All of existence is only energy manifested in different forms, and this includes us humans.
Energy manifested in our bodies and minds we are quite aware of, but of our spiritual energy we have little or no awareness.
Our Spirit is made up of two components. Soul is what gives us life, it is something each one of us possesses. Consciousness, the second component is the ability to be conscious of our universe and our existence, we all possess this but in varying degrees.
All humans are conscious of normal things but not everyone is spiritually conscious. Spiritual consciousness is that which connects us to not only our world but the entire Universe. Within us it connects our soul ('Atman') to our body and mind. It also connects our soul to that energy reservoir which pervades all life and all things in the entire universe. This all pervasive energy manifested in infinite forms is what we try to encapsulate in the term 'God'.
God is not, as is commonly portrayed a human like being, but rather this universal energy. That is why God is omnipresent, formless and though called by millions of names yet has no name nor can be described.
This spiritual consciousness is infinitely vast and complex. It comprises many factors. One factor that is easy to experience is the life force that ancient Chinese call '[Chi](https://people.howstuffworks.com/taoism-and-chi1.htm)' and ancient Indian [Vedas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedas) and [Upanishads](https://www.hindunet.org/upanishads/) call '[Prana'
Why is spirituality so important?
When people lose the ability to use their limbs, sight, speech or hearing, we call them physically handicapped. When people are unable to use their minds properly we describe them as mentally challenged. Challenged, yet they are able to live. But a human with a dysfunctional spirit is virtually asleep and might as well be lifeless.
Most of the problems in our society can be traced to us being spiritually asleep (weak or impaired). When the spirit is asleep, it lacks either some or all of the following human traits, compassion, love, friendship, empathy, respect, forbearance, gratitude, appreciation, etc. preprocess
An impaired spirit causes us both physical and mental problems.
Instead of merely treating people for poor or weak physical and mental health which are mere symptoms, it is crucial to look at not how to treat them but to heal them. This can be often be done by healing them spiritually.
What can we do to spiritually awaken?
I will share experiences and learnings in the next article.
