Spiritual Growth: Where Does it Lead?

Over the past month, I’ve read a number of different blogs and spent time on Twitter in attempt to understand how writers on spirituality are using technology. Much of what I read could be described as “spirituality lite” because it is characterized by affirmations, positive thinking, and a wealth of good feelings. At the same time, I have encountered blogs which have offered steps, plans, and programs for spiritual growth to enable one to live as some higher realm of existence. Most of these programs for spiritual growth come bundled with a hefty fee. The conclusion I draw from this survey of blogs and Twitter is that to advance from a spirituality based on good feelings to something more substantive, a costly program is involved.

Spirituality is a dimension of life we each have. It is the dimension that enables to us to create, discover, or encounter something about meaning, purpose and value in life. For example, we find something meaningful in work and it adds meaning to our lives; we purposely engage in prayer, meditation, or a spiritual practice and it enriches our lives with a sense of purpose; we experience people, places, and things which we value and they, in turn, add value to our lives. The spiritual dimension of life is that dimension which enables us to experience something more than is apparent in the routine things we do in life.

Growth in awareness of the spiritual dimension is related to our growth in self-knowledge. The better we know ourselves, the greater our ability to explore the connections between ordinary events and the spiritual dimension of our lives. Both self-knowledge and awareness of the spiritual dimension find a foundation in living in a reflective, mindful way. The Buddhism, this has been called mindfulness. In Christianity, it has been known as contemplative living.

One of the great teachers of contemplative living and prayer in the Christian tradition is Teresa of Avila. A 16th Century Spanish mystic, Teresa lived during the Spanish Inquisition. While staying a step ahead of the inquisitors who were suspicious of her exploration of mysticism, Teresa articulated profound understanding of spiritual growth. She wrote:

“This past of self-knowledge must never be abandoned, nor is there on this journey a soul so much a giant that is has no need to return often to the stage of an infant and a suckling…. There is no stage of prayer so sublime that it isn’t necessary to return often to the beginning.”

– Teresa of Avila, Book of Her Life

In other words, no matter how you define your spiritual path, spiritual growth occurs by continuing to engage in a foundation of spiritual practices, like regular prayer or meditation. No special technique, program, or experiential event is a substitute for a foundation in basic spiritual practices.

Are there spiritual practices which you have found are essential for you? What practices do you find that you return to for your own well-being?