What Is Spirituality?

[Derf]

As a Christian, I have a fairly specific definition of spirituality. But the term gets thrown around in so many different contexts that I became curious about what people who don't necessarily identify as Christian mean when they talk about the concept of being spiritual. And so, I open a can of worms and purposely start a religion thread on the interwebz, because I am confident that of all places, Badmovies.org can keep the discussion civilized (plus, I'm a moderator and can lock down or remove the topic if I'm wrong).

What does the term "spiritual" mean to you?

[ulthar]

Well, I'm a Christian, but I'll provide an answer anyway.   

"Spirituality" to me means having an inner light that burns for a life meaning transcendental to one's self. As such, it promotes sacrifice, empathy, abhorrence of waste and the opposite of selfishness.  And other things.

To be spiritual is to recognize that life itself, in all forms, is not only "a thing" of value, but perhaps "the thing" of value.  Another person (for example) has value by virtue of his or her existence and nothing more complicated than that.

As a Christian, staying connected with this spirituality is the request in my prayers. 

[indianasmith]

I think it is the recognition that we are more than the sum of our parts - that there is something within us that transcends flesh, bone, and neural impulses - and that there is also something or someone out there which transcends US on an even greater scale.

[Derf]

Interesting, Two very different opinions, and from very like-minded Christians. And my general idea is different still, though I think it fits well enough with your definitions: I think of spirituality as our communicatory bond with God. The biblical representation of the Holy Spirit is most often God communicating on a personal level with an individual on a deep level, usually resulting in the character changes that Ulthar spoke of and the transcendence that indy mentioned. In other words, it is how we are given access to the divine nature of God, allowing us to see things from a Godly perspective. The New Testament pledge of the Holy Spirit in Acts is God reviving in believers the core communication pipeline between God and man. Granted, we corrupt the messages that come through that pipeline often enough, but our access to the Truth is available.

Of course, this is dependent on your belief system, and some who don't acknowledge God still call themselves spiritual. Those are the ones I'm trying to understand better.

[ulthar]

Interesting, Two very different opinions, and from very like-minded Christians. And my general idea is different still,

Interestingly, I found them to NOT be different opinions so much as different ways to TRY to articulate something that...transcends...words.  Perhaps it even transcends human thought itself, except at a deeply (eh hem) spiritual level (that level that is connected to God).

If I may slightly restate what you wrote to see if I got what you are saying (and correct me if I'm wrong!), what you are talking about is often called "Revelation of God." (Not to be confused with the Book of Revelation!)....how God reveals himself to us.

If that's correct, then, yes, I do think we are all saying the same sort of thing.  It's very interesting to see how different people articulate this, and I welcome additional viewpoints. I find, for example, a LOT of similarities between my own (Christian) concept of spirituality and that of Buddhism, for example.

That said, I think the common theme in any description will be the word "transcendent" and it's variants.  Spiritual = "Beyond Human," perhaps?

Thank-you for starting this thread; it's already very cool.  And I do agree, bmdo can handle it.

[Derf]

I know that in general we three are in agreement, both from this and past discussions. As for your restatement of my definition, I think you understand, though I might be thinking on a more basic level than you. Without Christ's sacrifice, we would have no real access to God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit restores the constant accessibility to God. Without that, spirituality is impossible from a Christian perspective. The result of exposure to the Divine nature of God is what results in conviction of sin, seeing the intrinsic value of all, and all the other transformational aspects of being a new creation in Jesus. 

I don't find it surprising that your views have parallels in Buddhism. Mine do also in many ways, but I chalk that up to the fact that on some levels, religion is impossible without similar goals.

I don't really like my own way of expressing myself in this thread. I know what I'm trying to say, but to me, I am coming across sounding almost like a New Age advocate, which I am not. I suppose, as you pointed out, the very concept of spiritual transcendence is beyond words.

[diamondwaspvenom]

For me, spirituality is recognizing that there is far more than what we see in the material earth. It recognizes and acknowledges the existence of a higher being (or beings depending on your background) as well as other plains of existence (such as heaven, hell, purgatory, etc). To be spiritual is to be in touch with the divine being(s), to incorporate them into our daily lives through prayer, meditation, ritual or otherwise.

Another aspect of being spiritual is to not have one's happiness dependent on material wealth or certain pleasures of the flesh for those materials can waste away, be stolen or broken and pleasure only lasts for so long. The spiritual person finds joy and meaning in not only religious practices but also in partaking in tasks like being generous to the needy and comforting those who are in distress.

At least that's my take on it.  

[Newt]

As Scouters, we encounter this question frequently.  Since Scouts Canada is 'all-inclusive', which of course includes all beliefs of every description, we are not supposed to put any particular 'spin' on it, yet we are also required to address spirituality openly and wrt most of our activities. It can be a challenge in some contexts.  Inner life, higher purpose, a sense of broader responsibilities to others and the world as well as to self...all we can do is to skirt around the edges of describing a common sense of the ineffable.  Sometimes I think the meaning is in the spaces between our words.

I think diamondwaspvenom comes pretty close.  Finding joy in the world around us, being conscious of our place in it and by our actions showing respect - and gratitude - for both life and the world as the gifts they are.  See?  Incomplete and fumbling.  But it is in there, somewhere.  Sort of.

[ER]

Humanistically, spirituality is a metaphor for that which discernibly exists within us which is of neither the mind nor the body. But since "spirituality" is the antithesis of humanism, I think indy's definition is spot-on, and I agree with every word he wrote up there.

Spirituality is the instinctive voice which testifies to something...beyond. Beyond the cellular, beyond the present, beyond the quantifiable, perhaps beyond the explicable. It has been felt by everyone, I suspect, and proven by no one.

It takes a great deal of skepticism to deny our instincts and say that we are not more than the sum of our parts, as I suspect and believe we are.

I think it is our spiritual aspect that transcends our biological being, and accounts for actions (both good and bad) that would seem to fly in the face of natural behavior. By this I mean actions of selflessness that are at odds with biological mandates about self-preservation, but I think perhaps it is also the spiritual side of humanity which in its darker hemisphere inspires ignoble, atrocious misdeeds as well. A tiger might kill you for food; a tiger would not torture you for days, as a human might.

I think humankind's spiritual components are in a constant, divisive state of conflict, with some people rising to truly wonderful heights of benevolence, and others giving in to that darkness and letting it guide them to undertake misdeeds that defy logic.

I think the existence of a spiritual dimension within a person goes some way toward explaining the presence in human life of what can only be called evil: which is in its existence unnatural. I don't mean "cruelty" which is abundant in nature (a cat honing its skills by toying with a captured bird, for instance) I mean true evil. Evil is not really found in nature. Evil is a thing of spirit, just as altruistic good is a thing of spirit.

My two-cents worth.

[Derf]

That gives me some food for thought, ER, so thanks. I'm not sure I would have included evil within spirituality, but you make some good points. Speaking again from my perspective, I would have placed the source of evil as the lack of spirituality; that is, a lack of connection with the Divine, which, given mankind's more complex mental abilities (in general), allows for warped behavioral patterns, the cruelty you talked about. Again, I'll have to spend some time contemplating your perspective.

[Allhallowsday]

 

Spirituality is empathy.