[di meliora]

"Spirituality can be linked to all human experiences, but it has a particularly close connection with the imagination, with human creativity and resourcefulness, with relationships — whether with ourselves, with others, or with a transcendent reality, named or unnamed, but often called the Divine, God, or Spirit. Spirituality can also be connected with a sense of celebration and joy, with adoration and surrender, with struggle and suffering. . . .

"Contemporary understandings of spirituality capture the dynamic, transformative quality of spirituality as lived experience, as experience linked to our bodies, to nature, and to our relationships with others and society. It is an experience which seeks the fullness of life — a life of justice and peace, of integrating body, mind, and soul, a life that touches the hem of the spirit in the midst of all our struggles of living in a world that has become ever more globally interdependent, yet so painfully torn apart." http://www.spiritualityandpractice.c...s.php?id=18471

Traditionally, many religions have regarded spirituality as an integral aspect of religious experience. Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to a broader view of spirituality.[5] The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed; compare James' 1902 lectures on the "Varieties of Religious Experience".[6][7]

Secular spirituality emphasizes humanistic ideas on moral character (qualities such as love, compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, responsibility, harmony, and a concern for others[8]:22) - aspects of life and human experience which go beyond a purely materialist view of the world without necessarily accepting belief in a supernatural reality or divine being. Spiritual practices such as mindfulness and meditation can be experienced as beneficial or even necessary for human fulfillment without any supernatural interpretation or explanation. Spirituality in this context may be a matter of nurturing thoughts, emotions, words and actions that are in harmony with a belief that everything in the universe is mutually dependent; this stance has much in common with some versions of Buddhist* spirituality. A modern definition is as follows:

"Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issues of how our lives fit into the greater scheme of things. This is true when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what happens when we die. We also become spiritual when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a meaning or power beyond our visible world. An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it reveals our personal desire to establish a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life."[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

Spirituality: from the Latin word "spiritus," which means "wind" or "breath." This term is defined quite differently by monotheists, polytheists, humanists, followers of new age, Native Americans, secularists, etc. Some common meanings are:

• Devotion to metaphysical matters, as opposed to worldly things.
• Activities which renew, lift up, comfort, heal and inspire both ourselves and those with whom we interact.
• The deepest values and meanings by which people live.
• Practices to develop a person's inner life, including meditation, private prayer, yoga, meditation, quiet reflection, contemplation.
• Religion minus the dogma, minus the need to control others, and minus an overwhelming fixation with what people do sexuality.
• Methods of "internal travel" that give richness and meaning to our life, including mental, and physical practices.
• Our beliefs about what ultimately exists, who we fundamentally are, and our place in the greater scheme of things.
• Belief in a power operating in the universe that is greater than oneself.
• A sense of interconnectedness with all living creatures, and an awareness of the purpose and meaning of life.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/gl_s1.htm

Attempting to obtain a better understanding of spirituality is not an uncomplicated venture. Generally, religious comparisons are made. The definitions overlap, but there are many differences too. My take is that spirituality is more a formulation of the individual.

Two provide us with their view of spirituality here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roger-...b_1211837.html
http://www.spiritualhumanism.org/for...ron-t4426.html

*Is it a religion? http://www.buddhanet.net/nutshell03.htm

[Gus1234U]

i find it interesting that scientists can re-create the "Out-of-Body" experience, and even identify the area of the brain that increases in activity when the experience is being provoked, BUT they cannot provoke that significant feeling of "Contact" with some greater being or beings, that "Life Altering" shift in subliminal awareness that comes with the natural events.

personally, i believe that our True Existence is not in the merely physical, not in the merely bio-electrical, not in the aggregated experiences that we call Self; but are indeed a multi-dimensional energy continuim which might best be associated with Awareness. This is why i seek to Awaken myself to the true nature of my interaction with others, and the true nature of the Self. at some point an Awakening so awesome that it cannot truely be put into words will happen, and there will be no "I" to describe it.

Praise Buddha for agreeing to stay and teach.

[Maven]

Gus, I think your second paragraph states what I think, only written more eloquently. I don't know for sure, of course, but I think, if there really is an afterlife, that there's not simply death, and then your spirit exits the body and goes on to a new plane. I think perhaps the action you mention in the brain is a pathway to the spiritual plane. I don't think they're necessarily two entirely separate ways to exist, if I'm getting my meaning clear here.

As for spirituality, I know it isn't simply the state of being religious, but I do think it's a religious thing. I don't think an atheist can be spiritual, in the sense of his own beliefs. If atheists are wrong about the existence of God, then they can be spiritual, but not recognize their spirituality. Confused yet?

[Anika.]

Maven I am an atheist, I do not believe in a higher power as in a god, gods, or deities, or any devine being. I am spiritual tho, as are many other atheists, who do recognize their spirituality. Spirituality does not necessarily imply there must be a god like figure. Now I don;t really call myself an atheist, But when it comes down to it that is where I would be categorized.

