When people say they are 'spiritual' what does that mean?

Question

Sounds very pretentious to me and has absolutely no meaning unless someone can enlighten me. (NO BIBLE QUOTES & NO RIDDLES please if you do answer)

Hot Coco-What on earth are you talking about? Pretentious nonsense.

Answer 1

Being spiritual means following the path towards God Almighty! Every human being is primarily spiritual. The fact that the body of a human being does not belong to one cannot be denied. It has been manifested by the spirit within... the soul atman residing within our heart. Our soul atman is the absolute owner of the body for the present manifestation. Everything we do... the fruits of our karma always belong to the soul atman within.

Having understood this essence of life that our body has been manifested by the soul atman residing within our heart... and our soul atman in essence being spirit in nature (spirit... because we cannot see it but only feel its presence)... many queries come to mind of human beings. Who are we? Why our soul atman has manifested this body? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of being spiritual? And so on.

We may or may not believe in the theory of reincarnation... but the absolute fact of the cosmic system that we primarily are a soul atman within the body cannot be negated by one. The soul atman within manifests the body to work out its karma (to remove the impurities within)! It is only then our soul atman shall regain its original pure pristine form.

When the soul atman regains its pure original pristine form... we recognize the person as enlightened one. It is only after gaining enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and salvation (moksha) our soul atman liberates forever from the cycle of birth and death. No more body to manifest... soul atman becomes free to go to the kingdom of God forever (aka Baikuntha in Hinduism). More on spirituality - http://www.godrealized.org/Spirituality.html

Answer 2

OK, I'll give it a shot.

Religions are a way of using our natural, human, tendency to believe that there is 'something else' going on in our sphere of awareness, something or things that we sense but can't quite put a handle on.

A few highly inspired adepts, we could call them 'masters' of understanding have broken through this perceptive 'barrier' from time to time, and have tried to show the way, Krishna, Buddha, Lao Tse, Yashua bin Jusef, Mohammed, and many more. These have mainly been hijacked by later followers and been turned into control and manipulation systems, religions.

I believe that we humans live in an 'energetic' Omniverse, and that what we 'spiritual' is another way of expressing 'energetic', a 'power' that seems to be able to 'move' unseen. This has often been called 'magic' and has been feared, misunderstood, demonised, derided and denied.

But it exists, there is much more to the unseen than the seen, to the energetic than the sensate.

Einstein explained in very simple terms that all matter is just energy translated into another form, and that everything is made of energy. This is quite correct. Further, the mechanism whereby energy becomes matter would, if fully understood, not seem nearly so magical, it is, in fact, super-scientific. So scientific that our current quantum physicists are only just beginning to unravel it's secrets.

So, for the time being, call it 'spiritual, call it 'magic', call it whatever you will, but eventually it will become our more completely developed science, and then we won't need religion anymore to explain the nature of things.

So....'spiritual' : a way of trying to explain the unexplainable until our science catches up.

Answer 3

I believe that a distinction first needs to be made between religious and spiritual. Being religious to me means that a individual is mentally involved in a religious belief set. This could be any denomination and/or any faith with a set "point of view" Spirituality, to me means that a individual is mentally involved in the belief that a "higher order of force" does exist, but isn't something that can be identified by words of man. It's more a state of presence, then of thought.
In other words, being religious is following a predefined faith, and being spiritual is simply believing in a "higher order of forces" at work in our reality, even if we can't identify it.
I am NOT ordained clergy, I have not researched this topic. I hold a BA in Psychology and am a Masters Student in A&M. This is my individual perception and is not intended to be a statement of fact. It is only an expression of my personal opinion in this important matter. I hope it offers some insight. Good Luck Friend.

Viking_II

Answer 4

It depends what you are asking. Are you asking whether the English word "god" has a meaning; and if so what is it? Or are you asking whether "God (the Creator" has meaning in who He is and what He does? The first question about the Eng word "god"; well to be honest, I do NOt know what is the origin of the word. I guess I can check online, but that would be me just regurgitating what someone else has written. I tend to think of the Eng word "god" to refer to "a or the Creator". When used of the biblical God, then I would refer to "God" as meaning "the uncreated Creator who is full of power and might; a king who has the right and ability to judge, but is not confined to a physical form" As for whether the God of the Bible has meaning... I would say that the question is the wrong way round: the God of the Bible is the means by which ALL else has meaning. No thing can have meaning unless the God of the Bible is truly who He says He is. I understand then that this implies that one has to accept that the God of the Bible - 1 - Exists 2 - Can be experienced by mankind 3 - The Bible is an accurate account of God communicating with mankind (in its original language) I guess what could help answer the second question is "Why should anything have meaning?" Or better still "Why are humans looking for meaning in things?" across ALL cultures throughout all of recorded history... Hope this helps

Answer 5

For myself, I say spiritual is an enlightening from within with no borders or boundaries, no rules and no forefitting of liberty. I make the decisions, and I reserve the right to take what lessons and/or messages I choose, for my spiritual benefit, from any and every religion. Enlightening of the soul can not be done if one is smothered by others. The path of light needs to be cleared and not obstructed.

Answer 6

Spirtuality is the only common point of three major religions and most practical form of religion. It is about deeper study of spirit and soul. Its makes one understand about themselves therefore God. It eventually makes you very peaceful because you uncover the underlying meaning of life and what is our purpose and why we are here. It makes you connected to God eventually!

Answer 7

It means that they have a relationship with the Divine, but that it's not easily categorized with a label used by any one religion.

Answer 8

It means their thinking is beyond carnal and the world.

Is abiding in a flesh body the extent of your thinking?

Answer 9

means they believe in something more than just this world, believe in a greater being and is usually associated with relgious beliefs, but doesn't have to.

Answer 10

If someone claims to be spiritual, they are usually blowing their own horn. Its a "look at me, I'm special" kind of thing.