Spirituality and the Question of Worth: Introduction

BY NICOLE LAU

Series: Locus and Spirituality - Worth in Transcendence (Part 1 of 7)

"You are a child of God."

"You are already enlightened."

"You must earn your salvation."

Spirituality and religion speak directly to the question of worth. But they speak in different voices.

Some traditions teach inherent worth—you are sacred simply because you exist. This is internal locus in spiritual form.

Others teach conditional worth—you are valuable if you are good, obedient, pure, or enlightened. This is external locus in spiritual form.

This series explores locus patterns in spirituality and religion, examining how different traditions shape where we place our worth, and how spiritual practice can either reinforce external locus or cultivate internal locus.

Spirituality and the Question of Worth

Why Spirituality Matters for Locus

For many people, spirituality and religion are the primary sources of worth teachings.

Religious and spiritual traditions explicitly address:

• What makes a person valuable?
• Are you inherently worthy, or must you earn worth?
• What is your relationship to the divine/ultimate reality?
• What happens when you fail or sin?

These teachings shape locus patterns profoundly—often more than family, culture, or personal experience.

The Two Spiritual Voices on Worth

Voice 1: Conditional Worth (External Locus)

The teaching: "You are valuable if you are good, obedient, pure, enlightened, or saved. You are worthless if you sin, fail, or fall short."

Examples across traditions:

• Christianity (some interpretations): "God loves you if you accept Jesus and follow His commandments. If you sin, you are separated from God and worthless."
• Buddhism (some interpretations): "You are valuable if you achieve enlightenment. Until then, you are trapped in suffering and ignorance."
• Hinduism (some interpretations): "Your worth depends on your karma. Good karma = higher rebirth. Bad karma = lower rebirth or suffering."
• Islam (some interpretations): "You are valuable if you submit to Allah and follow the path. If you stray, you are lost."

The locus pattern: Worth is conditional. You must earn it through belief, behavior, or spiritual achievement. This is religious external locus.

Voice 2: Inherent Worth (Internal Locus)

The teaching: "You are already whole. You are sacred simply because you exist. You are inherently divine. Nothing you do can add to or diminish your worth."

Examples across traditions:

• Christian Mysticism: "You are made in the image of God. You are already loved unconditionally. Grace is freely given, not earned."
• Advaita Vedanta (Hinduism): "You are already Brahman (ultimate reality). You are not separate from the divine. Enlightenment is recognizing what you already are."
• Sufism (Islam): "You are already one with Allah. The journey is remembering, not becoming."
• Zen Buddhism: "You are already Buddha-nature. Enlightenment is not achievement—it is recognition."
• Quakerism (Christianity): "There is that of God in everyone. Every person has inherent worth and light."

The locus pattern: Worth is inherent. You do not earn it—you recognize it. This is spiritual internal locus.

External Locus in Religious Contexts

How Religion Can Reinforce External Locus

1. Conditional Divine Love

"God loves you if you are good. God rejects you if you sin."

This teaches: Your worth depends on divine approval. And divine approval depends on your behavior.

Result: Religious external locus. You are valuable when you are obedient, pure, or saved. You are worthless when you fail.

2. Sin and Shame

"You are a sinner. You are fallen. You are inherently flawed."

This teaches: You are fundamentally worthless. You can only gain worth through salvation, redemption, or purification.

Result: Internalized worthlessness. You must constantly seek external validation (from God, from religious authority, from spiritual achievement) to feel worthy.

3. Karma and Merit

"Your worth depends on your karma. Good actions = merit = higher worth. Bad actions = demerit = lower worth."

This teaches: Worth is transactional. You earn it through good deeds and lose it through bad deeds.

Result: Spiritual external locus. You are constantly monitoring your worth balance, seeking to accumulate merit and avoid demerit.

4. Spiritual Hierarchy

"Enlightened beings are more valuable than unenlightened beings. Saints are more valuable than sinners. The spiritually advanced are more valuable than the spiritually ignorant."

