Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or immaterial reality Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be. In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has being, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible;[1] an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.”[2] Spiritual practices, including meditation Meditation is a holistic discipline during which time the practitioner trains his or her mind in order to realize some benefit, prayer Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional connection to God, or any deity, through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creedal and contemplation The word contemplation comes from the Latin root templum . It means separating something from its environment and enclosing it in a sector. Contemplation is the Latin translation of Greek 'theory' (theoria). In a religious sense it is usually a type of prayer or meditation, are intended to develop an individual's inner life; such practices often lead to an experience of connectedness with a larger reality, yielding a more comprehensive self; with other individuals or the human community; with nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. It ranges in scale from the subatomic to the cosmic or the cosmos In its most general sense, a cosmos is an orderly or harmonious system. It originates from a Greek term κόσμος meaning "ordered world" and is the antithetical concept of chaos. Today the word is generally used as a synonym of the word Universe . The words cosmetics and cosmetology originate from the same root. In Russian and; or with the divine Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power, or its attributes or manifestations in the world. The root of the words is literally "godlike" ( realm.[3] Spirituality is often experienced as a source of inspiration or orientation in life.[4] It can encompass belief in immaterial realities or experiences of the immanent Immanence, derived from the Latin in manere - "to remain within" - refers to philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence, which hold that some divine being or essence manifests in and through all aspects of the material world. It is usually applied in monotheistic, pantheistic, or panentheistic faiths to suggest that the or transcendent nature of the world.

Contents

Definition

This section requires expansion with: more about how the different religions define spirituality.

Traditionally, religions have regarded spirituality as an integral aspect of religious experience Religious experience is a subjective experience where an individual reports contact with a transcendent reality, an encounter or union with the divine. Many do still equate spirituality with religion, but declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world Western culture refers to cultures of European origin has given rise to a broader view of spirituality.

Secular spirituality carries connotations of an individual having a spiritual outlook which is more personalized, less structured, more open to new ideas/influences, and more pluralistic than that of the doctrinal faiths of organized religions. At one end of the spectrum, even some atheists Atheism, in a broad sense, is the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one are spiritual. While atheism tends to lean towards skepticism regarding supernatural claims and the existence of an actual "spirit", some atheists define "spiritual" as nurturing thoughts, emotions, words and actions that are in harmony with a belief that the entire universe is, in some way, connected; even if only by the mysterious flow of cause and effect at every scale.[5]

In contrast, those of a more 'New-Age The New Age is a decentralized Western social and spiritual movement that seeks "Universal Truth" and the attainment of the highest individual human potential.[citation needed] It includes aspects of Occultism, astrology, esotericism, metaphysics, alternative medicine, music, collectivism, sustainability, and nature. New Age spirituality' disposition see spirituality as the active connection to some force/power/energy/spirit The term energy has been widely adopted by writers and practitioners of various forms of spirituality and alternative medicine to refer to a variety of ideas, often conceived as "fields" surrounding the earth or any living thing, supposed to be directly perceptible and accessible to the human mind as "auras", "rays", &, facilitating a sense of a deep self Self is broadly defined as the essential qualities that make a person distinct from all others. The task in philosophy is defining what these qualities are, and there have been a number of different approaches. The "self" is the idea of a unified being which is the source of consciousness. Moreover, this self is the agent responsible for.

For some, spirituality includes introspection Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious mental and usually purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul. It can also be called contemplation of one's self, and is contrasted, and the development of an individual's inner life through practices such as meditation, prayer and contemplation. Some modern religions also see spirituality in everything: see pantheism Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Ancient Greek: πᾶν (pan) meaning "all" and θεός (theos) meaning "belief that God is all". As such, Pantheism promotes the idea that "God" is and neo-Pantheism Pantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical, or that the Universe (including Nature on Earth) is the only thing deserving the deepest kind of reverence. The word derives from the Ancient Greek: πᾶν (pan) meaning "All" and θεός (theos) meaning "God" - literally "All is God." As such Pantheism. In a similar vein, Religious Naturalism Religious naturalism is an approach to spirituality that is devoid of supernaturalism. The focus is on the religious attributes of the universe/Nature, the understanding of it and our response to it . These provide for the development of an eco-morality . Interest is growing in this modern but not well defined movement that has an ancient heritage has a spiritual attitude towards the awe, majesty and mystery it sees in the natural world.

