The Five Spiritual Truths That Transcend Religion

Spirituality and religion are often clumped together into the same category.  They are certainly similar in nature.  For example, a spiritual person can be religious and their religion can intensify their spirituality, but that is not to say religion is the source of spiritual growth.

Religion, however is birthed out of spiritual experiences. Religious practices are often promoted by a specific teacher who has had a profound spiritual experience, or a prophet who communicates information about the spiritual realm, and how it influences the physical world.

The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell “God” with the wrong blocks ~ Edwin Arlington Robinson

I have had clients from diverse religious and non-religious backgrounds and it is clear to me that spirituality can be experienced by anyone. True spirituality, regardless of the ‘branding,’ is a set of experiences that lead you to spiritual truths or promises.

One of my favorite Bible references to spirituality is from Galatians 5:22: “The fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control.”  Whether you are practicing a specific religion or simply would like to seek a greater connection to the transcendental, these are the key experiences to look for in order to identify whether or not Spirit is present in your situation. These five spiritual truths transcend religion and can be practiced by anyone.

Faith

Faith is basically a complete trust or knowing that things are going to be alright. In modern spiritual traditions practitioners will often call this “manifestation” or the “Law of Attraction.” Faith is the understanding that something greater than yourself can unequivocally influence your situation in a positive way. Faith is a constant. What we believe in this life becomes true for us.

Jesus says in Matthew 17:20, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Often times I will work with clients and Spirit will give me visions of my clients moving mountains onto their own path. This tells me that they are using the faith principle to their detriment, rather to their benefit.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Faith is the creative process, or manifestation. It is the creative energy that exists within each individual, and the act of faith is the act of aligning with that creative energy. Some terms used for this energy includes the Higher Self, the Holy Spirit, the Christ Self, and so forth. When it comes to the faith principle the labels are not nearly as important as the action itself. Faith is about settling into the “fruit of the spirit” mentioned previously.

Belief

People will often confuse faith and belief and explain them as the same thing. I find this to be especially true with clients that have an evangelical Christian background. So, for the introduction to the concept of belief, I will use Jesus as the primary example of the difference between faith and belief.

In the books of Matthew and Luke, Jesus heals a Roman soldier’s servant from a distance. Jesus offered to go to the Roman’s house to perform the healing, but the centurion said, ” Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus was amazed and said to the soldier, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

Was Jesus talking about belief here? No, because by law and custom the Roman soldier would most likely have worshipped Caesar as god. His belief system at the time would not have lined up with the teachings of Jesus, but his faith in Jesus’ ability to heal ensured the healing of his servant.

It is true that belief determines or governs our faith. For example, if we believe in a higher being that is vengeful, judgmental, and angry, our faith will manifest circumstances that bring about that type of reality. Whereas if we believe in a being that is helpful, supportive, and loving, our faith will create a totally different experience.

Truth does not demand belief. Scientists do not join hands every Sunday, singing, “yes, gravity is real! I will have faith! I will be strong! I believe in my heart that what goes up, up, up must come down, down, down. Amen!” If they did, we would think they were pretty insecure about it ~ Dan Barker

My goal is not to get anyone to believe in a specific being or belief system, because that is not really productive. However, I have found that trusting in a force higher than ourselves is most useful in developing both faith and belief.

Love

What is love? We love our parents, and we love cheeseburgers.  Channeling Spirit for many years, I have come to the conviction that true love is actually just unconditional acceptance. Look within yourself and ask yourself how you want to be loved. Most people will recognize that they want to be accepted and cared for, regardless of what they have done.

Luke 10:27 in the Bible states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.” How do we love God? I have found that the best way to do so is to accept present circumstances and trust that things will work out.

I remember complaining one day to my mentor about something trivial, and his response really hit home: “In 1,000 years is any of this going to matter?” This allowed me to accept my situation and then move beyond it.

Everyone has struggles in life. It is a part of the human experience. When I run into challenging experiences I often say to myself, “Out of this only good will come. I trust that Life knows what it is doing, and through this experience I will be better off, and those around me will be better off as well.”

Source

The term ‘God’ often comes with religious baggage. I personally do speak of God, but I use many other terms to describe the same Force or Source of our origination. For example, I will often say things like, “I trust the Process of Life to get me where I need to go.”  The “Process of Life” is the same concept as “God,” because it is identifying Life itself and as a result the Source of Life.

Jesus pointed at the Truth, and people worship his finger. We must walk in his footsteps in order to rise shoulder to shoulder with him ~ Montalk

Other useful terms you can use to align with something greater than yourself include the Divine, the Supreme Being, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, the Creator, the Universe, the Source, and so forth. Don’t get too caught up in these labels, because once we try to fully define, it will only limit our experiences.

Experience

I am convinced that true spirituality is an experience. It is through experience that both faith and belief grow, and without experience religion is dead. This does not mean that a person has to be visited by angels in the flesh. Spiritual experiences are often subtle. They can take place as a visionary experience, an inner vision of the mind, or through circumstances lining up a certain way, or through synchronicities experienced in life.  It is true that the dramatic can happen, but this is often to be found in the mundane.

I believe that the most valuable spiritual experiences we can have is to maintain the “fruit of the spirit” in our lives, regardless of our circumstances. When we can remain in a place of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self-control, even when things get really tough, it is a testament of our spiritual growth.

This does not mean that challenging emotions are invalid or useless. The worst thing we can do is to pretend that everything is okay when it is not. However, when life becomes challenging, spiritual practice and experience can lead us through these difficult experiences in a way that is much more meaningful, than if we were trying to do it all on our own.