What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
- JackDaydream
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What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
'Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality and religion. They realise that having a belief system- a set of thoughts that you regard as the absolute truth- does not make you spiritual no matter what the nature of those beliefs is'.
Here, he is pointing to spirituality as something beyond a specific set of beliefs.
One writer, Bradley P. Holt, in, 'A Brief History of Christianity' said,
' "Spirituality" ---this ambiguous, six syllable term is new to many and objectionable to some. Although it is a clumsy word, it is used so much because it is seems to do a task that no other word does. "Religion" for many implies for personal involvement. "Spirituality" is a
trans-religious word; it is not tied to one single faith. Thus one can speak of Hindu or Muslim spirituality not rooted in a particular religion.'
Religions are organized and bound up with the social aspects of religious observances whereas spirituality can be in such contexts or outside of them as an aspect of searching for 'truth'. It doesn't have to go hand in hand with belief in a particular worldview or with belief in God. The 'new atheist', Sam Harris, argued for an approach to spirituality independently of belief in God.
So, in this thread I am asking you about the idea of spirituality and its connection to religion. Do you find the term spirituality helpful or not in navigating your way around belief systems or philosophy?
I am coming from a general interest in the philosophy of religion and comparative religion. I do not consider myself as a theist or atheist, but juggle the whole complex area, to the point where if I am filling in a form where it asks 'Religion', I often tick the 'other' box. I do sometimes, in conversation say that I am interested in 'spirituality' because that is a fairly fluid term. I am also interested in the whole development of religious outlooks in relation to spirituality, including the Buddhist perspective, which is not based on a belief in a deity, unlike the Judaeo-Christian tradition.
It gets fairly complicated here because there may be some overlaps between the ideas about spirituality in these perspectives. So, I am asking you about this area as a basis for reflection, and how you see your own belief or lack of beliefs in relation to the idea of religion or spirituality.
- Leontiskos
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
These are modern understandings, for in antiquity religion was much more encompassing, and included what we now refer to as spirituality.
Socrates: He's like that, Hippias, not refined. He's garbage, he cares about nothing but the truth.
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
It is the belief that the transcendental exists and that we have the mental faculty to connect to it.Dr. Maya Spencer wrote:Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.
Spirituality is one of the two pillars of religion along with its moral theory, which is the second pillar of religion.Wikipedia on "spirituality" wrote: This may involve belief in a supernatural realm beyond the ordinarily observable world,[12] personal growth,[13] a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning,[14] religious experience,[15] or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension".[16]
Without spirituality, no religion.Wikipedia on "religion" wrote: Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements.
Without moral theory, no religion.
Spirituality is a direct connection between our natural predisposition, intuition, and instinct to the transcendental, while the moral theory is governed by rationality.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
I guess that my own understanding of religion is based more on the 'more encompassing', including spirituality. That was how it appeared to me when being brought up as a Catholic. It was only when, as a teenager and beyond, I began to see the various other worldviews and began questioning my own upbringing.Leontiskos wrote: ↑May 13th, 2022, 10:41 pm These aren't proper definitions, but it seems to me that talk of spirituality refers to an anthropological reality (the operation of the human "spirit") or a super-human reality that is understood to empower the human being (Spirit/spirits). Religion refers to an order and the way that one is brought into right relation with that order, and is not specifically concerned with the operation of spiritual faculties or empowerment by super-human spiritual realities.
These are modern understandings, for in antiquity religion was much more encompassing, and included what we now refer to as spirituality.
Apart from different potential definitions of both the idea of spirituality and religion, the terms also have emotional associations. In some ways, the concept of religion has some negative meanings based on a lot of hypocrisy. However, I had first come across that approach within Christianity, in the account of Jesus condemning the hollow, falseness of the Pharisees. I am aware of some Christians who dislike the term religious.
