To be "spiritual" means to expand our awareness and connect to each other and the world.

Spirituality doesn't necessarily have anything to do with religion.

Spiritual experiences are essentially experiences of connection.

The main obstacle to spiritual development is a sense of separation.

The term spirituality is tricky to define. If you asked a hundred spiritual teachers and authors, "What is spirituality?" you would probably get a hundred different answers.

However, my definition is quite simple. As described in my book The Leap, I define spirituality in two terms: expansion and connection. On one level, spiritual awakening is a process of expanding (and intensifying) awareness. I break this down into four different types of awareness. First, there is perceptual awareness, when the world around us becomes more vivid. Then there is subjective awareness, when we become more aware of our own inner being. There is also intersubjective awareness, when we become more empathic and compassionate to others. Finally, there is conceptual awareness, when our perspective on reality grows wider, moving from an egocentric to a worldcentric outlook. In spiritual awakening, our awareness expands and intensifies in all four areas.

At the same time, spiritual awakening is a process of increasing connection. As our awareness expands, we become more connected. In perceptual terms, we become more connected to our surroundings,........

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