This teaches: Worth is comparative. You are valuable if you are spiritually superior.

Result: Spiritual comparison and competition. You are seeking to climb the spiritual hierarchy to gain worth.

The Cost of Religious External Locus

When spirituality reinforces external locus:

• Shame and guilt dominate. You are constantly aware of your unworthiness.
• Fear replaces love. You follow the path out of fear of worthlessness, not love of the divine.
• Spiritual practice becomes performance. You meditate, pray, or serve to earn worth, not to express devotion.
• You cannot rest. Spiritual striving is endless because worth is never secure.
• Spiritual crisis is catastrophic. Doubt, failure, or "falling away" feels like total worthlessness.

Internal Locus in Mystical Traditions

How Mysticism Cultivates Internal Locus

1. Inherent Divinity

"You are already divine. You are not separate from God/Brahman/Buddha-nature/the Tao. You are sacred simply because you exist."

This teaches: Your worth is inherent. It is not earned—it is recognized.

Result: Spiritual internal locus. You are valuable whether you are enlightened or not, whether you are good or not.

2. Unconditional Divine Love

"God's love is unconditional. Grace is freely given. You are loved not because of what you do, but because of what you are."

This teaches: Divine love is not transactional. You do not earn it. You receive it.

Result: You are valuable whether you are obedient or not, whether you are pure or not. Worth is not conditional on behavior.

3. Enlightenment as Recognition, Not Achievement

"You are already enlightened. You are already whole. The spiritual path is not about becoming—it is about remembering."

This teaches: You do not need to achieve worth. You need to recognize the worth you already have.

Result: Spiritual practice is not performance. It is recognition. You are not climbing a hierarchy—you are uncovering what is already true.

The Gift of Mystical Internal Locus

When spirituality cultivates internal locus:

• Love replaces fear. You follow the path out of love, not fear of worthlessness.
• Spiritual practice is expression, not performance. You meditate, pray, or serve because you love it, not to earn worth.
• You can rest. Worth is secure. You do not need to constantly prove yourself.
• Spiritual crisis is survivable. Doubt or failure is disappointing, not annihilating.
• Compassion flows naturally. When you know you are inherently worthy, you can see others' inherent worth too.

What This Series Will Explore

Over the next six articles, we will dive deep into locus patterns in spirituality:

1. Religious External Locus: Conditional Divine Love - How fear-based religion creates external locus
2. Mystical Internal Locus: Inherent Divinity - How mystical traditions cultivate inherent worth
3. Spiritual Bypassing vs Genuine Transcendence - Using spirituality to avoid locus work vs true integration
4. Meditation, Mindfulness, and Locus - How contemplative practice can cultivate or undermine internal locus
5. Karma, Merit, and Worth - Reinterpreting Eastern concepts through the locus lens
6. Sacred Worth: The Spiritual Foundation of Internal Locus - Spiritual practices that cultivate inherent worth

Practice: Assessing Your Spiritual Locus

Reflection Questions

1. Does my spiritual or religious tradition teach that I am inherently worthy, or that I must earn worth?
2. Do I feel loved by the divine unconditionally, or only when I am good?
3. Do I practice spirituality out of love or out of fear of worthlessness?
4. Do I see enlightenment/salvation as something I must achieve, or something I must recognize?
5. Does my spiritual practice make me feel more worthy, or more ashamed?

The Invitation

As you read this series, notice your spiritual locus patterns. Where have you placed your worth? In divine approval? In spiritual achievement? In being "good enough"?

And ask: What would it feel like to know you are sacred simply because you exist? What would it feel like to rest in inherent worth, not strive for conditional worth?

This is the journey we are taking together.

What Comes Next

The next article explores Religious External Locus: Conditional Divine Love—how fear-based religion creates shame, guilt, and worth dependence, and why "God loves you if you are good" is external locus in theological form.

This is where we examine the shadow side of religion. And where healing becomes possible.