Renunciation has long been a key word associated with spirituality. Throughout history monks; nuns, have mostly retired from the world, shut themselves away in order to seek the highest within. Fair enough too; for those wanting the fastest route to God, to trim down the load of a world; the goals of which can seem at odds with those of the truth seeker.

But the core truth of spirituality is that divinity gave birth to and lies in the root of everything. Spirituality is so innate to this world and humanity that it often goes unrecognised. In our misconceptions about ourselves, our belief that we are not spiritual in nature, the divinity in us gets mislabelled, misunderstood and confined to small corners of our existence.  However spirituality, like this world, is in evolution and the two have both developed to the point where they can work together.  Society has evolved to the point where it can accept and offer spiritual principles, and the heart of spirituality has grown large enough to wish to take the entire world to it’s destination. 

The search for justice, a global society and social freedoms are all examples of spiritual principles beginning to manifest themselves in and through our social systems. These systems are not yet perfect, but the eye of spirituality sees the search for perfection therein. Spirituality of the modern age seeks to serve the divinity that exists not only in the higher words but which also struggles to manifest itself in and through humanity.  This world need not be rejected in order to practise spirituality but can serve as a shrine through which we serve the divinity that exists there.  All those who serve the world with hope and faith in the goodness in humanity are serving spiritual goals, no matter what name they give to it.

The secret of spirituality is that we need not change anything or reject any aspects of ourselves to find truth.  Transformation is the key word here. The highest state of spirituality is often termed ‘Self-realisation.” The term itself suggests not a discovery or even an uncovering, but a realisation of that which eternally was and is.  All we need is the eyes to see it.

'Transformation is a house. It becomes a home only when there is peace, joy, harmony and love. Before that, the house is there—an amalgam of bricks, sand, wood and other material objects; but these things are useless and meaningless unless there is peace, love, joy and oneness inside the house. When these qualities or these capacities are visible, then the house becomes a home.

Human life is totally meaningless unless there is love in it. It is a life, a creation of God, but this creation of God is of no avail unless and until there is love in it. When love fills life, then only life is meaningful and fruitful. The transformation of house into home is what we need, the transformation of life into love is what we need.'

~Sri Chinmoy

Spirituality, then, is learning to see the divinity in everything. Unfortunately, many things have been labelled ‘bad’ and rejected through our own misconceptions of spirituality and religion.  But there is another way of perceiving these things we have considered ‘bad’, – in terms of more light and less light.  Some parts of creation are less evolved, have less of their innate spirituality manifested, and so appear dark. To practise an all encompassing spirituality we must transcend our own limited perceptions and seek out and serve the soul in all existence.  In order to do this we must open up the eye of spirituality and the seat of God within humanity – the heart.  

'True spirituality is our conscious acceptance of life, not the annulment, not the negation, not the annihilation of life. We must needs accept life and radically change the face of life into the very image of our Beloved Supreme. Spirituality says to the heart, "O heart, why do you remain insecure? Do you not feel that inside you the Almighty, the Lord Supreme, abides? You must not feel insecure, for it is you who can proclaim to the world at large that inside you is the living Presence of the Beloved Supreme. Of all the parts of the being, you have been chosen to be the first and foremost instrument to guide the mind, the vital and the body to the soul. The soul eventually will bring them to me.'

~ Sri Chinmoy

A part of ourselves often ignored, once we learn to appreciate the heart’s significance within our lives, the heart’s longings become a polestar to guide us to a much more truth filled existence.  Through meditation, the act of quietening down the mind, we can learn to listen to the heart’s whispers, and the heart itself develops the confidence to come forward and offer it’s wisdom to the world within and around us.