Materialism has the word ‘material’ in it; that is anything we can see and touch like money, property; anything that results in material possessions and physical comfort. Materialism is defined as a desire for wealth; buying, having material possessions with little interest in spiritual topics.
It is said that a materialistic person’s mind is so clouded with the belief that “Matter is more important than spiritual values; that having possessions is key to happiness in life.” So, individuals easily get involved in property disputes; nations indulge in border wars, in land grabbing; during election time, politicians start giving gifts to voters to get votes; and it works like magic.
The Bible verse says about materialism: “…we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it …. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and have pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6: 6-10).
Researchers say that people have materialistic pulls. “First, when they are exposed to messages, from parents, friends, society or media that suggest that happy, successful people are wealthy, have nice things, and are popular.” Matter consists of our body and the spirit inside the body is the real you.
Spirituality consists of love, compassion, self-sacrifice and control of the mind without attaching to material objectives, like the saints. We don’t become spiritual by praying, by going to temples, mosques and churches; we become spiritual only when we understand that our life is waiting to reach somewhere. So, we accept a religious path to find a destination for the spirit or soul to land. Outwardly, we may continue with external religious traditions and rituals. But if it is without internal transformation we cannot be called spiritual.
Spirituality is important because it encourages people to have better relationships with themselves and with others. Spiritual thoughts stand with self-control during storms of failures and depressions. They strengthen us to overcome failures and enable us to climb the ladder of success. They help us to deal with stress by giving us a sense of peace, especially, in times of illness.
A person is spiritual no matter what one’s religious belief is because spirituality relates to the spirit, the life force of one’s existence. Religion, does not always serve the growth of spiritual development; but gets diverted into practices that create pride, feeling of superiority; as seen in the Konkani song “Amche Bapa” sung by Justin de St. Cruz..
Spirituality and religion are both interchangeable; but the two beliefs are different. Religion can be a stepping stone for spiritual awakening, but nothing more. It focuses its attention on large masses of people while spirituality focuses its attention on the individual. But over the years, walking through the religious rules and regulations of various ceremonies, one gets lost with external symbols and forgets to grow deeper in spirit.