What is spirituality? How do you define it for yourself and what does it ultimately mean to you in your life? How you define spirituality for yourself has a big impact on your experience and also your relationship to this intangible dimension of life that we all long to know more intimately. On a very fundamental level we can define spirituality as everything that deals with matters of our spirit (or our soul). Each and every one of us have an aspect of ourselves that is invisible but still very real. In fact this invisible part of ourselves is the very essence of our lives and spirituality is about being connected with this spiritual part while being in the physical world.

We all have spiritual experiences all the time. Spirituality is not just about recognizing these spiritual experiences, but consciously seeking these experiences and to develop a greater sensitivity to the spiritual in life. It’s about growing this tiny spark that’s inside each and every one of us to become a more dominant force in your everyday life. By nurturing the seeds of divinity that’s inside each and every one of us, you can start to deliberately work with the very ‘laws’ that govern all of life and the physical world.

Everything in the physical world emanates from an invisible source. Spirituality connects you with this profoundly and powerful divine force that’s present in all of the universe. So often we try and change our physical circumstances by ‘moving things around’ in the physical world. The transforming truth about spirituality is that the solutions to our external conditions lie inside. The outer world flows from the inner world. When you are connected to your own spirituality you are connected to the very source of everything in the world. You uplift your world by first transforming and uplifting your own inner world and your inner vision.

The greatest challenge is that many people define spirituality by religious connotations and religion is almost exclusively based on outward experience and conforming to someone else’s rules. Spirituality is not so much about external observations, but more about inner experiences. It is deeply personal and something that only you can truly define for yourself since these inner experiences are often very hard to fully express in words and explanations.

Since the seeds of divinity is already inside you (it is the essence of life), hearing the right words may trigger within you your own awakening to a higher level of consciousness. This is a spiritual consciousness that transcends the physical world and your ordinary sensory perceptions of life. From this point of view religion can be very useful in assisting you to find your own spiritual centre, but religion without spirituality can be very empty and most often it becomes an emotional experience rather than a spiritual one.

For the most part religion is riddled with superstition, rules and dogma. It’s predominantly based on someone else’s beliefs and experiences rather the personal experience of God within. It’s a bit like wearing someone else’s shoes – even if it is the right size it feels uncomfortable, but if you wear it enough eventually you get used to it until it becomes your very own.

One of the most powerful and useful ways to define spirituality for yourself is to recognize and nurture that divine spark deep within you. As you grow in your understanding of this spiritual dimension you will be able to transcend the illusion of everyday awareness. Ultimately spirituality is about enriching your experience of life and to see a greater sense of meaning and purpose in life. Regardless of how you define spirituality, it is that still silent voice deep within. It is your spirit and it is your constant companion on life’s journey. It is your own personal connection to the higher intelligence that’s present in all of life.

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What is enlightenment? This question has become very controversial and in many ways it went from a religious quest to a philosophical quest. In fact, it’s become so debated that there’s a magazine dedicated to the subject. WIE (What Is Enlightenment) is a magazine well worth picking up and it’s on the cutting edge of modern thinking about spirituality and higher consciousness.

Finding a definitive definition for spiritual enlightenment can be quite a challenge. Expressing in words the magnitude of this inner realization that we have come to define as enlightenment, almost always fails to fully explain the conviction and experience of having that profoundly connected feeling. The idea of enlightenment is often misunderstood as a goal or a state of mind that you have to reach in order to be truly spiritual. The idea of enlightenment is multidimensional and offers us some great insights into life and our own spiritual path.

A greater understanding of the meaning of enlightenment will help us to understand more of that spiritual dimension of life. To better understand what enlightenment is, let’s look at three great insights about what it might mean.

The first great insight into enlightenment is that it is a higher awareness. This higher awareness is an awareness of something higher or beyond ordinary everyday awareness (which is almost a state of ‘sleepwalking’ for most people). We all experience life through our sense and for the vast majority of people their experience of life is confined to this sensory experience. There is, however another level of life; a level that is beyond the mere sensory experience. God, soul, spirit – call it what you will is that presence deep within you that’s your constant companion in life. In fact it is the essence of who you really are.

This higher awareness is about recognizing that you are not just a physical being with the occasional spiritual experiences, but that you are in fact a spiritual being having a human experience. In the New Testament, St. Paul said that “you are in this world, but you are not from this world.” This awareness will help you to see past most of the mundane daily struggles that keeps so many people bogged down in an unhappy life. Whenever you are aware of this higher power in your life, you are in an enlightened state. By turning your thoughts to God, you automatically turn your thoughts inwards and become aware of God’s presence in your life.

