Orbit Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 To avoid derailing other threads, here is a thread to discuss what the word "spirituality" means. Have at it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Would you say a Buddhist is spiritual? Atheist means "no God or Gods." Buddhism has no idea of a creator God such as there is in the West. Some forms of Buddhism are completely atheist. You can use symbols of Gods, such as in Hinduism and not believe these entities exist as some beings outside of yourself. The deities of Tibetan Buddhism are symbols of the enlightened mind. They do not relate to a supreme being as in Christianity. Spiritual to me means to be aware. It need to imply other realms and life after death, although many people do use it that way. It depends on the individual. In modern times the meanings of many words have changed, and are continuing to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 I think this is an excellent question. Thank you Orbit. I've been told by Bhim that you can be a spiritual atheist. How on earth does that work? When I think of spirituality, I think of the spiritual realm, us having spirits and souls, and worshipping a higher power, or becoming one with an entity that is greater than oneself. What does spirituality mean? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask a spiritual atheist, they will point to Sam Harris' book "Waking Up: Spirituality without Religion". I have a copy but haven't read it yet so someone else will have to fill you in on that. I can tell you the basic ideas behind it, though. Atheist spirituality does not include anything supernatural: no spirits, no entities, no deities. It simply refers to practices that produce the same subjective feelings of connection, love, and perhaps awe that religion does--the main point being that religion doesn't own these very human experiences. You can achieve these emotional and psychological states many ways, but the most popular I think is through secular meditation, where you clear your mind and get into deeper touch with yourself, being open to what floats up from your own subconscious. So that's atheist spirituality. In terms of spirituality in general, I see it as the psychological/emotional feeling of connectedness to something greater than one's rational mind, whether it be the universe itself or your own subconscious. Different traditions have different languages and metaphors for talking about it. Much of the language is from religion, which can trigger some people; those people prefer atheist spirituality. The way you get connected can vary from atheist practices to non-Christian (in our context) theistic practices. No one is saying anyone has to use a theistic practice, but this forum is for those who do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orbit Posted November 28, 2014 Author Share Posted November 28, 2014 Does one have to meditate to be spiritual? Or can you simply be in awe of the wonder of the cosmos and its complexity? I don't meditate, but I am in awe of existence and its beauty and complexity. Well, no you don't have to meditate. Pantheists experience awe and reverence for the universe, and that is their form of spirituality. It can take many forms, the main idea is that you have a deep experience of some kind, an experience that we often associate with religion, but which is really just a very human experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furball Posted November 28, 2014 Share Posted November 28, 2014 Spirituality is when a person knows things to be true from their own spiritual experience, and not from what a religion has told them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FreeThinkerNZ Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 IMHO, "spirituality" is a contested term, and no one has a monopoly on defining it. My personal definition is shared with several prominent atheists: “Spirituality is about being awake. It’s the attempt to transcend the mundane, sleepwalking experience of life we all fall into, to tap into the wonder of being a conscious and grateful thing in the midst of an astonishing universe. It doesn’t require religion. Religion can, in fact, and often does, blunt our awareness by substituting false (and dare I say inferior) wonders for real ones. It’s a fine joke on ourselves that most of what we call spirituality is actually about putting ourselves to sleep.” ― Dale McGowan I see spirituality as the awe and wonder I feel about nature and the universe. I don't see spirituality as experience or practices that connect me with anything outside myself. I don't believe there is anything "supernatural", or spirits or forces. The universe simply operates according to the laws of nature. My spiritual feelings are all a product of the chemicals and neurons sloshing about inside my skull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Does one have to meditate to be spiritual? Or can you simply be in awe of the wonder of the cosmos and its complexity? I don't meditate, but I am in awe of existence and its beauty and complexity. No formal meditation practice necessary, but there are many forms of meditation. You could even say that just focusing on something intently is meditation. Rolling over an idea in your head is meditation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikey101 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Would you say a Buddhist is spiritual? Atheist means "no God or Gods." Buddhism has no idea of a creator God such as there is in the West. Some forms of Buddhism are completely atheist. You can use symbols of Gods, such as in Hinduism and not believe these entities exist as some beings outside of yourself. The deities of Tibetan Buddhism are symbols of the enlightened mind. They do not relate to a supreme being as in Christianity. Spiritual to me means to be aware. It need to imply other realms and life after death, although many people do use it that way. It depends on the individual. In modern times the meanings of many words have changed, and are continuing to change. Yes Buddhists are Atheists. I've noticed some people can't seem to comprehend that. They think a religion has to have a God or gods, and when a religion has gods they assume it's the same concept of a god as the Christian god. Religion is very diverse though, it's not all like the negative part we've experienced. I like Thich Nhat Hanh. Spirituality/religion to me is about working on the self... being aware and letting things come up so they can be let go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellinas Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I see spirituality as a journey, not a destination; a process, not a state. It is continuous self-enquiry, the struggle to understand what we are (individually and personally) and our place in this cosmos. There are no rules as to how one goes about this, or what beliefs (if any) may be used as a framework for this. Others may think differently, but that's what makes sense to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I guess I fall into the awe and wonder category, but add to the universe love between humans. I will read tha tbook Waking Up. Sounds like a good one. I admit formalized meditation does sound too much to me like the reading the Bible and prayer disciplines, maybe it iswhat you call triggering, for me. The idea and attempts at it creates the images of not doing it well enough. Whereas a spontaneous awe moment is fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 So I read the book Waking Up by Sam Harris, last evening and a bit this morning. It's really a book on experiences in combination with the new Mindfulness revolution and eastern mysticism without the dogma. Also the idea of self as an illusion, Buddhist thinking I believe that is. Anyway I take away from it that I can see how some others would like that. That thinking's popular now, but I admit I just can't mentally follow that through. It is dogma-free, but of course, since it is about experiences, he is honest about the subjective nature of that space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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