With spirituality, some people regard as rather 'wishy washy' and based on 'new age' ideas, which are probably out of date now for many. If anything, it may be that many experience a void of confusion, without any certainty of anything. Even within philosophy there is a lot of skepticism, and lack of certainty.
It also comes into the way people live because often beliefs about religion and spirituality were at the centre of everything, including a basis for ethics. One particular problem may have been that the Christian spiritual tradition emphasised asceticism and the ideas stemming from Paul's teachings had too great an emphasis on perfection, with the idea of a reward in heaven. This may have spoilt the understanding of spirituality. I am aware of many Catholics who changed to other traditions, especially Buddhism, because it is more about than in an afterlife. Also, there is some authoritarianism in mainstream religion, so the idea of spirituality may be more about the idea of seeking rather than adhering to doctrines and participating in rituals.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
It may be that without spirituality and perspectives on ethics religious traditions would not have emerged as they did, because these were all interconnected. But, it may be that in the current age of plurality of ideas all of this has become broken down. Many see religious ideas as being opposed to rationality, especially in the context of science. However, I am not convinced that religion or spirituality are in complete decline throughout the world. But it is complex, with some clinging to religious ideas, including fundamentalist ones and others exploring many ideas and some just lost in the debris of the decaying ideas and ideals of both religion and spirituality.heracleitos wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 2:50 amIt is the belief that the transcendental exists and that we have the mental faculty to connect to it.Dr. Maya Spencer wrote:Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.
Spirituality is one of the two pillars of religion along with its moral theory, which is the second pillar of religion.Wikipedia on "spirituality" wrote: This may involve belief in a supernatural realm beyond the ordinarily observable world,[12] personal growth,[13] a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning,[14] religious experience,[15] or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension".[16]
Without spirituality, no religion.Wikipedia on "religion" wrote: Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, transcendental, and spiritual elements.
Without moral theory, no religion.
Spirituality is a direct connection between our natural predisposition, intuition, and instinct to the transcendental, while the moral theory is governed by rationality.
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
The law is fairly black and white, don't kill, cheat, steal etc. Spirituality obeys all the laws, but spirituality takes you above and beyond the Law, it hangs on voluntary acts of kindness, the Golden Rule, loving your neighbour as you love yourself. When you act in the ways of the Golden Rule; you almost don't need the law, because you are voluntarily doing more than the law requires of you. Acting in the spirit of the law is a profound subject.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am Many see religious ideas as being opposed to rationality, especially in the context of science.
Romans 7:6
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 8:2
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
I would not dismiss the idea of the golden rule or morality but I am not sure spirituality is simply about that. When I was a teenager I tried thinking of it like that and I found that I became a rather shallow do-gooder. It may be about looking for some kind of happiness, which can involve aspects of outer and inner life. Religion can involve community life, which can be about connecting with others. However, it depends partly on who one happens to meet. The reality of neighbours or social connections is important but it is also about deeper questioning, and even needing a philosophy site in order to discuss what matters in life.EricPH wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 2:58 pmThe law is fairly black and white, don't kill, cheat, steal etc. Spirituality obeys all the laws, but spirituality takes you above and beyond the Law, it hangs on voluntary acts of kindness, the Golden Rule, loving your neighbour as you love yourself. When you act in the ways of the Golden Rule; you almost don't need the law, because you are voluntarily doing more than the law requires of you. Acting in the spirit of the law is a profound subject.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am Many see religious ideas as being opposed to rationality, especially in the context of science.
Romans 7:6
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 8:2
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
- Angelo Cannata
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
My personal website is entirely dedicated to spirituality and I have written a detailed article about the definition of spirituality.
In short, the result of my research is that the best definition of spirituality is “Inner life”. It is the final result after examining the research already done about this topic and a critical analysis of how some dictionaries define spirituality.
Most probably, at first sight, the definition “Inner life” seems too short and including everything, but actually it can be analyzed and it can prove useful for best further research.
