How does a modern person practice spirituality?

First, you must understand what is spirituality and what is religion. While many people practice religion, very few people practice spirituality. Spirituality has nothing to do with any institution. It is an individual practice, whereby the person connects with a higher consciousness or spirit, whether that spirit be called God, or the Tao, or a pantheon of gods. Essentially, it is connecting with a higher consciousness, and it could be very well your own higher self.

So let us define spirituality. It is an inner connection with a higher consciousness that is evolved. Therefore, how does one make that connection in such a society or times when there is such an emphasis of externalization versus internalization. The first step would be to quiet the mind and to reach inward.  Reach inward not just through your thoughts, but more importantly reach inward through your heart, to have a feeling connection with something much greater than your conscious ego self. This can be achieved through prayer, meditation and contemplative activity.  It can even be done just for a few moments as you pause from the hustle and bustle of your busy life, and just become aware of your breath, breathing in and breathing out, breathing in and breathing out… This practice itself will take no more than a few minutes, but when you do this, it forces you to focus inwards because your breath is your very life force. As you breathe in, you are aware of yourself. As you exhale you become aware of your externality. So in a nutshell spirituality begins with an awareness of one’s inner self, one’s inner life, one’s inner space.

© Robert K. Wu