Being spiritual is the new label that a lot of people are chasing.
But in this post, I invite you to go beyond the label.
Let’s open our minds and go deep into our hearts to finally realize who we truly are.
We are spirits having a brief human experience.
And if we can find a way to accept this truth, our lives will change forever.
Therefore, the question is not whether we are spiritual or not, the question is how do I know if I am spiritual.
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How Do I Know If I Am Spiritual?
“Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity. If you don’t realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king.” ~Lao Tzu
To realize that you are spiritual is to acknowledge some basic truths about reality.
This is not an easy ask, as we spend our lives building and confirming our perception of who we think we are and what we think this world is.
The moment we start questioning the illusions, we usually experience fear and tremendous amount of resistance.
But if we want to realize the truth about ourselves and the world, we have to begin the process of realizing the illusions and untruths about everything.
Spiritual people have gone through that process and have realized the following truths:
Truth # 1 Everything you see is your perception of reality
“In order to love yourself really, tests will be provided by life. All that is for your benefit, no matter how hard it is, no matter what the physical end result is. Physical things come and go, your Soul is part of the eternal. We promise you this.” ― A. Antares & A. Athanor
This one is really, really hard to wrap your head around but once you do, it makes so much sense.
Basically, the people and everything else around you is not how things are but your perception of it.
This one forces you to take responsibility not only for your entire life but also the world you see.
I personally do not know many people that are willing to do that.
I have only recently, after years of trying, been able to grasp this concept and begun to truly see it.
It is something that I need to keep reminding myself every day, sometimes every hour or minute.
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Truth #2 Recognize yourself in others
“All being tremble before violence. All fear death. All love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?” – Buddha
Recognizing yourself in everything, in other people, in the animals, in the trees, flowers, rocks, in everything.
Spiritual people know that we are all one.
We have different physical forms for a little while but the Source, or the Life Energy everything is all one Whole.
To the extend you are able to see this truth, is the extend of realizing how spiritual we are.
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Truth #3 Only love exists
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi
There is nothing else but love however we do not realize that under the illusions of fear.
Fear is not real but to us it feels very real so we believe it.
We are not able to see both.
We can only see one at a time: fear or love.
We all choose fear.
But some people are lucky enough to experience glimpses of love when they allow fear to disappear for a few seconds.
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Truth #4 You are ok with not knowing
“Sometimes surrender means giving up trying to understand and becoming comfortable with not knowing.” – Eckhart Tolle
There is so much that we do not know.
There is so much that in our limited persecution we are not able to understand or perceive.
Spiritual people understand that and they are ok with it.
They do not obsess over trying to get to the bottom of all things or find the answers.
They have trust and faith so they are ok with not knowing.
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Truth #5 You trust life – surrender
“The moment of surrender is not when life is over, it’s when it begins.” – Marianne Williamson
Spiritual people have trust in life.
They know that they cannot control life and they let life happen through them.
This means that you are able to let go of expectations and you do not judge your current circumstances or situation.
Whatever is happening to you right now, you trust that this is exactly where you need to be at this moment and you do not try to change it.
You totally accept what is and do not wish for anything different.
You surrender to life.
Related: Is The Ego Good Or Bad?
Truth #6 You give to receive
“If you want to ask one question, ask yourself, what are you giving to the universe and only that will be returned.” ― Amit Ray
This sounds counter-intuitive to the conventional understanding.
But if, just for a second, you can realize that everything is energy, this truth makes a lot of sense.
If you think in terms of money, if you share it with someone, then it appears that you will have less.
But if you think in terms of energy, by sharing we will actually expend.
Spiritual people understand that form is temporary but the essence is unchanging and timeless.
Related: Why Do We Need Feelings? – A Road Map To A New Life
Truth #7 You practice forgiveness
“Forgiveness recognizes what you thought your brother did to you has not occurred. It does not pardon sins and make them real. It sees there was no sin. And in that view are all your sins forgiven. What is sin, except a false idea about God’s Son? Forgiveness merely sees its falsity, and therefore lets it go. What then is free to take its place is now the Will of God.” – ACIM
You understand that how you see other people is not how they truly are but your only perception of it.
So if they “cause” you any pain or suffering, you understand that it wasn’t really them.
It was your perception of them that created that illusion.
So you have to forgive them for what they did not do because by for forgiving them, you have forgiven yourself.
