What are your spiritual needs and how do you meet them?

[mangalavara]

I'd like to ask other RFers what are their spiritual needs and how do they meet them?

I have only one spiritual need—the need to connect to that which is eternal, ineffable, immutable, incorporeal, pure, permanent, and absolute. It is consciousness, true reality, a boundless ocean of bliss. A philosophical word for it is Brahman. A devotional word for it is Bhagavān. As Bhagavān, he is the originator, sustainer, and dissolver of the universe. Moreover, he is the one who graciously bestows liberation from the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. He is my goal. I meet my spiritual need of connecting to Bhagavān by reading or hearing about him, repeating one of his many names, and remembering him both in meditation and during other activities.

What role does faith, community, practice or ritual play in meeting these needs?

At this time, I am without community. A community of devotees of Bhagavān would likely be spiritually beneficial. The practices that I have mentioned above are vital for connecting to Bhagavān. Ritual is not something that I find important or even relevant as I am not a Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Vaishya. Those are three ranks pertaining to Vedic religion, as I understand it.

Then I lost access to them all, but found I'm just as spiritual(maybe more so?) than I was before.

In my experience, we can be highly spiritual without community and rituals. Community or sangha can especially have spiritual benefits though.