As an atheist since age 13, hiking is a transcendent, spiritual experience for me.

I feel grounded, centered and blissful high in the mountains.

This has nothing to do with an invisible god.

Does it really matter what people think about what they are or believe in as long as they don't hurt anyone els or try to convince others by force to believe. I think we can all co exist if we give each other space to ponder upon worlds mysteries.

Welcome to the asylum. Enjoy your stay.

We now live in an age where many people make up their own definitions for words and concepts.
Labels are wholly subjective.
Most people feel compelled to place labels on both themselves, and others.
While the dictionary definitions should be definitive, they no longer are.

If you're going to "struggle" with what other people call themselves, or want to call you,
or what you want to call yourself, you are just making your life harder.
It shouldn't matter what anyone else wants to label you as.
The ONLY thing that should matter is what you think of yourself.
Figure that out, and you're golden.

Spiritual, from my understanding, is related to your emotional state, etc.

And since when is pigeonholing people your job,or even any of your business? Labeling is UNATTRACTIVE, at best. And many you mention are on the journey we all went on to get here, except I guess you.....oh, and describing how a Brain Tumor changed your MIL's personality (not to mention the stress of knowing she was dying...) means what, exactly? Really?

I really don't give a rat's ass on what people want to label themselves, as long as they don't bother me or try to proselytize me to join them on whatever the fuck they want to believe, I basically live and let live.

In his book, Demon-Haunted World, Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan observed:
“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

it might be more woo but WTF do you care live and let live if someone wants to say they are spiritual or green or from mars if they don't try and convert you who the fuck cares

some of you think to fucking much and stress over nothing get over yourselves

When our ancetors observed a death, something did leave the body upon death... Life left the body... Because the brain ceased to function... And we now know the brain and mind are the same as you say here...

The thing is, our ancestors didn't have the word "mind" in their language... But they did have the word "spirit" which means "mind."

So to be spiritual means to be mindful...
I am spiritual... I am mindful...

Strange that people get more concerned with semantics than getting on with life!

To be spiritually aware is to realize that the world of our everyday experience is only symbolic, an imaginary model of ultimate reality beyond. Typically such realization brings profound wonder and awe along with appreciation and reverence.

“Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious.” Albert Einstein

That's the beauty of not being tied to a religion...is not being forced to accept the whole package of that said religion. When you are free of a religion, you can freely believe in whatever you want to believe, or suspect to believe, or think to believe without any guilt or worrying about your fellow religious brethren finding out or feeling like a heathen for not accepting all of your religion.

Not having a religion is easy... If you can't "believe" whatever element it is, .....don't. If you don't believe in "spiritual"... then don't....but thank you for asking why others believe in spirituality.

Since you're asking, I believe living things consist of 2 parts, their physical and non physical ( I guess you could say spiritual or call it life). With logical reasoning and observation.. every living thing is a little different from the other in personality or behavior even if they seem physically almost identical ( maybe except single celled organisms ), The part whether they "live on" is questionable so I don't quite believe that. Sounds like that part is more like a "santa clause" or "heaven" caveat story where you should be good" just in case".

I think for some, that "spirituality" doesn't mean a higher being. More like say when meditating, you get in touch with yourself of sorts. You know you are essentially talking to your self, but in a more serene sense. Perhaps that clarity can be a "Spiritual" feeling.

I feel a whole lot more "spiritual', whatever that is , when I'm not so fucking tired

I think I'm quoting W. C. Fields here:

"The only remedy for a spirited woman is spirited drink."

I also have a negative reaction toward the word "spiritual", but that's a Jungian prejudice which sees spiritual pursuits as ultimately puer driven and escapist in nature. But I have no trouble acknowledging a dimension of meaning that does not revolve around rational analysis. I believe human experience is way too rich to shoe horn into a purely rational approach. It has its place of course as a useful tool but I think it best not to identify with or over emphasize that too much as the culture already pushes us in that direction. The intuitive mind is often neglected, sacrificing creativity. What I prefer is balance.

The American Jungian James Hillman made an important distinction between the spiritual and the soul. Spiritual quests are about rising above it all, gaining perspective and detachment. Soul is about sinking into the depths to respect and engage with what we find there, a more grounded endeavor. I aspire to be a soul man. But note that soul in this sense has no Christian connotation whatsoever.

Welcome to the site, I'll just have to agree with Hankster and Jolanta.

To me being Spiritual is the connection I have with my fellow mankind! I think of it as the link that binds us with others such as friends and family! A sense of belonging. If I don't have a connection with anyone and being alone I am sad, I don't feel very spiritual.
So being Spiritual is not a religion thing to me just a connection with people!

Spiritual is a feeling of oneness with the universe. Done.

I am proposing that the word “spiritual” gets a third definition in the dictionary, one that disconnects it from a religious connotation, and there is a group in this website created just for that purpose. It is called: SPIRITUAL: A Third Definition. You may want to check it out and join in the effort. The idea is to formalize something that occurs already, which is the use of the word “spiritual” by non religious people, to define themselves or to describe themselves.

I would rely less an a dictionary for the uses of word and more on the people using them. Otherwise you just talk pass one another.

It’s important not to throw the baby out with the bath water here. I know plenty of people like what you describe and I would not discount them on the mere fact that they state they are ‘spiritual’.

Go to a High school pep rally. They have Team Spirit. They are motivated for their football team to win the game.

This team Spirit is NOT about worship of the non-existent flying spaghetti monster sky God. This spirit has nothing to do with eating pasta in the sky with meatballs.

Very well stated. I completely agree. Saying you're atheist or agnostic and then saying you're spiritual is oxymoronic. Pick one. If there is such thing as a spirit, then why haven't one of the kagillion cell phones recorded one, like traipsing thru a cemetery at night? C'mon, that is nonsense people chose to believe coz they can't accept their own mortality.

I can agree in advance. Being "spiritual" can mean anything that you want it to mean. It has nothing to do with logic or evidence.

Reliance upon false xian Webster definitions has you locked in a box without empathy and the false presumption the gawd sound is an actual word to be denied or dis-believed.....spirit means breath of life in common usage..... instincts are observed in lower animals and in primates memory cane be alleged inherited especially bodu memories of skills athletic abilities aristic talent s musical compositions mimics harmonics in othe species.....none of this makes bible lies true or alleged vaginal virgins birthing alleged baby gawds every midnight December 24-25 in dirty donkey stables....expand your possibilities and doubt your false definitions if you want to lezrn from your Atheist elders and pass on freedom from theocracy to future Atheists