Spirituality can be said to exist without man but can man be said to exist without spirituality? So, what is the spiritual dimension of a man? This is an interesting question and actually has varying answers depending on who you ask. But if we review the definition of spirituality, and especially of contemporary spirituality, we find something that is definitely greater than all of us.
We find something that is beyond the human self. We find a higher power, a cosmological miracle, a higher dimension of reality, something that binds the very fabric of our space and time together in a manner that is unimaginable to the human mind due to the limits of the human mind’s perception and understanding.
Upon reviewing this definition we can come to the conclusion that if you are at the very least, a believer of spirituality, you can not negate the fact that man cannot exist without spirituality. As spirituality would have to exist in order to bring the man into existence and this is because spirituality lays the foundational framework for a human life to exist.
Apart from the foundational framework, even after a human being has come into existence, spirituality will naturally have a pre-contextual effect on that human’s culture, religion, personality, behavior, as well as other facets of the human life, that is, if those facets do not have an effect on the spirituality of that human being.
The main takeaway here, is that the life of a human being is so very intricately connected to spirituality as the concept that it is, as what spirituality stands for. The concept of that there could be no life without spirituality, and that spirituality is life, and that it is the basis our world and the entire universe.
Not only does it affect the human’s life, it also shapes it in a lot of ways and this when looked at from the point of view of different humans with different religions, different cultures and other different characteristics, the manifestation in different ways is incredibly fascinating and revealing of how at the core of human beings there is something that is the same despite seemingly infinite differences on the surface of those same human beings.
We plan on doing just that with this article, so if you want to explore the spiritual dimension of man, you have arrived at the right place (Maybe it was meant to be?).
Uniqueness Of Human Spirituality
Everything that exist is a manifestation of life. Everything is an expression of life, an instrument which through God, or the universal spirit finds an earthen tangible expression. It can be said that what makes the race of mankind and humanity so special and above other species lies in our brains, in our ability to think and express those thoughts. Though your brain and your thoughts, are not who you are, they are the most advanced from in nature.
An interesting take on the uniqueness of human thoughts, brains, and spiritual nature, can be found in identical twins. If we take a look at this extremely micro example of identical twins, we can elaborate on this explanation of how those twins would look exactly, and have the same genes exactly, but they are different.
Maybe they play a game where they pretend to be each other in an attempt to jokingly fool the people around them. Taking this same example to a higher level, maybe those twins don’t just jokingly fool the people around them, maybe they are involved in fooling the entire world that they are one person, so as to take shifts in being that one person. They would be able to actually get away with it if this is given the proper amount of dedication and time. But still, even these twins that look the same, act the same, perceive things in the same manner so much so that they can impress upon the entire world that has come into contact with them that they are the same person, even they will be unique on the inside.
Their thoughts, perceptions, attitudes, behaviors are a few things that will and have to be different from one another as two individual people. And again, they have the exact same genes. Taking and applying this to the worldwide population, with so many billions of differences that exist because of the holistic as well as partial differences in experiences of different parts of the world, you can get an idea about the uniqueness of a human being from another human being.
What makes them different could be any number of either their language, their sociability, their morals, their attitude towards work, technical, familial, political and scientific fields of life, their emotions, their reactions, their ethical standards and of course their religion as well. But wait, don’t all these things fall under spirituality? Aren’t all of these different people are actually the same?
So we can look at spirituality in the following manner, as a puzzle. Every piece is made and built by the same material, but every piece have a unique color and characteristics. Every piece is unique, not more or less important than the other, rather than filling its purpose in the harmonious puzzle, as all of the pieces are part of a bigger picture.
So why are so many people lost and can’t find an connect to their spiritual dimension?
Culture, Society, And Religion
It’s because of the big three: culture, society and religion. These three have an almost infinite amount of correlations with each other when it comes to assessing them separately from the point of a view of a human being whose life is affected by all three. Which takes precedence? Which is the least likely to affect the decisions and/or behaviors of humans?
The answers to these questions will be different, much like the hidden correlated effects that the three can have on each other. The only key similarity between them is that each one of these three will have an effect on the other in some way throughout not just the life of a particular and single human being, rather than on the entire life cycle of humanity.
From East to West, you will not go without learning some form of religion. With each country having separate categories and thousands of sub-categories related to their version of culture and religion, the manifestation of spirituality becomes different where the underlying concept is the same.
Where in Buddhism, this manifestation is seen in the way of partakers practicing in transcendence from the ego and self to something that is beyond, towards enlightenment or nirvana, in Hinduism the same manifests in the way of imitating the consciousness bliss that is experienced by the Brahmans of their society.
At the same time, the Muslim doctrine can be viewed in their effort to promote inclusivity and connection with each other, to always uphold the importance of the life of a human being over anything else; and the Christians emphasize on the ultimate love of God, the mercy of God, that binds all of their members together with each other as well as with those faiths outside of their personal religion.
And the Jewish belief presents an ideal of connecting people with God so as to achieve the people’s own betterment and divine fulfilment. Now all these religions are based on vastly different principles but the underlying theme is the same. They are advocating for humans to connect with God or a higher purpose, to come together, to achieve unity to serve a singular purpose of the betterment of the humankind.
The fact that these big three, culture, society and religion, have so many differences, can be both and advantage, when you can witness the versatility of life and the beauty of each of life’s expression and earth; and also as disadvantage, when people are being distracted from their spiritual dimension when they are following so many things that are not related to what’s really important.
Does this conflict have a solution?
Can Spirituality Exist Without Inclusivity?
Enriching ourselves with this very basic fact that spirituality is drenched in every single facet of the human life and thus all that combines together to formulate the spiritual framework of a human will lead each and every human being to be unique from one another, is astounding to say the very least.
At the beginning of this article, we said that different humans with different religions, different cultures and other different characteristics, the manifestation in different ways is incredibly fascinating and revealing of how at the core of human beings there is something that is the same. An inquisitive mind may have wondered what exactly this means and how so many differences can equate to revealing to us how there is a core similarity?
Well, this core similarity lies in the very ability of human beings to be unique in their spirituality from one another and within this very uniqueness lies our togetherness, and likeness and our ability to unite and converge on similar issues. Because the human spirituality is so unique to each human, there is quite literally no man left behind.
The practice of spirituality can and will include every single human being that is on the face of earth. There’s enough room for any culture, society, and religion, as they are just another piece of our beautiful puzzle, of the human expression of God and the spirit that is the basis of everything that exists in the universe.
If that’s not one of the most beautiful illustrations there is, then what is?
To Conclude
We all dream of a reality where we all get along with each other. Where there is no war, only peace. No fights and only the manifestation of this dream. With all these differences present in human beings, it can be deemed impossible for that to ever happen.
But the similarity of the uniqueness of human beings with one another which promotes the inclusivity of all of humankind under one big umbrella of spirituality is a special thing that gives us all hope, one beautiful thing that at least presents the opportunity for this to happen one day.
It is nothing short of amazing to ponder upon how much of an effect spirituality has on the life of each and every single man as well as how much this can open up to in terms of opportunities in our continuous journey of exploration of the spiritual dimension of man, and awaken into a new awareness.
