Spirituality

This is probably one of the most important (and controversial) aspects of transcendence—it really does define what transcendence is all about. While the literal definition of spirituality simply means "concerning things of the spirit," the increase of secularization in the modern world has so often given it a broader meaning to people that even those that are skeptical that souls even exist will sometimes call themselves "spiritual". Even those who disregard the need or truth of religion still feel the same desire to find deeper meaning in life, and after years of religious tradition many people still like to call this search for meaning as a search for "spirituality". This is the ultimate goal of transcendence, to find this spirituality, and all of the other traits either magnify or increase your openness to this one.

However you define it or where you look for it, you need to feel like your life has a greater meaning. Many people find this in a belief in religion or a God, and others will find it in some other religious-like new-age thinking, such as the inter-connectivity of the universe or nature. Even if you don't believe in a God or religion doesn't ring true for you, you can still find purpose. It may seem that our life here on earth is nothing but a result of random events with no effect on the grand scale of eternity, but even if our belief in the supernatural is a human creation, so is our belief that our lives are meaningless—we cannot escape the limits of our human perspective. Since the belief that our life has meaning is just as concrete (or just as unsubstantial) as the belief that our lives our meaningless, there is no shame or harm done for searching and finding meaning in our personal lives. In fact, we are much happier and healthier when we do.

Although the road to spirituality is going to end at different places for different people, there are some general guidelines that hundreds of generations of others paving that road have discovered for us. While I am not going to focus on the religious aspect of spirituality, the same general guidelines applies for this realm of spirituality as well, and not just for philosophers. Here are some guidelines that I believe are some of our most basic human discoveries:

1. We are social animals, and almost all of our meaning is tied up with each other (which also means that we depend upon others to be willing to share that meaning with us)
2. Our lives should add to the lives of others, and do good—not bad. Living for only ourselves makes it impossible to truly find meaning that is tied to others as noted in point one above. Our earliest laws tried to limit the harm to others done in the name of personal success
3. Most philosophers and persons of religious genius have believed that meaning is inexplicably tied up with love, which certainly makes the first point much more meaningful
4. One should find peace with his or her life on this planet. Bitterness and runaway anger has little place for a spiritual life-style

When you add religion in the mix, the above list remains much the same, although it will probably also include a relationship and love for a god, some personal rules that might make some common sense or require some faith to follow, and there might be a greater focus on prayer or meditation than many atheists would naturally agree to. No matter what path you choose, I think it's safe to use a list similar to the one above as the very basic, ground rules for deciding if a religion is right for you and your search for spirituality.

All this said, some people might find enough spirituality in loving others and continually seeking peace (and I think this is a bit farther than many people go), but often times we will want to find something more to give our life meaning. These people will often turn to romance, child-rearing, their jobs, pleasure-seeking, hobbies, religious ritualism, the arts, or a strong focus on friends (and many other things I'm sure I'm not made aware of yet); I really believe that even a fanatic obsession with things like Star Wars, James Bond movies, and furniture building are attempts to find more spirituality.

These goals and other facets of meaning are great for improving the scaffolding and filling in the holes for our sense of purpose. Some of these subjects can be overblown or over-emphasized, however. If you make your job or a hobby a very significant part of your purpose, whenever your job or hobby is threatened (whether it be by loss of work, change of taste, or old age), you might end up with a hole in your life that will be hard to fill. It is safest and healthiest to make people-oriented meaning a more significant part of your search for happiness. Even though people can die or leave you, if you keep your sense of humanity strong enough, you can learn to use others to find meaning and happiness by as time goes on. Note: it can be equally dangerous to connect all of your happiness in one person or entirely outside of yourself.

Here are some activities that I think might help you on your path to spirituality. Look at these, and when you are done, look elsewhere and deep inside yourself as you begin this life-long journey.