I'm curious; for those of you who study and work on your own spirituality, how did it affect your life? Were you once not spiritual and then became so? If so, what changed in your life? How important is your spirituality to you?

define spirituality first.

Taking the term loosely, it might be said to relate to two parts of my life. Firstly, I have a great love for mountains and spend my highschool and undergrad years taking every weekend I could to the local mountains...more recently doing treks through Peru and the like. Secondly, i feel in love with mathematics and in particular it drew me to the theoretical side of it when I was deciding between physics and math for grad school.

Now of course both of these can be cast in rather secular terms. But I think it is also possible to paint and aesthetic picture of these that might be at times identified as spirituality. For instance, there is a genuine feeling of connection with nature, a sense of wonder and beauty when one wakes up before dawn high on a ridge only to have the sun break over the clouds below and expose the ring of glacier capped peaks. Similarly for math. If you don't want to call these spiritual, well I don't much mind. But they are certainly important experiences in my life.

I think you have every right to call that spiritual.

Each individual will have their own definition of spirituality. Christian spirituality will mean something totally different than a Buddhist's definition. I don't think anyone has the right to tell someone that their subjective experience isn't spiritual. I think arguing about definitions is counter productive. Just share how your own subjective experience has affected your life. (Talking to people generally, not specifically to uke)

If your not going to define it, then this thread is pointless. If you are leaving it wide open to interpretation, then I could interpret the crap I had last thursday as spiritual. I dont see any interest or point in discussing last thursdays bowel movements....

What do you mean, your own subjective experience. Subjective experience of what?

Not really. Yes the word "spirituality" has a wide range of connotations, but it isn't wide open either. The word does have some meaningful elements shared among its connotations and major accepted cultural connotations. It isn't ever meant, for instance, to refer to bowel movements. It isn't completely wide open.

It is a bit like the a more extreme level of variance in meaning than the word alcoholic. We have a general sense of what the word means - and it never means bowel movements - but an exact meaning is often vague and people disagree on what levels constitute being an alcoholic.

It's fine for people to answer general questions like "how has spirituality affected your life" where the OP doesn't fix a single, precise meaning of spirituality but instead leaves it up to individuals to lock down a meaning if they wish.

You can't be serious with this post. I'm putting you on ignore.

ok, I was possibly being a bit tongue in cheek with bowel movements, but if you can interpret a sun rise and how it makes you feel, as spiritual, why cant I interpret a bowel movement and how it makes me feel, as spiritual? There must be something more to a spiritual experience then, than " how it makes you feel"? Is there a set of things ( eg sunrises) that are spiritual, and a set of things ( taking a crap) that arent? Or is it how the phenomena affects you, rather than what the phenomena is?

If you define spirituality this way, and if you feel that way about your spirituality, then you just don't post in the thread. It's not a particularly complicated concept. Don't discuss your spirituality if you're not interested in talking about your spirituality.

You *CAN*. Under OP's premise, the individual is allowed to define spirituality however he or she wants. If people share in your spiritual experiences in a way that's meaningful, then there's a conversation to be had. And if you're in your own world with your definition of spirituality, that's also fine. Share your experiences, and just understand that when others use that word, they mean something different.

It's not just ANY old feeling, its ones that have some overlap with the various common connotations out there. One can pick a definition tailored to your perspective, but there are some bounds (like taking a crap) which just don't make sense to use the word spiritual in connection with.

For instance, on the sunrises, one might speak to the sense of awe at the majesty and beauty of the universe, ones sense of smallness and connection with the universe, and so on. These terms have some similarities with common meanings of the word spirituality. Yes, it is different than, say, praying. But the sort of allowable* differences have bounds, bounds that my definition here fits into.

*allowable in the sense that our word choices aid our communication opposed to hinder it. If I want to convey something with no connection with common notions of spirituality, I don't help myself by using the word spirituality.

