As I do not believe that any spirits exist, I do not use the word spiritual. Some things are deep or beautifully poignant, yes. Spiritual, No.

I think that a lot of people use the word spiritual to refer to a feeling of being connected to the universe/nature/humanity. The problem for me is that if you don't believe in the supernatural (and I don't) then the word seems vague to the point of being useless. It needs clarification.

I wonder the same thing. I think people are just being sentimental when they say spiritual. I mean they believe the illusion of spirit is real even thoigh its created by sentiment. Spirituality fills a need in human beings, maybe the same way crystal meth fills a need. I don't understand the need, but I know there are many wrong answers

Contradictory.

ANYthing 'spiritual' is just saying " I really do not understand this phenomena but it seems harmless and I will go along with it for the fear involved and I will spread it" This leaves YOU free to define it (As KKGator says) but the definition really needs testing against the real rather than imagined world. Good Luck!

I posted a previous comment in the thread about the meaninglessness of the word...and I am thinking that the discussion has at least illustrated that this word might be one of the most vague words in the English language...but generally a word that has a very positive connotation for many people, except curmudgeons such as myself.

But in light of the discussion I am now declaring myself to be very spiritual. I'm hoping it helps me immensely as a pick up line if nothing else. Until I get serious...then I'll have to fess up I suppose....

Spiritual can mean any damned thing you want it to be. I don't worry coz I have Casper the Friendly Ghost. You cannot see him.

Great question!

If you pull out a thesaurus, you’ll find plenty of synonyms for “spiritual” that have nothing to do with religion, the supernatural or souls et al. “Spirituality” is an individual practice - having something to do with their journey inward - for peace, meaning of life/purpose, essence and or bliss. Some people simply don’t have a better word to convey this practice - so big whoop - they use spiritual, and it’s perfectly FINE. Critics of this have a choice - you can judge those people from atop your grammar nazi pedestal, or become curious and get to know them/their journey. Pretty simple.

I believe spirituality mean what an individual wants it to mean, and for the religious person, it is most often associated with their religious belief - sometimes excluding the religious beliefs of others. Plenty of misunderstandings occur from using this term because its definition can vary significantly. For this reason, I tend to avoid using the term in place of others that have meaning nearly everyone agrees on.

As for belief in spirits but not God, I believe Scientology believes in a spirit which is immortal but leaves belief in God up to individual members (so long as they don't contradict their guru Hubbard). We may not want to consider a real religion. Imo, valid arguments can be made against its classificaton as such.

religious would mean following a set religion. even a more loose religion is still “religious.” spiritual is having belief in something spiritual without following any particular belief system. like a general “i believe there’s something supernatural/spiritual in the world but i don’t know/think we can know what it is.” i’m not spiritual, but this is what i’ve learned from people who claim the label.

The word spiritual is not necessary confined to disembodied ghosts. Sometimes the word spiritual is a synonym of mental. It is the power of thought, the power of the mind. The brain is part of the physical body, but thoughts are not physical. They are "spiritual." Of course, the spiritual mind cannot exist without a physical brain. Therefore, there is no such thing as a disembodied spirit.

So, a person can be nonreligious, but be spiritual in the sense that he/she focuses on the mind more than the body.