Your take on "spirituality"

[WitchSabrina]

I see a lot of "sense of awe" definitions here, and that is one of the things I read with other people trying to define it.  I think the confusion is that people are using what they think the definition of the word should be sometimes and the actual definition of the word other times.  I don't mean going back and forth.  What I mean is one person will use what they think is the definition, another will use the actual meaning.  And I think this is where all the confusion comes from.  It has become a fluff word without clear meaning, much like the common use of the word "theory".

Anyway, I think I understand enough now to discuss this intelligently, should it come up again.  Having looked up the actual definitions for it I don't believe "sense of awe" or "an action I find immensely pleasurable" really fits the actual definition, which appears to be completely woo, but rather the mis-definition, which appears to be a catch-all for "feel good".  I guess, should it come up again and someone suggest I should be spiritual, I will have to ask the person using it what they mean by the word before I either disagree with them or tell them the correct word they should be using to prevent confusion.  It looks, to me at least, like the actual word is 100% woo related, but not everyone is using any actual definition of the word.

Yanno the very first thing that attracted me to witchcraft was the Human=Divine aspect;  that we are our Own gods so to speak; that we wield our Own universe and make our own paths. Also that our choices affect others around us good or bad and to lead a wise, helpful, loving life is power - power of the self. Recognizing the *awe* factor was very much a part of that also (even IF it's only inside your own imgination) The Awe aspect is to see the amazing things around you that give you pause, reflection and perhaps inspire you onwards in some manner; or simply appreciate.  Looking outside the self carries value but only as it translates to that self. Otherwise we'd all think and be alike and we are not. What inspires one does not necessarily inspire another - and so on.
The term *spiritual* is almost always connected to woo.  And Woo is almost always connected to religion and religion is almost always connected to dogma and dogma has proven horrific upon mankind more often than not.  The connections are natural.  Which is why you'll see me say sometimes that language fails us.  And even if this is the year 2013 we should still be creating new words and developing language to suit our needs.
(Insert new word for spiritual minus woo) should be a respected, individual matter.  It should be fine.  But attached to history (and present mistakes) as it so often is........it is not fine.  I wonder sometimes if it will ever be fine to be spiritual (or new word that suits) or if the ugly connection to religious woo is forever?

[Jason78]

So, what the hell is spirituality?  
What do you guys think?

Is it that feeling you get when you see your girlfriend make out with another girl at a nightclub and you end up going home with both of them?

[Sleeper]

When I hear the term "spiritual" I think the person is referencing a supernatural, eternal, non-corporeal entity which houses their consciousness, morality, sense of beauty, logic, etc. The awareness of the transcendent and awe inspiring is something completely different to me. That's just loving reality.

[the_antithesis]

When I hear the word spiritual, I'm listening to someone completely full of themselves. It's like fucking an elf. Tolkien's elves were kind of like the pinnacle of perfection. So to fuck an elf is to touch that greatness with your dick. So when someone says they are spiritual, they mean that they think they are in touch with or experience things deeper, better than you do. It makes them feel special. It doesn't even matter what the actual thing is. What matters to them is that they feel special because they are self-centered cunts.

[WitchSabrina]

When I hear the word spiritual, I'm listening to someone completely full of themselves. It's like fucking an elf. Tolkien's elves were kind of like the pinnacle of perfection. So to fuck an elf is to touch that greatness with your dick. So when someone says they are spiritual, they mean that they think they are in touch with or experience things deeper, better than you do. It makes them feel special. It doesn't even matter what the actual thing is. What matters to them is that they feel special because they are self-centered cunts.

yes....... it does very much sound like "I'm special".  Totally agree.

[Shiranu]

But... I AM more special than yall; my mum told me so.

Also: Haters gonna hate.

[Mathias]

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light?years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

Carl Sagan.



Next!

[leo]

So, what the hell is spirituality?  
What do you guys think?

Is it that feeling you get when you see your girlfriend make out with another girl at a nightclub and you end up going home with both of them?

I don't know if this is spiritual or not but I like this . :-D

[widdershins]

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light?years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

Carl Sagan.



Next!

"Argument from authority" != "end of discussion"

We've already determined that spirituality, by its strict definition, is, in fact, woo.  Perhaps Carl was using a bastardized definition, as some people do, perhaps he had some propensity toward woo.  I don't know.  It does sound, however, like he was talking about a "sense of awe" in that quote, which is not "spiritual" by the definition of the word, but may be considered so by the much looser definition which some people seem to use.  Whatever the case, Sagan was either wrong (gasp!) because he was using an incorrect definition or he held dear some form of woo (gasp again!).  Or, perhaps, he just liked to say things which sounded really cool and deep.

[Sleeper]

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light?years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

Carl Sagan.



Next!

"...for then we shall know the mind of God."

Stephen Hawking.

You know what they mean, but it's still a bad choice of words.

[Jmpty]

"The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction: in the labyrinth, in hardness against themselves and others, in experiments. Their joy is self-conquest: asceticism becomes in them nature, need, and instinct. Difficult tasks are a privilege to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. Knowledge-a form of asceticism. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest. "

? Friedrich Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ

[SvZurich]

It's feel-good woo without the dogma of religion.

well.........that IS true............in a nutshell!  well done you.  lol

Why thank ya, darlin'!   :-D

[Seabear]

Spirituality is an intentionally vague and overloaded term that can mean just about anything, or nothing, depending upon the context in which it is used.

[Mathias]

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light?years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

Carl Sagan.



Next!

"Argument from authority" != "end of discussion"

We've already determined that spirituality, by its strict definition, is, in fact, woo.  Perhaps Carl was using a bastardized definition, as some people do, perhaps he had some propensity toward woo.  I don't know.  It does sound, however, like he was talking about a "sense of awe" in that quote, which is not "spiritual" by the definition of the word, but may be considered so by the much looser definition which some people seem to use.  Whatever the case, Sagan was either wrong (gasp!) because he was using an incorrect definition or he held dear some form of woo (gasp again!).  Or, perhaps, he just liked to say things which sounded really cool and deep.

I admire Carl Sagan, and have read almost all his books. I'm sure he doesn't believe in woo.
You're right that it would be a fallacy of authority IF I literally said that other opinions (like yours) were wrong and justify Sagan as the only right one.
Maybe you should read more about Sagan before making conjectures more fallacious than you accused me.

[Mathias]

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light?years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

Carl Sagan.



Next!

"...for then we shall know the mind of God."

Stephen Hawking.

You know what they mean, but it's still a bad choice of words.

You got a small phrase that does not show the context of the idea of ??Hawking, Sagan's phrase differently.
Spirit can be defined metaphorically as a full set of intellectual faculties.

Some of you are prejudiced because of the religious connotation of the word, but it does not affect me. I'm an atheist and that there is no supernatural spirituality in people. Everything is a matter of semantics, poetic license, etc..