What is Spirituality? By, Stuart Mooney

There are many different definitions of “spirituality.” For some it means religion. For many it means their religion in particular. For others, the word “religion” evokes negative feelings but they still consider themselves to be spiritual.

Others take a practical approach—they want scientific evidence of “God.” Or, they want to know the practical use of “spirituality.” They question if spirituality is really something that makes one stronger. Does it add to one’s “peak performance” or is it just a crutch for the weak?

We at American Siddha think of spirituality as a desire to connect with something larger than ourselves, that yet is fueled by something personal—something inside, not by something external. The spiritual goals we focus on, using techniques taught by the ancient Siddhas of India, are of a practical nature, intended for people with families and working lives.

Students who have worked with Van Tharp Institute – especially those who have taken the Peak Performance 101 and Peak Performance 202 courses – know that we are all affected by our own biases. They travel with us everywhere we go and color everything we see, hear, think, and feel. They’re the one thing we can’t escape.

Another key takeaway from VTI’s curriculum is that, deep down, we want very fundamental things like happiness, peace, and security. We try to obtain these things by striving for them in the external world. Someone might want a nice home, because they think it will make them feel safe, only to feel trapped by a large mortgage. Another person might look for the perfect spouse because they think it will make them content, only to find that the relationship leaves them lonelier than expected. A third might be excited to buy a cool new car, but then the excitement fades as inevitably as the “new car smell”.

Less than five percent of our minds are experienced consciously. The remainder is unconscious. We believe that psychological techniques can be very useful, even essential. But we also believe there is a realm beyond the purview of psychology. Spirituality can help us clear the many biases, that each of us possesses, that can’t be dealt with by using the conscious mind.

The right kinds of meditation techniques can be very useful in clearing these internal blockages and opening ourselves up to a more profound perspective. Great saints, with extraordinary insights into the workings of both human beings and the world at large, developed techniques over thousands of years to the point where they are so effective at transforming people, they are deemed sacred. The truths they reveal can’t be learned by reading a book or attending a lecture. At their core, they can only be understood experientially.

The practical benefits are many, but let’s focus on just one—clarity. There are numerous self-help books available that approach peak performance by telling people to adopt clarity of purpose. They assert that such a thing can virtually be plucked out of the air. Countless more offer a myriad of techniques to try to improve clarity of thought from habit stacking, to mindfulness, to decluttering. The offerings are practically unlimited and each of them has its place.

But what if all our inherent biases are still there, affecting which data from the outside world does, and does not, make it through our brains and into the conscious mind? Would clarity of purpose or clarity of thought be useful if the raw data on which someone based all their decisions was still skewed?

We find that the right kind of meditation techniques, performed the right way and with proper dedication, can yield a radical transformation in the clarity of someone’s fundamental power to observe…anything. Whether observing the markets, a problem one is trying to solve, a family member or ourselves, the real “super power” is being able to see the situation with a radical degree of clarity.

With this newfound clarity, “big deal” issues tend to seem smaller. Stress goes down. Performance goes up. Solutions seem to present themselves. All of this allows people to be more present, more “in the moment” and more helpful to both themselves and those important to them. This, then, becomes an important, practical application of spirituality.

Consistent with VTI’s other teachings, the largest gains to be made start with what is inside of each of us and, from there, can be leveraged into external results in whatever area of our lives we wish to focus.