The second great insight into enlightenment is that the world is the way it is because it is the way it is. Everything is the way it is and the proof for it is that it ‘is’. The question is what are you doing with what ‘is’. Enlightenment has been described as the quiet acceptance of everything. When you realize that everything in this universe happens according to divine law, you will have the insight that things don’t just happen and that there are no mistakes in this perfect system. We tend to strive only for an illusive state of ‘perfection’ and when things don’t work the way we want them to, we tend to call it ‘bad’.

The truth is that underneath our shallow perceptions there is something bigger and greater at work and this is why all the great sages were able to remain at peace in the face of great challenges. They knew that in this world nothing ever goes wrong. When Jesus was crucified he was able to forgive, knowing that even that was part of the perfectly orchestrated universe. When things don’t seem to be working for you, maybe there is something else that is working.

The third great insight into enlightenment is probably the most important. This insight is that every time you are at peace you are enlightened. Inner peace, although it has very little value in our culture, is probably the most important thing anyone of us can have in our lives. With a sense of inner peace you are truly happy and content with your Self. In this state your mind is quiet and you are connected to God. God and peace is synonymous and when you have inner peace you have God within. Inner turmoil suffocates your spirit and builds a wall around your consciousness that prevents you from living from your higher self and seeing life with a greater sense of clarity.

Enlightenment is within your reach. It’s not something to attain but rather something you connect with. It’s a state of being where you are united with your true spiritual origin – it is when you are connected with God and therefore everything in creation. Connectedness leads us to the realization that we are all one, which removes conflict and gives us a sense of inner peace which allows us to joyfully accept everything.

The idea of enlightenment is as old as mankind’s search for a greater truth behind life. Although the term enlightenment originated in ancient eastern religions, it has almost taken on a life of it’s own in modern spirituality. You may ask yourself ‘what is enlightenment?’ and like most before you, your answer will fall well short of fully encapsulating the totality of it’s meaning. I don’t believe that there are any definitive definitions or explanations for what enlightenment is. But, I do believe that there are many great insights from this profound idea that can help us to better understand that invisible spiritual dimension of life.

The beginning of the 18th century was the start of an era better known as the Age Of Enlightenment – a period of time in history that is characterized by a global shift in thinking. Essentially, The Age Of Enlightenment took mankind out of the ‘dark ages’ where the state and the church had a monopoly on ‘knowledge’ and they controlled what people were allowed to believe.

Along with many great scientific discoveries (of which Newton’s laws were one of the most significant) a new intellectual awareness compelled ‘ordinary’ people to start thinking and exploring life for themselves. It’s as if people’s mind were opened to a whole new world. They started to turn their attention inwards instead of looking to the church to tell them what to think and believe. This global shift in thinking was the birth of our modern world; a world were we can explore life for ourselves and learn to command our own thoughts and direct our own consciousness.

What took mankind out of the dark ages and into ‘the light’ was knowledge and learning to look past dogma and convention. Hence the name The Age Of Enlightenment because it refers to the idea of casting a light unto what was previously dark.Have you ever tried finding your way in a dark room? You feel hopeless, uncertain and lost. This is how many people feel in their everyday lives – as if they are living in a spiritual darkness. In this sense the idea of enlightenment can be a great insight for you. Enlightenment is nothing but turning on your own inner light to help you ‘see’. This seeing is not sight as we’ve all come to know it but rather an inner sight (or an insight) that goes beyond that of ordinary everyday perception.

Many people think of enlightenment as a ‘goal’ – as a state of awareness to reach by following certain spiritual practices and when they eventually reach this goal their entire life will be blissful and without any problems. The truth is that this is impossible, for the very nature of our consciousness is for it to expand and enlightenment is about the unfolding of your spirit by expanding your awareness.

This inner light that helps us to perceive things in greater truth will not change our outer world as much as it will change our inner world. It’s an inner realization that will help you to change the filter through which you perceive and experience everything in life. Enlightenment is not an attainment, but a realization. Once you reach this realization nothing will change, yet everything will change. You will find that even though the world hasn’t change it appears as if it has because you see it anew.

