There is a place that we can go; a place of peace, a place of solitude and security. It doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. It doesn’t matter your race or creed. It is a thing that we have come to call spirituality. That is not the same as religion. Religion is brought to you by your environment, through contact and physical learning. Part of your māna. Spirituality is innate. It happens to most people no matter their other beliefs.
We are all spiritual beings. Some believe that there is a God who watches and manages all, some believe there are several, and some think that there is no one god, but perhaps some kind of afterlife; and some people believe that they are part of a creation, and all things are part of that spirit. If you have some faith, some connection to the spirit, that is what matters.
There have been several studies to show that a strong spiritual connection, be it prayer or meditation or simply quiet reflection, helps thicken the cortex, a place where your wake-a-day mind deals with daily life. We can see through these studies that this spiritual connection strengthens the “heart”, the “naʻau”, the way that we view the world. In short, having a strong spiritual connection, no matter how you do it, helps fight depression. There is a condition called Dysthymia. It is a long-term condition akin to depression where people feel trapped or unable to progress… as though their life is unfulfilling or that they are somehow unworthy. We have found that having a strong spiritual part of your life can help get out or at least get through that depression. This doesn’t mean that you have to be an evangelist or a priest. I am not a guru or a kahuna; yet, I am one who helps; a servant, a kahu; one who serves the better good. It is my spiritual knowledge that helps keeps me on track.
With a strong spiritual knowing, we can see that what is in front of us is not all that there is. There is light. There is hope. There is a place for us, maybe to help others, or maybe just to keep yourself safe and happy. With a strong spiritual connection, we can have the strength to take that next step, to stay in the peace.
I talk a little about this in my book “Light of the ʻAumākua” And you can find it at:
