If you were to ask me how I would define the spiritual life, I would be very uncomfortable. I’m not sure what I would say. I’m not sure how to define something like that. My greatest discomfort would come in thinking that someone might ask me to define it. Who am I to define something as mysterious and broad and individual as spirituality?

I’d probably try to avoid the question if I could.

I don’t know, maybe there’s a book you could read or something. Do you know anyone else who might know about this? I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve never tried to put a definition to that idea. I’d just be pulling stuff out of the air and making it up right while I was talking to you.

But if you said, “That’s okay. I just want to know what you think. Right off the top of your head is fine. I won’t hold you to it or quote you or paste it all over the internet or anything. But yeah, what do you think it means for a person to follow a spiritual path?”

If you said that, I’d probably agree to give it a try. I’d interlace my fingers and drop my hands into my lap. I’d close my eyes and let go of my head so that it slowly dropped forward until my chin was almost touching my chest. Then I would take a deep breath and shut out everything in the world except your question.

This is what I would say: