Spiritual supposition

It is heartwarming to observe the faith and moral conviction of those who follow a religious belief strongly and genuinely - their behavior very often sets a worthwhile example for others to emulate.

A religion is a cultural system of designated practices, morals, prophecies, or organisations that connects humanity to supernatural, transcendental or spiritual elements. However, there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion.

It is also disturbing to realise that religions are based around a mistaken belief in the supposed existence of one, or more, supreme beings having some perceived power to control the destiny of believers. This supposition runs against a basic law of outcomes that states that occurrences are the direct result of causes comprising human action, human thought, and human speech. This suggests very strongly that each human is entirely responsible for any consequences: they are not the result of the action of some divine being.

This principle is penned tellingly in English poet, William Ernest Henley's, 'Invictus': "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul".

The being often referred to as God is an example of human characteristics being ascribed to intangibles such as willpower and reasoning, and the subsequent positioning in the mind of a devotee as some kind of father figure whose will must be obeyed.

For around 3000 years, following the gaining of knowledge by sages who were the philosophers of their era, humanity has developed an illusory fixation concerning a being who possesses immutable principles of behaviour. In those times, very few people could read or write, therefore spiritual information and learning obtained from these sages was passed down through speech. For that reason, the accurate recall of that advice was dependent upon a good memory and the ability of the listeners to retell it in turn to their descendants.

In the process it is probable that some kind of imaginary being was crafted in the minds of aficionados in order to replicate normal human interpersonal relationships. This conceptualised being assumed the role of a tangible leader and teacher of intangible matters.

The term "intangible" relates to something with no physical presence that is consequently impossible to touch, or something vague and difficult to understand or value in concrete terms.

So the term God was used to mean goodness, positivity, benevolence and the like, and in the process has taken on an identity which masks the fact that the word is a method of easy summation, rather than a complex defining of the nature of what is being examined.

Personalising of an abstract has resulted in conversation, sometimes in the form of prayer, between a believer and an imagined being – with the result that God has emerged as a definition of those behaviours and beliefs most normal humans would find desirable.

Some religions have many gods, each of which rules over a differing aspect of existence or fate, whereas others have just one supreme deity at the heart of their faith. This singular God is a significant concept.

In the context of religion, one can define faith as confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief. Religious people often think of their faith as confidence based on a perceived degree of justification for holding such belief, while others, more skeptical of religion, tend to think of faith as simply belief without evidence.

Nonetheless, the power of religious belief has shaped our history over many centuries. Under many regimes, religion was a form of social control to prevent any deviation from authoritarian orthodoxy, and this social control was abetted by a poor standard of education about non-worldly matters. Such matters were often explained within an extremely rigid context of complete obedience; human minds were then less free to ponder and question alleged truths than is the case in today's highly developed climate of learning and knowledge.

However, there has always existed within human beings an innate spirituality which, amongst other outcomes, has led to a better understanding of morality and ethics.

The word 'spirituality' in early Christianity referred to an orientation toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during late medieval times to include other mental aspects of life. In more modern times, the term spread to other religions and also expanded to refer to a wider range of experience including esoteric traditions and various religious traditions.

Modern usage tends to refer to spirituality as a subjective experience of the "deepest values and meanings by which people live" - often in a context separate from organised religious institutions.

Human beings no longer need to live in awe of some imagined deity as we have for countless generations during which terrible atrocities have been committed in the name of some allegedly compassionate divine being. Instead, to be profoundly spiritual is to develop and maintain a kind, caring, empathetic way of living without a conformist, driving need to take up some kind of religious persuasion.

The hypocrisy of those who profess outwardly religious conviction yet behave in ways at complete variance to those professed ideals is far easier to spot in today's media-enhanced environment. In turn, this exposure raises speculation about how these people reconcile their behavior with their faith, or how they remain true to themselves. Surely they must realise that they are not only fooling others – they are fooling themselves. Truth is truth - not necessarily truth as some may portray it.

Additionally, some religions fool themselves when they fail to see that personal behavior, ethics, and morality all dwell in the domain of the individual – oneself.

It is important to understand the meaning and nature of spirituality so as to keep it free from the influences of the suppositions imposed on it by religion.