Welcome to the Grow Inward Podcast, I am your host Adrian Petrillo.
Hello, and thank you so much for joining me here today. I would like to share some concepts with you that I find very illuminating and inspiring in regards to spirituality. I talked a bit about spirituality in the last episode and attempted to define what it means to me. As I had mentioned, it is a very difficult concept to explain with words. This isn’t necessarily because there are no words to describe it, although I admit there are some aspects that may fall into this category, but it’s more because of the vast nature of this topic.
Spirituality is definitely a very personal thing, one in which a whole host of different ideas, concepts, beliefs, or practices can be included or expressed depending on your own interpretation. I must say that I absolutely love this aspect of it because it feels so welcoming in that way to all who wish to seek something deeper and more meaningful in their lives. There are no boundaries or exclusions, no rules or mistakes, and there are no judgments either. We are all welcome to make this our own and to do what is most meaningful to us as individuals.
I have a great deal of respect for the different religions around the world, I think that at the heart of each of them lies one fundamental truth which makes them all beautiful in their own right, and that is the expression of love and appreciation for god or the creator. To me personally, it doesn’t matter how that love and appreciation is expressed or interpreted, we are all welcome in the eyes of god or we would not be here at this moment.
Despite the ultimately well-intentioned belief systems of many religions and belief systems we find in our world today, I can’t help but feel that many of them may have been influenced over long periods of time in ways that put their own forms of dogma above the ideals which underpin nearly all of them. I don’t personally believe in many of the rules, rituals, or repercussions that are often attached in a way that makes us feel guilty for many of our actions or our ignorance in this life. I tend to think that we are loved and accepted completely and that all of life is a school for us while also acting as an expression of the creator learning about itself. I believe it is all perfect and exactly as it should be, especially when we consider that our understanding of where and what we are experiencing may be nothing more than an elaborate illusion. One small sliver of the greater experience that awaits us all? I could be totally wrong, but that is just some of the conclusions I have drawn for myself after many years of study and experience with my own spirituality. I am making no judgments by the way, all are welcome and there is room for all different views and experiences, and I am certainly no authority on the matter.
I would also like to say that I don’t consider this podcast to be one about religion or god specifically, but I do consider spirituality to be one of the most significantly important aspects of inner growth to consider including in our lives, and one that is absolutely available to each of us. In a world full of contradictions and conflicts, spirituality offers us a calm in the storm of life. It offers us all a respite from these constantly turbulent waters that we all find ourselves drifting upon, and I can only say that spirituality, in my own experience, has offered me the most comfort of any wisdom or practice that I have personally found? To realize that we are more than our bodies and that we have a place we can always turn to for a sense of peace and solace, well that is absolutely priceless in my opinion.
You won’t hear me talk at length much on religious topics or god, but I do feel that this is a very interesting conversation to include when it comes to the idea of inner growth. I think so much of the value that I have experienced in my own practices is actually centered around my connection to spirituality, and so I wanted to share a bit more on this subject with you today. I don’t go to church regularly, and I don’t read the bible regularly, but that does not mean I don’t find comfort or value in these subjects or materials, I absolutely do! I think that I have just found that a personal connection and exploration is more than satisfying for myself and so I simply follow that thread and will continue to do so for as long as it feels meaningful. I invite you to always do the same, you really can’t do this wrong and I believe that with everything that I am.
I want to share a passage with you that I read recently, one that captured a part of spirituality so beautifully to me. I will put a link to this series of books in the show notes, it is a very famous and rather old series of books called Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East, by Baird T. Spalding. The stories told in these books are nothing short of incredible, unbelievable in fact by all accounts and today’s standards, and yet I find them utterly fascinating. I have often argued that many of these kinds of stories throughout history are likely to have at least some element of truth to them, and I would be careful not to dismiss them all out of hand. I also realize that many of these are so incredible that they don’t even seem possible, but once again I am not so sure? Consider many of the stories told in the bible, by all accounts many of those stories sound utterly unbelievable, and yet a vast majority of our population believes them whole-heartedly. I suppose all I would say is to always keep an open mind and pay attention to the messages and wisdom offered at the very least.
Now what I am going to share here from the first book of the series is not an unbelievable story, but rather a short comment from one of the masters that accompanied these visitors on their journeys. It is a beautiful insight into the view of spirituality from his perspective that is referring to the way in which god creates the material and how we also have this power within us when we realize our connection to everything as one, and this is the passage:
“To make this manifest, realize that there is nothing material in heaven. All is spiritual. Realize that heaven is a perfect state of consciousness, a perfect world here on earth now, and all we need to do is to accept it. It is here all about us, waiting for us to open the inner eye. Through that eye our bodies shall be made light, the light which is neither of the sun nor moon but of the Father; and the Father is right here in the very innermost part of our being. We must sufficiently realize that there is nothing material, that all is spiritual. Then we must think of that wonderful God-given spiritual world which is right here now if we can realize it.”
Now I really loved this passage, because it really spoke to the heart of what I have come to believe through years of practice. This passage reminded me of why inner work is so very important, and why we must begin to change our mindset so that we may move in ways that help us to overcome our limitations and see that we are all one, but also how meditation is the perfect vehicle for this space where we can take the time to do this work through inner reflection and the faithful desire to connect with something far beyond ourselves.
So many spiritual teachers have countless messages such as these, profound messages that reach effortlessly into the heart of what we all know to be true within ourselves. I find it very interesting that we often hear these simple truths and something immediately lights up within us letting us know that yes, this is the truth. I wonder, have you ever felt this yourself? Isn’t it a magical and curious thing? These seemingly small things paradoxically hold an infinite amount of wisdom as well, and I find this utterly fascinating!
