiritual”?

It might not mean what we think

What do you think of when you think of a truly “spiritual” person? You know, a really enlightened, faithful soul? If you’re like me, you imagine something like a robed, smiling, wise monk walking serenely in the woods, colorful birds landing on his shoulder, butterflies and bunny rabbits following along.

Or, if not that exactly, at least a person who seems always to be content. Unflappable in any situation, handling life’s ups and downs with equanimity and grace. Filled with faith in his God, love for his fellow human beings, and unyielding peace of mind.

This is decidedly not me.

But I’m a strong believer in God, and the fact that I have never been able to reach this level of tranquility and detachment from the day-to-day world bothered me for the longest time. I believed. I prayed. I put in the work. I was no slacker. So where was my peace of mind, huh? Where was my joy? Where was my ability to manage life’s curveballs with aplomb and self-assuredness? Why wasn’t I always happy, damn it?!

Then one day I read something by Julia Cameron, author of the popular and wonderful The Artist’s Way. Cameron wrote, “You do not need to work to become spiritual. You are spiritual; you need only to remember that fact. Spirit is within you. God is within you.” [1]

This was a game-changer. You don’t need to work at it?

Of course you don’t. And I would have remembered this on my own had I paid attention to my own conclusions about how the universe works: I believe in panentheism, the belief that everything is contained within God. With a long and grand philosophical tradition, panentheism (meaning “all in God”) postulates a universe that is God extended as spacetime. We are within God, and there is something of God within us.

The philosophical arguments for this worldview go beyond the scope of this humble essay, but suffice it to say that panentheism makes a fine replacement (if you’re in the market for a new worldview) for the “Sky God” theory, where God is detached and “up there” somewhere, sitting on his throne and judging us.

In fact, there is some branch or other of every major religion on the planet that believes in a panentheistic universe, including Kabbalah Judaism, Sufi Islam, Christian mysticism, and pretty much all the major Eastern religions. We don’t often hear from these branches, however, as the more fundamentalist branches, with their aloof, authoritarian God, tend to make the most noise.

If God is within, this changes everything. It means God feels what we feel. God experiences what we experience. Famed philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead, a big proponent of the God-within viewpoint, called God a “fellow sufferer who understands.”

That means God feels our anger. Our frustrations. Our fears. Our griefs. These things are spiritual, too, just the same as joy and grace and equanimity. They are a part of us, and we are a part of God.

So maybe being spiritual isn’t just about being joyful and tranquil. Maybe it’s about being alive, with all that being alive entails — highs and lows, joys and sorrows, failures and victories, anger and compassion, love and hate.

The next time you’re feeling mad or depressed or even hopeless, you’re not failing your spirituality. You’re living it. But you’re not living it alone. Your experience is God’s experience. In fact, it could well be that we exist specifically so that God can experience existence, too. For what is an existence devoid of action and interaction, with all of the accompanying thrills and chills? Could that be why we’re here?

If so, knowledge of that alone places life’s circumstances in a larger, more detached context, and I suppose that truly coming to understand such a worldview would automatically make a person more at peace with life. But in the midst of our days — whether in crisis or tragedy, elation or ecstasy — it’s hard to remain detached.

In fact, it’s so hard that I’m wondering if we’re even supposed to remain calm and at peace. Sure, we should absolutely find quiet moments to reflect and regroup and put everything back into perspective, but at those times when we’re living life — really living it — maybe we’re just supposed to feel it. Maybe we’re supposed to be alive.

I’m no longer going to envy the “enlightened” faithful soul with his unflappable ways and his serene manner. I don’t think he’s any more spiritual than you or me. He can have his butterflies and bunny rabbits. We’ve got our joys and sorrows, and we should live them. After all, we’re not living them alone. There’s a fellow traveler who understands, and this fellow traveler is not hard to find.

The best part? You don’t even need to work at it. You are a spiritual being. All you have to do is remember that. All you have to do is live, and feel, and remember.

[1] Cameron, Julia, God is No Laughing Matter: Observations and Objections on the Spiritual Path, TarcherPerigee, 2021.

I’m a writer, researcher, eternally curious ruminator, and author of the recently released So Who is God, Anyway?: An Unorthodox Theory for Doubters, Skeptics, and Recovering Fundamentalists (Five Boroughs, May, 2024). More than anything, I’m just glad to be here.