Opinion
By Leticia Trejo
If you are following this opinion column you may notice that I was writing about Physical Wellness in Part I, then last week about Mental Wellness in Part II and this time we finish with Spiritual Wellness. They say in some traditions that we are like an onion, made of several layers and that at the core of these layers is the great gift of BEING. And why is BEING a gift? Because the being is a free entity, the being no longer feels suffering, has no attachments, has no burdens, simply IS, and when you reach that state you live in what is known as joy and fullness, this is Spiritual Well-being. It is intangible, but it exists.
Being spiritual or having spiritual well-being is not the same as being religious, as the Dalai Lama states in one of his beautiful phrases: “I believe that the only true religion consists in having a good heart.”
I firmly believe that the onion layers exist in each one of us and the famous psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908 New York – June 1970 Palo Alto, California) expressed it very well with the Pyramid where he proposes a hierarchy of human needs, without which we could not live an authentic spirituality. His approach, in order of need, was as follows:
Physiological needs (food, sex, sleep, etc.).
Need for safety and security (income, place to live, etc.).
Need for belonging (social connection, family, friends, etc.).
Need for esteem and recognition (affirmation of identity).
Need for self-fulfillment (transcendence, positive results of their efforts).
Because of this hierarchy, we began these columns with physical well-being. It is difficult to reach self-realization when our body is sick, weak and vulnerable. The same is true when it comes to mental well-being, which is one of the great obstacles to transcendence. A confused mind, full of fears and doubts, does not transcend. But why should we seek spiritual well-being? Precisely because it is one of the great goals of the human being and one of the only possible answers to the questions: what am I doing here, what is my purpose in this world? These are questions that most of us ask ourselves at some point in our lives, especially when we feel empty and incomplete and have no purpose. We also ask it when our thirst for more success, more money, more partners, more of everything does not fulfill us.
Victor Frankl’s wonderful book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” unravels this mystery very well. Summarizing what is spiritual well-being we can affirm that: TO BE spiritual is to be authentically happy and capable of honestly practicing altruism and generously practicing solidarity. It is to feel real compassion for our fellow human beings and to see and treat ourselves and others with love.
This is an excellent time of the year to observe ourselves and recognize which of these basic needs we have met, which we have not, and perhaps discover what has prevented us from doing so. Hopefully we can dare to see those onion layers that keep us from reaching the Self and why we cannot experience Wellness in our lives (See the first column published on November 26, 2021: What is Wellness?).
Translated by Mike Rogers
Los comentarios están cerrados.
© 2016. Todos los derechos reservados. Semanario de la Ribera de Chapala