What is spirituality?

To me it would be something where I feel someone cares about me and there's a meaning or purpose for everything that happens.
I used to feel this for a short period of time in the past, not anymore.
Now I practice mindfulness because it helps me not to break down but there absolutely isn't anything spiritual in it for me. Because it doesn't make me feel like someone cares about me and it doesn't give me any sort of hope or meaning. It's just a thing that makes me relax, that's all.
What does spirituality mean to you?

In the Little Prince the Fox has the pertinent answer;
“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

I used to be very involved in church - youth ministry and stuff. I guess I never really believed in God even then, but it provided me with great friends and there were safe things to do. My friends from school were always doing dumb stuff and breaking the law - I was just not into that stuff.

I can remember the night I decided I did not believe in God and had a myriad of questions that could not be answered. The concept of Faith crept into my mind. Seeing is believing but Faith is believing in something you cannot see (belief of the existence of God)

I have always believed that there was some kind order to my life events that guided my path. I find that even more now having a pretty good life virtually in total control of my mental illness (good med cocktail and great psych doc).

To me spirituality is different for many people (a great many just follow like sheep [there is actually the idea of Jesus being the Shepard for his flock of believers]) They are all blindly following doctrine and the bible (I am catholic so that is my point of view for religion) even though the bible is hypocritical a lot.

I think any connection to something bigger than yourself - something that says both that you are not alone and that you are a grain of sand in the universe at the same time is what comprises spiritality.

Something unseen, but very powerful, I think.

I also feel it’s where someone cares about me, and there is a meaning or purpose... I have cptsd and struggle to reconcile some aspects etc with this purpose and meaning. (I hope I’ve understood your post at least somewhat) I’m sending you postive thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

I would say that spirituality is a fairly fluid term and can vary quite significantly from person to person. I have found that what spirituality means to me is very similar to what you mentioned in your post. Mindfulness is a good meaning and can be just as spiritual as the concept of God. Basically, I view spirituality as having an element or practice that take you out of yourself and allows you to see "the other" for a period of time.

[The original face is a term in Zen Buddhism, pointing to the nonduality of subject and object. - Wiki]

… if I am struggling to accept and face up to huge difficulties,
and if the person/ people who I want to care for me are also struggling to accept and face up to huge difficulties...
then it seems to me that both of us have to continually make maximum effort not to despair or spit in each others' faces.

perhaps our efforts to find a more peaceful way, although by nature most of us at the same time give in to self-interest...

perhaps the sum of all the efforts that humans make to be peaceful in their struggles,
that is spirituality.

i acknowledge that my needs are not satisfied in the ideal way that some professionals lead me to be that they should be. perhaps those professionals are themselves limited by greed, just as i am limited by sadness and resentment.

if I only focus on that, then there is a nightmare for me and any people who come into contact with me. we need to practice something that holds the imperfection but which makes possible... all the grains of sand of people making effort. a stranger chose to treat me kindly and with dignity today, and yesterday, and the day before so i let that settle and warm my heart.

if i obsess about my own needs beings satisfied, i need to also practice holding those needs in some way that gives hope to my self and other people.

i've lived with communities that were hopeless and violent. without decency or spirit human communities spiral down quickly just as individuals do. however sad i am about my situation, i know that my own situation will get worse if i go with that downward spiral possible.

working towards courageous action. maybe not everyone's self-interest will be satisfied, but i can't get completely obsessed by that.

Thank you for making this thread, seeker33! I think spirituality relates to something that's above us, something very powerful but invisible at the same time. For many people it's God, for others it could be something else, even something without a specific name. I believe spirituality can be an important part of one person's life. That's just my opinion, though. Sending many hugs to everyone

Thanks everyone. I've read and appreciate all your replies.
I have nothing to add or ask... There's a huge BLANK about this topic in me at the moment... However I'm grateful for your insights.

Sending many hugs to you, seeker33

Spirituality is the ability of one soul to recognize and affirm the other.

This is what spirituality is to me: absolution and being in union with God through prayer. Reading the Bible, and understanding Sermon on the Mount, practicing it out so that I can become a person worthy of heaven and a life there with My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is also being kind to all people, telling some jokes that don't make fun of people, and being the wind. Into the Wild.

Spirituality in a broad sense is something that can be different to all people. Constriction for it shouldn't be in use because each person is unique enough that all DNA is unique, except for identical twins. Everyone has a different brain pattern which means a different way of thinking. No one is even the same as 10 years in the past every 10 years of their lives.

It's not math. But math is what we are all after. In a way like this: adding and subtracting in the duration of your life. Your clothes, shoes, belongings in general, the things you do, the things you say because they are just added to the air as sound and sound never disappears, not even a fraction -- never muted, it just tunes down.

peace, love, and happiness

Spirituality is a deep connection to the Self, others, and the Universe.

