What does it mean to be spiritual?

[Sha'irullah]

I hear this phrase so many times and even someone I used to respect like Idris Elba used this word. When a person states they are spiritual I know very well they are spiritual because they are breathing and seem alive. What has occurred to the word spirit in order for it to be used so wrongly and be applied to matters that make no sense in religious claims.

 

[Sees]

spiritual is the new philosophical

 

[Pegg]

it will likely mean different things to different people. To me, it means being able to see and view things from Gods viewpoint. Only when we bring our thinking into harmony with Gods views can we claim to be spiritually minded.

So in other words, spirituality must be based on spiritual things.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

To have a preoccupation with things that cause awe, such as the Grand Canyon.

 

[Sha'irullah]

To have a preoccupation with things that cause awe, such as the Grand Canyon.

Or Burt Reynolds .

It seems to me that Spiritualism is just a bad case for being a liberal theist

 

[Jainarayan]

I hear this phrase so many times and even someone I used to respect like Idris Elba used this word. When a person states they are spiritual I know very well they are spiritual because they are breathing and seem alive. What has occurred to the word spirit in order for it to be used so wrongly and be applied to matters that make no sense in religious claims.

I always thought of spiritual as believing something greater than ourselves exists as a living entity, that we and all of creation are part of it, but it isn't necessarily a "God".

Btw, why did you used to respect Idris Elba? I take it that you no longer do for some reason? Just curious.

 

[Willamena]

I hear this phrase so many times and even someone I used to respect like Idris Elba used this word. When a person states they are spiritual I know very well they are spiritual because they are breathing and seem alive. What has occurred to the word spirit in order for it to be used so wrongly and be applied to matters that make no sense in religious claims.

What is wrong about it?

 

[Quintessence]

spiritual is the new philosophical

I don't know. I think a more accurate comparison would be that "spiritual" is the new religious. For reasons I still don't understand - well, technically I understand them I just strongly disagree with them - many people have trended towards using that word instead of the more proper word to describe their activities.

 

[LuisDantas]

Or Burt Reynolds .

It seems to me that Spiritualism is just a bad case for being a liberal theist

To me, it seems to be basically an attempt at seeking mutual acceptance and feelings of fraternity at the expense of... pretty much all objective facts, really.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

it will likely mean different things to different people. To me, it means being able to see and view things from Gods viewpoint. Only when we bring our thinking into harmony with Gods views can we claim to be spiritually minded.

So in other words, spirituality must be based on spiritual things.

Circular explanation is circular because it's circular.

 

[sandandfoam]

I wouldn't say I'm spiritual because I think it sounds affected.
I have no problem saying I'm religious.
No doubt that says something about me.

 

[Sunstone]

I hear this phrase so many times and even someone I used to respect like Idris Elba used this word. When a person states they are spiritual I know very well they are spiritual because they are breathing and seem alive. What has occurred to the word spirit in order for it to be used so wrongly and be applied to matters that make no sense in religious claims.

Everyone has their own definition for such words. I myself prefer a take based on something Einstein said: “The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.” And, to me, the measure and sense in which he has attained liberation from the self is his spirituality.

 

[LuisDantas]

I wouldn't say I'm spiritual because I think it sounds affected.
I have no problem saying I'm religious.
No doubt that says something about me.

Yes. That you value honesty and straightforwardness.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

When people say they are "spiritual," I find that it is usually an affectation used to convey their preferred sense of aesthetics.

 

[Sha'irullah]

I always thought of spiritual as believing something greater than ourselves exists as a living entity, that we and all of creation are part of it, but it isn't necessarily a "God".

Btw, why did you used to respect Idris Elba? I take it that you no longer do for some reason? Just curious.

Ever since he appeared on Oprah and claimed to be "spiritual" and supernaturally sense emotions I cannot stomach him. I dislike people who ruin the gene pool so due to this I hate Oprah and anyone who promotes her.

 

[Sha'irullah]

What is wrong about it?

Everything, it is a word with no meaning

 

[Jainarayan]

Ever since he appeared on Oprah and claimed to be "spiritual" and supernaturally sense emotions I cannot stomach him. I dislike people who ruin the gene pool so due to this I hate Oprah and anyone who promotes her.

Ok, I gotcha... he got New Age-y.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Ok, I gotcha... he got New Age-y.

I blame Deepak Chopra for a lot of this also as he and Oprah helped push this even further into the limelight along with Michael Beckwith and his New Thoughtism.

 

[AbbylovesPits]

Don't know where my friend got it from but as of right now She and I believe are the only ones to read it. I have always viewed myself as a spiritual person but what I am gathering is What is truly preferred from A god "Good Works" or "Worship" ? Cant seem to shake the idea that God cares nothing about our beliefs and only how we treat each other.

 

[SoulDaemon]

I have an example, my mother said this when we talked about religious stuff:

"I do not feel at home in a church or care much for the bible, christian God (personified) is not for me, but when i'm in nature and walk in the woods collecting berries, fishing or just sitting and watching, maybe making coffee with a pot on a fire, I feel that God is all around and in me."

I think that is spirituality, at least damn close, and what I understood, even though she used the word God, it was something more that flows through everything and everyone. Something bigger that she didn't need to explain more, it just is.

In a way we all are spiritual, we all have something spiritual inside ourselves and in our life, whatever it may be. Something that just is and doesn't need to be explained thoroughly.

But all in all, it's a very poor word for the true meaning of the thing. It lacks grandeur, bigness. First describing it and then saying "that's spirituality." is like filling a tyre and then sticking a knife into it .