Spiritual or religious?
Me, My & Eye
Cast list:
ME: Worldly and world-worn, in her seventies, sometimes writer, frequent meditator. Varied careers behind her now, looking for meaning.
MY: Etheric, timeless, varied knowledge but lacks experience, curious, non-judgemental. Committed to service and grateful for the speaking part.
EYE: Soul-narrator. Eternal, all-seeing, constant, unifying presence, that observes and documents equally the Etheric and the human.
It is mid-morning in a grey London, and it has been a busy time. Too much tea and too many Easter eggs have been consumed, so I fall back into the cushions of the sofa with a sigh. Empty but curious, contemplative, but her thoughts just skim away without substance. She hesitantly starts typing, as if that will start the flow.
ME: So much is made of the distinction between spiritual and religious, and it’s a distinction I often make. Although now I think there’s something defensive in that statement.
MY: I am not so sure that it is the statement itself, but how you feel about it. Can you say more?
ME: I think it’s about asserting my independence or my childlike rejection of authority, and not just religious authority. My family was not religious, so it was not a case of rebelling, but of wanting to find my own way through life.
MY: It is true that reactions to religion are formed during childhood and have a mixture of elements within them. But there is also an inbuilt contradiction, you might say when embarking on a spiritual path. You are encouraged to embrace and explore its uniqueness and told that free will is sacrosanct, and yet a spiritual path, by its very nature, means you are searching for something you intuitively feel to be lacking. You cannot name it, or define it, and so you have no idea where to look, and the world is full of demands, false promises, and distractions.
ME: Seems like a hopeless task, then. Why would anyone embark on a spiritual path?
MY: The key word here is intuitive, an intuitive imperative, to discover what is missing. This is another way of saying, to remember why you came by unlocking the inner wisdom of your soul, which is the choreographer of your life on earth and the custodian of its purpose.
EYE sees ME soften within herself, as if she senses something beautiful, but unreachable. MY watches the words sink in, after all, realizing that a spiritual path is individual and internal is not easy. Even more so in such a busy world where everything seems to be within the gift of mankind. There is a pause.
ME: I caught something beautiful in your words, like the scent of jasmine on a summer’s day, a promise of peace that stirred within. But is that true for everyone? I see people suffering all the time, and the concept that peace is just an inner journey seems almost fanciful.
MY: You would be surprised how inner peace reasserts itself in the most desperate of situations, just as nature reclaims abandoned buildings and wasteland. Sometimes the greatest peace can be found within a prison, or a hopeless situation, when the person has accepted that the only place they can find peace is within themselves.
ME: How does this fit with religion? Presumably, that intuitive sense of seeking is the same, it’s just the path that differs.
MY: All are seeking answers to questions that words do not do justice to. After all, you are attempting to categorize and explain ethereal and transient energies that defy description. It is like the specialisms that your doctors and surgeons now follow. The complexity of the human body and the advances in technology mean that the plethora of information needs both specialist and generic inputs for the whole field of medicine to advance.
It is no different for the collective Soul. Its experience comes from a multitude of specialist and generic incarnations, and as Its vast compendium of experience grows, so It and humanity advance together. After all, this is the start of a new Age, the Golden Age, and that has been accompanied by a surge of the Christos Light. Why? Because that is what was needed by mankind.
So, this does bring me to one difference between religion, at least most religions, and spirituality, which is how contemporary spirituality is. Of course, any notion of time is a moot point, as it is the Earth and its inhabitants alone that are subject to the progression of time. So, I am talking about how mankind can find it easier to seek comfort and reassurance from within the established doctrines, without understanding how responsive and interactive the relationship between Spirit and humanity truly is.
EYE watches ME shift uncomfortably in her chair and wonders why. There is a pause as if ME is deciding what she should say.
ME : I realize as you speak, and this surprises me, that I feel fearful when discussing religion, especially if it could be taken as negative, people can take offense so easily. Certainly, it seems easier for some of my friends to follow ancient traditions, often from other cultures, than to explore their inner world. I am surprised how few of them want to discuss spiritual matters.
EYE sees ME’s eyes fill with sadness.
ME (after a pause):
I wish there was more curiosity about the inner journeys we must all make, although I expect that the demands of life just drown those out for so many. It’s been so much easier for me later in life, when I was younger, just to create the headspace seemed impossible.
