I used to think I knew what people meant when they said, "I'm Spiritual, but not Religious". I thought it meant that they did not observe or adhere to a specific Religious doctrine.
It sounds pretty cool, easy going, maybe they commune with nature or something like that... but I looked up Spiritualism and it is a belief in spirits and communicating through mediums with the dead. I'm sure that's not what they mean.
So my question is .. what does that mean when someone says "I'm Spiritual and Not Religious" ? What does it mean to you? Do you ever say it?
It usually means they believe in angels guiding them, dead relatives guiding them, or heaven is really on Jupiter, and it can actually mean to the ones making the claims of "spiritual but not religious" exactly anything that they decide they want it to mean. It has any meaning they desire but they do not go to church.
Keep in mind that "spiritual" and "spiritualism" as 2 separate things.
I think spiritual is also Quasi-religious, as someone on here also said.
Classically, Philosophically speaking....
Spirit derives from the Latin Spiritus which has a more corpreal religious connotation, though linguistically of and related to the Greek term Psyche, refering to mind thought consciousness.
The 5 elements.... Earth Wind Water Fire Spirit.
It is 100% Correct to believe in the manifestation of Spirit/Consciousness. Several Great Philosophers and Great Scientist have spoke on the matter of manifestation.
If you are interested Albert Einstein is a quick and easy source.
It is not to speak of entities, but rather collective consciousness.
Most people are only aware of the dogmatic concepts concerning the term Spirit, not the etymology.
I do believe that the word spiritual is redundant in this day and age ----- yes it does come from the latin " breathe" ……… are spiritual people "full of breath " and non-spiritual people "breathless" its time everyone got honest
You dislike the term for it's religious connotation. Spirit is how they explained the act of consciousness. The manifestation of Consciousness/ Spirit, is very real collectively and individually. Meditation...... ect ect..... in manners of Philosophy and the Arts... Spirit is.
Do not think with your conceptualized knowledge, or your Social Inference. Higher Consciousness, Higher Thinking.
Metapysics exists.
As a person who has studied Linguistics, I think Spirit is an excellent term existing in the English Lexicon.
Someone who enjoys imbibing spirits?
Applies equally to both. Very good. Now if they could only define exactly what a spirit is. . .
@Gatovicolo Thanks! I needed that. I was defining spirits as evoking the (not demonstrated) supernatural components of animals and gods after they are dead imbibing defined as "absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge)" from said supernatural spirits.
Spirituality suggests to me an acknowledgement that there is a spirit world or component of the universe. Even perhaps the sense that one feels that not all of what one experiences can be explained in The Handbook Of Chemistry And Physics. Religiosity on the other hand implies an adherence to a spacific set of doctrines and beliefs and a certain amount of zeel twards those tenants. Spirituality occurs to you from your own observation and exprince where religion is usually told to you be others for their own reasons. It has happened that religions have been founded by individuals around spiritual observations they have had. But these inventions are only imparted to others who don't have the benefit of the origin experiences. And, like many human organisations, can become corrupt machanisms of control and abuse. Notice that religions are never democratic. You serrender your individual spiritual experience to join them.
I choose Number 9.
But, I get tired of having to explain that, so I stay away from using the word spiritual.
Dictionary.com
1: of or relating to, or consisting of spirit; incorporeal.
2: of or relating to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the physical nature:
a spiritual approach to life.
3: closely akin in interests, attitude, outlook, etc.:
the professor's spiritual heir in linguistics.
4: of or relating to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.
5:characterized by or suggesting predominance of the spirit; ethereal or delicately refined:
She is more of a spiritual type than her rowdy brother.
6: of or relating to the spirit as the seat of the moral or religious nature.
7: of or relating to sacred things or matters; religious; devotional; sacred.
8: of or belonging to the church; ecclesiastical:
lords spiritual and temporal.
9: of or relating to the mind or intellect.
Exactly. Too many conflicting definitions makes it meaningless mostly
Somewhere in my limbic brain, or maybe even underneath my consciousness, there is something that is deeply moved when I hear a tenor lift a soaring aria, or when I see a whale breech, or an eagle glide above the surface of a lake. It is what is moved to action when I see a starving child, or a bullied child. It is, in some way, the thing that connects me to others. I don't attribute it to entities or higher powers.
I like this very much.
Spirituality is NOT the same as spiritualism.
Being spiritual simply means that you believe that all things are interconnected and that all things depend upon each other. Think of it as a holistic viewpoint of the universe -- all things either create good or create bad in the universe. Every action has a reaction. No one is an island. We are all responsible for each other. etc.
I think if you ask ten people what they mean by "spiritual," you're likely to get ten different answers. It's a nebulous concept and I think it appeals more to those who tend to eschew labels and definitions. In general, though, I'd say they sort of mean that they have a warm, fuzzy feeling when they think about existence. Beyond that, it might mean that they think/feel all things or life in the universe is connected, that they are in awe of the universe, that they believe in a spiritual realm denuded of religious doctrine, that nature holds some mystical properties, or probably any of dozens of other ideas. It's sort of a "choose your own adventure" of non-doctrinal, quasi-religious belief.
Right, exactly why I'm not selecting that.
I'm a martial artist, and there's sometimes a lot of spirituality there. Sex is also spiritual, but not in any weird mystical sense. Basically any time you congregate with others and share a mutual love of something, coffee, beer, or whatever, or share a deep understanding of something, or even getting out in nature and appreciating it, that's spirituality. It's something that balances the human psyche, or balances the chemicals in our brain.
I'm very spiritual in many ways, but not religious. As a writer I know the difference between fact and fiction, myth and journalism. I appreciate gods as metaphor and myth, and know that magic isn't real. But to be religious you have to believe specific dogma. The very problem with religion in my opinion is that the religious aren't spiritual at all. Reasonable people are much more spiritual, and humane, than the religious, and more rational than those who are into magical, mystical stuff.
I would describe myself as areligious, not agnostic, because gnostic is "knowing." Gods are, by definition, mythical, so to not know if a god exists would be like not knowing if Santa Claus is real. I don't even use athiest to describe myself, as that's a political term, meaning one who does not believe in the official religion of a state. Here in the US, we're officially areligious.
However, Agnostic means "not knowing". Maybe, I'm not following you correctly?
For me spiritual means I believe there is a higher "part" to my being, specifically the part that can choose to do things that my body/brain does not, higher thought, and by aplication of such thought, override the phisical me where I see appropriate. Not religious means for me that I don't/cannot recognise any "Gods" as higher beings and so do not recognise the doctrines attributed to their name or their envoys. Having said that, even the greatest fool has some speck of wisdom learned in their life, so old writings are not to be totally dismissed.
I used to use this phrase to mean that I wasn't sure what I believed, but it wasn't found in organized religion. Like "Higher Power" stuff. After some critical thinking on it, I just realized I was kidding myself and since I didn't really believe in a god, I'm an atheist. It took a little longer to lose concepts like ghosts and demons, but I got there eventually.
It most likely means that they don't believe in organized religion, but do believe there is a God or a soul etc.
My understanding (rather sure there are a host of different definitions) is both "religious" and "spiritual" people have a false perspective of reality as they both accept faith (belief without evidence) based assertions as facts (things that can be demonstrated) Religious (my definition) implies, in addition to faith, an adherence to the dogma of an organized religion.
Each evolves at their own pace, no two paths are the same.
This is part of my path, rabbit hole, I've been down.
Good luck in your pursuit of knowledge.