Your Spiritual Life- Day 11 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:06Hello and welcome to day 11 of
2. 0:08Lifebook's 30-day challenge. It's great
3. 0:10to have you here with me today. Now,
4. 0:12today we're going to explore one of the
5. 0:13most fascinating categories of them all,
6. 0:15your spiritual life.
7. 0:17And I'm going to start by asking you an
8. 0:19interesting question, and I'll bet no
9. 0:20one's ever asked you this before.
10. 0:23What exactly is spirituality?
11. 0:27It's a very interesting question.
12. 0:29Because some words have exact meanings
13. 0:32and other words just don't. They mean
14. 0:34something different to just about
15. 0:36everyone who uses them.
16. 0:37A word like apple, for instance.
17. 0:4099.9%
18. 0:42of us would probably agree on the
19. 0:44definition of the word apple.
20. 0:46But take a word like art. What is art?
21. 0:50Now, you've probably got a smaller
22. 0:51percentage of people who are going to
23. 0:53agree on that definition.
24. 0:55What about love? There are many points
25. 0:58of view on that subject.
26. 1:00So, let me ask you again, what exactly
27. 1:03is spirituality?
28. 1:06Well, spirituality has been acknowledged
29. 1:09in one way or another by every culture
30. 1:11in human history.
31. 1:13Human beings have thought about and
32. 1:15talked about and written about
33. 1:17spirituality for thousands and thousands
34. 1:19of years, and yet it's still very
35. 1:22difficult to understand and agree on
36. 1:25exactly what the term means. I mean, if
37. 1:28you ask about a hundred people the
38. 1:30definition of spirituality, you're
39. 1:32probably going to get a hundred
40. 1:33different answers, maybe 200. After all
41. 1:36this time, there is just no generally
42. 1:39accepted definition of the word.
43. 1:42Because spirituality is intangible.
44. 1:45It addresses issues that are very hard
45. 1:47to put into words.
46. 1:49Defining spirituality is like trying to
47. 1:51define vapor.
48. 1:53And this is one of the reasons that this
49. 1:54category is just a little bit different
50. 1:56than the other ones. We need to do a lot
51. 1:58of work just to make sure we're talking
52. 2:00about the same thing. Here's one of the
53. 2:02things that I've noticed over the years.
54. 2:04People can have huge debates, you know,
55. 2:06arguments about a subject like
56. 2:08spirituality and literally not even be
57. 2:11talking about the same thing because
58. 2:13they haven't defined their terms. So,
59. 2:15the first thing we got to be concerned
60. 2:16with in this category is identifying
61. 2:19exactly what we're talking about. And
62. 2:22where spirituality is concerned, that's
63. 2:24a task in itself.
64. 2:27Now, I'd like to share a clip from the
65. 2:29classic Lifebook program right now. And
66. 2:31I think that it's going to shed some
67. 2:33light on this fascinating category of
68. 2:35your life. So, let's take a look now.
69. 3:00When we think about what spirituality
70. 3:02is,
71. 3:03it's useful to ask what human needs does
72. 3:06it address?
73. 3:07Why is it important?
74. 3:09When I think about my premise for my
75. 3:11spiritual life, there are four things
76. 3:13that come to mind and all of them are
77. 3:15deep human needs.
78. 3:18The first is the experience of oneness.
79. 3:23To me, one of the most important things
80. 3:25that spirituality addresses is the
81. 3:27experience of being benevolently
82. 3:29connected to all that exists.
83. 3:33Being at one with your creator, with the
84. 3:36universe, with everything.
85. 3:39Spirituality addresses the deep longing
86. 3:42to feel at home in the universe. The
87. 3:44feeling of peace and harmony with
88. 3:46reality in the most profound sense
89. 3:49imaginable.
90. 3:50And this is what people mean by
91. 3:52enlightenment. This is what it means to
92. 3:54be a child of God, knowing that he cares
93. 3:56for you and is watching over you.
94. 3:58Spirituality offers a sense of
95. 4:00belonging,
96. 4:02a vision of coming home to the ultimate
97. 4:04reality.
98. 4:07The second is the experience of
99. 4:10contribution.