MY: I agree that the earlier years are where the exploration of life takes precedence, and that is as it should be. I like to think of it as creating your own color chart of experiences against which to compare later ones, a palette that represents the ‘true you’ which is then reflected in life.
After all, Spirit and soul communicate through a symphony of color and Light, so neither you nor your soul naturally inhabits a monochrome world. Peace comes in many shades, tones, and hues, and your palette will reflect the individuality of your aura. Once you have established your inner sense of peace, the more you return to it the easier it becomes to trust it, and it is then that your belief structure naturally shifts from external to internal. You become the church, the temple, or the mosque, not because of external factors but because of that internal shift, which is very freeing.
I agree, that criticizing the faith or belief of another is unhelpful, to say the least. Everyone develops in their own time and in their own way, and ordinarily, that is a mystery to the person themselves, let alone an outside observer. Better therefore to follow your path and allow that to affect you and in affecting become visible to others. Once they understand that they too have access to the same inexhaustible Source of peace, they may choose to explore it too, in their own time. It always has to be a conscious choice.
The common denominator, you might say, of all seekers is their seeking, an inherent belief in something outside themselves that is greater. That something greater goes by many names and has been claimed by many faiths, but it all comes from a single Source and is the universal energy of Love. The creative force of life can neither be confined nor defined because it dwells in all living things.
ME nods and as she does, she opens her hands as if receiving some invisible gift. Her palms feel warm, and EYE watches her absorb and appreciate this warmth.
MY: Peace by its very nature is healing, and it is the healing Light you are feeling at this time. The chakras within your palms respond to your inner visualization of a palette of color that represents peace. A palette that may I say is displayed as a spiral and so naturally moves into the atmosphere, like the notes from an orchestra rise into the auditorium and lift the spirits of those present. Just imagining peace creates a response.
ME nods and silence falls. There is a long pause.
ME: Words fail me, it is as if they are unnecessary, and yet at the same time, peace feels like a gift, so giving thanks seems appropriate too.
MY: Although gratitude is an important aspect of any spiritual journey because it is an acknowledgment of the gift that is life, the greatest thanks Spirit can receive is your acceptance of what we bring. Indeed, my heart moves as you distill these words from the Light of Love because as it moves you, it moves me. Spirit and mankind are interdependent, and we grow together, and what enables that growth is the transmission and acceptance of Love.
EYE watches the spiral of Light within the room shimmer with gold. The colors are already beautiful and the shades and tones are in perfect harmony one with another, but now they shimmer with gold flecks. ME breathes deeply, perfectly at peace but still connected as if through the pores of her skin.
MY (pauses):
It is enough for those who are sensitive to energies to say the word peace, for the feeling to envelop them. It is a matter of regret that some people feel uncomfortable about the use of certain words or phrases that evoke peace because they have religious connotations. Peace is fundamental to life and is the birthright of every living being. It enables individuals, institutions, countries, and cultures to flourish and its absence, or denial, diminishes humanity in ways it barely understands.
ME: Denial seems harsh.
MY: Unfortunately, denial is more common than acceptance in your world at this time. But I do not mean that unkindly, people have come to expect that everything comes at a price. It can be challenging to accept you are worthy of Love if that has not been your human experience, or that peace is your birthright. It can be difficult to trust your intuition when your life experiences are challenging or contrary to your expectations. While you may believe the difficulty is character building, it is another thing entirely to embrace it.
That is where religion has the upper hand, you might say, it is better equipped with handbooks and handrails, whereas spirituality is a voyage of inner discovery and missteps provide as much learning as sure-footed progress. Progress I have to say, which only your soul can assess reliably, as everyone’s personality usually has ideas of its own. You might say your soul is your lantern and your spiritual path is uncovering its Light and bringing it to your life.
ME (tearfully):
That’s beautiful, thank you.
MY: And peace be with you and all mankind. All life is sacred and equal in Love, there is nothing and no one unworthy of Love.
EYE watches the golden flecks and spiral of color flood the room and beyond the walls of the house and feels complete within herself.
© ZD Finn 2024
Finn runs a healing and meditation practice in London, publishes her own inspired journals, and offers mentoring to those seeking to strengthen their own soul connection.
More information can be found on zdfinn.com and some of the terms and my use of capitals are explained in my Lexicon.
