
What if there was nothing beyond this life, as we know it?
What if there was no higher intelligence, higher power? What if there was no spirituality? What if this is all there is?
I was asked this recently.
My Yoga teacher, Pablo, opened our minds to this question before his yoga class. He invited us to think about that for a moment. He opened up the conversation to the students in the class, asking for participation. “How does that make you feel, what are you thinking?” He asked.
Everyone was silent. He just sat there in silence, and smiled for a minute, and waited.
After 1 to 2 minutes of awkward silence, I decided to speak in front of the class.
I responded, “Well I think it makes this very moment more spiritual. It makes this moment, this class right now, more important.”
Pablo smiled, nodded his head, as he said, “This very moment, in this Yoga class. This is all we have, right now.”
The Paradox.
I meditated on the thought of no spirituality, or nothing beyond this life. I continued to ponder. The more I pondered, the more I emphasized here and now. How here and now is so special, relevant, and sacred.
The thought or question that nothing is, “out there,” or “beyond us,” or “above us” or “superior to us” or of “higher intelligence to us,” or “judging us,” makes the search for enlightenment a whole lot easier in some strange way.
It made me think that if nothing is out there, everything could be right here…
The search is within us. Not outside of ourselves. Accessible right here, and right now.
This could be what the Buddha meant when he said, “The way is not in the sky. The way in the heart.” Or it could be what Jesus meant when he said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”
Spiritual enlightenment is not an exterior place we arrive at. Spirituality enlightenment is realized within us; when we are ready to observ it.
So, the Million Dollar Question: How do we search within ourselves, or observe spirituality within? I cannot explain this by words, and I certainly have not mastered this.
Be as it may, here is my very insignificant opinion, from what I’ve learned, studied and felt.
The term “living fully present” is vague, hard to hard to understand and is over used (especially by me). However, it’s more about honoring and aligning ourselves with the things we do each day. Also, having awareness that this moment is all we have. Appreciating each moment.
This moment-to-moment awareness and appreciation deepens our level of aliveness and gives us a sense of spirituality. This shift centers us, grounds us, and is calming to us. It gives us a sense of gratitude for this life we have, this special gift we have been given. This is spirituality for me.
And then….
That’s when this higher intelligence, higher power, this divinity, this muse, this light; God shines through you–without you having to look for it. (I just got chills as wrote those words, while listening to “Yo Yo ma playing Ennio Morricone” compositions; highly recommend that album–I digress).
In reading Neale Donald’s Walsch’s very good book, Conversations With God, he talks about Heaven being “nowhere.” If you think it’s outside of yourself, you’ll never find it. It’s nowhere to be found.
But then Neal follows that point by saying Heaven is, “Now-here.”
Heaven is “No-Where.” Heaven is “Now-Here.” The same letters in the same order for both phrases. One phrase, one Heaven is impossible to find. The other phrase, one Heaven is with you in every moment. It’s just a matter of internal perspective. It’s a shift; a shift in consciousness.
If you want to be more spiritual, ask yourself, what if there was no spirituality?
It just might be a reminder to open yourself up, and be grateful the gifts you have right in front of you.
Also, a reminder to stop looking for the Heaven that’s out there, or “No-where,” and see and feel the Heaven that’s “now-here,” within you.
Joseph Metcalfe