There are quite a few religions and spiritual belief systems that accept atheism.. Buddhism, Jainism, Neo pagan sects, and some schools of Hinduism to name some.

I may not believe in a god, but I do believe in my being.. my spirit, and yours, Gus's, Di Meliora's... every ones. My spiritual path might not be a common one, I like to mix science, physics, lessons from the earth.. Buddhism, and Hinduism all together. It took me a long time to find my own path, something that felt just right to me. But it is just as valid a spiritual path as believing in a god or deities is.

I hope that makes some sense.

I also happen to believe that no matter which religion you belong to or which spiritual belief system you follow, we all have some common goals, more similar than separated when it comes down to it. It almost seems like we are just speaking different languages but trying to say the same thing.

[di meliora]

Robert C. Solomon, in Spirituality for the Skeptic, says:

Without for a moment denying that spirituality requires thought and thoughtfulness, it nevertheless has everything to do with passion and the passions of life. The fear of death, grief, and despair are not themselves spiritual emotions, but they often serve as preconditions or anticipations of spirituality and can become spiritual as we think about them, as do joy, love, and certain kinds of trust and gratitude. But just as thoughts without feeling do not constitute spirituality, dumb feelings no matter how exhilarating without adequate thought do not either. Spirituality means to me the grand and thoughtful passions of life and a life lived in accordance with those grand thoughts and passions. Spirituality embraces love, trust, reverence, and wisdom, as well as the most terrifying aspects of life, tragedy, and death. Thinking of spirituality just in terms of our terrifying realization of loss of control and impending death is morbid, but thinking of spirituality only in terms of joy or bliss is simple-minded, a way of (not) thinking that is rightly summarized as “la-di-da.” If it is passion that constitutes human spirituality, it must be the whole spectrum of human passions—and thoughtful passions—that we must consider. Thus when I have to summarize naturalized spirituality in a single phrase, it is this: the thoughtful love of life.

Spirituality, I will argue, is ultimately social and global, a sense of ourselves identified with others and the world. But ultimately, spirituality must also be understood in terms of the transformation of the self. It is not just a conclusion, or a vision, or a philosophy that one can try on like a new pair of pants. 1 How we think and feel about ourselves has an impact on who we actually are.The grand thoughts and passions of spirituality do not just move us and inform us, or supplement our already busy day-to-day existence. They change us, make us different kinds of people, different kinds of beings. Thus Hegel insists on the “strenuousness” of the realization of Spirit. Spirituality is a process. The self is a process, and spirituality is the process of transforming the self.

Some brands of spirituality insist on the abandonment of the self. Conversely, I want to say that spirituality is the expansion of the self. Some brands of spirituality focus instead on the soul, that metaphysical nugget at the core of each of our being. To the contrary, the soul is not something fixed and eternal, but is as fluid as our lives are. Nevertheless, the language of soul implies a depth that the language of self does not. A recent book summarizes the whole drift of modern philosophy as a move “From Soul to Self.” 2 Following Hegel and Nietzsche, I would like to explore a reversal of this trend, the transformation of modern self back to something more soul-like in a naturalized spirituality, the thoughtful love of life. http://www.scribd.com/doc/95746223/R...l-Love-of-Life

[happiedasiy]

Originally Posted by Anika.

Maven I am an atheist, I do not believe in a higher power as in a god, gods, or deities, or any devine being. I am spiritual tho, as are many other atheists, who do recognize their spirituality. Spirituality does not necessarily imply there must be a god like figure. Now I don;t really call myself an atheist, But when it comes down to it that is where I would be categorized.

There are quite a few religions and spiritual belief systems that accept atheism.. Buddhism, Jainism, Neo pagan sects, and some schools of Hinduism to name some.

I may not believe in a god, but I do believe in my being.. my spirit, and yours, Gus's, Di Meliora's... every ones. My spiritual path might not be a common one, I like to mix science, physics, lessons from the earth.. Buddhism, and Hinduism all together. It took me a long time to find my own path, something that felt just right to me. But it is just as valid a spiritual path as believing in a god or deities is.

I hope that makes some sense.

I also happen to believe that no matter which religion you belong to or which spiritual belief system you follow, we all have some common goals, more similar than separated when it comes down to it. It almost seems like we are just speaking different languages but trying to say the same thing.

Dear Ankia,
I agree with you. Spirituality in a box, well that does'nt set well with me.
Thank goodness that I live in a time and place that there is personal choice. An abundance of people willing to seek and share how they express what spirituality means to them. PS love your postings!