I think that today the best way to do philosophy is converting it to spirituality; the alternative that I see, practiced by most philosophers, is an attempt to make philosophy as exact as possible, but this means that they are going to convert philosophy to a kind of science. I don’t think that this direction is going to be productive: it is just an imitation of science, with an additional attention to meta-questions.
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
To my way of thinking, Dr. Spencer has the best definition. "Recognition of a feeling" seems exactly right as spirituality is a feeling, that has to be recognized by a mind capable of knowing emotion and letting that emotion manifest into spirituality.heracleitos wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 2:50 amDr. Maya Spencer wrote:Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.
Spirituality is related to religion because religion is the discipline that studies emotion.
Gee
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
That opposition reflects a misunderstanding of both religion and science. The ideology of scientism is itself very much in opposition to science. When someone like Fauci says "I am science", he denies the true nature of justification in science, which is experimental testing, and not Fauci's own word salads.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am Many see religious ideas as being opposed to rationality, especially in the context of science.
Religion is in decline only in the West, which is merely one billion people out of eight billion. In the rest of the world, religion is going strong. Furthermore, western civilization is now in its terminal phase. It is clearly about to collapse.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am However, I am not convinced that religion or spirituality are in complete decline throughout the world.
As Nassim Taleb so beautifully wrote in, "The most intolerant wins. Dictatorship of a small minority.", most people do not really choose. Instead, they find themselves renormalized by a small minority. Without a hardcore kernel of staunch believers, a religion decays.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am But it is complex, with some clinging to religious ideas, including fundamentalist ones
This is the case for every abstract idea with network effects, not just religion.
At the core of Linux, you will also find a hardcore of intolerant extremists. At the core of Bitcoin too. In my opinion, the extremists and staunch fundamentalists are necessary to keeping the idea afloat.
I am not an extremist myself. However, I am the first one to admit that I handsomely benefit from extremism. Without extremists, I would have serious doubts about the viability of the idea at hand.
The extremists are also needed to protect the idea from the ruling mafia. All respect is ultimately based on the fear for reprisals. If the ruling mafia attacks, they know that vicious reprisals and retaliations are on their way. This principle is obviously necessary to keep the ruling mafia at bay. The ruling mafia must at all times be kept licking their wounds.
They generally fail to establish a clear consensus, or to defend it. Therefore, their attempts almost always lack credibility.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am others exploring many ideas and some just lost in the debris of the decaying ideas and ideals of both religion and spirituality.
It is Darwinian out there. Their resolve will be tested, and we will be watching how they respond and rise to the challenge. If they do not have what it takes, then I will not be interested in joining a dead-end idea.
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
If you help an elderly sick neighbour with his shopping, what is more important to him?JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 3:51 pm [quote The reality of neighbours or social connections is important but it is also about deeper questioning, and even needing a philosophy site in order to discuss what matters in life.
That you do the shopping.
Or you only talk about his shopping on a philosophy site.
Philosophy might help us understand what kindness is. But I believe spirituality is about doing acts of kindness and our connection with other people.
- Angelo Cannata
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
This has been a huge problem of all times, even in the Bible Paul and James have opposite views. Even Jesus has opposite words about this. I think that everyone should find their own best balance, between inner life and external activities, while continuously working on it to avoid hypocrisy. I think that spirituality is this kind of work, that in other words is self-criticism. We could relate it with Heraclitus' idea that everything is becoming, nothing still.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
Thanks for your detailed reply and links to your own site. I grew up in the spiritual tradition of Catholicism, which I questioned. I would not describe myself as an atheist but see spirituality as being about the inner life. This is related to the larger question of what lies beyond the human mind and whether or not God exists. I puzzle over what 'God' implies because this 'reality' beyond human thinking cannot be reduced to the anthropomorphic imagination. I see the various spiritual traditions, whether they suggest a God, like Christianity, or some reality which is not an actual deity, like Buddhism as pointing to some underlying aspect of human consciousness of importance. Some, especially the materialist philosophers may dismiss inner reality and the focus upon the inner world. As far as I can see, even if this inner consciousness is mortal it is at the basis of human life and human values.Angelo Cannata wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 6:13 pm I have been working for my whole life on spirituality, first in the context of Catholicism, where spirituality is meant just as Catholic spirituality, then as an atheist, working on a broader concept of spirituality, considering that today atheists claim that they have their spirituality. I have shared my research with the International Network for the Study of Spirituality. I disagree with them in some things, but, nonetheless, I haven’t found any other organization in the world dealing with spirituality with the same academic seriousness.
