From Sharon Salzberg's, "The Kindness Handbook, A Practical Companion":

Spirituality is the movement from our prison of self blame and self preoccupation to an inclusive and open engagement with all of life. In many ways a spiritual path is essentially about connection -- a deep connection to our own inherent capacity for wisdom and love no matter what, a connection to a bigger picture of life no matter what.

We can easily go from morning until night disconnected, not only from genuine connect contact with others, but also from more fundamental and loving aspects of our own hearts. Spiritual practices of meditation, generosity, service, and lovingkindness not only turn this tendency around towards genuine connection, they also become the manifestation of a free mind.