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What Do You Call the Path When “Spiritual” Isn’t Enough?
What one teacher’s opinion taught me about ego, energy, and the words we choose
Sometimes a word gets tired. Overused. Watered down. And apparently, I don’t mind tossing those words out — as long as I’m the one doing it.
I stopped using the word “” recently without much drama. My stance is that “gratitude” carries an energy of unworthiness. Appreciation, love, honor, and respect are better, more powerful expressions. So I feel completely within my rights to essentially banish the word “gratitude.” (There are exceptions, of course.)
But when one of my Qigong teachers rejected one of my favorite words (spiritual)? I felt personally offended. (The irony isn’t lost on me.)
He uses the word “spiritual” all the time. But he also always says he doesn’t like that word. This irritates the hell out of me, and emotional reactions like this are always a red flag to look at something inside myself.
Now I love the word spiritual. It’s even in the labels I sometimes give myself: spiritual mentor, spiritual guide, spiritual teacher. But I also questioned our use of the word in I wrote, questioning if spirituality is just a trendy word.
