These days, spirituality is becoming more of a trend.
With yoga studios popping up on every other corner and more people becoming interested in Buddhism, it seems as if everyone is practicing a sort of spirituality.
While this is a good thing, I often wonder if being spiritual has really helped anyone.
Is it really worth the time and effort?
Is spirituality a waste of time?
Spirituality can be a waste of time, depending on how you use it and the path you follow.
If you are using spirituality to become more empathic, help others, and understand yourself better, it is a worthwhile pursuit.
However, there is a darker side to spirituality: greedy gurus, expensive retreats, and a lot of airy-fairy talk that doesn’t help anyone but waste their time.
Spirituality is a broad term, so just asking “is spirituality a waste of time” is a complex question.
But in general, spirituality is not a waste of time if practiced correctly.
When spirituality is not worth it:
The darker side of spirituality is where the real waste of time is.
Not many people talk about or are aware of the dark side of spirituality, but it is there.
There are several practices and paths that make spirituality a waste of time; here are some of them:
1. Main focus is drugs
If your spiritual practice only involves the use of drugs, then you are wasting your time.
Many people have fallen into the trap of taking drugs to connect with spirituality and reach enlightenment.
This is false.
Drugs only open the mind to one reality, and many people become more confused by their use of drugs than before they took them.
Drugs use can destroy a person’s mind and make them question their sanity if they are fragile in the mind, to begin with.
The use of drugs is not a healthy way to connect with spirituality and will not help you in any way.
If you want to do drugs and truly believe that they help you with your spiritual journey, then that’s fine.
Don’t force or push others to do them with you or judge them for not participating.
2. Expensive retreats, seminars, workshops
I have seen people go on expensive retreats for weeks at a time to find themselves.
They travel across the globe to find what they are looking for, just to come back not really any wiser or further along in their lives, with less money in their pockets.
While retreats can be a great way to meet like-minded people, you need to remember that spirituality does not have to involve money.
There is no correlation between money and spirituality.
You can’t buy your way into happiness or enlightenment with money.
Spirituality is about being free.
It’s about understanding yourself on a deep level, and it’s about having experiences, not things.
You can start your spiritual journey today for free; you just have to look within yourself to do that.
3. The guru effect
Spirituality is about finding yourself, not having someone tell you who you are.
If your spiritual path includes following a guru like some sort of religion, you are wasting your time.
While there are many gurus out there in places in India who will teach you about spirituality free of charge, many in the West want your money and will do anything to get it.
Many of these western gurus will be on retreats teaching you how to meditate while charging $1000’s for the privilege.
There is nothing spiritual about these gurus – they are con artists, and you should stay well clear of them.
Remember what I said above – spirituality does not have to involve money.
You can learn how to meditate and be spiritual anywhere, at any time.
Real spirituality is about questioning yourself and having experiences that make you think deeply.
It’s about understanding yourself and the existence of the universe, not having someone tell you what to do.
No guru is greater than yourself, and your spirituality is inside of you, not outside.
You are your own guru.
When spirituality is worth it:
1. Helps you to create inner peace
If you feel stressed, depressed, or like your life is out of control, then spirituality can help.
A lot of people start to use spirituality as a crutch because they are searching for happiness.
Some people think that there is a moment in time where they will find, what they call in their mind, happiness.
Happiness is something different for everyone, and when we attach this word to a moment or experience, we are actually looking at the wrong thing.
If you want to be happy, then don’t look for happiness in anything or anyone except yourself and the inner world of your thoughts and emotions.
Spirituality is about listening to the thoughts and emotions you have daily and learning more and more about them.
It’s about getting to know your thoughts and emotions and accepting them, not fighting against them.
Once you understand that, you can start to move on in a positive direction in your life.
2. Makes you more empathic
There are a lot of people in this world who lack empathy for others.
Some of them aren’t even aware that they lack empathy – in fact, you might be one of those people reading this article right now.
This is because we live in a world where it’s okay to be selfish and only think about ourselves and how we feel.
Spirituality helps us to understand others on a deeper level and lets us truly empathize with them.
When you understand empathy, you can help others without feeling bad about yourself or what you are doing.
3. Connects you with nature
As a species, we have become disconnected from nature because we spend so much time indoors, in front of our computers, or spending time online.
Our ancestors used to spend most of their time outside in nature.
It’s only in the last hundred years that we have started to disconnect from the outdoors.
We need to change this and reconnect with mother nature because our connection with nature is important for our well-being.
Spirituality helps us to do just this.
When you feel stressed or down in the dumps, go outside in nature for some fresh air and take it all in.
It will make you feel better within minutes.
What spirituality can bring to your life
Spirituality can bring an understanding and tolerance of difference.
It can make us feel better about ourselves because we are more in tune with our thoughts and emotions.
It will help us take care of ourselves better because we will have a deeper understanding of our bodies.
Spirituality can reconnect us with nature and the outdoors, which will help to reduce stress, depression, and anxiety.
It can help create inner peace and make us feel better about our lives.
The costs of spirituality
The true cost of spirituality is the time spent developing yourself as a person.
It’s not a quick, easy journey.
You need to be patient, compassionate, and understanding to truly learn about yourself.
It’s an inside job which can take many years and good and bad experiences.
If you commit to the journey of self-discovery and development, then you can expect some positive outcomes at the end of it.
These outcomes can include feeling less stressed, more empathy for others, and a deeper connection with mother nature.
FAQs
Is being spiritual a good thing?
Being spiritual is a good thing because it can add positivity to your life.
If you love yourself and others, this is a good thing.
It’s about being in tune with who we truly are and understanding the connections between us as a species.
It’s about having and understanding empathy and listening to the thoughts and emotions we have daily.
Is spirituality better than religion?
It depends on who you are whether spirituality is better than religion.
For some people, religion is the only way they can connect with their higher power or god.
For others, spirituality is better because they don’t like some of the things involved with religion.
Spirituality does not have to involve any rules or regulations, whereas religion can have many.
Why is spirituality needed?
Spirituality is needed because we live in a world where it’s okay to be selfish and only think about ourselves and how we feel.
At the end of the day, if we are not connected to others, then why are we here?
We need to take care of one another and be compassionate.
Spirituality helps us do that.
Final thoughts
If you follow the right path, spirituality is never a waste of time.
It can make you a better person to be around and improve your life dramatically.
The actual cost of developing yourself is time spent looking within yourself.
It’s also about loving yourself and others to truly learn empathy.
Spirituality can be a great investment in yourself and your future if you are willing to make the journey.
