How important is spirituality in your business?

To me, spirituality means acknowledgement of our connection to each other and our "partnership" with something greater than ourselves.

My spirituality has been very important in the context of my business, because I think it has provided inspiration for the path I took, and it continues to push me to continually innovate and redefine my work.

I don't think my spirituality is evident in my business or visible to my clients; I see spirituality as a very personal thing, so what I define as spirituality, someone else might just say I have ethics or integrity . . . which isn't a bad thing, because my spirituality is for me, not everyone else. My spirituality is the work that I do for myself, and hopefully people receive the benefits, if it enables me to become a better person :o)

Life is amazing. Whether we think about how the forest becomes still when a hawk alights in the trees, or how you and I can talk in this platform, or the mundane miracle of a toenail that grows back after I kill it by dropping a rock on my foot. It's all amazing.

My spirituality is seeing these things and knowing they are a part of me and I of them. And celebrating that. Cherishing it.

My work is derived from my spirituality. I hope it is visible to the people around me.

And I believe a treasure of this here community is that if we wish, we can all expose our spirituality--whatever its form--and thereby be more whole and happy in our work.

I have always seen spirituality in business relating more toward proclaiming your religious beliefs.

Most people that ask me to have such information about them placed on their web sites and marketing materials are using it as a lure to try and attract business just because, "I do everything in the name of God!" That may not be the case for all, but it is a pretty large margin.

I tend to compare over-emphasizing spiritual beliefs in business to a double-edged sword. You can pull business in by expressing your spiritual beliefs, but you can also push business away by throwing it in someones face.

I believe a person should be judged on their service, quality and efforts rather than their beliefs. Then again, I am an odd one...

Mark... Very important. I define my spirituality as a feeling I have within myself that I can't fully explain because it is far greater than I can comprehend. I feel it in everything I do, business or personal, and I let it guide my actions as best as I can.

I love the question: Am I a mortal being that periodically has spritual experiences or am I a spirtual being having a mortal experience? I tend to lean towards the latter.

Therefore, spirtuality is paramount in all my life decisions. I choose to follow my inner most feelings, and usually am not mislead. Although, I do not like to discuss dogma in business related relationships because of the strong feelings many have towards absolutes.

Rather I do express my spirituality through my enthusiasum and desire to always do good (according to that still small voice inside of me) regardless of the profit at stake. As a professional salesman, I try to sell from the "heart". ...Howard

Interesting question, Mark!

For me spirituality is different than religion. They are separate things. I can be religious about almost anything, including checking my email in the morning before I do anything else...

My spiritual beliefs are central to my core and guide me in everything that I do. This includes business. However, as a respectful person and based on my beliefs, I respect the beliefs of others and their right to those beliefs. So I keep my spiritual beliefs, but not my spirituality, out of my business transactions.

Spirituality and business, spirituality and practical matters, spirituality, ethics and holding to something sacred that can guide one's interactions and decisions (whatever that may be)...all of it is essential in upholding our end of the bargain. We came into human form to learn some deep stuff, especially during this increased evolutionary shift humankind is experiencing...And some are trying to apply it to every undertaking.

I heard such a beautiful story on NPR today, about a veteran of the Vietnam war, his getting introduced to Buddhist thought back then, and how, seeing the dualistic nature of normal human thinking, he strives to live each day with the awareness of the intrinsic Oneness of all things, even though, "hardly anyone knows what I'm talking about."

Seattle is the perfect place to explore spirituality in business, and get teased, condemned and/or applauded for the effort.

I never hold it back, though I'm certainly not always talking about it!

In my life (and of course in my work, Emotional Healing and Intuitive Counseling), I am at times intuitively led to guide or teach in a spiritual capacity. Since early childhood, there have been those who have considered me weird, but there are more and more who consider my wisdom worth paying $85/hr. for!

Most people think of spirituality as one's beliefs. To me, however, it is a matter of what I've experienced, and what I intuitively Know. Most people's beliefs are about what they HOPE to be true, what they desperately NEED to be true.

I am pleasantly surprised to find this thread here in Biznik; perhaps I am not as far outside the Biznik mind-frame as it has seemed. The framework of my life has never seemed a good fit, though I like the idea of Biznik very much.

Mark, I think that's a really good question mainly because I am having trouble answering it :o)

I think I do hold back, but not just with spirituality . . . there are many things about myself that I don't just put out there for people, and it takes me awhile to get comfortable sharing.

On the other hand, I have told quite a few people that I use intuitives and psychics to help me define my spiritual path . . . I always think people will view that as "woo-woo," but mostly, people are fascinated!

In thinking about the people with whom I have shared my spirituality, I think that I have always provided context to make my experience more relatable to them.

So maybe the answer to your question is yes, I do censor myself to a certain extent, probably depending on the specific individual. That's the short answer . . . the long answer is that I'll probably still be thinking about this tomorrow!

My spirituality is fairly new (and yet very old, at the same time) to me. And I have been tenderly walking with it for the last year, especially since I got the message that I was called to be an energy healer (believe me, no one was more surprised than me).

But what I find now is that, no matter whom I am talking to--new acquaintances, clients, or friends, everyone I tell about my spirituality is not only fascinated, they have very similar beliefs. And in fact, I believe several of my clients feel more liberated about talking about and exploring THEIR own spirituality now that their "normal" therapist disclosed that she's into it.

In other words, as I give myself permission to be more open about the woo-woo in my life, others are inspired to do the same.

The key for me, and what helps people hear me, is that I stay grounded in myself and my body. I still pay attention to the everyday, real world, because I know my path isn't to just check out and live solely in a spiritual world.

I am not sure that spirituality has anything to do with a certain religion. I have walked the Night Watch Program on first Ave till 3 or 4 am and met quite a few of my fellow human beings who were at a different place and time of the place and time I was in. They were much like me in many ways. Searching for anwers to questions that sometimes have no set anwer. Spirituality for me is a way of life daily trying to say yes to the good and no to the bad. My formal religion has given me guide lines but the Creator gave me free will to say yes or no. How I use that free fill determines if I am a spiritual person or not. When leaving a stranger i have met on the streets of Seattle, I would hope they have gained as much from me as I have from them. John La Russa

My spirituality keeps me grounded, when the ground around me is shaky. i don't take anything too hard, I know good things are around the corner for me and I'm looking for them. I bring this attitude into my business practice. I do home loans and work with people every day who are trusting me to not hurt them. I think they feel in some deeper level that I'm straightforward and have their best interests at heart. I don't think you can seperate business and spirtuatlity.