How often do you work on your spiritual growth? I ask this question to bring to light the disparity that often exists between our material pursuits vs our spirituality. If you are one of those individuals constantly working on your spiritual development, I commend you for that. The truth is it takes conscious effort to work on our spiritual growth. By design, anything we pursue in this world lures us away from the seat of our true power, which is the knowledge of our true nature. Why is this a trap? Continue reading to find out.
Spirituality and Life
Rich or poor, we face the same spiritual trap in this universe. That trap is the fact that our attention is dominated either by materialistic problems or luxuries. From the time we wake up, we fall into a routine of solving our life’s problems or pursuing some form of materially focused outcomes. Good or bad, these things capture our attention at the expense of our spiritual awareness and growth. But still, why is that a trap?
Awareness & Spirituality
Have you ever focused on something so much that you forget something else? Our material existence is transitory, yet we focus on it so much that we forget to take care of ourselves spiritually. By taking care of ourselves spiritually, I don’t mean simply going to church. I mean having a quiet moment just to reflect on your true nature and bring ourselves back to center. Spirituality is about raising our awareness of our true nature. If we don’t stay grounded in our true nature as we go through life, we will forget something more valuable than our material existence—our true selves. So, when the life that we focus so much on is finally spent, it’s easy to believe that we cease to exist. And that belief is rooted in our ignorance of our true nature.
Master Your Attention
The routines that we fall into in life can enhance or hinder our spiritual awareness. Your attention is like money. You have to watch how you spend it. We give our attention to the things that we value. So, if we allow life to force us into a routine of neglecting our spiritual nature, we will become blind to our true nature and feel lost in this life or the next. Do you see how that could be? So you have to learn to master your attention and channel it towards elevating your spiritual awareness.
Nurturing The Spirit
If you want healthy apples, you have to nurture the apple tree. Likewise, if you want a meaningful and happier life, you must nurture yourself—the spirit. When you feel affirmed and confident in your true nature, life looks less grim and more playful. However, if we reach the end of our lives dominated by materialistic luxuries or problems, we assume a perspective that has a limited future. And that sums up our spiritual demise. The good news is that it’s all a matter of perspective. If we do the work necessary to reaffirm our true nature, we can reclaim our spiritual freedom and custodianship over the universe.
Know Yourself, Know God
Not to be religious here, but Genesis 1:26 says, “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” One thing is clear to me from this, and that is, you cannot know God unless you know yourself! If you believe in God, but don’t see a reflection of yourself in God, you hold a limiting belief or perspective of yourself.
Our material existence does not have to dominate our spiritual nature. Whether materialism prevails over spirituality for you, or vice versa, is within your power to decide. For the sake of a brighter future, I hope you choose to embrace and advance spirituality.
