What does "spiritual" mean?

[truthspeaker]

Occasionally when someone learns of my atheism they will ask me if I'm a spiritual person. I usually say "Probably not, because I don't understand what 'spiritual' means."

So what does it mean? I'm at a loss.

[Wright Patman]

1. It is the opposite

of "material." If you believe in something, anything, beyond what you can perceive with your five senses, I would say you have a spiritual component to your personality.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

4. I'd say, then, that every mathematician is spiritual. UPDATED

"If a religion is a system of thought containing unprovable statements, then not only is mathematics a religion, but the only religion that can be proved to be one." --Kurt Gödel

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. Faith beyond religion, I guess.

A concern for matters beyond the temporal
Stop me before I get too pretentious, eh?

[Westegg]

14. Honey, there's no stopping you...

...It's why we love ya!

[slackmaster]

3. When I was a kid I thought it meant...

"Spear at you all!"

And when I took Wood Shop class in 7th grade I thought that big, dangerous power tool only the 9th grade Advanced Wood Shop kids were allowed to use was called the "Banned Saw".

[qb]

5. I have tried for years to get an answer to this question from proponents

of "religious humanism"... to no avail.

[Kadie]

6. I would say that in that context it would mean

that even though you don't believe in God, the bible, or organized religion, you may believe that there is more than just this life on earth. That this is just one step in a long journey. Or that we are an energy force that continues on after our bodies die. You may feel that all in the universe is connected.

Many people have many different beliefs that don't reflect what organized religion and the bible teaches.

[SarahB]

7. Knowing there's something greater than yourself.

Some type of higher meaning or purpose, even if it doesn't always make sense or you can't explain (or it doesn't fit into any neat and easy catagory that "religion" tries to fit it into).

[Skarbrowe]

12. uh huh

I agree with Kady and SarahBelle. And I also love their names. I try to tell my Christian fundamentalist relatives, which I've I only seen a few times in my whole life, that I'm not really Christian or religious, but I do feel spiritual. I feel that "something" connects me to every other living creature and also to anything that involves energy. I believe we are such a small part of a beyond comprehension, gigantic whole, that just questioning what and who we are is almost pointless. I believe that the reason for us being here is that we are alive and aware at this moment, in this form and that we should do our best to "live" comfortably with everything that surrounds us. But, being human, we are bound to fail at this quest most of the time. I fail every day. I don't believe this damns me, it just makes my time alive ( and some around me ) uncomfortable. Not harmonic. See, after a few minutes of thought it all starts going down hill. :)

Sometimes I feel like I could use a church. Or a meeting place with people that felt like I do. Are there churches or something like a church for the spiritual?

Skarbrowe

[H2O Man]

8. Nice question.

I think that you are asking it in a sincere manner. While I think we all have a general idea of the dictionary definition of the word. But let's take it a step further. If you work with Hospice as a volunteer,you will encounter one form of spirituality that defies definition. Or, if you really look closely at a plant -- be it a rose bush or a pine tree after a summer rain -- and think about the energy force that defines the difference between the living plant and the mere organic substance, then you will find another level of the spiritual.

Many people from my generation sought the spiritual through the use of hallucinogens. Often, this included doing way too large a dosage. In those cases, a common experience was to think, "Oh gosh, will this ever stop?" I'm writing this with a grin, knowing that a few of the DUers may recall this. A harrowing experience. But then, a still small voice from somewhere inside the universe of your mind would say, "It is okay." This is not unlike the experience of one who meditates and encounters that enternal entity: "Who are you?" followed by "Who wants to know?" ..... and is also similar to the experience of those who have psychotic breaks but do not panic and sink in what Joseph Campbell refers to the deep waters of the dark unconscvious mind, but who learns to swim.

The universal energy which can not be explained in so many words ... that is the spiritual. The love of your family and friends .... and, surprisingly, the love for your enemies.

[truthspeaker]

9. Thanks for your responses!

Based on them, I am definitely NOT spiritual.

I do, however, enjoy drinking spirits.

[johnnie]

10. In my mind

Spiritual is a genuine compassion for all living things. Or at least the attempt to remain compassionate.

[pagerbear]

11. Lots of 12-steppers have trouble with this

Something I read that made it easy for me: even if I can't believe in a "higher power" (sometimes I do, sometimes I doubt), I can believe that there is a part of myself beyond my conscious self that isn't the part that leads me into my self-destructive behaviors.

To make that more general, I suppose I could say that spirituality is the realization that I'm not the center of the universe.

[Westegg]

15. Very well stated. I agree that it does come down to...

...in the end, a willingness to admit that the world doesn't revolve around us. This is a VERY helpful idea. Those who have trouble with the idea of a "higher power" in the 12-step lingo---and I'm one of them---are probably just afraid of letting go enough to take a step back from themselves in order to see the "picture" (i.e. their own lives) clearly. When we say of a person that he/she thinks the world revolves around them, the natural tendency is to call that person egotistical or narcissistic. Yet at the root of their troubles (I'm speaking from personal experience) is not a selfishness, but rather the fear I mentioned above. Fear of being connected, of realizing that we are all, ultimately, in this together. When you have a history of isolating, often with the use/abuse of substances, then the simple idea that you have basic responsibilties and commitments to your fellow man can seem overwhelming. Because you're overlooking the positive aspect of this, which is that the desire to care for all is at the same time the desire to care for yourself. These are not mutually exclusive, indeed they go hand in hand.

I am just beginning to get a glimpse of this enlightened point of view in my own life. Long time coming. And it may yet save me. So, long-winded as this post was, I guess that's my definition of spirituality.

[Speck Tater]

13. Kinda like jazz in the sense that...

If you are spiritual you don't have to ask what it means. If you do have to ask what it means then there's no way to explain it to you.

This has the dual advantages of 1) being true, and yet 2) leaving the non-spiritual person an easy out by claiming that it's just meaningless mumbo-jumbo.