For a Christian Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. Christianity comprises three major branches: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy (which parted ways with Catholicism in 1054 A.D.) and Protestantism (which came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th, to refer to him or herself as "more spiritual than religious"[citation needed] may (but not always) imply relative deprecation of rules, rituals, and tradition while preferring an intimate relationship with God. The basis for this belief is that Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure of Christianity, which views him as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament, with most Christian denominations believing him to be the Son of God and God incarnate who was raised from the dead. Islam and the Baha'i Faith consider Jesus a prophet and also the came to free humankind from those rules, rituals, and traditions, giving humankind the ability to "walk in the spirit" thus maintaining a "Christian" lifestyle through that one-to-one relationship with God.

Spiritual path

Spirituality, in a wide variety of cultural and religious concepts, is itself often seen as incorporating a spiritual path, along which one advances to achieve a given objective, such as a higher state of awareness, outreach wisdom or communion with God God is the English name given to the singular omnipotent being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism or with creation. Plato Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science. Plato was originally a's Allegory of the Cave The Allegory of the Cave, also commonly known as Myth of the Cave, Metaphor of the Cave, The Cave Analogy, Plato's Cave or the Parable of the Cave, is an allegory used by the Greek philosopher Plato in his work The Republic to illustrate "our nature in its education and want of education". The allegory of the cave is written as a, which appears in book VII of The Republic The Republic , by Plato, is a Socratic dialogue about the order and character of the City-State. The dialogues, among Socrates and various Athenians and foreigners, discuss the meaning of justice, and examine whether or not the just man is happier than the unjust man, by proposing a society ruled by philosopher-kings and the guardians; hence the, is a description of such a journey, as are the writings of Teresa of Avila Saint Theresa of Ávila, also called Saint Theresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, (March 28, 1515, at Gotarrendura , Old Castile, Spain – October 4, 1582, at Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, Spain) was a prominent Spanish mystic, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order. The spiritual journey is a path that has a dimension primarily subjective and individual As commonly used, an individual is a person or any specific object in a collection. In the 15th century and earlier, and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics, individual means "indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person." . From the seventeenth. For a spiritual path may be considered a path of short duration, directed at a specific target, or a lifetime. Every event of life is part of this journey, but in particular one can introduce some significant moments or milestones, such as the practice of various spiritual disciplines (including meditation Meditation is a holistic discipline during which time the practitioner trains his or her mind in order to realize some benefit, prayer Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional connection to God, or any deity, through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of a hymn, incantation, formal creedal, fasting Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. A fast may be total or partial concerning that from which one fasts, and may be prolonged or intermittent as to the period of fasting. Fasting practices may preclude sexual activity as well as food, in addition to refraining from), the comparison with a person believed with deep spiritual experience (called a teacher, assistant or spiritual preceptor, guru A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher). In Sanskrit gu means darkness & ru means light. As a principle for the development of consciousness it leads the creation from unreality to reality, from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge or otherwise, depending on the cultural context), the personal approach to sacred texts Religious texts, also known as scripture, are the texts which various religious traditions consider to be sacred, or of central importance to their religious tradition. Many religions and spiritual movements believe that their sacred texts are divinely or supernaturally inspired, etc. If the spiritual path is the same in whole or in part, with an initiatory path, there may be real evidence to overcome. Such tests usually before a social significance, are a "test" for the individual of his reaching a certain level. Spirituality is also described as a process in two phases: the first on inner growth, and the second on the manifestation of this result daily in the world World is a common name for the sum of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Religion

Whilst the terms spirituality and religion can both refer to the search for the Absolute or God God is the English name given to the singular omnipotent being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism, an increasing number of people have come to see the two as separate entities, religion being just one way in which humans can experience spirituality. Cultural historian Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past knowledge, customs, and arts of a group of people and yogi A yogi or yogin is a term for a male practitioner of various forms of spiritual practice. In contemporary English yogin is an alternative rendering for the word yogi. In Hinduism it refers to an adherent of Yoga. The word is also often used in the Buddhist context to describe Buddhist monks or a householder devoted to meditation. Chatral Rinpoche William Irwin Thompson William Irwin Thompson is known primarily as a social philosopher and cultural critic, but he has also been writing and publishing poetry throughout his career and received the Oslo International Poetry Festival Award in 1986. He has made significant contributions to cultural history, social criticism, the philosophy of science, and the study of states, "Religion is not identical with spirituality; rather religion is the form spirituality takes in civilization."[citation needed]

Those who speak of spirituality outside of religion often define themselves as SBNR or "spiritual but not religious" and generally believe in the existence of many different "spiritual paths" - emphasizing the importance of finding one's own individual path to spirituality. According to one poll, some 24±4% of the United States population identifies itself as spiritual but not religious.[18] One might say then, that a key difference is that religion is a type of formal external search, while spirituality is defined as a search within oneself.

