Defining "Spirituality"

World Religions Ranked By Adherents:
Christianity: 2.1 Billion
Islam: 1.5 Billion
Hinduism: 900 Million
Buddhism: 400 M to 1.5 Billion
Chinese Folk: ~400 Million
Sikhism: 23 Million
Judaism: 14 Million

When a baby becomes baptized
under a single faith, the baby's
spirit is no more developed than
it was before the baptism. However,
that baby was born with an innate
responsibility for and to its parents, and
likely, it's family. The manifestation
of that responsibility is an indicator
of spirit.

When a child attends church, week
after week, the teachings are a system
to cultivate the child's spirituality.
Along with family prayer and
ceremonial rites, the child strengthens
the bond with his family, develops
personal values, and cultivates his or her
spirit on these levels. Thus, religion
is a set of tools to develop the spirit.

The spirit is far more important than
the religion. But what is the spirit ?
Many believe it is different than the soul
or the psyche, and should not be used
interchangeably with either. Interestingly,
the word spirit comes from the Latin,
spiritus, which means "breath."


According to Dr. Steven T. Chang, M.D.,
(who is also a Chinese doctor, holds two
law degrees and a doctorate in both
theology and philosophy):


Where there is spirit, there is hope and
creativity. Because the spirit is not limited
by space or time and the body IS, a sense
of incompleteness arises, as well as a desire
to excel beyond the present physical
condition. Hopes that are beyond space
and time imbue man with the urge and
ability to create. Hoping his creations will
somehow make his physical presence last
as long as his spiritual presence, man creates
religion, science, music and art, erects
monuments of many materials and even
builds empires. But his accomplishments
never give him enough satisfaction: at the
root of all his travails,
man desires to be immortal.
(religions partially satisfy the need for
immortality, but they focus on life after death)
There are lots of ways to develop the
spirit complimentary to religion, and without
it altogether. Many people have felt
spiritually uplifted by books such as
The Celestine Prophecy, The Secret,
and Eat, Pray, Love. Taoists develop
the spirit through movement, breathing,
diet and healthy living.

What's the point of spirituality ?
Consider the difference between
"The Standard of Life"
and
"The Quality of Life."
Spirituality raises the index of both.

Touch Yourself

Whether or not you believe in "chi,"
your body generates and circulates
measurable electromagnetic energy.

Some of the hottest "emerging"
technology is based on touch to
focus that energy on points or areas
of the body for health and healing.

Master Fu once told me,
"Don't ever do massage with clothes
on. The hands must touch skin--
then your power goes into the patient.
Strong Chinese doctors send their
power down through the needle when
they do acupuncture."

Entire systems of healing are based
on touch, like Reiki, Quantum Touch,
Touch for Health and Healing Touch.
New chiropractic methods involve
direct touch. I even had a treatment
one time called Bio Energetic
Synchronization Technique (B.E.S.T.),
where a lady found a painful point
on one part of my body, and then
on another point of my body; pushed
a finger into each point; had me
breath in and out; and both pain
points vanished. It was pretty cool.

I recommend touching yourself.
Find the places that hurt and work
your fingers into them for at least
20 minutes. Or, if you have problems
with no pain-- such as cysts, tumors,
internal problems, etc-- place your
palms on the skin over those areas
and concentrate on relieving the issue.
This is one form of meditation.

If you are trying to lose weight,
touch could be one of the best
methods you try. Grab your belly
fat and work it. Knead it with your
fingers, roll it around aggressively,
and own that shit ! Work all the
places where you're not happy with
the fat, and you might just surprise
yourself at how it melts away.

Last, did you ever stop to think about
why it feels so good to take your
shoes off and stand barefoot on the
ground, or in the grass, or in the sand ?
Probably not, but it feels great. In fact,
when we build a house, we have to
"ground" the electrical system by
planting a metal rod deep in the earth
and linking it to the house. When
you stand barefoot on the ground,
you are also grounding your body,
stabilizing your internal energy and
re-supplying it with all the electrons
it needs.

I recommend simultaneously pulling
down your pants, spreading your butt
cheeks with your hands, and getting direct
sunlight on your anus--
but this is a more advanced technique...