[Gus1234U]

we are all Holders of the Light~

[Maven]

Thanks for all your comments, but I disagree because I don't define spirituality the same way you apparently do. To me, spirituality is a focus on the soul. I don't think I've ever heard of an atheist who believes in the soul; to believe in the soul, I would think you'd believe in God also. It's fine that you feel as you do and define spirituality the way you do, but this is not how I define it.

[di meliora]

Psych Basics Spirituality

Spirituality means something different to everyone. For some, it's about participating in organized religion: going to church, synagogue, a mosque, etc. For others, it's more personal: Some people get in touch with their spiritual side through private prayer, yoga, meditation, quiet reflection, or even long walks.

Research shows that even skeptics can't stifle the sense that there is something greater than the concrete world we see. As the brain processes sensory experiences, we naturally look for patterns, and then seek out meaning in those patterns. And the phenomenon known as "cognitive dissonance" shows that once we believe in something, we will try to explain away anything that conflicts with it.

Humans can't help but ask big questions—the instinct seems wired in our minds. http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/spirituality

Each of us has a perception of spirituality. Others may not agree with our perception. That is okay.

A review of Robert C Solomon's Spirituality for the Skeptic:The Thoughtful Love of Life states:

But first, a synopsis. Spirituality is wrestled away from religion and naturalized as "the thoughtful love of life" (his "hallmark-card phrase" (ix)). Religion has apparently long seemed largely repellent to Solomon, its history "a horror story" (xiii), its dogmas incredible, its organizations dangerous, its piety stifling to true Spirituality. Instead, he seeks "a nonreligious, noninstitutional, nontheological, nonscriptural, nonexclusive sense of spirituality, one which is not self-righteous, which is not based on Belief, which is not dogmatic, which is not antiscience, which is not other-worldly, which is not uncritical or cultist or kinky." (xii) More positively, Spirituality is both thought and passion:

Spirituality means to me the grand and thoughtful passions of life and a life lived in accordance with those grand thoughts and passions. Spirituality embraces love, trust, reverence, and wisdom, as well as the most terrifying aspects of life, tragedy, and death." (6)

It is a "mode of being" (9) that is an "expansion of the self" (7), a Nietzschean process of self-overcoming and growth, the full rich Good Life for a human being whose only world is this world. http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23215-spirit...-love-of-life/

In my view, defining our own spirituality is the process that allows us to have meaning and purpose in life.

[Anika.]

I have a soul. I am kind of shocked that you got that out of what I wrote. My spirituality focuses on my spirit ..soul. Some atheists do not believe that, some do. We cannot all be painted with the same brush. Its fine for you to believe in god, but it's ok for others to believe they have a soul connected to all life without having a god.

I understand your point of view Maven. I was raised in a chistian home, private christian schools, but it just never felt right for me. I had to find what did, a way to connect my physical being to my soul.

HappyDaisey, aww why thank you, and right back at you. I enjoy your presence here.

[Nihil]

For myself, music and art in general provide a lot of the emotional comfort that most people would ascribe to religion. Moreover, my curiosity about the world is infinite and is the most important thing that keeps me alive- that and what I like to call "life-lust".

[Inedible]

The thing that bothered me the most about Spirituality wasn't God or Spirit. I didn't even really concern myself with the idea of having a Soul. I knew that there was supposed to be a big picture with something going on after I died, but it just wasn't relevant. The problem was that I couldn't tell the difference between Spiritual Growth and just plain growing up. All my friends in grade school seemed to get the memo at once that Santa and the Easter Bunny weren't real. The boys I knew seemed to decide all at once that girls were now acceptable rather than objects of ridicule. Unfortunately, if girls were changing their mind about us boys I just couldn't see it. The problem was that after this nothing seemed to happen. There was no next stage, no growing up. I didn't understand why Santa was fake, but God and Jesus were still real. Anyway, although it was not really something I could clearly identify or measure, it did seem like there was a process of growing up and becoming an adult. Then there was the way some adults were more mature than others. I knew I was supposed to see senior citizens as the most developed and mature, but for the most part I couldn't see it. As for Spirituality, from what I could tell, for the most part it was only working to make people feel better about where it was that they were stuck. When Spirituality did work, though, it looked like the same thing as just plain growing up and becoming more genuinely an adult. There was a meditation program called Holosync that I used, which was designed to take 10 to 12 years. I rushed the process just to ensure that it caused more side effects, to push myself faster. I kept asking them how they could tell the difference between a person using their meditation program for 10 years and a person just becoming 10 years older and more mature. How could they be sure what came from the program and what was going to happen just from being willing to grow up and change over that long of a time frame? They couldn't tell me. The main thing just seemed to be a willingness to be pushed. An acceptance of change. After that the specifics didn't seem to matter. Technique didn't matter. Belief didn't matter. It seemed like different versions of Spirituality were just the stories that people told themselves along the way as life went by. Even Atheists have their own stories and explanations and this no longer seemed to make a difference. As for Agnostics, refusing to choose just seemed to be another kind of choice. So anyway, that was my problem with Spirituality. It feels like somewhere along the way it has been resolved, and by that I mean that it stopped being a problem for me that it looks so much like growing up into an adulthood that is an increasingly genuine adulthood.

