How to Renew Through Modern Spirituality.

Although polls regularly show that people believe they have a soul and that God exists, it’s fair to say that the relevance of religion is steadily fading, as it has for decades. There are millions of people who consider themselves spiritual rather than religious. Many are seekers, and their journeys are highly individual.

But there’s a need to find a path that does what religion did in an age of faith, namely, to sustain us at a deep level. Consider what God does for the devout.

God provided an absolute system of morality.

God stood as an unquestioned authority.

God was the bedrock of reality.

God made laws that everyone abided by.

Each of these functions is two-edged. If you have a scheme of absolute morality, good and evil allow for no gray areas, and a loving God is shadowed by a punishing God. But in the modern secular world, it is easy to think of God as indifferent to human suffering.

What the modern world settled for is humanism, which simply means doing without absolutes, in the divine sense, and falling back on the best in human nature. A God who is loving, compassionate, and just will still be very far away, while a family where the parents are loving, compassionate, and just is very near. Humanism aims to create a spiritual person, not an obedient follower.

The outcome has been decisive. Whole populations have chosen to leave spirituality to each individual. But major crises,from climate change to war, from refugeeism to racism, leave the individual feeling helpless. We have lost the connection to a higher power that is the core of practical spirituality. Seeking is no solution to the fundamental issues of loneliness, isolation, and vulnerability.

The only kind of spirituality that fits modern reality has to be living, breathing, and renewable every day. A great many people already accept and follow a path defined by their inner values. But that’s not the same as being grounded spiritually.

Ask yourself which is safer, being able to walk down the street without fear or to walk down the street armed against threat? Feeling safe is an inner quality, and once you have it, you are sustained by it. The same is true of everything else that an age of faith assigned to God.

In the absence of God, there must be a vision of some higher goal that transcends human nature. I can see only one alternative: the evolution of consciousness. Instead of an absolute deity, there is transcendence here and now. This isn’t a mystical notion. In daily life, you transcend whenever you have any of the following experiences:

You feel at peace inside.

You have a moment of unexplained joy.

You experience the lightness of your being.

You are inspired by beauty.

You are touched by the innocent goodness of others, usually children.

You reach out to be of service.

You show generosity of spirit.

You have second thoughts about an impulse of anger, hostility envy, or blame. These second thoughts keep you from acting on the impulse.

You have a sudden insight or “Aha” moment.

You feel that you fit into a cosmic plan.

No one’s life is devoid of such experiences, which is why a modern spirituality is always accessible. The key is to know where to look. Religion is a safe, secure place for the devout, because they look to a God that can be neither proved nor disproved. It is harder to look inside yourself. In everyone there is a screen of mental activity that is confusing and conflicted. In everyone’s past there are bad memories traumatic experiences, setbacks, obstacles, and failures. They have the net effect of making any inner journey seem threatening, uncertain, and lonely.

The drawbacks of carving out your own spiritual path can’t be swept under the carpet. Even if the obstacles don’t seem daunting, modern secular life is filled with enough distractions, not to mention stress and the drive for money, to keep spirituality on the back burner for a lifetime.

Yet somehow, one person at a time, the impulse to transcend creates a spark. The highest values in human existence—love, compassion, empathy, beauty, truth, creativity, wisdom, altruism, peace, and joy—didn’t need to be invented. They are innate in our deeper awareness, which is why they have endured through every catastrophe and horror.

All that’s needed to make spirituality practical and relevant is a shift in allegiance. If you promote these transcendent values in your attitude toward life, they grow. Consider the list again, and set a simple goal for yourself: “Today, I will do one thing that makes X grow.” X is anything on the list of higher values. Do one thing that is altruistic or shows compassion, one thing that feels joyful or brings a sense of peace.

A little faith also helps, not faith in an absolute deity but in the experiences that transcend everyday inertia and habit. A second help is to return several times a day to a simple state of restful awareness, which brings you back to yourself and detaches you from the daily grind and the noise of a busy mind.

Practical spirituality is the simplest, most natural path for modern people. The fact that anyone and everyone can follow this path inspires me more than any other vision I’ve ever encountered.

DEEPAK CHOPRA MD, FACP, FRCP, is a Consciousness Explorer and a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is co-founder of DeepakChopra.ai, his AI twin and well-being advisor. He also co-founded Cyberhuman, a transformative suite of personalized health and well-being solutions. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego, and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization. He is also an Honorary Fellow in Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. He is the author of over 95 books, translated into over forty-three languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers.

For the last thirty years, Chopra has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution. His mission is to create a more balanced, peaceful, joyful, and healthier world. Through his teachings, he guides individuals to embrace their inherent strength, wisdom, and potential for personal and societal transformation.

In his latest book, *Digital Dharma* (Harmony/Rodale, 09/17/24), Chopra navigates the balance between technology and expanded awareness, explaining that while AI cannot duplicate human intelligence, it can vastly enhance personal and spiritual growth. TIME magazine has described Dr. Chopra as “one of their top 100 most influential people.” www.deepakchopra.com.