Are we not allowed to accept any money or other possession to call ourselves spiritual? Photo: Pexels
I know that it sometimes seems like the only people who are truly spiritual, who can call themselves old souls, are the ones who have absolutely no possessions, have no sex in their whole lives and only sit there, meditating.
It’s not like that. You don’t have to be a monk to live a life that’s in touch with spirituality. It’s not like we can’t have a material life. I don’t even know from what point on I would call someone ‘spiritual’.
In my opinion, people can have stronger faith and beliefs, can practice spirituality more than others and can act and react differently. But – and I have said that a number of times – at the end of the day, we are all on this earth to make experiences and to learn things we weren’t able to learn before. Life’s a school and we’re all students, no matter how old our soul is.
However, there are practices that people that are more spiritual, practice more. At the same time, there are things they maybe wouldn’t do at all, or not as much. Here, I wrote about 10 characteristics spiritual people have. It’s a good way to start when you’re looking for a guideline on what makes a person that’s in touch with spirituality.
Now, the biggest question is, how far can you physically/materially go and still be able to call yourself spiritual. Let me explain what I mean by that.
Imagine a person…
Imagine a person who’s living a very material life, rich, spends their money on themselves, on cars, houses, luxury, vacation. Maybe they are spoiled, even rude, arrogant.
They might have done a few dirty things that got them where they now are. This person might only be interested in their own well-being, not caring about how they treat other people, especially their staff…
Now, imagine someone who’s very nice and kind, calm, generous, laughs a lot, has a warm aura. This person is there for others, always offering a shoulder to cry on or a cup of tea for their guests. They live a more humble lifestyle and care mostly about their purpose in life.
Maybe they have a mission of helping the planet, children or animals in need. This person is in touch with their emotions, has values and a strong faith in a higher power.
I’d say in this situation it is obvious which one would be a more spiritual person. The first one still has a lot to learn in my opinion. Whereas the second one could be a very old soul. Do you agree?
Let’s reverse the roles…
Now, imagine it would be the other way round. The wealthy person from above would be the kind-hearted one, always offering her or his help to others. Spending their money on good causes, while still driving a nice car and living a wealthy lifestyle.
They have not let their wealth spoil their character. They treat everyone with respect, whether it’s a CEO or a janitor. They have values, a strong faith and use their money to make the world a better place.
The second one would now be bitter, mean, always looking for reasons to blame the world or other people for their misery. They might not have a lot of money or valuable possessions. However, they are not kind-hearted, don’t treat people with respect, have no mission in life and no values.
They might be energy vampires, vibrating low and seeking out other people’s high energy, draining them of their energy. They don’t believe in a higher power or in the good in the world, but only see their own bad lives and miseries.
I would now say, the first person is the spiritual one. The one in touch with spirituality. Wouldn’t you too? I know all four types of people. There are all sorts of people, rich and poor ones, good and bad people, less or more spiritual ones. One thing doesn’t exclude the other.
Where spirituality comes from
There is no rule that says that everyone who calls themself spiritual can’t have a somewhat material life, must not posses xyz, they can’t have nice things, go on vacation, spend their money on something they want, not need.
Spirituality doesn’t forbid us to have something. It doesn’t demand that we have a certain lifestyle only. Everyone who feels the calling in their heart can follow a path that is led by spirituality, and can do so at any point in their lives, might I add.
Still, people who embody spirituality have certain traits that comes with a certain lifestyle. When you think of the average Hollywood star, they aren’t really what a typical spiritual person looks like, at least to me. But why is that? It’s because of something that the monk in ‘The monk who sold his Ferrari’ explained.
When a material life spoils your spirituality…
A material lifestyle only spoils spirituality when it’s excessive. With money might come greed. The more things we buy, the more we want to buy things. It is totally possible that people who put too much value into their possessions might drift away from understanding what’s truly important in life.
Which is to have a big heart, love, family, health, peace, time, relationships, faith and trust. When we become too attached to money, we will never want to give too much of it away. Even though we know, that there are people out there who it much more than we do.
People who have become obsessed with material things might turn into workaholics. Their only goal in life is to acquire more and more money, possessions, status, etc. They are far off from knowing what true peace of mind and a full heart means and looks like.
Lessons from the books
In a number of books I had read (like ‘Siddharta’ or ‘The monk who sold his Ferrari’), the protagonists lived both lifestyles. A material life, one where they had everything they wanted, and then one where they gave it all away and became spiritual.
That is how it can work. When you’re too stuck in a worldly lifestyle, giving it all away can help you finding your spiritual path. By the way – with a worldly lifestyle, I mean a lifestyle that consists of things we have to give up once we die anyway.
Your spiritual growth for example, that you can take with you once you die, which makes it much more valuable than any car could ever be.
It doesn’t have to be that way though! As long as you have an honest heart, you care about others and the world, you are kind, you have some of these spiritual traits, and you make a constant effort to stay in touch with spirituality, it doesn’t really matter what lifestyle you have.
Let me know in the comments if you agree 🙂 Thank you for reading!
Love, Valentina <3
Written by Valentina – spiritual writer & founder of Valentina’s Diary
