Discovering The Truth About Your Spirituality

"Something should remind us once more that the great things in this universe are things that we never see. You walk out at night and look up at the beautiful stars as they bedeck the heavens like swinging lanterns of eternity and you think you can see all. Oh, no. You can never see the law of gravitation that holds them there."
Martin Luther King Jr.

Discovering the Truth about Your Spirituality

Writing about spirituality can be sensitive.

By not writing about it, I would deny each of you access to questions and thoughts that can help you truly fulfill your purpose in life.

I am not talking about the politically correct, watered-down version of spirituality that typically refers to our core values; I mean the foundational beliefs on which our lives exist and function.

The objective of this article is to expand your thinking about spirituality. All I ask is that you be open to my comments with an investigative and inquisitive mindset. In the end, you will make your own personal choices.

Finding true purpose in your life means going on a personal quest to find answers to the following questions.

• Are human beings spiritual? How can I know?
• If we are spiritual, what does that really mean? What is the truth on this subject?
• How can I tell spiritual truth from falsehood?
  • 1. What is going on here in this universe?
    2. What is true, real, false, unreal, good, and bad?
    3. How can I validate what is true? What criteria are reliable?
    4. What is the origin, source, and purpose of life?
    5. What is at the foundations of life?
    6. Why does life exist? My life?
    7. How should I conduct my life and how should I love?
    8. Should I even concern myself with these types of questions?
    9. How do I know my life has meaning?
    • All assumptions currently held by mankind on spirituality cannot all be true. This means that some people in the area of spirituality still believe the world is flat, even though there is evidence to the contrary.
    • Natural laws and truth apply equally to spirituality as they do to the rest of our lives. That means we don’t create spiritual laws; we discover what is already true.
    • The law of duality applies to spirituality as is does to all other conditions for mankind. You cannot have light without darkness, push without pull, high without low, fast without slow, or good without evil.
    • That spiritual truth is different than—and should not be confused with—the way individuals wish to express and live their spirituality.
  Our lives operate under natural laws and truths; regardless of your opinions about these laws, the laws themselves do not change. One example is gravity. Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean gravity doesn’t exist. And when people believed the world was flat, their collective opinion did not make it so.
  
  This principle of natural laws and truth equally applies to spirituality, spiritual truth, or spiritual law. The focus should be on discovering spiritual truth, not creating it.
  
  One rule we need to embrace is that all individuals should be respected as they go through their spiritual search process. Nor should anyone expect his or her journey to occur while reading this article. The journey takes time and personal reflection.
  
  Consider the first question: are human beings spiritual? To answer, we must consider the origins of our existence. We have only two choices: are we all just an accident or are we part of a greater plan created by a spiritual being? So many individuals take our complexity for granted.
  
  Here are two ideas to ponder.
  
  1. If we are an accident, natural laws must apply to the process.
  
  A few years ago, I had the pleasure of listening to a brilliant mathematician and scientist who took the time to calculate the implications of the theory of evolution. His presentation documented the fact that it’s mathematically unfeasible for all origins of life to come from a single point, as suggested by some. From his research, he found evolution required genetic mutations and progress of such magnitude, it was simply not possible. In addition, he pointed out that current science revealed that most species that mutate die. (Mutations are required for this theory to be fulfilled.) On the other hand, how can an individual confirm whether he or she is part of a greater plan or spiritual power?
  
  The next thought is profound to this process. I would like you to think about it long after you read this article.
  
  2. We as individuals actually create nothing and discover everything!
  
  Let me explain what I mean by this. All items, inventions, and findings already existed before they were discovered. They were simply found. Advancements of a new cancer treatment, the hydrogen fuel cell, or traveling to Mars are examples of humankind’s realizing its potential—the ability to find it or do it was ALWAYS there. Einstein confirmed this in his equations that show energy is never created or dissipated, but simply shifted into another form.
  
  So where did all this potential come from?
  
  If we are spiritual, truth must also be discovered, not created. After a decade of purpose work, I find that individuals wrestle with their purpose and meaning in life until they can clarify their beliefs about their spirituality. I believe that clarity about your existence is the most important issue you can address and that every other purpose process, personal development system, or learning experience is insignificant by comparison.
  
  I want to leave you with a few final thoughts. Yes, I do personally believe we are not an accident and that we have a specific spiritual heritage, origin, and one God. Those are my beliefs. You must, however, personally discover and confirm your spirituality for yourself. Some of you are clear and confident; others are unsure or indifferent. Regardless, I challenge you to confirm your assumptions and clarify your spiritual beliefs because they affect everything you will do or will become in your life.
  
  Action steps to Discovering the Truth about Your Spirituality
  
  Beliefs Are Your Assumptions about these 9 Points. These are, of course, tough questions. Your beliefs are the foundation cornerstones of everything you think, judge, plan, hope for, and seek to achieve. They form the basis for all moral and ethical decisions. They are the screen through which you filter and interpret your world. Your beliefs also determine your mental attitude to some extent — in terms of your being basically hopeful, neutral, or pessimistic about life.
  
  People say, "attitude shapes belief." I say the opposite. What you assume to be true causes you to have a certain attitude. Emotions follow from that attitude.
  
  Some people have very clearly defined assumptions about what they believe, but most people are just not clear. Others dismiss the issue as "philosophic fuzzy stuff" that they don't want to deal with right now. The caution is: be careful how you assume things to be, because for you, that's how they are right now!
  
  You can continue to clarify your beliefs over time. As you do so, you will discover greater depth of meaning in life and work.
  
  Until next time keep "Living on Purpose,"
  
  Ken Keis