The Road to Spirituality: The Many Colors of the Soul

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Foundational to the human experience is the pursuit of meaning and purpose. We are always striving for connection with ourselves, with others and with the planet. There is a spiritual capacity that we wish to achieve. From when we first crossed the ancient plains of Africa, practicing old rituals, to the modern day ceremonies of mindful meditation and whatnot, we have always been deep creatures.

Yet, the path to spiritual fulfillment is branched from many horizons. The ways in which we engage with spirituality are as diverse as the individuals who traverse it. The great variety of it is something to feel awe and find peace in. Throughout the long history of mankind, hundreds of thousands of spiritual perspectives have blossomed and withered. This is a cycle without beginning and without end. Because of this vast multitude, it can be extremely difficult to determine which path you should take. Here, we will take your hand and teach you how to seek spiritual guidance.

The Many Colors of the Soul

While there is a virtually limitless number of spiritual practices out there, we can broadly categorized them into four groups: Judeo-Christian, Eastern, Indigenous and New Age.

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The Road to Spirituality: The Four Categories

Abrahamic spirituality can further be divided into three strains: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic. These three religions are also some of the most widespread faiths. While they all have complex relationships and histories with each other, their faith can be traced back to the prophet and patriarch Abraham, who was said to have been the first man to have made a covenant with God. There are also plenty of similarities across their paradigms, such as a belief in a monotheistic deity, an emphasis on moral thought and conduct, and the pursuit of salvation through faith.

Eastern spirituality has been, at many points, been described as very ritualistic philosophies. Buddhism and Hinduism originated in India while Taoism and Confucianism originated in China. While all four have very disparate origins, they all focus on the interconnectedness of the world and everything within it, the impermanence of existence and the necessity of grounding oneself and finding inner peace.

Indigenous spirituality are the practices that have survived the onslaught of colonialism and imperialism. They see the natural world and the spiritual world as interlinked with one another, but find no difference between the two realities. One affects the other. Thus, harmony with nature, the wisdom of the ancestors and the weight of community are common threads.

Lastly, New Age spirituality is a very broad and eclectic category. Many of the practices under this category are taken and modified from spiritual practices already mentioned above, while some were created from whole cloth. New Age spirituality includes astrology, Reiki and energy healing. Often, some New Age faiths are syntheses of Eastern and Western perspectives.

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The road to spirituality while long and beginning from many different paths, narrows ultimately into one way. We can say this because while there is a great diversity in faith and religion, they all share some common themes.

1. The existence of a higher power. Most traditions of spiritual practice implicitly or explicitly acknowledge the existence and supremacy of a higher power. This can be a thinking agent (or more) or this could be a natural phenomenon of the universe.
2. Morality and spirituality. Almost every spiritual tradition has its own unique way of understanding and engaging with morality. This is because moral conduct and thought is pivotal in learning how to put spirituality into practice.

The Road to Spirituality: Finding Your Path

With so many different and unique spiritual traditions to choose from, where do you begin? How can you know which path is ultimately for you? The first thing you need to do is find what appeals to you. This typically means exploring what you can, attending services, reading what texts are available, and participating in rituals that are open to you. The best part about finding a spiritual tradition is that there doesn’t need to be objective criteria. You can simply trust in your own intuition, and you’ll know these once you connect with the tradition and the community that it has. Most importantly, be patient. Don’t be in a rush.

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