The true meaning of spirituality! The truth?

 The true meaning of spirituality! The truth?

Let’s explore what spirituality really means. In English, the word often translates to “mental” or “spiritual,” reflecting the fact that humans are beings with hearts and minds. From this perspective, any experience that affects the heart or mind can be considered spiritual.

If you search online for “the true meaning of spirituality,” you will find explanations emphasizing attention to the invisible aspects of the mind. These interpretations are not necessarily wrong—they highlight the importance of inner awareness.

The true meaning of spirituality may resemble certain Buddhist ideas. Buddhism itself has many different schools, each with its own perspective. Some emphasize the importance of approaching the Buddha, others focus on attaining enlightenment like the Buddha himself, and still others suggest that simply being aware of the spiritual world is enough.

In the same way, the true meaning of spirituality can vary depending on individual values and perspectives.

However, the person who popularized the term spirituality in Japan was the psychic Hiroyuki Ehara. He places great value on becoming spiritually “mature” or an “adult” in the truest sense.

My own understanding of the true meaning of spirituality aligns closely with Ehara’s perspective, and I will share my thoughts from this same set of values.

The True Meaning of Spirituality: Growth of the Soul

As I have discussed many times on this blog, the true meaning of spirituality is closely tied to the growth of the soul. Here, the essence of spirituality can be found.

Soul growth is similar to intellectual growth: just as knowledge expands through each individual insight, spiritual maturity—or the growth of the heart—is achieved through each moment of inner realization.

When one’s spiritual maturity is high, their presence and influence in the world grow stronger. They gain the creative power to uplift others’ hearts, and the more insights they possess, the wider their perspective on life becomes. Simply put, this is the process of becoming spiritually “adult.”

Conversely, low spiritual maturity means weak presence in a spiritual sense. Such individuals tend to prioritize satisfying their own desires over enriching the hearts of others. With fewer insights, their perspective on life narrows. In simple terms, this reflects a spiritually “childlike” state.

People with low spiritual maturity are more prone to stress and often seek validation or a sense of existence through harmful behaviors, such as verbal abuse, child abuse, bullying, emotional manipulation, toxic parenting, stalking, or even violent crime.

If large numbers of people exhibit low spiritual maturity, there is—even in extreme cases—the risk that the natural world itself could be destabilized.

In other words, the true meaning of spirituality is about becoming spiritually “adult,” and we cannot simply assume that most people possess high spiritual maturity.

For example, during last year’s state of emergency in Japan due to COVID-19, some pachinko parlors continued to operate despite restrictions, drawing long lines of patrons. This reflects the tendency to prioritize one’s own desires over the hearts of others and highlights the importance of understanding the true meaning of spirituality and the need to grow spiritually as an adult.

The True Meaning of Spirituality, People Who Awaken Spiritually

The true meaning of spirituality also relates to the awakening of people to spiritual awareness. In the future, this trend is likely to grow stronger.

From a spiritual perspective, the overall energy of the Earth is gradually shifting from predominantly masculine energy to increasingly feminine energy. This shift is not sudden, like flipping a black-and-white switch. Instead, it unfolds gradually, like the relationship between the sun and the moon, influencing the entire planet regardless of gender.

Feminine energy is still in its early stages. At this stage, the emotional energy of a developing feminine force can fluctuate between opposites—joy and sorrow, anger and compassion. Such dualities tend to manifest in society as polarization, contradictions, sudden policy reversals, and wave-like instability.

Men tend to suppress and control their emotional energy, making both mind and body rigid. Women, by contrast, tend to express and release their emotional energy outward, making mind and body more flexible. Because change occurs more easily in flexible systems, this marks the beginning of an era characterized by rapid and intense transformations—driven by feminine energy.

Masculine energy tends to value tangible, material things, while feminine energy increasingly values the intangible aspects of the heart and mind. Additionally, masculine energy is more likely to manifest consciously, whereas feminine energy often emerges through subtle, latent forces.

Humans often only notice lessons through experiencing pain, and thus severe challenges may lie ahead for humanity.

If one maintains awareness of the heart and fosters true insight, the true meaning of spirituality can provide the inner strength necessary to navigate these spiritual and societal changes.