Close your eyes for a moment: when you think of spirituality, what comes to mind? A religion? A ritual? Or maybe a path to becoming more human?
More than just dogma, spirituality can be viewed as a journey to understand who we are, where we come from, and what our role in the world is.
I once heard that the human being has no flaws, but rather is incomplete. The search for “completion” can be understood as a movement of expanding consciousness. It is the effort to broaden the notion of who we are, to perceive our relationship with life, and to understand our place in the universe.
This is both an inner and outer journey.
- Inner, because it involves looking inward: recognizing what we feel, how we react, and what truly matters to us.
- Outer, because we live in society: we influence and are influenced by circumstances, our relationships, and what happens around us.
Spirituality invites us to take deliberate actions to go beyond ourselves.
Some simple practices can help us along this path:
- Take a few pauses throughout the day. Stop for a minute, breathe deeply, become aware of where you are, what you are doing, how you are feeling, pay attention to your body. If any organ or muscle hurts…
- Don’t complain. Set your intention to avoid complaining during a specific part of the day, all day, or even for a week. Don’t complain, not even about the weather. If it rains or if it’s hot, resist the urge to complain. Don’t complain about traffic, politics, the economy, or people. Just don’t complain.
- On the contrary, give thanks. Be grateful for the opportunities that life offers at every moment. This practice helps us see life as a whole, both in the moments we find pleasant and in those we find unpleasant.
- Do a retrospective examination. Every night, before going to bed, quickly go over what you lived during the day—the good and bad moments, the good and bad news. Relive them, then let them go, release them…
“My life”: a vision that expands with consciousness
The following phrase is attributed to Santiago Bovisio, founder of Cafh:
When the expression ‘my life’ is limited to what happens within the small core of personal interest, the relationship with life is with personal circumstances. When ‘my life’ encompasses the surrounding society, the relationship with life expands to include that society. When ‘my life’ represents all the reality that a human being can understand with his or her consciousness, the relationship with life encompasses all humanity and the Universe.
This reflection encourages us to ask: What does “my life” mean to me? Where am I in this process of expansion of consciousness?
That is always the starting point.
Like every journey, the spiritual path has moments of calm and moments of storm. Nothing is easy. Perseverance, courage, and determination are required.
Spirituality is more than just “wishing”; it involves making a decision and taking action to build a deeper connection with the environment, humanity, and the universe. It is an act of will.
It strengthens the sense of interdependence, of seeing oneself as part of the whole, and acting accordingly, with a sense of commitment and responsibility.
Spirituality as a Practice of Empathy
One of the key lessons of spirituality is cultivating empathy: seeing others as they truly are. This step, though challenging, is crucial.
A first exercise is to recognize our privileges. Ask yourself:
- Do I have the opportunity to eat lunch and dinner every day?
- Do I have a home where I can live and find shelter?
- Did I have the chance to learn how to read and write?
- Do I feel loved and recognized?
If you answered “yes” to most of these questions, consider how those who would answer “no” might feel.
This simple act of awareness already plants a small flower of empathy in the heart and makes us more open to the pain of others. And this, too, is spirituality.
Spirituality is not a destination, but a living path. It blossoms in every gesture of care, in every act of recognition, in every decision to open oneself beyond oneself.
It is a call that resonates in silence:
Look within, see what needs transformation, and then look outward, to serve and to love. Learn more.
