That is the question! Let's try to find some answers:
A spiritual practice for our times:
Love whatever you do. Learn to love the place you are in, the people you are with and the work that you have to do.
— George Alexander Sullivan, quoted in Peter Caddy, In perfect timing, p. 34.
As human beings, we are compelled to acquire food, shelter and security in order to survive, and as social beings we also seek out status and relationships.
However, many people feel that these acquisitive activities are only part of what we need to do; that there is also a quite different task for us. (Theravada Buddhism has a specific Pali term, putthujana, for the ordinary uneducated person whose sole motivation is material and social acquisition.)
Spiritual practice is activity directed toward these non-acquisitive goals. The goals are expressed differently in different traditions. Some say they are aligning themselves with God's will; some say they are coming into the here-and-now; some say they are pursuing a path to enlightenment or realization; and so on.
What all these practices have in common is a belief that there are aspects of life other than the satisfaction of ordinary social and material needs. The practices also imply a desire for transformation of the personality. (~Derek)
Threads: Spiritual Practice