What Does it Mean to be Spiritual?

"I'm a very spiritual person. I pray every day."

"My spiritual path is important to me. I go to church every Sunday."

"Yes, I'm a spiritual person. I light candles every evening, I chant, and I love to read spiritual books."

"I'm devoted to my spiritual path. I read the bible daily."

In my view, none of the above activities in and of themselves indicates devotion to a spiritual path. All of these activities can support your spiritual path, but none of them by themselves hold the essence of what it means to be spiritual.

The essence of our source - the intelligent energy that created us - is love. God is spirit, God is love. To be on a spiritual path means that we are consciously choosing to behave in ways that evolve our soul toward a deeper and deeper ability to express love.

Love encompasses compassion, truth and joy. To be a spiritual person means that, moment-by-moment, we seek to know truth and live in truth, compassion and joy.

To be a spiritual person means that our deepest desire is to learn, with our guidance, about what is loving to ourselves and to others.

So, are you a spiritual person if you pray every day? Maybe, but not necessarily. It depends upon the intent of your prayers. If you are praying for your own highest good and the highest good of your loved ones and the planet, and if you are praying for help in knowing what is loving, you are supporting your spiritual path. But if you are just praying for the outcomes you want, then you are using prayer to try to control rather than to learn, and this has nothing to do with being on a spiritual path.

Are you a spiritual person just because you go to church every week? It depends on your intent. If you go to church every week because you think it is the right thing to do, but the rest of the week you completely forget about being an honest and compassionate person, then going to church has nothing to do with being a spiritual person.

Lighting candles, chanting and reading the bible or other spiritual books may support you in opening your heart. But if your moment-by-moment intent is mainly to have control over getting love, avoiding pain, and feeling safe, then these activities have nothing to do with being on a spiritual path or with being a spiritual person. When your primary intent is to learn about love and truth and take loving action on your own behalf and on behalf of others, then these activities can support you in this intent. But without this intent, these activities become just another way the wounded self has of avoiding being loving.

Our society offers us many objects and activities that the wounded self can grab onto to give us a sense of control over how we are seen or over the outcome of things.

Is going to church or reading the bible or praying or chanting or lighting candles a way to attempt to have control over how people see you or the outcome of things, or a way to open your heart to God's guidance for you? Do you do these things to try to be seen as a good person in the eyes of God or others, or to truly open your heart to loving yourself and others?

Being a spiritual person means that your deepest desire is to continually be in the process of evolving your soul in your ability to express love and compassion toward yourself and others. It means that you are constantly seeking the truth and are continually attempting to take loving action for yourself and others based on the truth.

It means that you continually attempt to behave in a way that brings you deep and fulfilling joy. As philosopher, priest, and mystic Teilhard De Chardin stated, "Joy is the clearest indication of the presence of God." It means that you choose to listen to the quiet voice of love and truth that is always here for you, rather than listen to the ego wounded voice of fear and lies.

It means that you allow your life to be governed by love and truth.

Learn to connect with your spiritual Guidance with "Frequency: Your Spiritual Guidance & The Art of Manifestation," A 30-Day at-home Experience with Dr. Margaret Paul.

Learn to connect with your spiritual guidance through Dr. Margaret’s workbook, "The Inner Bonding Workbook: Six Steps to Healing Yourself and Connecting With Your Divine Guidance."