Real spirituality demands both internal -and- external work, and shows us that our limited identities and perceptions of them - of self, of what we think is best for our self, the full extent of what we know, etc. - are ethically-and-morally-speaking not enough.
Real spirituality, I'll adamantly argue, demands self-scrutiny and the decency of holding one's self accountable...and goes so far as to realize that, when we do something unethical, it cannot be magically 'undone' or 'transcended' by our future work or development in some way, shape, or form.
Real spirituality doesn't have need for double standard-loaded beliefs to pseudo-explain-away those topics that we must sit with and be uncomfortable with in order to genuinely confront.
Real spirituality does -not- claim that everyone exists in their own little bubbles and that one's reality's problems are exclusively their own fault, nor does it claim that the good in your own reality or anyone's own reality comes solely from your work, or one's own work - and therefore, such a holistic spirituality doesn't fail to address reality, its interconnections, its interactions, and its mysteries.
Real spirituality addresses mysterious and hard-to-grasp facts, and questions, and topics, without trying to shove them all into easily-understood-and-quickly-comprehended 'nutshells' or 'conceptual boxes' - and acknowledges that a human mind cannot grasp everything (hence its finite form, and finite processing power)...and is still able to make -genuine- peace with the reality that not all things can be addressed in so finite a time for a finite being.
Real spirituality demands we walk a hard path, including and especially -now- because it is the right thing to do, and it will better our selves and others' selves...the likes of which, I'll personally argue, are not so separate and 'us vs. them' as our cultures and current social frameworks mislead us to look at each other as being.
Real spirituality doesn't lead to the mentality and broad, unrelenting presumption that, if your life is good, that you've earned it - and that if your life is bad, that you've earned it.
Real spirituality is realistic and acknowledges real complexity in reality. It is -not- dismissive, -not- divisive, and -not- the self-obsession that is reflected in such things as most new age versions of "The Law of Attraction" or models of reality as a "reflection" of one's inner self - both concepts that need to be picked apart, significant portions of which need to be decomposed, and ultimately returned to a more life-giving-and-enabling state.
