Frank Daversa - Spirituality in the 21St Century

SPIRITUALITY

IN THE 21ST CENTURY

SIXTH EDITION

Frank P. Daversa

Copyright 2022 by Frank P. Daversa

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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or manner, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN:Softcover978-1-63871-393-7

eBook978-1-63871-394-4

Republished by: PageTurner Press and Media LLC

Publication Date: 03/12/2022

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Spirituality

in the 21 st Century

Sixth Edition

Frank P. Daversa

To all those who yearn for meaning in their lives and a vision with which to achieve it

Contents

C

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank the fifty or so people who read various stages of my original synopsis over the three-year period in which I developed it. The synopsis proved to be the springboard for this book, and the feedback I received from these individuals was instrumental in its evolution.

I am sincerely grateful to my sister, Geraldine Daversa, and my late cousin Irene Benanti, for reading through my manuscript not once, but on two separate occasions. I needed a second and third set of eyes to tell me if I was on the right track, and they graciously provided their input, supplying valuable feedback that helped me make the manuscript the finished book it is today.

Portions excerpted from BEYOND RELIGION: Ethics for a Whole World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Copyright 2011 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

WHERE DO I BEGIN (From Paramounts Picture Love Story),

Written by Francis Lai & Carl Sigman.

1971 Sony/ATV Harmony (ASCAP), Music Sales Corp. (ASCAP).

All Rights by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 8 Music Sq. W., Nashville, TN. 37203.

All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

Introduction

It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dream come true.

Roger Babson

Where do I begin to tell the story of how great a love can be? is the opening refrain to a love song, the theme to the movie Love Story (1970). The song speaks of the difficulty the songwriter has in finding the words to express the extent of his emotion for the one he truly loves. I confess I am confronted with a similar dilemma, but one not limited to matters of the heartas important as they may be. Rather, explaining spirituality challenges the very notion of who we are, where we have been, and where we are going together as a people, a society, and a species.

I will try to solve this dilemma using the concepts I present within this book. I hope my ideas ultimately enhance your understanding of spirituality, life, and the world as much as they have enhanced mine. Many people might feel these three concepts are part of some great mystery that cannot truly be solved; this need not be the case. Answers always existas long as you know where to find them. It is my intention to provide you with such answers and give you the insight and tools for finding your own.

Before I begin, let me state that this book is designed to provide hope and guidance for those starting out on their spiritual journeys, those not currently satisfied with the extent of their spiritual development, and those wanting to otherwise enhance the spiritual part of their lives. Please note that it is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of the subject; instead, this book is meant to make you think, and to be a primer that starts you down the path toward spiritual self-discovery. In particular, it focuses primarily on achieving the crown jewel of spirituality: spiritual enli ghtenment.

In an effort to appeal to as many different faiths as possible, I strive to be nondenominational in this book (aside from bringing up Jesus Christ). I was born a Roman Catholic, so my understanding of religion is based on the Christian faith; my knowledge of other faiths consists largely of my reading as well as life experiences, which I draw upon wherever possible to make the subject matter easier to relate to. While certain religions refer to the Creator by different names, feel free to think of Him in terms of your own faith; many of the principles I describe here are applicable to a wide range of beliefs. I refer to Him here as God since that is how He is best kn own to me.

My book deals with spirituality, and spirituality is at the core of every religion. Many of the concepts I present tend to fall outside the tenets of most mainstream religions. Although I try not to adhere to any particular faith, you will find the book still shares beliefs in common with more than on e of them.

As for my personal beliefs, I consider myself to be spiritual but not religious, and the book is essentially written from that perspective. This is not to say that one view is right and the other is wrong; all it means is that I believe the methods I present are better for many, if not mos t, people.

This book focuses mainly on growthin particular, spiritual growth. As such, it covers many topics, from belief in God to spiritual paths, from truth to spiritual enlightenment. Unlike other weightier texts of its kind, this book attempts to discuss these important topics in an easy-to-understand fashion. I hope you find I was successful in th is regard.

As you read this book, I encourage you to apply my principles to your own goals. You may find that some of these principles are more challenging than others. Strive toward them gradually but steadily. It will require commitment and time on your part in order to succeed. If pursued with diligence, these ideas should help you begin to experience the growth process and, thus, acquire wisdom and inner peace when youre through. Its my earnest wish and intent that this book will answer more questions than it raises, but every reader will be different and perhaps have a different interpretation. It took a lifetime of experience and years of personal development and research for me to formulate these concepts, and even more to put them into words. They document my strongly held beliefs about spirituality, and I hope they possess significant meaning for you too. Remember that we cant achieve all our goals overnight; they represent ongoing works in progress. Let the pursuit of them make as positive a difference in your life as it has in mine. Since these ideas are too important to keep all to myself, its with great anticipation and utmost sincerity that I share them wit h you now.

chapter 1

Spiritual Growth:
A Synopsis

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.

Ideas have endurance without death.

John F. Kennedy

S pirituality means different things to different people, but I define it as having a close and personal relationship with God and the universe. Enlightenment, on the other hand, represents a deep understanding of spirituality, ourselves, the needs of others, life, a nd nature.