Can Spiritual people be stylish?

Dictionary definition of Stylish: fashionably elegant and sophisticated.

 And now the question: Can spiritual people be stylish?

Answer: Of course, they can be – if that’s what that makes their soul sing!

This question takes on a different meaning if asked – Should spiritual people be stylish?

This begs another question: What’s style or the lack of it, got to do with spirituality? ‘Should’ carries the underpinning of judgment.

 

Who exactly are spiritual people?

Our age-old understanding of spirituality and spiritual people has conditioned the way we think about them.

Some common beliefs about spirituality and spiritual people –

  • If you are spiritual, you’ve got to live in a simple and almost painfully frugal way.
  • Spirituality means shunning this world and everything connected with it and that includes our likes and dislikes.
  • If you are fashionable and pay special attention to how you dress up, you, most definitely, are not close to God.
  • Being stylish, fashionable and well-dressed are exact opposites of The Divine.
  • ‘Being stylish’ means your mind is not into divinity but rather into impressing the people of the world.
  • If you are spiritual, you’ve got to reject money and everything that money can buy.

 

Meaning of Being A Spiritual Person –

If artists were to depict spiritual people in their art – paintings, graphics, sculpture, prints, films etc. – how would they do it?

They would do so by showing a man or a woman with disheveled, matted, preferably white hair; and if the hair is black then they’ll be in dreadlocks.

But definitely, NEVER, silky, flowing and radiant.

How about clothes?

According to artists, spiritual people never wear good clothes. If the clothes won’t be shown torn, then at the least, they’ll be in plain white, black,gray or some other faded fabric.

Jewelry: Don’t even think about it!

As per them, spiritual folks have no business wearing any sort of jewelry. Why?

Well, because as per them,spiritual people have their mind set on God and all the higher, esoteric concepts, all 24 hours of the day. They have no time to dwell on ‘lower’ things like jewelry, shoes, bags or fine clothes. Such things are meant only for the ‘lesser’ evolved of the human species.

On the other hand, devil-worshippers are always shown as wearing fine clothes, flashy jewels, having shiny cars, beautiful hairstyles, painted nails and living in huge bungalows.

It is almost laughable when you look at the stark contrast portrayed between the two of them.

I hope you, my dear reader, are getting the drift of things here.

What we forget is – an artist is human too; as likely to be flawed or conditioned in his thinking as any other human being.

Let’s not take the depiction of spiritual people throughout ages, in various art forms, at their literal, face value.

Spirituality does not mean life with the EXCLUSION of the world. Rather, it is an INTEGRATION of everything around us.

 

What does Spirituality basically mean?

It means, the study of spirit and its positive impact on all the aspects of life – body, mind and soul. Spirituality makes us savor life more deeply; makes us more mindful of things around us so that we don’t pass away our life as if on auto-pilot.

Living A Spiritual Life (With Style):

Spirituality lifts us OUT of depression and NEVER takes us into it. Only a sad and depressed person wants to shun life, laughter and fun. A spiritual person, on the other hand, shines brightly wherever she goes with an infectious inner radiance and joy which she spreads all around.

She has this inner knowing that life is for living – with total joy, peace and gratitude.

Have you ever been grateful for a blessing and at the same time been sad about it; hating it?

No.

Because it is impossible to be grateful and sad at the same time!

Spiritual people are always full of gratitude to The Divine for everything in their life – their home, their clothes, family, friends, property, cars, their wealth or even the lack of it all.

A spiritual person may just be an ordinary family woman or man with loved ones to look after, taxes to pay, pets to feed, home loans to pay and business goals to meet. Heck, she may even have fat loss goals like you and I! But underneath all of life’s drama, she knows that The Divine loves her as much as she loves Him. And she rejoices in this knowledge everyday.

In my life, I have seen highly evolved souls, living stylishly, in absolute gratitude – in big mansions – as well as in small two-room flats, fond of good, designer clothes as well as happy in simple ones.

Spirituality lets you enjoy all the paraphernalia of life without unnecessary neediness attached to it. This means that with or without fashionable clothes, a spiritual person has an innate ability to maintain her relationship with The Divine.

The stylishness of a spiritual person, you will notice, will be different from the stylishness of a non-spiritual person.

There’s an effortless ease, an underlying laid-backness (if there’s such a word!), gracefulness and a mysterious hard-to-put-a-finger-on charm in the style of a spiritual person.

It stems from an inner knowing; an unspoken ease and calm that automatically descends on a person when she develops a magical rapport with The Divine. This style has the power to automatically PULL the public’s attention to it.

On the other hand, the style of a non-spiritual person hollers. It looks labored – as if it took a lot of effort for them to look a certain way. It looks sort of hollow, uninviting and temporary.

Would you agree that Swami Vivekananda had style?

He wore pretty simple saffron colored cotton clothes. And yet, his personality was magnetic. Did his ‘style’ diminish or elevate his spirituality in any way? Absolutely not!

Would you say that Sadhguru has style?

Yes, he wears color-coordinated expensive designer clothes. But his designer clothes are never able to overshadow his strong inner persona. Rather, the other way around. It is his substance which carries forward his style. Whether seated on a chair or riding his motorcycle, Sadhguru’s calm groundedness is perceived strongly by all. Even behind his body-shaking laughter!

Take the example of Oprah Winfrey – one of the wealthiest celebrities of the world and yet, a highly spiritual woman. Oprah is openly proud of her large expensive shoe collection as much as she is of her inner connection with God. She has undoubtedly been hailed as one of the most spiritually advanced as well as sophisticated persons in the USA.

In the same vein, there are people in this world who, after giving up their lavish lifestyles, have chosen to live in ‘off-grid’ homes, as they are called; choosing to commune with nature. But not because they believed that their fashionable lives were an obstruction to spirituality. Rather, as a calling they felt in their hearts.

 

Final Thoughts on spiritual people being stylish:

Spirituality teaches us how to celebrate life.

It doesn’t compel a person to be a hermit. Nor does it ask her to go overboard with flashing her riches. In fact, it asks nothing from us.

It is only and only about forming an easy loving connection with our inner higher self – wherever we may be and whatever we may be doing. And with that, comes our easy and loving connectedness with everything outside of us as well.

Spirituality says – Bloom where you are planted.

How we choose to ‘bloom’, ultimately boils down to how we choose to express our individuality.

And like it is with all else in life, nothing is good or bad. Things just are. It is the meaning we give to things that shapes our beliefs; which in turn, shapes our lives.

So next time you come across a super stylish person, don’t jump to conclusions and label them ‘fake’ in your mind. Look a little harder. Their vibes may be having a thousand divine tales to tell.