Are We Making Spirituality Too Difficult?
I've been thinking about something that happened in a conversation a few months ago, and I want to share it with you.
You know as seekers on the spiritual path we make things really hard on ourselves? I've been watching this in my own life.
I sometimes treat my spiritual practice like a test I might fail if I don't do it perfectly or on schedule.
I've caught myself thinking that if something doesn't feel difficult, it probably isn't spiritually valuable.
My inner voice can become a harsh critic that's never quite satisfied with my efforts.
This makes spiritual path feel like constant struggle.
Something about approaching our spiritual practice this way seems off. I got more clarity when I was in conversation with a scholar about the purpose of life.
A Conversation That Shifted My Perpsective
A few months back, I was in a group discussion when someone asked the question we've all wondered about: "What's the purpose of life?"
You know how those moments happen - suddenly everyone gets quiet and you realize you're about to hear something important.
He answered by quoting a verse of the Qur’an from Surah al-Mulk: "God created life and death so that He may see which of you is most beautiful in deeds."
Most beautiful.
I'd heard this verse before, but it usually got translated as "best in deeds" or "most righteous." This scholar emphasized beautiful. And something clicked for me.
Maybe the struggle isn't supposed to be about making life harder. Maybe it's about making life beautiful.
If my spiritual practice is making things harsh or joyless, maybe I'm approaching it wrong.
Here’s a Sufi Comic on this topic called "Mirroring God's Beauty."
Art by Charbak Dipta
Something I Learned About Arabic
I discovered something interesting recently. In Arabic, the word "husn" means both beauty and goodness. They're not separate ideas. Doing good things, goes with doing things beautifully.
One of God's names in Islam is "Al-Jameel" - The Most Beautiful. I've been wondering what that means for how I live. Not just trying to be good, but trying to reflect something beautiful.
Even the Quran is always presented beautifully - in recitation, in writing, in decoration. Like the form and content work hand in hand.
But here's what I've come to realize: while it's wonderful to make our surroundings beautiful, the most important thing to make beautiful is our soul itself.
Making things beautiful doesn't mean just focusing on the exterior—the way things look or appear to others. The deeper work is about interior beauty: refining our character, purifying our intentions, and making choices that reflect the beautiful names of God.
We make our souls beautiful through patience when we're tested, through kindness when it's difficult, through forgiveness when we're hurt. This inner work of polishing the heart makes life beautiful.
How This Changed Some Things for Me
When I approach my life with this mindset, things begin to shift.
With parenting, rather than simply correcting my kids or teaching them rules, I aim to help them discover the beauty and wisdom that makes those practices worth following.
At work, I still care about getting things done well, but I also find myself asking: is this approach beautiful? Are we solving problems in a way that brings some harmony into the world? And am I approaching this work with the kind of patience, integrity, and consciousness that makes my own soul more beautiful?
Even with Sufi Comics, I realized I wasn't just trying to share information. I was trying to make wisdom beautiful and accessible—but the real goal is helping people, including myself, cultivate the inner beauty that comes from living these teachings.
This feels different from the way of thinking about spirituality as constant struggle. It makes spiritual practice something to look forward to.
Now instead of asking myself "Am I being good enough?" I'm asking "Am I doing things beautifully—both outwardly and inwardly? Am I polishing my soul through these choices?"