We all spend much of our lives working towards the attainment of an ideal state of mind; a state of mind where we are happy, where we feel peaceful and where we feel that our lives are meaningful. Many think of enlightenment as this ‘ideal’ state of mind. But, life is never fixed in time and enlightenment is about allowing your spirit to grow into this life by expanding your awareness of who you really are. Enlightenment is that inner light that gets switched on through inner wisdom. It allows you to see past the illusion of your sensory experiences of life and to see in ever greater clarity that divine part of who you really are.

The great value in reconnecting with your higher self is not just to find a brief moment of divine connection, but to transform the very way you live your life. Being connected to that higher and sacred part of yourself is the key to living life more consciously and having a greater awareness of the folly of ordinary daily distractions.

On a deeper and mostly unconscious level, we are all aware of our spirit. Even though we are all aware of this spiritual nature, the challenge in living a truly spiritual life is that we so easily get seduced by appearances. Even though the world of sensory perception is rich, it is the invisible and intangible aspects of life that really fascinates us. Throughout history this has been the driving force behind much of humankind’s explorations into both the physical and the metaphysical world. There are so many things that we know is there, yet we can’t see it. It is this fascination that’s been the driving force behind some of the greatest discoveries and it’s also the driving force behind most of our spiritual pursuits.

In the New Testament Saint Paul reminded us that although we are ‘in this world’ we are not ‘from this world’. It’s a peculiar thing, living life without really knowing why we are here or where we came from. We know that there is something or ‘someone’ bigger than us and that we had to come from somewhere. We often get caught up in this life and all the problems and frustrations that we all have to deal with on a daily basis. But, underneath it all is that part of you, your higher self, that is not concerned with any of it.

Regardless of your personal spiritual beliefs, we know that there is a divine and universal intelligence behind all of life. It is from this infinite intelligence that we all come and it is to this that we all go back to when we leave this life. This ‘invisibleness’ is something – a force or an energy that we are always connected to because it constitutes the very essence of your life. When you are connected to this dimension of yourself you are united with the very intelligence that creates and sustains all of creation.

Discovering and connecting to your higher self does not require and special mountain retreats or far eastern meditations. It simply requires that you look deep within yourself. Discovering your higher self and finding God in your life is not something that you have to go and find somewhere outside yourself. Think of it this way: electricity has always been available to us – even to prehistoric cavemen. Only when we discovered it, were we able to use it. Your higher self and divine guidance is, and has always been available to you. You simply have to discover it to be able to use it.

Here are 3 insights that will help you to rediscover your higher self:

The First Insight: Self Awareness
When you become aware of your Self and realize that you are a spiritual being on a spiritual path you can start to live your life more consciously. Most people are numb to life and they just float through it unaware of themselves and the bigger picture. Epictetus said that what’s necessary to change yourself is self awareness. Only when you are ‘awake’ can you pay attention to and notice the higher dimension of life.

The Second Insight: Perception
Everything within your field of experience is based on your own personal perception. Different people can experience the same events and circumstances, yet they can have wildly different experiences. One of the great spiritual insights is that life simply ‘is’ – it is through our perception that we create meaning. When you are connected to your higher self and live with a greater spiritual awareness you are able to live from that part of you that is free from interpretation. This will help you to stay centered and to see past the limitations of the appearances and trivialities of life and live and live a more peaceful and fulfilled life.

The Third Insight: Divine Guidance
You have divine guidance available to you at all times. Your higher self, your soul (or your spirit) is your connection to God and to the infinite intelligence that keeps this entire universe in complete harmony. When you turn your attention inwards, you can access this guidance and as you learn to trust in this source of inner strength you will learn to live with more power and a greater sense of inner peace. God is to be found inside yourself. God is not some being up in the clouds that dictates our lives for us. God is within each and every one of us. In the ancient scriptures, it was said “be still and know that I am God.” Be still and discover God for yourself and ask for divine guidance in your life.

Reconnecting to your higher self does not require any special spiritual rituals (although is could). The very thought of connecting with your higher self is enough to connect you to God. When you seek you shall find and when you ask you will receive. When you seek to live closer to God, you will, for the very act of seeking this connection will connect you to God. When your thoughts are on love, peace, joy, goodness and abundance you are in harmony with God and you will know God. When you remove yourself from it through thoughts of hate, guilt, harm, anger ec. you prevent the Divine guidance from working through you. Stay connected. Look within and consciously live your life with love, peace and harmony.