100. 4:11And this is one of the most important
101. 4:13aspects of spirituality. All spiritual
102. 4:15practices focus on helping other people,
103. 4:19making the world a better place.
104. 4:22Spiritual practices always stress
105. 4:24benevolence, charity, empathy, kindness,
106. 4:29connectedness with other people in a
107. 4:31caring, giving way.
108. 4:34The third is the experience of becoming
109. 4:37all that you can be as a human being.
110. 4:41To me, spirituality means always
111. 4:43striving to be a better person.
112. 4:46Being concerned with making the right
113. 4:48choices, taking the right actions,
114. 4:51walking a higher, more enlightened path,
115. 4:54becoming self-actualized,
116. 4:57using the gifts that you've been given
117. 4:59in the highest possible way.
118. 5:03Then the last one is the experience of
119. 5:05inner peace.
120. 5:07True spirituality offers a path to inner
121. 5:10peace, to contentment, to wholeness,
122. 5:14completeness within yourself,
123. 5:16a sense of fulfillment, and that means
124. 5:18being filled up.
125. 5:21So, these four ideas make up the premise
126. 5:24for my spiritual life.
127. 5:26Do some of these foundational beliefs
128. 5:27work for you?
129. 5:29Do you believe that helping others,
130. 5:31seeking to make the world a better
131. 5:32place,
132. 5:33is that walking a spiritual path?
133. 5:36Do you believe that becoming the best
134. 5:37person you can possibly be is an
135. 5:39important aspect of spirituality?
136. 5:43If so, put these beliefs in your own
137. 5:45words, make them part of your premise,
138. 5:47and if not, out they go. Your life book
139. 5:50isn't about my beliefs, it's about
140. 5:52yours.
141. 5:54Do you have other beliefs you want to
142. 5:55add?
143. 5:56For instance, do you believe that
144. 5:57there's a purpose that you're here?
145. 5:59You've got a purpose in life, a clear
146. 6:01and compelling reason you were born?
147. 6:04Does your spiritual path entail finding
148. 6:06that purpose and fulfilling it?
149. 6:09Does religion have a profound place in
150. 6:11your spirituality?
151. 6:13If so, define what that is.
152. 6:16What exactly are your spiritual beliefs?
153. 6:21I know that's a lot to bite off, believe
154. 6:23me.
155. 6:24But let's at least start the process.
156. 6:26Just put your foot in the water. You can
157. 6:28wade deeper and deeper and deeper in the
158. 6:31coming months and years.
159. 6:33Take a few minutes now
160. 6:35and define as simply and clearly as you
161. 6:38can,
162. 6:39what is your premise for your spiritual
163. 6:41life?
164. 6:50Why is it so important to know what we
165. 6:52believe and to know why we believe it?
166. 6:55Because it gives us a deep, deep
167. 6:57strength within ourselves. We don't get
168. 7:00knocked off course by just anything that
169. 7:02comes along. We don't have to jump on
170. 7:04the bandwagon of every new fad, because
171. 7:07we've created within ourselves the
172. 7:10feeling that we're standing on solid
173. 7:11ground.
174. 7:13We know who we are and we know what
175. 7:15we're all about.
176. 7:17And these are exactly the issues that
177. 7:19spirituality addresses.
178. 7:21Who are you and what are you all about?
179. 7:24Why are you here? What's the reason for
180. 7:27your existence?
181. 7:29A category that addresses the deep
182. 7:31issues like that, a category this rich
183. 7:34and this important, really deserves a
184. 7:37tremendous amount of thought.
185. 7:39These questions deserve an answer.
186. 7:41Clarifying your spiritual beliefs is
187. 7:44well worth the time and effort.
188. 7:47Okay, that's it for today. And tomorrow
189. 7:49we're going to go deeper into this
190. 7:50fascinating category, and we're going to
191. 7:52do a powerful exercise that could really
192. 7:55be a game-changer for your spiritual
193. 7:57life.
194. 7:59Until then, have a great day, and I'll
195. 8:01see you tomorrow as we continue our
196. 8:03exploration of your spiritual life.