Kristen Finlayson

Spiritually is the aspect that lifts us above the ordinary things of the world and focuses our sight on the most important, long lasting things of God. Understanding genuine spirituality and practice means understanding the link between mind and spirit and joining together the truth of a spiritual life with a seemingly meaningless worldly existence. There are lots of spiritual practices as there are plenty of faith traditions. What are the things that help you recognize that a spiritual practice is authentic?

Every spirituality is evaluated through its ability to lift up the thoughts to God or a higher power as well as to edify human relationships. Deepening one's faith in God is one of the critical elements in our journey through this life. Spiritual exercises are meant to deepen the awareness of the ever presence of a loving God despite the vicissitudes of life. The belief that God is benevolent and nurturing and is in the center of our own lives should be the sterling force guiding any spirituality and practice.

The question can be to comprehend how spirituality can be genuine. What separates concrete and authentic spirituality from sheer piety? It is the attitude with which it is lived as well as the fruits it produces in the soul. It's not the number of pious devotions and prayers that you say each day that brings you closer to God but the way they have an impact on how you live with your fellow brothers and sisters. For this reason, authentic spirituality is that spirituality which brings about action. An ideal example might be the spiritual practices of Saint Ignatius of Loyola that propels the practitioner to move from contemplation to action.

True spirituality is that which produces fruits. Essentially the most crucial of these is love. Knowing that God is love and that He lets both good and wicked men live means there's no bias in Him. Nobody will be able to think about God in all honesty and foster feelings of greed, violence and evil towards others. Genuine spirituality brings about mature love - the love that has space for others and opens hands to accept every single one of God's creatures. Such is the spirituality of communion. It helps the soul to become a lot more tolerant towards others. It might not agree with the viewpoints and philosophies that others hold without excluding them.

Yet another element of genuine spirituality is the tendency to seek the good in others. An individual who has grown closer to God through prayer and meditation will additionally share the same hunger as God, the hunger to create a much better world. Through stepping into the spiritual realm, he or she shares the same creative gift of God and seeks to foster values that enable the world to become a better place.

Anyone looking for meaning in life is going to definitely open up his heart to the power and light that flows from a geniune spirituality and practice. In this world filled with evil and pain, there's only one thing that will illuminate the human mind, it's the light that comes from their contact with the Divine. It's knowing that we can't achieve inner freedom and peace of mind except in the will of Him who keeps all things in being.