How do you Define "Spiritual" and "Spirituality"?

[sayak83]

Thank you Sayak. This gives me an opening to point out further. I agree that Sattwik activities lead to that which is beyond the gunas. However.

As I understand 'adyatmic' is 'spiritual'. And 'adhyatmic' -- that which pertains tp Paramatman-Brahman is beyond mind. Gunas (qualities) are qualities of mind (nature-prakriti). The goal, however, is to transcend or be seer of the gunas of the mind. As an example, I quote from Gita, wherein Shri Krishna advises Arjuna to go beyond the gunas of the mind.



Excellent discussion on this subject from Chapter 14 of Gita can be found in:

Rising Above the Three Gunas - Commentary on the Bhagavadgita - Discourse 41

All activities, by necessity belong to the three qualities. So a spiritual activity has to be of satvik quality. The ultimate effect of the activity is to realize the Self as guna transcending.

 

[atanu]

All activities, by necessity belong to the three qualities. So a spiritual activity has to be of satvik quality. The ultimate effect of the activity is to realize the Self as guna transcending.

Yes.

 

[Milton Platt]

How do you define "spiritual" and/or "spirituality"? Any particular reason you prefer that definition?

Since most everyone defines it differently, it would be prudent to not assign any significance to the word at all. A word with thousands of definitions does not have much descriptive value.

 

[lewismilton]

I tend to use the word "spiritual" in the same way St. Paul employed it in his epistles, since he was the first person to coin the term pneumatikos (spiritual) from the Greek pneuma. This was subsequently translated into Latin as spiritualitas and ultimately English as "spiritual" and "spirituality".

Since Paul effectively came up with the idea, I feel obliged to accept his interpretation.

Here's how he used it:

“The natural (psychikos) man does not accept the things of the Spirit (Pneuma) of God: they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, for they must be judged spiritually. But the spiritual (pneumatikos) man judges all things and is judged by no one"​

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(1 Corinthians 2:14-15)​

The adjective psychikos in the New Testament refers to the psyche that is, the sensual life and the natural, physical body subject to perishableness, death and decay. Pneumatikos by contrast refers to a new, spiritual life that is immaterial in origin check out the meaning at infospiritual, imperishable and not subject to death or decay.

Elsewhere in 1 Corinthians, Paul uses pneumatikos in the sense of the spiritually mature in this world (2:15; 3:1; 14:37; cf. Gal. 6:1). The person who is not pneumatikos is described as being 'fleshly' (sarkinos).

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?

 

[Banach-Tarski Paradox]

I use it pretty much synonymously with terms like religion or worldview.

 

[Spice]

Is it not possible that scientific discovery itself might be a 'spiritual' or 'mystical' experience? Even if it means that the 'spiritual' and the 'mystical' turns out to be nothing more than occasional particular arrangements of the 'physical' and the 'mundane'?

I believe Einstein would agree with this.