The experience of 'spirituality'; the human emotions of awe, wonder and reverence, are also the province of the secular/scientific, in response to their highest values,[vague] or when observing or studying nature, or the universe.[19]

Science

See also: Relationship between religion and science The relationship between religion and science has been a focus of the demarcation problem. Statements about the world made by science and religion rely on different methodologies. Religions rely on revelation and faith, while science relies on observable, repeatable experiences, ontological naturalism, philosophical realism, rational skepticism, and Quantum mysticism Quantum mysticism refers to a set of metaphysical ideas and associated practices that supposes a consciousness, intelligence, or otherwise mystical component to the experience of existence or reality at the quantum scale. The term originally emerged from the debates between the founders of quantum theory in the early twentieth century as they

A number of authors have suggested that there are spiritual consequences Quantum mysticism refers to a set of metaphysical ideas and associated practices that supposes a consciousness, intelligence, or otherwise mystical component to the experience of existence or reality at the quantum scale. The term originally emerged from the debates between the founders of quantum theory in the early twentieth century as they of quantum physics Quantum mechanics is a set of scientific principles describing the known behavior of energy and matter that predominate at the atomic and subatomic scales. The name derives from the observation that some physical quantities—such as the energy of an electron—can be changed only by set amounts, or quanta, rather than being capable of varying by. Examples are physicist-philosopher Fritjof Capra Fritjof Capra is an Austrian-born American physicist, systems theorist, and author of five international bestsellers, The Tao of Physics(1975), The Turning Point (1982), Uncommon Wisdom (1988), The Web of Life(1996), and The Hidden Connections (2002). Dr. Capra is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California. He is on;[20] Ken Wilber Kenneth Earl Wilber II is an American author who has written about adult development, developmental psychology, philosophy, worldcentrism, ecology, and stages of faith. His work formulates what he calls Integral Theory. In 1998, he founded the Integral Institute, for teaching and applications of Integral theory, who proposes an "Integral Theory of Consciousness"; theoretical nuclear physicist Amit Goswami Amit Goswami is a theoretical nuclear physicist and member of The University of Oregon Institute for Theoretical Physics since 1968, teaching physics for 32 years. After a period of distress and frustration in his private and professional life starting at the age 38, his research interests shifted to quantum cosmology, quantum measurement theory,, who views a universal consciousness Consciousness is variously defined as subjective experience, or awareness, or wakefulness, or the executive control system of the mind. It is an umbrella term that may refer to a variety of mental phenomena. Although humans realize what everyday experiences are, consciousness refuses to be defined, philosophers note :, not matter, as the ground of all existence (monistic idealism Monistic Idealism is a metaphysical theory which states that consciousness, not matter is the ground of all being. It is a monistic theory because it holds that there is only one type of thing in the universe, and a form of idealism because it holds that one thing to be consciousness. In India this concept is central to Vedanta philosophy); Ervin László Ervin László is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, and classical pianist. He has published about 75 books and over 400 papers, and is editor of World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution. He has recorded several piano concertos. László married Carita Jägerhorn af Spurila 16 November 1956. They have, who posits the "quantum vacuum In quantum field theory, the vacuum state is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains no physical particles. The term "zero-point field" is sometimes used as a synonym for the vacuum state of an individual quantized field" as the fundamental energy In physics, energy is a quantity that can be assigned to any particle, object, or system of objects as a consequence of its physical state. Different forms of energy include kinetic, potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. The forms of energy are often named after a related force. German physicist Hermann von- and information Information, in its most restricted technical sense, is an ordered sequence of symbols. As a concept, however, information has many meanings. Moreover, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation-carrying field ("Akashic field") that informs not just the current universe, but all universes past and present (collectively, the "Metaverse The Metaverse is a fictional virtual world, described in Neal Stephenson's 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. The word metaverse is a portmanteau of the prefix "meta" and "universe"").[21]

Personal well-being

In keeping with a general increase in interest in spirituality and complementary and alternative treatments, prayer has garnered attention among some behavioral scientists. Masters and Spielmans[22] have conducted a meta-analysis of the effects of distant intercessory prayer, but detected no discernible effects.

