What is Spirituality? I had a conversation recently with someone I respect concerning religion. He knows I am not a believer, and the subject of those who say they are spiritual but not religious. In my exit from religion, I came to believe that spirituality was a subjective term often associated with definitions provided by a particular religion or by an individual believer - that it has no objective meaning. The closest I would say that the term has an objective meaning is the feeling or sensation someone gets from certain activities (meditation, prayer, etc.). This definigion, however, would cross religious divisions when many religions want to claim "true" spirituality as their own. Thoughts?
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.According to these definitions, spirituality and irreligiosity seem antithetical.
"spirituality noun
spir·i·tu·al·i·ty | \ˌspir-i-chə-ˈwa-lə-tē \
plural spiritualities
Definition of spirituality
1 : something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such
2 : CLERGY
3 : sensitivity or attachment to religious values
4 : the quality or state of being spiritual
spiritual adjective
spir·i·tu·al | \ˈspir-i-chə-wəl, -i-chəl, -ich-wəl\
Definition of spiritual (Entry 1 of 2)
1 : of, relating to, consisting of, or affecting the spirit : INCORPOREAL
spiritual needs
2a : of or relating to sacred matters
spiritual songs
b : ecclesiastical rather than lay or temporal
spiritual authority
lords spiritual
3 : concerned with religious values
4 : related or joined in spirit
our spiritual home
his spiritual heir
5a : of or relating to supernatural beings or phenomena
b : of, relating to, or involving spiritualism : SPIRITUALISTIC
spiritual noun
Definition of spiritual (Entry 2 of 2)
1 spirituals plural : things of a spiritual, ecclesiastical, or religious nature
2 : a religious song usually of a deeply emotional character that was developed especially among blacks in the southern U.S.
3 capitalized : any of a party of 13th and 14th century Franciscans advocating strict observance of a rule of poverty for their order" -Merriam Webster Dictionary
Diogenes1972
Level 6
Nov 23, 2018
1
I think it's a highly personal term, meaning different things to different people. For me, spirituality is that intangible connection we feel to the essence of life.
Many of us feel a spiritual connection to our creative source, whatever we might call it, while interacting with the earth, sea and sky, as we stir around the atoms in the air, breathing it in and out, intermingling with the past, present and future.
When thinking about this years ago, I found the word “spirit” comes from the Latin “spiritus” meaning breath.
When you think about it, the air we breathe mingles with the air once breathed by myriads of others, over the centuries, just as our breath will mingle with those of the future. In this way we are all connected, even with the trees and plants, oceans and cosmos.
As a sidenote, here in Hawaii, the island tradition of greeting someone with “aloha” literally translates to the sharing of one’s breath, the essence of life, from one person to another, face to face.
Julie808
Level 8
Nov 23, 2018
2
Julie808 - Would you perhsps say that spirituality has sometning to do with the feeling of connections with things around us?
On your sidenote, I once heard an explanation very similar to your description.
Me thinks, "spirituality" is a word that should not be used by non-believers. The core of the word is "spirit," a non-corporeal being.
Yet, Sam Harris and others use the term as you have described: it is a feeling, as most emotions are. And we mostly do not agree on another word/term to describe the feeling.
Just like "proud" is used to describe how we feel about other people. Yet, pride really is best used to describe how we feel about ourself when we do good.
JacarC
Level 8
Nov 23, 2018
1
Most people think of religion when hearing "spirituality." The English word "spirit" was taken from the ancient Greek word "pneuma", which meant something like breath or soul, and to them meant what is non-physical in man. Christian religions adopted the word for religious meanings. If you look in the Oxford English Dictionary, you'll see many different definitions for "spirit" or "spiritual." I think of it as, "of the mind." So, to me a spiritual experience is a mental emotional experience, which feeling could be the result of listening to a beautiful piece of music, hearing or having a profound thought, and the like. I had a spiritual experience when I embraced atheism.
sfvpool
Level 7
Nov 23, 2018
4
I think your assessment of the term is a very good one, but an even more generic one can be found by cherry-picking from the dictionary, while still avoiding all superstitious connotations:
spirituality: the quality or fact of being spiritual.
spiritual: of, relating to, or consisting of spirit; closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.: (the professor's spiritual heir in linguistics).
spirit: an attitude or principle that inspires, animates, or pervades thought, feeling, or action: (the spirit of reform).
Everyone has moods, feelings and attitudes. Throughout all human history these have been referred to as spiritual phenomena. Whether we then go further and attribute supernatural causes to these phenomena is entirely optional. All humans experience ups and downs of emotional tone. Most of us try various means of managing those fluctuations so they don't overwhelm us. Any organized system of such management is, in effect, a religion. No superstition is required now that we have explanations for these potentially troublesome experiences based on natural causes. A well-developed system of management is more effective than a haphazard response. Study hard and keep those spirits up!
skado
Level 9
Nov 23, 2018
3
I've been where you are -- trying to figure out words that have a gestalt meaning. I've come to think of it as one being more that the sum of one's parts. And while this seems to fit with many faiths regarding animals and plants; it also includes everything that has more than 1 part working together (cars, ships, planes, computers, a knife). And based on two exact 'looking' cars have different operating mannerisms this is most likely true (not fact).
xyz123
Level 7
Nov 23, 2018
1
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