Cushi Ming describes himself as a “lifelong spiritual autodidact”.

Born into the Seventh-day Adventist Church, he left in his early teens when “spirituality and black consciousness” captured his interest.

“This extended beyond Christianity. I wanted to understand other schools of thought around the black experience,” he said.

“As I started reading and researching, what I found conflicted with what I thought I knew. That led to me desiring to have my own spiritual journey. I wanted to make sense of things for myself.”

Today he is a certified life and law of attraction coach, speaker and author who creates safe spaces – on social media, in workshops and group sessions – where people can discuss spirituality. It is all part of his commitment towards creating a more conscious community.

Although no longer a Christian, he recognises the value of his religious foundation and understands the role it played in developing his spiritual understanding.

“We are never not on a spiritual journey,” Cushi said. “I was a Christian until I was about 18 and then I started getting deeper and deeper into what people refer to now as ‘spirituality’. But to me it is all one and the same, religion and spirituality. It’s only different for the people who are still disconnected from the idea of what ‘oneness’ is. We are all one and the same.”

It was a point made clear to him as a child while learning about “the presence of God and Jesus in our lives”.

“I always found it interesting to have faith in something that I could not see. That foundation in Christianity – in believing in the invisible – was a good foundation to explore spirituality as a whole. There are so many aspects of spirituality that are just not accessible to the human eye at a whim. It all has to do with trust and belief.”

Cushi believes his spiritual journey has helped him embrace who he is, including his identity as a Black man. It has also developed a desire in him to empower the Black community through spirituality.

“My name literally means ‘to be Black’ and coming to an understanding of this part of myself has been important for my spiritual growth,” he said. “Knowing who we are through our physical ancestry is a spiritual thing. Our bodies are composed of DNA – genetic information – and within that programming are stored memories. Our present-day bodies hold the consciousness of our ancestors.”

His hope is that through spiritual awareness and development, the Black community will be able to feel empowered.

“It’s a really important time in Bermuda to be centralising the discussion around social justice, racial equity and doing away with the racist systems that completely run our island,” he said. “Racism is entrenched into the system and it has become a part of our consciousness.

“How do we have a conversation about racism and spirituality at the same time? There is a level of antiracism work that needs to be done on a spiritual level. We must be intentional about correcting our wrong thinking and racist tendencies through healing and, at the very least, making sure that the system – the structures – that we live within are equitable.”

It is a message he will share in a virtual workshop entitled Spiritual Affluence on March 14. According to Cushi, it is designed for people who are seeking to develop a spiritual foundation and equip themselves with tools for “high vibrational living”.

“For me, it’s about using all the knowledge I have acquired to facilitate healing. When we understand that we are all one and it is better for me to work towards ensuring that we are all able to experience some kind of beauty,” he said.

“The desire to practice spirituality in any way, is usually shaped out of a desire to improve one’s own personal experience in some way. To desire better for oneself at the deepest level is to desire it for all. And to work towards better for all leads to individual benefit as well. In doing these things, we are doing God’s work.”

Tickets for Spiritual Affluence are available at ptix.bm/spiritualaffluence. Follow Cushi Ming on Instagram at @cushiming or visit www.bit.ly/cushiming