Spirituality has played a central role in self-help movements such as Alcoholics Anonymous: "...if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots ahead...."[23]

If spirituality is understood as the search for or the development of inner peace or the foundations of happiness, then spiritual practice of some kind is essential for personal well being. This activity may or may not include belief in supernatural beings. If one has such a belief and feels that relationship to such beings is the foundation of happiness then spiritual practice will be pursued on that basis: if one has no such belief spiritual practice is still essential for the management and understanding of thoughts and emotions which otherwise prevent happiness. Many techniques and practices developed and explored in religious contexts, such as meditation, are immensely valuable in themselves as skills for managing aspects of the inner life.[24][25]

Near-death experience (NDE)

Main article: Near death experience

If consciousness exists apart from the body, which includes the brain, one is attached not only to the material world, but to a non-temporal (spiritual) world as well. This thesis is considered to be analyzed by testing the reports from people who have experienced death. However, some researchers consider that NDEs are actually REM intrusions triggered in the brain by traumatic events like cardiac arrest[26].

Opposition

The scientific method takes as its basis empirical, repeatable observations of the natural world. Critics such as William F. Williams have labeled spirituality as pseudoscientific and opposed ideas and beliefs that include supernatural forces yet are presented as having a scientific character, citing the imprecision of spiritual concepts and the subjectivity of spiritual experience.[citation needed]

Positive psychology

Spirituality has been studied in positive psychology and defined as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration. Spirituality can be sought not only through traditional organized religions, but also through movements such as the feminist theology and ecological spirituality (see Green politics). Spirituality is associated with mental health, managing substance abuse, marital functioning, parenting, and coping. It has been suggested that spirituality also leads to finding purpose and meaning in life.[27]

Origin

See Timeline of religion and Evolutionary origin of religions

History

See also: History of religion

Spiritual innovators who operated within the context of a religious tradition became marginalized or suppressed as heretics or separated out as schismatics. In these circumstances, anthropologists generally treat so-called "spiritual" practices such as shamanism in the sphere of the religious, and class even non-traditional activities such as those of Robespierre's Cult of the Supreme Being in the province of religion.[28]

Eighteenth-century Enlightenment thinkers, often opposed to clericalism and skeptical of religion, sometimes came to express their more emotional responses to the world under the rubric of "the Sublime" rather than discussing "spirituality". The spread of the ideas of modernity began to diminish the role of religion in society and in popular thought.

Schmidt sees Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) as a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field.[29] In the wake of the Nietzschean concept of the "death of God" in 1882, people not persuaded by scientific rationalism turned increasingly to the idea of spirituality as an alternative both to materialism and to traditional religious dogma.

Important early 20th century writers who studied the phenomenon of spirituality include William James (The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)) and Rudolph Otto (especially The Idea of the Holy (1917)).

The distinction between the spiritual and the religious became more common in the popular mind during the late 20th century with the rise of secularism and the advent of the New Age movement. Authors such as Chris Griscom and Shirley MacLaine explored it in numerous ways in their books. Paul Heelas noted the development within New Age circles of what he called "seminar spirituality":[30] structured offerings complementing consumer choice with spiritual options.

Study

The scholarly field of spirituality remains ill-defined. It overlaps with disciplines such as theology, religious studies, kabbalah, anthropology, sociology, psychology, parapsychology, pneumatology, monadology, logic (if involving a spiritual Logos) and esotericism.

In the late 19th century a Pakistani scholar Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi wrote of and taught about the science of Islamic spirituality, of which the best known form remains the Sufi tradition (famous through Rumi and Hafez) in which a spiritual master or pir transmits spiritual discipline to students.[31]

Building on both the Western esoteric tradition and theosophy,[32] Rudolf Steiner and others in the anthroposophic tradition have attempted to apply systematic methodology to the study of spiritual phenomena,[33] building upon ontological and epistemological questions that arose out of transcendental philosophy.[34] This enterprise does not attempt to redefine natural science, but to explore inner experience — especially our thinking — with the same rigor that we apply to outer (sensory) experience.

