For years, religion, castes, races, and groups have led to induce a sense of belief and faith in populations. However, spirituality has become a concept larger than one’s self that connects experience and consciousness, thus serving constantly as a guiding light. More and more people today, are drifting towards spiritual awakening and sought to find a way to cope with the worldly changes, and compete with the ever growing challenges they face every day.
Christina Puchalski, the Director at George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, defines spirituality as “an aspect of humanity that refers to the way individuals seek and express meaning and purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, to others, to nature, and to the significant or sacred." What hence makes individuals follow the path of spirituality rather than that of religion is the fact they are looking for an explanation before they choose to believe. The youth especially demands answers and receives a sense of understanding as they experience a situation or a feeling.
Most often religion is confused with spirituality but they exhibit a world of difference as they explain themselves. While a religion may tell you what is right or wrong/true or false, spirituality justifies these directions and aids in connecting the emotional to the intellectual domain.
Thus, spirituality comes from within, from the thought, knowledge, and intelligence that lies in the spirit that recedes in the soul. No books, schools, or degrees can teach you a concept like this. It needs to be instilled within by a personal choice you make. Submitting yourself to spirituality can gift you with a sense of peace, emotional stability, acceptance, gratitude, and contentment. It is key to cultivate a positive outlook and bring in harmony with what you know, what you think, and what you do.
