What does it mean to be spiritual?

In religion, a god or a higher power is necessary. In spirituality, there isn't.

I'm spiritual, and do not believe in god. To put it more clearly, I don't know if there is a god or not, nor care. I'm spiritual in terms that I'm searching for growth and expansion. I'm seeking truth with the available means I have at this moment, I don't add or take anything else. If there is a god, I shall know someday or somewhere. Until then, I do not care if there is. What I do care about is finding the means necessary to grow in spirit, or in other words, to expand my consciousness out of entropy. Entropy is another word for disorder; my goal is to lower entropy or the amount of disorder out of my life. If I find god in the journey, then that is another story altogether.
 
I would think simply in terms of religion as an organized faith system. Dogmas are not necessarily a bad thing within a faith community...it's just a part that tends to get overemphasized by some both within and without.

Spiritual people, of course, exist within and without religion, but I think the trend has been that many want to and do continue a spiritual path in their lives without specific allegiance to an organized faith system.
 
Belief in non-physical properties of an object(s).

In the context of the colloquialism Barnabas put in, it seems to involve a journey without related brethren and is more individualistic than religious systems.
(read: the hermit of theological beliefs)

In my limited experience, spirituality without religion occurs from disagreement with a set system.
One path among many, or perhaps a step in the journey.
 
From my understanding;
Religion is a system of rules or a doctrine built upon a faith e.g. Christianity.
Spirituality is recognition of self and the ability to connect e.g. sharing empathy in a sense could be one example of spirituality. In its religious sense, its engaging in a realtionship with God.

All human beings are spiritual, whether they recognize it or not, or as C.S Lewis put it "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
The soul is your identity, and the basis of everything that makes up who you are as an individual. Spirituality is the next step up in the ladder, followed by faith then finally religion. Spirituality and religion are different, but they are both connected.
 
Matariki said:
as C.S Lewis put it "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."Spirituality and religion are different, but they are both connected.
Click to expand...

I also like what someone else said(forgot who it is) but he said "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."
 
AUM said:
I also like what someone else said(forgot who it is) but he said "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Click to expand...
This is true! As we lost umbilical cord with God, we should fight human (knowledge of good and evil and our choices/ consequences) in us in order to grow as spiritual beings as well as return to blissful state - union with God who is source of life, beauty wonder, absolute knowledge and love.:)
 
It's funny how my view on my religion has changed and evolved over the years, almost to the point that the two are almost unrecognizable one from the other....and yet there is an essential unity. For me it has meant moving from the illusory of this world (even within religion, and even within me) towards reality that encompasses all that is both within religion and without.

I guess what I would propose for those who are at the "spiritual but not religious" place in life is to not totally disregard religion as a negative, or an enemy, or a foe, even though you fairly and justly choose not to participate. There is certain spiritual wisdom nested within religion (when it's done right), and I would prefer to not see people limited through sheer rejection, or negativity, or hurt when there might be something rightly available to foster growth in insight, experience and awareness...even while not participating in religion formally. Surely among the larger issues and mysteries that we share there is great support and dialogue to be had. For those within religion, our systems are entry points into a deep and profound world, and from what I can tell the move from a strictly "religious outlook" almost always leads us to become of a more "spritual" mind. I confess, there are times when I have more in common with the "spiritual" than I do with people in my own community who are of a more rigid mind.
 
What is commonly referred to as "Religious" is accepted to mean adhering to the precepts of a given creed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed)

What is commonly referred to as "Spiritual" is accepted to mean that an individual "feels" a unity with or identifies with a non intellectual force inside of them that may or may not transcend the individual to include other human's "spirituality" and or an over aching omnipotent and omniscient divinity.

In my own view "Religious" applies only to experience, a religious experience is one in which the individual's consciousness is altered and they interact with a greater transcendent being.

In my view "Spiritual" requires interaction with Spirits....actual spiritual beings.
 
I have always been fascinated by the phrase sometimes used by Christian preachers, "I'm not talking about religion, I'm talking about Jesus!" This is perhaps another riff on the "spiritual but not religious" identity. Of course, I think what they are trying to get at is an appeal for identifcation with Jesus that is less of the mind, less of the system, and more about actual life experience, experience of the mind but also of the heart.

In that context the phrase makes sense, but from another perspective it makes less sense because Christianity is also a religion (with creeds, and theology, and the rest). In any case, I know no one within Christianity who would really advocate for a religion that was not primarily spiritual in nature. There are ample warnings in the Gospels, and within other traditions no doubt, against such a thing which is generally regarded as an actual danger, a dark side of belief, to be avoided!!
 
to say you are spiritual is to say 'i want to know god better'
to say you are religious is to say 'i want to know god better through someone else['s opinion of god]' generally.
 
