What is Spirituality, What Does It Mean?
Spirituality can mean very different things to different people
You could ask any 10 people in the street 'what is spirituality?' and you'd get 10 very different responses. Many definitions centre around a core sentiment of living meaningfully and with love.
Below you'll find some of humanity's greatest minds and mystics giving us their personal view on what Spirituality means to them. Perhaps you'll resonate with one of them or maybe you'll have your own unique take, feel free to tell us what it is in the comment section below!
What does Spirituality mean to you?
"In its simplest definition, ‘spirituality’ means knowing how to live with meaning and purpose"
Brahma Kumaris
World Spiritual University
"Our own life has to be our message,"
"Given the scale of life in the cosmos, one human life is no more than a tiny blip. Each one of us is just visitor to this planet, a guest, who will only stay for a limited time. What greater folly could there be than to spend this short time alone, unhappy or in conflict with our companions? Far better, surely, to use our short time here in living a meaningful life, enriched by our sense of connection with others and being of service to them,"
- Eckhart Tolle
The Power of Now
"Realise deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life”
​"Spirituality is not something that can be defined, it is not something that can be answered. It is something that you have to explore,"
Amma
(the "hugging" guru)
Maya Angelou
- Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now
Charles Taylor
A Secular Age
"Spirituality and spiritual life give us the strength to love,"
Bell Hooks
M. Scott Peck
The Road Less Travelled
"In my vision the collective unconscious is God; the conscious is man as individual; and the personal unconscious is the interface between them …I have come to believe and have tried to demonstrate that people’s capacity to love, and hence their will to grow, is nurtured not only by the love of their parents during childhood but throughout their lives by grace, or God’s love. This is a powerful force external to their consciousness which operates through the agency of their unconscious as well as through the agency of loving persons other than their parents and through additional ways which we do not understand,"
"Spirituality, for me, is everyone’s natural connection with the wonder and energy of life ... and the instinct to explore that experience and its meaning,"
"Spirituality is not about beliefs - it is about the way we live and conduct our day-to-day lives,"
Satish Kumar
No Destination
"The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it,"
"Spirituality is an awareness that there is something far greater than we are, something that created this universe, created life and that we are an authentic, important, significant part of it, and can contribute to its evolution,"
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
"Our consciousness is not actually yours or mine, it is the consciousness of humanity evolved, grown, accumulated through many, many centuries...when one realises this our responsibility becomes extraordinarily important,"
J. Krishnamurti
I've attempted to answer this question in the form of an article. Give it a read and let me know what you think!
Adam Pike - Spiritual England
What is
Spirituality?
spirituality for me comes in three parts. The first is personal growth through meditation to be a better person. The second is to know that everyone is connected as one through telepathy. and thirdly awareness of the greater consciousness (God) what ever that is. are we meant to know what that is yet.
After searching for answers for over 50 years, I have found that the answers will eventually come but not at your behest but, from the Divine. To finally have a deep inner peace knowing that everything will be 'just as it is' and not clouding your mind with the minutiae of every-day living. Each evening I now feel God's physical touch on my left shoulder and the feeling is indescribable, words such as love, bliss, tenderness, peace are sometimes not enough. My physical vibration goes 'through the roof at times' and never wanting it to stop. To feel the presence of my guardian angel is simply love wrapped within subtleness. God, the Creator, the Universe, is always watching and waiting for your words and actions. Therefore, spirituality for me can't be explained in a few words but, if I had to, I would say spirituality is looking for Divine Love.
Spirituality is about a connection with ourselves, each other, nature and whatever is beyond us. It is about being and doing, belonging and becoming. It is love.
Spirituality is looking further out there, being curious about everything, it’s keeping an open mind that our human life on Earth cannot be the only life force out there. It is an inner knowing that we are so much more than the human form we take. It’s about finding unconditional love for yourself and others , no judgement attached. Finding simple pleasures everyday and being grateful for the good times you encounter and growing and learning from the difficult ones. Rachel Christmas @thecalmcabin
Spirituality is the ability to zoom out and connect with life in a meaningful way. :)