What is Spirituality

espinolman

I dont know what the word spirituality means , i have tried to find out many times, in dictionaries the word is defined in terms of itself so i never find out what people are talking about when they say spirituality.

Oryx

You will find lots of information here, the best place to start is the sticky above on new age spirituality. It has lots to say.

For me, the essence of spirituality is recognising that there is a higher power at work in life. People give that higher power many identities: God, Angels, Spirit, Light.... but to me it all comes back to the same thing. A greater divinity outside of, but part of and uniting each individual soul.

In a personal sense, spirituality means seeing yourself as beyond the body you are in, as a being of spirit. Its about examining your own life and meaning and developing who you are. Also developing your capacity to recognise the divine light in yourself and in others, and to love and be loved by others. That may sound very religious, but to me spirituality is something that underlies religion, but is non religious in itself.

sanncoo3

Hi KtK

What a great post!

Sapien

I think there is a broader understanding of spirituality to be had than that which KtK describes.

One need not think of the Universe as being ordered in a hierarchy of "powers" to make sense of spirituality. Rather, spiritual experiences involve a sense that reality extends beyond that which we can personally perceive. Humility, I think, is at the heart of most (though not all) varieties of spiritual experience, but it does not necessarily spring from the idea that there is someone greater than ourselves - rather that nature itself is greater than we may ever be able to fully comprehend.

Spiritual experiences tend to be those that give us a sense of being conceptually lost - intellectually stranded within the vast possibilities of nature. Such experiences are most easily reached by contemplation of the notion of an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent god; but can also arise from contemplation of the Universe as it appears, on all scales, from the prevailing theories of science.

Awe, however it is inspired, is the underlying emotion upon which spirituality relies. I cannot think of any worldview, paradigm or frame of thought that precludes a feeling of awe - be it science, faith, or anything in between. To define spirituality any further than that is to designate it as a mere province of religion, which, in turn, is to accuse non-religionists on being incapable of a whole species of innately and inherently human sensation.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

For me, it's the belief that the higher power is internal, as opposed to religion whcih preaches to an external God. Put simply.

Spirtual experiences are the ones that we feel deep inside the heart as opposed to merely being registered by the senses.

Sounds a bit like a dictionary, but it's the basic idea in a nutshell. As to how to contact or fell the inner self, now that;s when you need to reach for the stickies!

espinolman

I think that mankind has spirituallity confused to a degree with materialism, you mention "divine light" , light is a thing , a material thing or created thing that someone created. A person can create light or energy but that does not mean he is what he creates. I have heard a lot that we are "light beings" or things like we came from the sun but these are created things. You could create a star and cause that star to shine for eons but that does not mean you are the energy and the light you would be creating.