[Thunder Bow]

Spiritualality means connection. Have you had any connection with any thing?

[BlueInanna]

Exploring my spirituality has somewhat been the zest of life for me. It seems to keep me ever curious and seeking more.

[happiedasiy]

Originally Posted by Inedible

The thing that bothered me the most about Spirituality wasn't God or Spirit. I didn't even really concern myself with the idea of having a Soul. I knew that there was supposed to be a big picture with something going on after I died, but it just wasn't relevant. The problem was that I couldn't tell the difference between Spiritual Growth and just plain growing up. All my friends in grade school seemed to get the memo at once that Santa and the Easter Bunny weren't real. The boys I knew seemed to decide all at once that girls were now acceptable rather than objects of ridicule. Unfortunately, if girls were changing their mind about us boys I just couldn't see it. The problem was that after this nothing seemed to happen. There was no next stage, no growing up. I didn't understand why Santa was fake, but God and Jesus were still real. Anyway, although it was not really something I could clearly identify or measure, it did seem like there was a process of growing up and becoming an adult. Then there was the way some adults were more mature than others. I knew I was supposed to see senior citizens as the most developed and mature, but for the most part I couldn't see it. As for Spirituality, from what I could tell, for the most part it was only working to make people feel better about where it was that they were stuck. When Spirituality did work, though, it looked like the same thing as just plain growing up and becoming more genuinely an adult. There was a meditation program called Holosync that I used, which was designed to take 10 to 12 years. I rushed the process just to ensure that it caused more side effects, to push myself faster. I kept asking them how they could tell the difference between a person using their meditation program for 10 years and a person just becoming 10 years older and more mature. How could they be sure what came from the program and what was going to happen just from being willing to grow up and change over that long of a time frame? They couldn't tell me. The main thing just seemed to be a willingness to be pushed. An acceptance of change. After that the specifics didn't seem to matter. Technique didn't matter. Belief didn't matter. It seemed like different versions of Spirituality were just the stories that people told themselves along the way as life went by. Even Atheists have their own stories and explanations and this no longer seemed to make a difference. As for Agnostics, refusing to choose just seemed to be another kind of choice. So anyway, that was my problem with Spirituality. It feels like somewhere along the way it has been resolved, and by that I mean that it stopped being a problem for me that it looks so much like growing up into an adulthood that is an increasingly genuine adulthood.

Question,
Does this bring you peace?

[Inedible]

Yes, it does.

It makes it easier for me to learn from all kinds of people - not just the ones I have traditions in common with.

Currently I am reading this book -
Integral Life Practice: A 21st-Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening [Paperback] by Ken Wilber and some co-authors. My local library has it. http://www.amazon.com/Integral-Life-...5955339&sr=1-2 It addresses Spirituality but it does not suggest any one approach or tradition. It is hard to describe.

It is about balanced growth and development, and it says that it can be accomplished in as little as 10 minutes per day. That isn't even a single block of time, but a total.

[Gus1234U]

i would just like to thank 'di meliora' for turning that awesome light of his intellect on this topic, Spirituality, which is often treated with fuzzy, childlike thinking, and not the rigorous and defined terms and concepts which have elicited so many fine posts~!

[Thunder Bow]

Here is a taste of Spiritualality:

http://www.cavalia.net/en/odysseo/videos

[creativelight]

Originally Posted by Anika.

I have a soul. I am kind of shocked that you got that out of what I wrote. My spirituality focuses on my spirit ..soul. Some atheists do not believe that, some do. We cannot all be painted with the same brush. Its fine for you to believe in god, but it's ok for others to believe they have a soul connected to all life without having a god.

I understand your point of view Maven. I was raised in a chistian home, private christian schools, but it just never felt right for me. I had to find what did, a way to connect my physical being to my soul.

HappyDaisey, aww why thank you, and right back at you. I enjoy your presence here.

Funny I was raised in a Christian home and Christian private school as well and my journey was far from what they tried to dictate. Wonder what's the relationship of tHe concepts of religions, spirituality and mental illnesses...

[creativelight]

Oh and for the topic I have to say I love all to do with spirituality. Specially reading the Zohar among other books. I also love reading about metaphysics, gematria and numerology. I find numerology can give you a lot if insight about our purpose in life etc..

[Gus1234U]

i love the parable of the Wild Ox. it compares the mind with an untamed ox. it says that if the ox is not tamed, it will trample the fields and cause damage where ever it goes. but when brought to understanding through unceasing effort, the ox (mind) carries us to awareness. thus it is the mind under the rein of right effort that is the vehicle to Awakening. Aum