What I would like to invite you to do here is to consider how you could take a simple statement like this and integrate it into your own practice. This doesn’t need to be some monumental effort or insurmountable task, it’s very simple in actuality. Let me put this into context within the framework that I often talk about which is mindset, movement, and meditation.
If you think about this idea in the context of this framework, it becomes very easy to see ways that you might include these ideas for yourself. Depending on your own goals and practices, mindset is a common thread that we can all apply to our own unique goals. You may just want to introduce the idea that everything is spiritual rather than material and that we simply need to fully realize this. This concept provides you with a wonderfully simple idea to consider and contemplate, one that you can practice finding evidence of in your own life, a perspective that you can apply to your mindset in different situations each day. There is nothing very complicated about this idea, it is simply a matter of awareness and effort on your part.
Let’s shift to movement, this is the act of shifting your thoughts consciously and possibly drawing some conclusions about how this idea might integrate into and contribute to reaching your own unique goals. By considering your own goals from this different perspective and how it might help or hinder your goals, you can look at things from a new angle. This is often all you need to do to realize something important you may have missed, a way to make a small adjustment to the way you are moving currently. We all tend to look at things through a very particular lens in life, and this is not necessarily bad because we are all uniquely shaped by our own experiences in life. In many ways, this often serves us well, but by moving our perspective into a different angle we can often gain very valuable insights which we wouldn’t otherwise be as aware of. This simple act could be the catalyst for those wonderful aha moments, or it could simply validate exactly what you were already doing. Either way, be willing to shift the way you are moving your thoughts and actions so that you can gain a different insight and use that to inform your current direction.
How about meditation? Considering deeper questions and the nature of which we tend to look at the world is the perfect kind of contemplation we can bring to our meditation practice. It is very important that we silence ourselves often so that we can make space for some of these deeper questions and connections. If we don’t take the time to slow down and turn our attention within we will surely be swept up and away into our never ending busy lives. Don’t do this to yourself, make time to sit quietly and relax and reflect. This will help you in so many wonderful ways, it is something we all need and few of us take the time to do enough of.
In light of the conversation we had in the first episode this season, I would like to extend these ideas out even a little further to include those ideas of connection. I would just like to provide these examples here for you for something to think about, especially when it comes to taking bits of wisdom or even questions that we have and then exploring and applying them using some of these various methods that I have offered on this podcast.
Regarding the three methods of connection I offered in the last episode, the very first one was a connection to spirituality. Obviously the statement we are exploring on this episode about spirituality specifically, the idea is to realize that everything is spiritual in nature and that nothing is really material. That is such a powerful piece of information to internalize and connect to however you are able to do that. I find that ideas such as this that offer you the opportunity for some deeper reflection on your own connection to spirituality are great places to explore and to find or create new connections within your own unique life and experience. It truly is a great way to examine your connection to this in a very meaningful way.
When you think about nature in relation to connections, I can’t think of a better place to observe and connect with something beyond yourself, especially as far as the external world is concerned. So much of our external world can be distracting and difficult, but being out in nature away from the busy world offers us all a unique place to witness life in a way that we rarely take the time to appreciate or connect with. It is ironic that this also by its very nature puts us into a state of much closer connection with ourselves. In the context of our exploration today of everything being spiritual, taking the time to observe the natural world will leave you full of wonder and amazement at the beauty of life. It isn’t hard to see the spiritual value here if you will simply take the time to look at it through the lens of how everything has its place and is connected, including you!
In terms of community, it is so easy to feel and experience these ideas as well. Have you ever noticed how the most valuable parts of your friendships aren’t necessarily something material or specific? These connections tend to be more emotional or spiritual in nature, they are often beyond words. Sure, we can name of the qualities we enjoy in others or the things we value in them as far as our connections, but there is almost always something more, something beyond these things which aren’t easily explained. I would submit that they are often more energetic in nature, a kind of feeling or quality that isn’t so easily explained with words. This is especially true with romantic relationships, where you have a deeply spiritual type of connection to someone that is much more of a feeling than a word. This more spiritual quality about our connections can be explored if we simply pay closer attention to it.
These are just some simple examples that I wanted to highlight so that you might be able to see how so many things we encounter or question in our lives might be applied to some of these frameworks that I have offered up to improve your life. If you take a step back to look at them as a whole and really think about them, you can see how they encompass all of the greater parts of ourselves in some way or another. It is for this reason that I encourage you to try using these frameworks as a reference to improve your own life, simply insert your own curiosity, desire, goals, and interests and explore using them in a way that helps you build meaning and purpose into your life.
I would also like to mention one other thing before I leave you today. I want to encourage you to always seek and discover what these things mean to you personally. Don’t ever feel like they need to fit some kind of mold or particular pattern. All I ever want to encourage is to make these things your own, they are all flexible and adaptable to each of you. There is no right or wrong, there is only a desire within you that you must follow to realize. Many of the concepts I talk about or encourage are frameworks or considerations, but it is ultimately up to you to use as you will. Some things will work and others may not, but within the exploration lies the value itself. You have an innate wisdom with yourself that will always help you connect the dots in ways that work best for you, trust that and enjoy the unfolding of those within yourself.
I will leave you with this, spirituality is a beautiful and unique gift that we all have access to. I hope that you will always welcome it as a part of your life and journey through it, there is something beautiful beyond ourselves, something magical and incredible. Have the eyes to see it, have the heart to follow it, and have the faith to believe that it is leading you exactly where you need to go!
Until next time, never underestimate the power you have within you, and keep growing inward.
