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What does it mean to be spiritual?

AbbylovesPits

Stop Pit Prejudice
@ SolDaemon- That is the exact context of "A Waste of TIme Called Church" that the evil of Religion isn't Faith but the rigidness of Organized Religion and its refusal to evolve.
 

HeatherAnn

Active Member
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.
That makes sense, and as you mentioned, everyone has their own definitions for things...
But "a rose by any other name will smell as sweet."

Some may call "liberation from self" the spirit, others "intuition," "God/Higher Power," "higher self," "enlightenment - making subconscious things conscious"... etc.
 

HeatherAnn

Active Member
@ SolDaemon- That is the exact context of "A Waste of TIme Called Church" that the evil of Religion isn't Faith but the rigidness of Organized Religion and its refusal to evolve.
I see what you both mean, and can relate, yet I also can see and experience how church volunteer work every week can be a practical application of spirituality - a convenient opportunity to love and be loved.
 

Gehennaite

Active Member
I'd say it implies an interest in the Creator and things supernatural (afterlife, spirits, transcendence, etc.).
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
:sarcastic

Are you co-opting love and selflessness as necessarily "spiritual", or are you trying to imply that "non-spiritual" people are unloving and selfish?

I was trying to say loving and unselfish people are spiritual to me. And it has nothing much to do with beliefs...an atheist can be spiritual and a theist can be non-spiritual.
 

Michaelpriv

New Member
I generally see "spiritual" used as opposite to "material". People say things like "You only live once" because they consider a person to be his/her body, a material object. Or they say "You are what you eat". In other words, you are your body, an object, which is the sum total of objects it digested. Some people are "firmly grounded", they are "down to earth". These are heavy, arresting, limiting material concepts. Outside of that unhappy domain is the whole beautiful world of the spiritual.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
I find I am using the term "spiritual" less and less as the meaning morphs into neo-hashtag acceptance. To me, it's a label people use to flatter themselves into thinking they are better than other human animals.
 

Straw Dog

Well-Known Member
I find I am using the term "spiritual" less and less as the meaning morphs into neo-hashtag acceptance. To me, it's a label people use to flatter themselves into thinking they are better than other human animals.

Yes, it's a kind of ego-jitsu. It's like labelling oneself to be more humble, more virtuous, more authentic, more 'saved', and/or more 'enlightened' than others. It's another way of saying, "Look at me! I'm alive! I exist! Look how much better I am than them! (Alternatively) Look how great I am in my own way!" Perhaps all is vanity?
 

atanu

Member
Premium Member
Everything, it is a word with no meaning

spiritual

adjective
1.
relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
"I'm responsible for his spiritual welfare"
synonyms: non-material, inner, psychic, psychical, psychological; More
antonyms: physical, material, corporeal, mundane
having a relationship based on a profound level of mental or emotional communion.
"he never forgot his spiritual father"
(of a person) not concerned with material values or pursuits.
2.
relating to religion or religious belief.
"the country's spiritual leader"
synonyms: religious, sacred, divine, holy, non-secular, church, churchly, ecclesiastic, devotional More
 

atanu

Member
Premium Member
In Sanskrit, the equivalent of spiritual is आध्यात्मिक Adhyatmik, which pertains to Atman (non physical-spiritual), as opposed to भौतिक (bhautik) which pertains to material-physical body and world.

And आध्यात्मिक (or spiritual), IMO, is a fundamental word. I do not find anything elitist in it. It is as it is.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I'm just lost when people say, "I'm not religious, but I am spiritual." To be totally honest, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. Seems to me it's a buzz word, but who knows?
 

atanu

Member
Premium Member
I see your point. But I do think that we colour word meanings with our preferences.

Words have their meanings. Spiritual and religious have commonalities yet are not same words. आध्यात्मिक is a specific word in sanskrit that usually is translated to Spiritual.
 

Sha'irullah

رسول الآلهة
I just find it to be colorful language with absolutely no substance and merit. It is just way to ambiguous of a word to mean anything in context of religion
 

DreadFish

Cosmic Vagabond
I dont have much of a problem with the term. To me, when I hear someone use "spiritual" it's just a way of saying they aren't plain materialists and believe that there is more to life than what the mundane stuff we perceive and do on a daily basis. Also, I think it's a way that people try to separate themselves from being a regular person who does material stuff, has worldly goals and desires and doesn't think deeply about life.

When a person gets to a point where such a division is no longer perceived, I guess they'll stop using the term. It's by no means a catch-all term.
 
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