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What is Spiritual?

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?

Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
The best simple definition to me is not the mind but the 'heart'. The sense is like the sense of the expression "get to the heart of the matter". It is tied to the highest levels of love, compassion, understanding, joy and peace.
 

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?

Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?
I think it might mean to believe in the power of Sense.
Also, being able to see the bonds or lack of bonds between different things.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
Spirituality, when it is clearly defined in a meaning that I can support, is actually and by necessity deeply rational.

It has to be, because it is the expression of bold, expansive ethics. And ethics are entirely rational in nature.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?

Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?

Its like having a passion. Say I have a passion for art, poetry, and drawing, dance, etc. What frees my soul.

Its what defines meaning in your life. How you interpret it through whst you value. Holistic feeling ofnwhat relaxes you. What makes you connect with people, your environment, and self.

Its mental and its physical. Its all the above. Nothing "higher". The heart isnt more important than the brain. The brain no more important than the earth. When we connect to our spirit, we are defining what it means to be spirit-ual.

The act of connection.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
The act of connection
The motion of gratitude
The giving of the heart
The wisdom of the mind
The passion of the soul
The act of connection
What makes you human
What makes you alive
Spirituality
Is what makes you whole
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?

Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?

The idea that there is a non-materialistic component to human beings. Something that science cannot evaluate.
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic Bully ☿
Premium Member
Spiritual is that which affects your mind in an altering manner, either positive or negative. In the bible, those who practiced spiritism were called pharmakeus (as is pharmacy--drugs, especially psychoactive drugs.) Drugs can affect your mind, as can greed, hatred, or delusion, collective maaras (mob mentality,) or other practices that induce trance can be called spiritual practices. To contrast, "mindfulness" was likened to the holy spirit by Thich Nhat Hanh, as it does not overcome your mind and cause you to do unmindful, unskillful things.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
To me, a person's spirituality is the manner and extent to which they deal with their psychological self. By psychological self, I mean what is commonly called their ego, "I", consciousness, etc.
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic Bully ☿
Premium Member
To me, a person's spirituality is the manner and extent to which they deal with their psychological self. By psychological self, I mean what is commonly called their ego, "I", consciousness, etc.
I've also heard some people equating superego functions to spirituality.
 

URAVIP2ME

Veteran Member
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?
Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?

We are encouraged to cultivate the fruit of God's spirit listed at Galatians 5:22-23.
Which to me are 'spiritual' aspects to grow in one's personality such as:
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, and self control.
 

URAVIP2ME

Veteran Member
To me, a person's spirituality is the manner and extent to which they deal with their psychological self. By psychological self, I mean what is commonly called their ego, "I", consciousness, etc.

In Scripture, to me at Philippians 2:2-3 a person's spirituality means: being humble, or the opposite of ego "I".
We should have the consciousness to consider others as superior to one's self.- Romans 12:10
 

URAVIP2ME

Veteran Member
Spirituality, when it is clearly defined in a meaning that I can support, is actually and by necessity deeply rational.
It has to be, because it is the expression of bold, expansive ethics. And ethics are entirely rational in nature.

..... and to me, Jesus was 'deeply rational' by his logical reasoning on the old Hebrew Scriptures on which he based his teachings. That is why spiritual Jesus often prefaced his statements by saying, " it is written" or already recorded in the OT.
 

URAVIP2ME

Veteran Member
Going by the definition of spiritual, i would say it's nothing but a delusion.

I am wondering what is considered the definition of spiritual.
Wind is invisible, but Not a delusion. We can see the effects that wind causes or produces.
School spirit is Not active, or activated, until something happens, such as a pep rally to produce school spirit.
A horse is Not a high-spirited horse unless there is action.
So, to me, one's spirit can be stirred up, or roused up, to the point a person can become a spiritual person.
Becoming a spiritual person by the seeing righteous actions cultivated or developed in that person.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
To me, a person's spirituality is the manner and extent to which they deal with their psychological self. By psychological self, I mean what is commonly called their ego, "I", consciousness, etc.


so that would imply what is going on in the mind, awareness of one's good/bad state of consciousness?

do you suppose animals have awareness of their states of consciousness? or the ability to think in abstract forms; such as the writing and posting that we, as posters, are doing now?
 

Jonathan Ainsley Bain

Logical Positivist
What does it mean to be spiritual; if not mental?

Is not Spiritual a state of mind vs a materialistic, or worldly mind?

I take the word at face-value.

It means either believing in or even knowing the existence of the spirit.
So it is all about the knowledge of life beyond physical death.
This reflects into our ethics. When one fully appreciates that we are not
just physical bodies defending our physical turf in a vain attempt to thwart off death,
then one's motives change substantially: from material to emotional goals.
Its not how long one lives that matters, but rather how poetically one lives that counts,
even if that means that one may die more rapidly.

It can also mean that one has contact with non-corporeal spirits, whether departed
from their once living bodies, or otherwise.

Both these ideas normally are part of the same phenomenon, but I suppose it
is feasible to believe in transcendence without actually engaging non-corporeal beings.
 
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