Aaron, I would be very interested to hear your answer to this question if you feel up to it.

Since I dont necessarily believe that spirituality, or being spiritual , exists as a state or phenomenon, and dont really know what people mean by the words, I wouldnt know whether to class any of my experiences as spiritual or not, so am trying to find out what other people mean by spiritual in order to see whether I have had similar experiences and whether these have affected me in the same way ( or any way at all).

The OP must know what he means by spirituality. How would I know when I am having a spiritual experience?

It seems better to simply refer to awe then.

I feel a sense of awe in response to all sorts of things.

All I ever see when people are asked to explain what "spiritual" means is wishy-washy language. They provide examples of what might be spiritual, and I can always express these more clearly in other terms.

Love, sunrises, landscape, art, literature, music. I have an emotional, intellectual reaction. What else do you seek to incorporate by calling it "spiritual"?

I'm on the fence as to whether I would call my spiritual-like subjective experience spiritual. My experience is the deep peace I feel when I meditate. I have done a lot of research on meditation and there is a whole host of benefits that have been proven my neuroscience, so I can view my experience in purely secular terms. I think if I end up deciding to label it as spiritual, in doing so I am basically adding an exclamation mark to the end of my experience. I think a lot of people wouldn't have to do this as a secular interpretation has the same power that a spiritual interpretation would have on someone like me.

I'm not sold on labeling my experience as spiritual though. I do think that that word does imply some other realm separate or perhaps interwoven to the material realm which is the only realm I can prove exists. I guess that I'm posting this thread to see what benefit people who do believe in that implication reap. I do not want to limit the thread to only that interpretation because I want to get the input of people like uke who have a more secular definition of their own spirituality.

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/lawrence/practice.txt

I find it very hard to parse between the spiritual things and non-spiritual things, and spirituality and non-spirituality.

I helped to get a team of people organized to go to Oaxaca Mexico on a medical mission trip a couple months ago, and I'll be going myself in the summer to work with a summer camp for children under 12. For these children, this may the only time during the year that they will eat 3 square meals a day (because they come from very poor backgrounds), and aside from the games, crafts, and singing, they'll also be taught life skills like how to care for livestock (chicken/rabbits) and that value of 3-4 eggs a day for a year is much greater than the value than a week's worth of chicken meat. I view this type of activity as being deeply spiritual, but it's not something that's uniquely spiritual in the sense that someone else who doesn't believe couldn't go on this trip and have a very similar experience to mine. (I have a humanist colleague who wanted to go once she found what we're actually doing, but the timing didn't work well for her. So she instead wants to give financial support, which the team will gladly take. )

I can talk about my experiences of going to church, and how being involved in a "small group" (a community of believers who meet regularly) has been formative in my outlook on life and what I value. But those times are not somehow different in a mystical sort of way. I'm very far from a Pentacostal/Charismatic, and I don't place any particular value in ecstatic experiences (though I also don't deny them as having the potential to be authentic). Outside of the designated weekly meeting, we just hang out like friends hang out. We have a Thanksgiving party together (usually the weekend before Thanksgiving because a lot of people work retail and Thursday just isn't as relaxing because they have to pop straight back to work on Friday -- if not Thursday evening). Sometimes, we just gather at someone's house and hang out.

There's something of spiritual significance during those times in the sense of intentional relationship-building, and that my concept of Christian spirituality is deeply grounded in a relational framework. But there's nothing "special" about it in the sense that most people know what it's like to hang out with friends. Now, there may be some unique activities like praying together during small group (non-religious people tend not to pray in groups), but see the quote at the top again. It's not as if there's something extra-mystical during that time that's happening that can only happen because we're sitting around with our heads bowed and eyes closed (actually, some of us don't close our eyes when we pray).

