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Please Define "Spiritual"
- Thread starter Nakosis
- Start date
I don't use the term. To me it's just all religion/religious. 
It often seems folks who use the term "spiritual" think religion is icky or think religion doesn't include what they refer to as "spiritual" (except it does).
Edited to add - sorry for the multiple edits if folks caught that; my earlier attempt at wording things was gods awful so I realized nobody would be able to parse what I was saying until it was cleaned up haha.
It often seems folks who use the term "spiritual" think religion is icky or think religion doesn't include what they refer to as "spiritual" (except it does).
Edited to add - sorry for the multiple edits if folks caught that; my earlier attempt at wording things was gods awful so I realized nobody would be able to parse what I was saying until it was cleaned up haha.
mikkel_the_dane
My own religion
Okay, I will first describe that I will not define it, but describe it including my bias in describing it.
Instead of describing what it is to me, I will try to describe in neutral terms, because I consider that better, but that is also a bias in favor of neutral.
In broad terms spiritual is about how we think and feel about what matters. Depending on culture it can be religious, psychological, philosophical or even political as for what really matters. Of course it contrasts in some sense with the everyday life, but even that is still about what matters. Now for how rich it is, than can vary, but that always varies with how much the richness matters.
It even becomes more varied when you look at the individual as a combination of biology, upbringing, culture and individual psychology.
Instead of describing what it is to me, I will try to describe in neutral terms, because I consider that better, but that is also a bias in favor of neutral.
In broad terms spiritual is about how we think and feel about what matters. Depending on culture it can be religious, psychological, philosophical or even political as for what really matters. Of course it contrasts in some sense with the everyday life, but even that is still about what matters. Now for how rich it is, than can vary, but that always varies with how much the richness matters.
It even becomes more varied when you look at the individual as a combination of biology, upbringing, culture and individual psychology.
Audie
Veteran Member
The pictureI have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
I have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
I think of spirituality as something at the center of a Venn diagram between psychology, ethics, and meaning or purpose.
The non reality of the mind
Samael_Khan
Qigong / Yang Style Taijiquan / 7 Star Mantis
I have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
I have been grappling with this myself.
What I can say is that what I consider to be spiritually uplifting is what has a positive impact on me emotionally and intellectually, as I consider those two things to be what makes up a "soul" and consciousness at present. When both of those are nurtured I gain inner peace, clarity of mind, and clarity of a worldview. So spirituality is a very personal experience to me and is guided by what I feel I have an affinity for.
Gargovic Malkav
Well-Known Member
I don't use the term. To me it's just all religion/religious.
It often seems folks who use the term "spiritual" think religion is icky or think religion doesn't include what they refer to as "spiritual" (except it does).
Edited to add - sorry for the multiple edits if folks caught that; my earlier attempt at wording things was gods awful so I realized nobody would be able to parse what I was saying until it was cleaned up haha.
I tend to use the words religious and spiritual interchangeably.
Often I notice when people call themselves "spiritual but not religious", they seem to call themselves such because they associate the word "religion" with organized religion and/or politics, and that their judgment aligns more with what they personally consider more reasonable in contrast to people they consider religious.
I guess religion is more of a collectivist thing to them.
Erebus
Well-Known Member
One usage as I see it would be essentially just another word for supernatural (albeit with generally more positive connotations). Supernatural is an awkward word to pin down itself and I tend to view it as referring to a broad category of things such as ghosts, demons, vampires and so on. If I say that I love horror films but prefer supernatural horror, you probably have at least a rough idea of what I'm talking about.
The second usage is much harder to express. It would refer to the "feel" of a place, being, concept or experience. I'm not sure I can give a precise definition here and would compare it to describing something as art. What makes something art vs not art isn't really quantifiable and different people will make that evaluation in their own way.
Personally, I tend to avoid using the word spiritual in conversation for that reason. It's not something I can easily convey. For the sake of this thread though, I'll do my best to give a better idea of where I'm coming from:
I would describe being in a forest as a spiritual experience for me. You're surrounding by life, death, predator, prey, beauty and decay. It's an experience of the world that demonstrates how artificial much of our day to day lives are.
Spending time in an office block would be the precise opposite of that experience. Timetables, datasheets, job roles, titles and targets are all the kinds of things that seem utterly inconsequential in comparison to the forest.
The second usage is much harder to express. It would refer to the "feel" of a place, being, concept or experience. I'm not sure I can give a precise definition here and would compare it to describing something as art. What makes something art vs not art isn't really quantifiable and different people will make that evaluation in their own way.
Personally, I tend to avoid using the word spiritual in conversation for that reason. It's not something I can easily convey. For the sake of this thread though, I'll do my best to give a better idea of where I'm coming from:
I would describe being in a forest as a spiritual experience for me. You're surrounding by life, death, predator, prey, beauty and decay. It's an experience of the world that demonstrates how artificial much of our day to day lives are.
Spending time in an office block would be the precise opposite of that experience. Timetables, datasheets, job roles, titles and targets are all the kinds of things that seem utterly inconsequential in comparison to the forest.
Spiritual to me means involving levels of reality beyond the physical plane.
dybmh
דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
Spiritual phenomena have 3 defining conditions. When all 3 are true, the phenomena is spiritual.
- Cannot be measured physically
- Unpredictable
- Does not break down over time
It means very little to me, simply because of the wide variance in understanding between people. It's not a word for me that has a lot of utilitarian value. For example, if someone says, "I'm spiritual', my immediate response is 'What the heck is he/she talking about?" I'm also that way with the word 'religious'.
That which relates to the essence of being.
Heyo
Veteran Member
I don't know (and I think most people using don't know either). What I gleaned so far is that it has to do with the belief in the supernatural. It is a somewhat wider term than religious as doesn't have to involve any kind of gods (and is often used as a term in opposition to "religious").I have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
Elihoenai
Well-Known Member
Spiritual is on the Absolute Opposite Spectrum to Sensual. Everybody knows what Sensuality is, since this is what every person on the Planet of 7.9 Billion practices, apart from a Few hundred/thousand Elect.I have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
Sensuality is Left-Hand Path Religion. Sensuality is Elohim/God at its Lowest Form.
Religion is about rules, scriptures, rites and intellectual beliefs. It functions at the level of the personal ego, that structure of life that we all are born with.
Spiritual is about those realities beyond the physical plane that start emerging once the sheath of life called the personal ego starts wearing away.
Spiritual is about those realities beyond the physical plane that start emerging once the sheath of life called the personal ego starts wearing away.
questfortruth
Well-Known Member
non-material is spiritual. For example, Love. Love causes feeling of love.I have my own definition but I'd like to hear from y'all first.
Not really looking for a dictionary definition here. Just what it means to you personally.
Wow. One of my immediate thoughts about people who believe they are spiritual, is ego. This rather illustrates my previous point, which was that its definition/understanding varies widely.
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Gargovic Malkav
Well-Known Member
You think demons aren't spiritual?
I don't use the term. To me it's just all religion/religious.
It often seems folks who use the term "spiritual" think religion is icky or think religion doesn't include what they refer to as "spiritual" (except it does).
Edited to add - sorry for the multiple edits if folks caught that; my earlier attempt at wording things was gods awful so I realized nobody would be able to parse what I was saying until it was cleaned up haha.
What if a person who identifies as spiritual doesn't identify with a specific religion? How can that be religion/religious?