From copying spirituality towards genuine spirituality!

In a world full with spiritual teachings, methods, and systems, it’s easy to mistake the map for the territory. We imitate asanas, mimic Qigong sequences, and recite mantras—all hoping to touch something profound. We just copy all old books on chakra’s and think copying is the way.

Yet, for all our diligence, the experience often feels incomplete, as if we’re skating on the surface of something infinitely deep. Why? Because spirituality, in its truest form, cannot be borrowed. It must arise directly from within.

This distinction—between spirituality from the outside and spirituality rising from the inside—is not merely theoretical. It defines whether one’s journey leads to genuine transformation or becomes another performance of inherited forms. While external structures can guide us, they are no more than scaffolding. The real work is in dismantling them, brick by brick, until what remains is an unmediated flow of life’s essence.

Take movement as an example. Yoga asanas and Qigong flows are beautiful, but when practiced mechanically, they lose their soul. The latihan of Subud offers a radically different approach. In this practice, there is no prescribed form, no premeditated action. Movements emerge spontaneously, guided by a deeper intelligence within. Such practices remind us that the body knows far more than the conscious mind, and when we surrender control, we reconnect with something primal and sacred.

The same principle applies to meditation. Techniques abound—mindfulness, visualization, mantra repetition—but all too often, these methods become rigid frameworks. The phosphene meditations we practice, however, invite a return to the raw, unfiltered experience of light. There is no script, no predefined goal. Just an open curiosity about the inner play of patterns and colors, allowing the experience to unfold organically.

This is the heart of the matter: true spirituality is experiential. It is the courage to let go of borrowed ideas, to sit in the rawness of your own being, and to trust what arises. It is the difference between reciting a sacred text and becoming the living embodiment of its truth.

Why do so few walk this path? Perhaps because it is far easier to mimic than to create. To move freely, as in the latihan, requires trust in the unknown. To meditate without a guide demands the strength to confront your own mind. Yet those who dare to do so discover a truth that no external system can provide: the source of all spirituality is within.

The challenge, then, is to use external forms without being bound by them. Let yoga postures and Qigong flows become expressions of your unique inner rhythm. Let meditation techniques serve as doorways, not destinations. And when you feel ready, leave the forms behind entirely. Stand still in the vastness of your own being, and watch as the movements, the insights, and the connections arise naturally, guided by the source itself.

This is not an easy path, but it is the only one that leads to genuine freedom. It is a spirituality unbound, flowing not from outside to in but from within, directly and authentically connected to the divine.

Shunyam Adhibhu