What is Spirituality?
Today I was reading through some definitions of "Humanism" online, and I found them strangely hollow. Of course, there are many different kinds of humanists, including religious humanists and secular humanists. But I found it strange that within the definition of humanism there was no reference to anything spiritual. The definitions had a tilt that focused on what is this-worldly, and more specifically, things that are observable and objective. I found in the definition a strange focus on action that somewhat puzzles me.
I started thinking about what spirituality is, and what it is not, and how I would define it.
Spirituality is not the same as believing in the supernatural. There need not be a belief in God, or angels, or an eternal soul. But a spiritual orientation does imply the belief that there are human experiences that cannot be reduced to physical explanations. Human experiences must be interpreted as they are experienced, subjectively and holistically, in order to be understood. A spiritual outlook requires asserting the primacy of experience over physical explanations of the human condition.
Spirituality is not the same as morality. It is possible to be moral without having any significant spirituality. However it is spirituality that takes pleasure at the sight of moral actions being performed, and that finds displeasure in immoral action. Morality is focused on the implications of our actions on others. Spirituality is concerned with how we stand with ourselves. I can be spiritual without acting on any other person; I can be spiritual within the quiet of my own mind.
Essentially, I think spirituality is a faculty. Like any faculty, it can grow stronger with exercise or fade with neglect. Spirituality is a faculty that includes a capacity for satisfaction or dissatisfaction. What is unusual about our spiritual faculty is that our sense of spiritual satisfaction and dissatisfaction often has little to do with what happens to ourselves as persons. Our spiritual faculty is more oriented to our psychic connections outside of ourselves - people we care about, our hopes, our beliefs, our percepion of beauty.
It is possible to have an experience and have it be spiritually devoid; and it is possible to have the same experience (to external appearances) and have it be spiritually rich. Therefore the weight of the spirit cannot be measured by observable action. Yet each of us has the intuitive ability to feel its weight.
I started thinking about what spirituality is, and what it is not, and how I would define it.
Spirituality is not the same as believing in the supernatural. There need not be a belief in God, or angels, or an eternal soul. But a spiritual orientation does imply the belief that there are human experiences that cannot be reduced to physical explanations. Human experiences must be interpreted as they are experienced, subjectively and holistically, in order to be understood. A spiritual outlook requires asserting the primacy of experience over physical explanations of the human condition.
Spirituality is not the same as morality. It is possible to be moral without having any significant spirituality. However it is spirituality that takes pleasure at the sight of moral actions being performed, and that finds displeasure in immoral action. Morality is focused on the implications of our actions on others. Spirituality is concerned with how we stand with ourselves. I can be spiritual without acting on any other person; I can be spiritual within the quiet of my own mind.
Essentially, I think spirituality is a faculty. Like any faculty, it can grow stronger with exercise or fade with neglect. Spirituality is a faculty that includes a capacity for satisfaction or dissatisfaction. What is unusual about our spiritual faculty is that our sense of spiritual satisfaction and dissatisfaction often has little to do with what happens to ourselves as persons. Our spiritual faculty is more oriented to our psychic connections outside of ourselves - people we care about, our hopes, our beliefs, our percepion of beauty.
It is possible to have an experience and have it be spiritually devoid; and it is possible to have the same experience (to external appearances) and have it be spiritually rich. Therefore the weight of the spirit cannot be measured by observable action. Yet each of us has the intuitive ability to feel its weight.
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