There are certainly quirks of Christian spirituality, such as word choices and that sort of thing which are uniquely Christian. But it's something that exists for virtually any subculture, and many Christians (especially those who live in more populated areas and aren't living in a Christian bubble) are consciously aware of it in a semi-counter-cultural sort of way. Here are videos that Christians enjoy that make fun of Christians doing Christian things:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dxo0Yjno3I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhYuA0Cz8ls

But all of these things, while uniquely Christian, don't constitute a uniquely "spiritual" experience for me. Non-Christians who are somehow experienced in Christian subculture can find the humor of these videos and identify the same quirks.

I have a friend who has told me that she and her husband are "weird" to one of her coworkers, because she and her husband have chosen to organize their life around raising their 18-month old child. They would rather stay home with their kid on Friday night than go out drinking and hiring a baby sitter. Her husband took a position for slightly less money that offered him better flexibility in order to pick up/drop off at day care. The coworker just doesn't know that many young professionals with families that have chosen that arrangement.

They do these things because their Christianity includes placing a particular value on how they raise their children and on the importance of family time. But these also aren't uniquely Christian, as many non-Christians have made a similar choice.

So I don't know what the real differences between spiritual and non-spiritual things are. I do believe in the spiritual realm (in the sense of there being a God, heaven, even angels and the like), but I don't really hold that Christians hold a completely unique experience of those things that have no equivalents (or approximations) by non-Christians.

It's not OPs fault if people are unable to think somewhat openly and fairly about subject simply because it is approached broadly.

And frankly, while I'm no expert on the issue I don't think people who need spirituality narrowly defined are the kind of people who have very interesting things to say about it.

How has spirituality affected MY life? Well, lets go back some time. I was 9 years old when my mother abruptly married my stepfather. I hardly knew him, however, he ended up being a great person, friend and father. He taught me the Bible and more importantly he lived what he preached. I started to attend his church with him like clockwork. I loved living a spiritual life. It was a real pleasure bc I knew i was pleasing the most High, Jehovah. I had a unique perspective because my stepfather was also of African-American descent. I am of European descent. This man spent countless hours answering and listening to my questions and feelings growing up. Why am I telling u all this??? Well, bear with me. ;-) When i was about 23 I left home and pretty much stopped attending the meetings and associating with spiritual ppl. I wanted to pursue my OWN desires and goals. I moved to Europe and eventually ended up in Ukraine! Yup, I married a beautiful girl from there. I lived there for 5 years with her until heartbreak happened. I left back for the states in Jan 2011 and proceeded to chop the biggest online prizepool up to that point a few months later. The 5th anniversary Sunday Million. You would think I would have been ecstatic, right? I just received $264,000 for 15 hours of flips. I was miserable. I was awaiting the results of a paternity test and they came back negative. I wanted to be the father and work it out with my Ukrainian wife but it was impossible now.

I then went to Colombia and black Friday happened a few days after i arrived and I haven't left yet. I have a one year old son and a wonderful woman here in Colombia. How am i going to explain this sick world to him?? Where we have more than enough for everyone yet millions of children are starving to death. Where millions are dying from gluttony and overeating. Where the color of your skin will affect a LOT in your life. Where ppl of the same religions murder each other in wars, genocides etc just bc they live in a diff part of the world and their religious leaders persuade them to kill for their country. I have lived in many countries, third world ones, and life is bad here for most. Hell, most of the world is poor. My Oma(grandmother) was born in Prussia. If u are wondering where is Prussia well it doens't exist anymore. During ww2 IT was demolished. If u research it though it was one of the richest, most advanced places on earth for its time. The Prussians helped the original founding fathers in their war against the British. THey were military geniuses.

As a ppl especially westerners, we are consumed with money and material things.

2 Timothy 3:1-7
3But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, 3 having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, 4 betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, 5 having an appearance of godliness but proving false to its power; and from these turn away. 6 From among these arise men who slyly work their way into households and captivate weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, 7 always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth.

