We have just attempted to answer the question of spirituality as it is applied on a universal scale. Individual Spirituality is the practice of being spiritual on an individual basis. To begin, let us briefly define spirituality once again. Spirituality is “That which is spiritual or enacted by the spirit.” Your individual spirituality is the most important quality that you have. Your spirituality is innate within you. You can only be separated from your spirit in perceptual awareness. Your spirit is much like your brain, except with much greater potential. We only use a small percentage of our brain capacity and the same holds true for our spirit. Our spirit is where our greater potential lies. In fact, our spirit lies, for the most part, dormant until we focus our thoughts, awareness and intention on it. Once again, the spirit, in its true essence, is invisible, intangible, yet it is the ageless and timeless life force which sustains our being, awareness and identity through life’s activities. The spirit is thought to be associated with or the same as the soul and the intricate details of this presumption should have no bearing on our basic understanding. In other words, definitive understanding of something invisible and intangible are irrelevant at this juncture of our development. The most important thing here is our faith and love in this “spiritual entity” within us to sustain, guides and protect us.

Returning to our concern of actual proof of this spiritual entity’s existence, we would elaborate further on our experience of continued identity in our last question. In addition to OBE’s and NDE’s, how about dreams? The dream world is yet another mystery that is not easily unraveled. In light of receiving proof that your spiritual identity continues during other states of conscious awareness, let’s ask ourselves a few questions. How real are your dreams to you? What kind of dream experiences have you had? Have you ever reached out and touched someone or something while dreaming? If so, was the person or object you touched of tangible substance. If so, how can you deny that your individual spirit carried you to visit another realm of existence while you slept. Have you ever seen all or part of your body while dreaming? Have you ever encountered a mirror in a dream and if so, what did you look like? The skeptic would conclude that the brain produces all of these experiences as part of a vivid imagination. You, as an earnest seeker spiritual development and truth, while maybe not initially understanding, know these experiences to be real. Besides, you, as an individual, are seeking confirmation of your everlasting spirit and identity and the experiences that you have are meaningless to anyone other than you.

Let’s examine some other ways which verify that you are indeed a spiritual being. Do you think that the various emotions and feelings that you experience are solely governed by the brain? How about a flutter of the heart? A flutter of the heart occurs through a loving encounter with a future significant other or perhaps a harmonious relationship with a current one. How about being “touched” by the Holy Spirit that confirms to you the presence of an “other worldly power.” There are many reasons as to why the heart flutters, but what of the flutter itself. What causes it, What is its origin? Why does the flutter cause time to cease for the moment and your state of mind to be magically transformed to another worldly state of awareness for a moment? These questions are not easily answered using rational analysis, but again, a definitive explanation is unimportant. What is important is that while these experiences are usually short lived as far as “time” goes, they bring joy, ecstasy and love to the individual who experiences them. The experiences are real, something mysterious that happens inside of you and that’s all that counts. Whether you realize this or not, a flutter of the heart is actually your spirit in action “tickling you.”

Why are we telling you all of this? We want you to approach your trek to discovering your Individual Spirituality in an open-minded and receptive way. We want you to “believe” that you do have a spirit within you and that your spirit is the most important quality that you have. We want you to believe that your spirit can be expanded and brought forth building within you self-confidence and helping you to achieve the potential to accomplish anything you desire. When the question “What is Individual Spirituality is asked, we want you to be able to enthusiastically answer this question yourself through your own experiences as you develop yourself and live life to the fullest. Your perception of yourself will change and as such, so will your answer. Your answer will continually evolve and expand as you do. Keep an open-mind and try not to allow your belief system to be ruled by pre-existing patterns of conditioning of what you learned thus far in life. God created you as an eternal student of progressive learning, growth, self-discovery and exploration. God’s world is moving and ever changing. Try not to lay dormant too long or you may find yourself swimming upstream in a river that, if you relax and float with the flow, will take you to a new and magical shore.