My personal website is entirely dedicated to spirituality and I have written a detailed article about the definition of spirituality.
In short, the result of my research is that the best definition of spirituality is “Inner life”. It is the final result after examining the research already done about this topic and a critical analysis of how some dictionaries define spirituality.
Most probably, at first sight, the definition “Inner life” seems too short and including everything, but actually it can be analyzed and it can prove useful for best further research.
I think that today the best way to do philosophy is converting it to spirituality; the alternative that I see, practiced by most philosophers, is an attempt to make philosophy as exact as possible, but this means that they are going to convert philosophy to a kind of science. I don’t think that this direction is going to be productive: it is just an imitation of science, with an additional attention to meta-questions.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
Kindness is an aspect of life which may become lost. It does seem that spiritual traditions, including Christianity, emphasise its importance. I believe that Nietzsche's philosophy criticised it as being weak. Without kindness and compassion life may be bleak indeed and, increasingly, it seems in short supply.EricPH wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 2:58 pmThe law is fairly black and white, don't kill, cheat, steal etc. Spirituality obeys all the laws, but spirituality takes you above and beyond the Law, it hangs on voluntary acts of kindness, the Golden Rule, loving your neighbour as you love yourself. When you act in the ways of the Golden Rule; you almost don't need the law, because you are voluntarily doing more than the law requires of you. Acting in the spirit of the law is a profound subject.JackDaydream wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 10:41 am Many see religious ideas as being opposed to rationality, especially in the context of science.
Romans 7:6
But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Romans 8:2
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
Part of the problem with the idea of 'Love your neighbour as yourself' is the essential aspect of loving oneself as a basis for love of others. This may be where it becomes difficult. Does it mean fulfilling one's needs and desires? How each person sees their own needs is likely to have implications for how they see those of others.
- JackDaydream
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Re: What is Spirituality and How is it Related to Religion?
Thanks for your reply. It does seem that science is based on rationality. However, while reason may be important in examining the nature of reality it can be a problem if the emotions are not paid attention to. Human beings are not simply cerebral beings. Religious perspectives incorporate emotions and imagination, which are the basis for the inner life. When people depart from religious understanding, especially in the age of science, it may be that emotional and imaginative aspects of human life become atrophied. Some people may think that this does not matter, with logic and reasoning being most essential.Gee wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 9:14 pm JackDaydream;
To my way of thinking, Dr. Spencer has the best definition. "Recognition of a feeling" seems exactly right as spirituality is a feeling, that has to be recognized by a mind capable of knowing emotion and letting that emotion manifest into spirituality.heracleitos wrote: ↑May 14th, 2022, 2:50 amDr. Maya Spencer wrote:Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.
Spirituality is related to religion because religion is the discipline that studies emotion.
Gee
The problem is that we are not simply heads, full of reason, with bodies dangling as attachments. Reason may not go far enough in meeting the needs of the human condition and emotions, as well as imagination may be essential to human life. Imagination, as well as emotions, may be important in the experience of human beings, incorporating a sense of the highest aspects of existence, the numinous. Some may find the numinous and the emotions in the arts but it does seem that these were found in religious perspectives initially. If religious thinking is lost it may be that spiritual needs are found by other means, such as the arts. However, some may be left with a void of meaningless, as conveyed in the idea of existential angst.
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