Im gonna be 33 soon and there is def more happiness in giving than in receiving. WOw, average lifespan is like 80??!! hahh.. guess i got about 50 years if im lucky and i AM!! jajjajaaj

I will end this with the words of King Solomon. Solomon was blessed with wisdom and riches like no other from the Almighty, Jehovah. It is written that he laughed at silver for all of his plates and cups were of pure gold. Anyway, he had a loooooot of time to watch things and think deeply and the following is his summarization,

Ecclesiastes 2:22-25

"What does a man really gain from all his hard work and ambition that drives him to work hard under the sun? 23 For during all his days, his occupation brings pain and frustration, and even at night his heart does not rest. This too is futility. 24 There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and find enjoyment in his hard work. This too, I have realized, is from the hand of the true God, 25 for who eats and who drinks better than I do?"

From my life experiences and living abroad in various places for years I can say that WE ARE ALL THE SAME. The difference is whether ur spiritual or fleshly. We as humans have been endowed with FREE WILL. But in the end we all will reap what we sow.

We don't have anything to say about it until it's defined. Ignosticism springs to mind

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Now substitute 'Spirituality' for God.

But yet you've managed to try to say something about it anyway... How logically inconsistent of you.

Notice also that ignosticism isn't a logically necessary condition, but rather more of an axiomatic position. It's not even like non-cognitivism in the sense that non-cognitivism still allows moral statements to carry meaning, and simply denies that such statements carry truth value.

Ignositicism is a bit like shoving your fingers in your ears. It doesn't even accept that the word being used has meaning. Nothing prevents you from taking that position, but then you also shouldn't try to engage because it makes you look silly.

There are many objects of discussion that can be understood without formal definitions. Morality and consciousness are two obvious examples of this.

And?

If this is your view, then define spirituality and proceed to talk about it. There is absolutely no need for OP to provide his own understanding of the term and narrow the discussion to only his own conception thereof. A discussion on spirituality could be interesting simple because people approach it differently.

That some people then argue that this can be used to argue that this makes it impossible for them differentiate between "spirituality" and "carburettor" is just cookie-cutter RGT intellectual masturbation that has no basis whatsoever in honesty.

As for ignosticism, that's what in programming is known as endless recursion.

It's not that I need spirituality to be narrowly defined. It's that I want it even broadly defined in a connotation that gives it a pragmatic value over say "aesthetics".

What's added or removed from the concept of "aesthetics" to make "spirituality"?

And if it's nothing important, I'm happier to refer to myself as having aesthetic experiences over including the religious or at least generally non-secular connotations of spirituality.

My spirituality came about when I realised that everything is dying, everything is changing and there is nothing to hold on to. All ideas, beliefs and thoughts change over time. That all my hard work and future hard work won't bring any satisfaction not because they won't last forever but because it doesn't matter jack ****!. I think I saw through the game at a very young age. There was one christmas I wanted this big toy gun it could make all different sounds and had a scope I was disappointed because it didn't actually kill anything. A few months later I was invited to a kids party I was bullyed by this kid and I give him my toy gun I don't know why I did that. Maybe I was trying to say this gun is only as good as your imagination it doesn't actually kill anything as if to play some twisted joke on him. Maybe I saw life as one big joke.

The first game we are taught as kids is "this game called life is to be taken seriously, it is extremely important that you live on"...and when I questioned this not one of my teachers or parents could give me an answer as to why. It's not important at all and from this new found knowledge I was liberated from the social game. I didn't make a lot of friends because I could no longer join in with their games. The game of "Oh I have a better job, wife, house, car, more money than you, more friends than you etc...." all of that was meaningless to me. Not because you don't live forever, but if they are a big yang then there is a big yin to follow up.

Now I meditate thinking about the unvierse and deep into the cosmos then I think of a small lady bug that crawled over the cracked footpath as I was walking to the shops, to the flickering light of the candle, to the gigantic ball of hot gas called the sun in space and there is not a single speck of dust out of place anywhere in the world and it all seems to go together.