First off, we need to recognize that RELIGION and SPIRITUALITY are not one and the same. In fact you need not be one to be the other. You can be incredibly religious yet in no way spiritual.

Spirituality is about one's own connection to and with whatever they consider the Creative spirit to be. That may be prayer. That may be meditation. That may be sitting on the side of a lake or a mountain. That may even be getting excited while considering the beauty of something fabulous occurring in nature, etc. It most definitely is not the necessity of performing some obligation.

No matter the faith, Religion on the other hand is dictated by the dogma and rules of an organised practice.

I am absolutely against organised religion of any kind. I see it as the source for hatred from one people to another. The ironic thing is that most of these warring religions actually share a same or similar moral tenet.

However, I consider myself deeply Spiritual. I have a connection to all things that have miraculously been created. In my own practice, there is nothing more spiritual than to be immersed in nature.

Spirituality is the liberation of the waking mind and connection to the unconscious or higher mind or unknown element present within the psyche. All that dwells in the background of your brain is spiritual because it lives through you independentantly of you and spiritual practice is attuning to its hidden inner workings.

I think spirituality is related to the understanding, the inner knowing, the perception, that we are all part of something greater, something good, regardless of the many things to the contrary which surround us. Spirituality - if you have it - for me, rises above the darkness and provides incentive. Again - in my own perception.

- an awareness of reality/existence beyond the physical body and beyond this physical world...

I understand the concept of spirituality in the literal sense of a soul who can function in spirit out of body, not time-space limited as our bodies are. I do also understand that in common usage, the concept of spirituality can mean righteous or religious people, but I think these attributes are a prerequisite for going to the next stage, functioning beyond physical reality.

Many have an idealistic attitude either to God or to the Bible, Faith and so on.
Maybe I’ll surprise you now, but besides the Spirit, there is nothing on the planet, everything else is just sick fantasies and chewed up with some unclear chewing gum.
Other than the Spirit, there really is nothing at all.
The Spirit is Real and it exists. Everything else is nothing and never has been.

My spirituality has never been consistent. I'll have weeks where I pray a lot but then have months where I don't pray at all!

In my youth, my mom had us attend church 3X a week. I sometimes wonder if not making my children attend church more did them a disservice. Perhaps. Yes, religion, like people has a dark side but religion at its best teaches us to treat others with kindness (treat others as we want to be treated), talks about goodness verses evil, helps us understand that the universe works in ways that we don't can't fathom, and teaches us to have trust that things will all work out for the good if we sow the right seeds (work towards the good)!

From the beginning, I intrinsically understood that everyone has both a good and bad side. I would lie awake at night worrying that I just wasn't a good person. Everyone would wonder why I didn't go done the isle at church volunteering to be baptized--most kids at my church did this around 12 years old. I waited until sixteen because I didn't think I could "walk the walk" and I did it at the spurt of the moment. Even after, I wondered if I sincerely believed and if it was really geniune (if it wasn't--it didn't really count in God's eyes). I probably felt this way because I am a very anxious person through and through!

I do believe there is a higher power (the universe and all its energy) that I don't understand and I would like to believe that that higher power is a loving God. Sometimes I actually feel connected to it but not that often. I also believe in the concept of free will to the extreme. We all have the capacity of good and evil and we will be happier if we develop our goodness and not give into our evil side. That the world is a better place when we are good. Good deed plant "good seeds" that spread happiness around the world and can benefit our ancesters, country and the world for decades and decades. We are not responsible for the sins of our fathers but we are effected by both the sins and grace of our fathers and so is world history!!

My sentiments exactly !

Stay present in the moment and watch my actions or words carefully.My actions or words should not intentionally cause anybody any harm physically or emotionally.After going through firsthand what words or actions caused my intense suffering, I do not want to do that to fellow humans.My spiritual motto....."If you Can't do good,at least don't add any more misery to the world".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiriks Many have an idealistic attitude either to God or to the Bible, Faith and so on. Maybe I’ll surprise you now, but besides the Spirit, there is nothing on the planet, everything else is just sick fantasies and chewed up with some unclear chewing gum. Other than the Spirit, there really is nothing at all. The Spirit is Real and it exists. Everything else is nothing and never has been.

That's pretty much what my husband believes. He follows a spiritual path called "A Course in Miracles."

BethRags, If your husband does not enter into any regalia, secret communities, etc. ... then, in part, what you described in two lines is true. Do not make religious obsessive egocentric pleas from Spirituality. Even your husband may be surprised if I say that the body also does not exist.