This one also takes some time to wrap your head around it.
If you truly believe that someone wronged you in any way and you decided to “forgive” them any way, this is not forgiveness.
This passing judgment of them as not being perfect and you as a greater than them because you have forgiven them.
True forgiveness is understanding that what you think other did to you, did not happen.
You have created that illusion.
By realizing that it did not happen, there is noting to forgive and that is true forgiveness.
This one took a long time for me to be able to even understand.
He cheated – what do you mean it did not happen???
But it didn’t, my mind created this illusion, so I did it to myself.
This took years to even be able to understand and eventually start implementing in my every day life.
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In summary, we are all spiritual beings having a physical experience. Some people are able to understand that but some are not. if you are able to accept most of the truths about us and reality then you are aware of your spiritual nature. But if you are not, that’s ok too. We are all at different of spiritual evolution and one is not better than the other.
Personally, I have accepted the fact that we are spirits in nature but the journey to accept the above truths was very long and painful. And it’s still not complete. Regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, I really hope you have enjoyed this article.
Please leave you questions, suggestions, comments below.
***If you have spotted a spelling error or an inconsistency, please contact me so I can fix it.***
I struggle pretty hard when it comes to accepting the fact that I’m creating the reality around me through my own perception, I struggle with surrendering to life and there are definitely a few things, both with myself and others through experience, that I should forgive…
It’s extremely hard to accept that life is only when I perceive it because… Even a light example. Let’s say you live with someone and you notice they aren’t doing as many “chores” around the house as you or something. Like, you’re taking the garbage out and washing stuff way more often. Super light example but then it comes down to… Am I perceiving this or is this person actually not caring about whether or not they carry their own weight?
But in a much bigger, more realistic example – I don’t perceive the world as the giant hatred machine that everyone is fed on a daily basis… I refuse to think and perceive that we aren’t – as a collective – not heading towards a world that practices unity, love and light.
Surrendering to life is sometimes hard for me even when the good stuff is happening. Say like a crazy opportunity comes up to find somewhere nice to live… I sometimes feel… “Guilt”? Because I feel like some other family would maybe be worthy of having that opportunity. But if it’s right in front of me… I need to surrender, swallow the fear and trust the path that I’m being lead towards.
As for forgiveness, that’s an easy one to understand how it’s easier said than done. But when you forgive and let go… There is absolutely a blissful feeling that follows…
Being “spiritual” isn’t about “knowing the truth of life” or being “super woke, bro” (lol) it’s about understanding that we are these pure beings made out of stardust having this cool human experience, accepting that fact and then deciding to love as we move forward. At least that’s how I see it 🙂
Another great article, thank you stay blessed 🙏
Hi Colton, I think we all struggle with accepting that we create the reality around us. I write about it all the time, I conceptually know that, but when it comes to actually implementing that in my everyday life, that’s a struggle. But I think you should give yourself a credit for being able to even accept this truth, so many people cannot even do that.
Accepting the fact that the world is only my perception is another hard one, so I totally understand. Your example perfectly explains it. I look at my daughter and I have a really hard time accepting that what I see is “not real”. But then I try to explain it to myself this way: she is a perfect being, and it’s only when I see her less than perfect ( for example when she acts in a way that I don’t like) that is the part that is not real. Anything that we are able to see as perfect love is real, anything and anyone that we as see less than perfect, is an illusion, our interpretation of it.
I also do not perceive the world as “a giant hatred machine”. Just like with everyone else, the world is perfect love and if we see it less than perfect, that is our interpretations of it.
This is hard to grasp at first, but once done, your life becomes completely different. For example, if I have “a bad day” and the people and circumstances on that day are less than perfect, I now know there is no point of trying to change that. I now know to go staring to the source and look in my head and my heart. Because I see some people and situations less than perfect, it always means that I have allowed hate in my heart.
Guilt is a tricky one too. I try to keep reminding myself that we are all divine beings and we deserve love and happiness.
Colton, I again have to agree with you on your last point. Being spiritual has a very simple concept – we are all pure love – that’s it. Implementing that concept into our everyday life, that’s where the most of our struggle is.
Colton, as always, your comments are great. Your interpretations and examples allow deeper contemplation. Thank you so much.
Keep them coming, I always look forward to what you have to say.
Have a blessed day!!
Anna