See also

Spirituality portal

Notes and references

  1. ^ Ewert Cousins, preface to Antoine Faivre and Jacob Needleman, Modern Esoteric Spirituality, Crossroad Publishing 1992.
  2. ^ Philip Sheldrake, A Brief History of Spirituality, Wiley-Blackwell 2007 p. 1-2
  3. ^ Margaret A. Burkhardt and Mary Gail Nagai-Jacobson, Spirituality: living our connectedness, Delmar Cengage Learning, p. xiii
  4. ^ Kees Waaijman, Spirituality: forms, foundations,methods Leuven: Peeters, 2002 p. 1
  5. ^ http://www.centerforabetterworld.com/SpiritualAtheism/f-about-spiritual-atheism.htm
  6. ^ Azeemi, K.S. (2005). Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation. Houston: Plato.
  7. ^ Bolman, L.G., and Deal, T. E. (1995). Leading With Soul. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  8. ^ Borysenko, J. (1999). A Woman's Journey to God. New York: Riverhead Books.
  9. ^ Cannon, K.G. (1996). Katie's Canon: Feminism and the Soul of the Black Community. New York: Continuum.
  10. ^ Deloria, V. (1992). God is Red, 2d Ed. Golden, Co: North American Press.
  11. ^ Dillard, C. B.; Abdur-Rashid, D.; and Tyson, C. A. "My Soul is a Witness." International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 13, No. 5 (September 2000): 447-462.
  12. ^ Dirkx, J.M. (1997). "Nurturing Soul in Adult Learning." Transformative Learning in Action. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No. 74, edited by P. Cranton, pp. 79-88. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  13. ^ Eck, D. (2001). A New Religious America. San Francisco: Harper.
  14. ^ English, L., and Gillen, M., eds. (2000). Addressing the Spiritual Dimensions of Adult Learning: New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No. 85. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  15. ^ Taisen Deshimaru (1982). The Practice of Concentration. Ubaldini Publishers.
  16. ^ Basho (1992). The Hermitage of Illusory Dwelling. Edizioni Se.
  17. ^ Hoseki Schinichi Hisamatsu (1993). The Fullness of Nothing. Il Melangolo.
  18. ^ http://www.beliefnet.com/News/2005/08/Newsweekbeliefnet-Poll-Results.aspx#spiritrel
  19. ^ Keith Lockitch "Rescuing spirituality from religion."The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights September 17, 2009.
  20. ^ Capra, Fritjof (1991 (1st ed. 1975)), The Tao of Physics: an exploration of the parallels between modern physics and Eastern mysticism, 3rd ed., Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, ISBN 0877735948
  21. ^ Laszlo, Ervin, "CosMos:A Co-creator's Guide to the Whole World", Hay House, Inc, 2008, ISBN 1-4019-1891-3, pg. 53-58
  22. ^ Masters, K.S. & Spielmans, G.I (2007). "Prayer and health: review, meta-analysis, and research agenda", Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30(4), 329-338.
  23. ^ Alcoholics Anonymous, p.14-15.
  24. ^ "The lost Art of being happy - spirituality for skeptics" Wilkinson 2007
  25. ^ "Happiness, a guide to one of life's most important skills" Ricard 2007
  26. ^ http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-life-after-death.htm
  27. ^ Snyder, C.R.; Lopez, Shane J. (2007), "11", Positive Psychology, Sage Publications, Inc., ISBN 076192633X
  28. ^ Jordan, David, "The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre", University of Chicago Press, 1989, ISBN 0-226-41037-4, pg. 201
  29. ^ Schmidt, Leigh Eric. Restless Souls : The Making of American Spirituality. San Francisco: Harper, 2005. ISBN 0-06-054566-6
  30. ^ Robert C. Fuller, a Ph. D in "Religion and Psychological Studies" and "American Religion.", said of spirituality: "Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issues of how our lives fit into the greater scheme of things. This is true when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. we encounter spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what happens when we die. We also become spiritual when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a meaning or power beyond our visible world. An idea or practice is "spiritual" when it reveals our personal desire to establish a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life." Paul Heelas, The New Age Movement: The Celebration of the Self and the Sacralization of Modernity. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996, page 60. Cited in Anthony Giddens: Sociology. Cambridge: Polity, 2001, page 554.
  31. ^ Azeemi,K.S., "Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation". Houston: Plato, 2005. (ISBN 0-9758875-4-8), Pg. xi
  32. ^ Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age, ISBN 90-04-13638-X
  33. ^ Robert McDermott, The Essential Steiner, ISBN 0-06-065345-0, pp. 3-4
  34. ^ Jonael Schickler, Metaphysics as Christology: An odyssey of the Self from Kant and Hegel to Steiner (Ashgate New Critical Thinking: 2005) pp. 138ff

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Can anyone suggest a serious online forum dealing with religion & spirituality?
Q. So many, if not most, of the questions and answers the the Religion & Spirituality section of Yahoo! Answers are entertaining & absurd. Other than being entertained, is anyone really benefited? If anyone can knows of a forum of serious discussions, it would be good to know.
Asked by kingdomsower - Thu Sep 18 18:59:40 2008 - - 10 Answers - 0 Comments

A. If you have a serious question, why not ask it here? There are plenty of knowledgeable people on this forum.
Answered by Pangloss (L'Union Fait La Fo - Thu Sep 18 19:04:18 2008

Yahoo Answers Search: Spirituality,
Sat Jul 24 20:44:04 2010
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