Kmal said:
to say you are religious is to say 'i want to know god better through someone else['s opinion of god]' generally.
Click to expand...
For me it would be more like "I want to get to know God better and I am willing to learn from those who also seek to know God, past and present. It is the mingling of other's experience and teaching into my own experience that is important....fuels the fire so to speak. Then again, this might simply be a hybridized version of spiritual and religious.
 
randomsomeone said:
For me it would be more like "I want to get to know God better and I am willing to learn from those who also seek to know God, past and present. It is the mingling of other's experience and teaching into my own experience that is important....fuels the fire so to speak. Then again, this might simply be a hybridized version of spiritual and religious.
Click to expand...
much more tactful. it rages me how people are so black/white/for/against religion. it's very useful in some respects, and not so useful in others.
 
Kmal said:
it's very useful in some respects, and not so useful in others.
Click to expand...
I totally agree, and it is sometimes difficult to sort one out from the other. Worth the effort though, imo.

In fact (and this is weird), I find that understanding perspectives within other religious systems actually helps shed new light on similar areas within my own tradition. Then (to make things even weirder) I come to find that there is actually a good bit of pastoral (and even theological) understanding in existence around these shared matters. I never would have discovered this without some basic snooping about! When expressions of other faith systems actually help deepen or amplify connections in one's own belief system....well, that's pretty cool!
 
Last edited:
Matariki said:
From my understanding;
Religion is a system of rules or a doctrine built upon a faith e.g. Christianity.
Spirituality is recognition of self and the ability to connect e.g. sharing empathy in a sense could be one example of spirituality. In its religious sense, its engaging in a realtionship with God.

All human beings are spiritual, whether they recognize it or not, or as C.S Lewis put it "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
The soul is your identity, and the basis of everything that makes up who you are as an individual. Spirituality is the next step up in the ladder, followed by faith then finally religion. Spirituality and religion are different, but they are both connected.
Click to expand...

AUM said:
I also like what someone else said(forgot who it is) but he said "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Click to expand...

^5
 
Barnabas said:
"I'm not religious, but I am spiritual" I've heard it said more time then I can count and have yet to see anything that defines a spiritual person. So maybe y'all can help me out here.

What does it mean to be spiritual?
Click to expand...

It means they've grown tired of the excuses Organized Religion uses to justify its existence. They've grown tired of the hypocrisy involved with churches. They've grown tired of being lied to. That they're basically fed up with Organized religion:

Crusades - 1096 AD
Children's Crusade - 1212 AD
Spanish Inquisition - 1480 AD
Selling Indulgences - 1400+ AD
Down to the formation of Israel and the terrorism which resulted afterwards.

Just to name a few examples of Organized Religion going "too far" and overstepping political and ethical boundaries.

But... they still believe in some higher powers, good and evil, responsible for creating life.
 
Lerxst said:
Crusades - 1096 AD
Children's Crusade - 1212 AD
Spanish Inquisition - 1480 AD
Selling Indulgences - 1400+ AD
Down to the formation of Israel and the terrorism which resulted afterwards.

Just to name a few examples of Organized Religion going "too far" and overstepping political and ethical boundaries.

But... they still believe in some higher powers, good and evil, responsible for creating life.
Click to expand...

homo sapiens apparently killed off the Neanderthals shall we blame the creeds for that too?
 
It's going beyond your religion to seek an even closer relationship with a greater Diety; getting rid of all the clutter of customs/tradition to reveal the neatly folded core values. It's finding that fervor of faith within yourself, feeling connected to Heaven and Earth from your Earth roots to your white cord; being united in mind, body, and spirit. It's feeling that inner strength that comes with the Heart Center feeling balanced with the other energy centers of the body and soul.
 
randomsomeone said:
For me it would be more like "I want to get to know God better and I am willing to learn from those who also seek to know God, past and present. It is the mingling of other's experience and teaching into my own experience that is important....fuels the fire so to speak. Then again, this might simply be a hybridized version of spiritual and religious.
Click to expand...

True. There is a lot of things I can learn from others. To me, this is a big part of going to church.
 
Lerxst said:
It means they've grown tired of the excuses Organized Religion uses to justify its existence. They've grown tired of the hypocrisy involved with churches. They've grown tired of being lied to. That they're basically fed up with Organized religion:

Crusades - 1096 AD
Children's Crusade - 1212 AD
Spanish Inquisition - 1480 AD
Selling Indulgences - 1400+ AD
Down to the formation of Israel and the terrorism which resulted afterwards.

Just to name a few examples of Organized Religion going "too far" and overstepping political and ethical boundaries.

But... they still believe in some higher powers, good and evil, responsible for creating life.
Click to expand...

I must look into this phenomena which appears to be completely unique to religion as none of these things have happened in any other social structure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top