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Defining spirituality

#1
Magical Realist Offline
Many definitions for spirituality. It's hard to pin down such a general concept. What is your take on it?

"There is no single, widely agreed upon definition of spirituality. Surveys of the definition of the term, as used in scholarly research, show a broad range of definitions ranging from uni-dimensional definitions such as a personal belief in a supernatural realm to broader concepts such as a quest for an ultimate/sacred meaning, transcending the base/material aspects of life, and/or a sense of awe/wonderment and reverence toward the universe.[citation needed] A survey of reviews by McCarroll e.a. dealing with the topic of spirituality gave twenty-seven explicit definitions, among which "there was little agreement." This causes some difficulty in trying to study spirituality systematically; i.e., it impedes both understanding and the capacity to communicate findings in a meaningful fashion. Indeed, many of spirituality's core features are not unique to spirituality alone; for example German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (a famous atheist) regarded self-transcendence, asceticism and the recognition of one's connection to all as a key to ethical living.

According to Kees Waaijman, the traditional meaning of spirituality is a process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man, the image of God. To accomplish this, the re-formation is oriented at a mold, which represents the original shape: in Judaism the Torah, in Christianity there is Christ, for Buddhism, Buddha, and in Islam, Muhammad." In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live," incorporating personal growth or transformation, usually in a context separate from organized religious institutions.Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality is a blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and Eastern religions.

Spirituality is sometimes associated with philosophical, social, or political movements such as liberalism, feminist theology, and green politics. Some argue (though far from universally accepted—see those who espouse secular humanism) that spirituality is intimately linked to resolving mental health issues, managing substance abuse, marital functioning, parenting, and coping."---
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#2
Secular Sanity Offline
WARNING!  

Members can delete entire topics that they’ve created.  Although this an interesting subject, I wouldn’t waste any time. This particular member has the habit of deleting, not only his posts, but entire threads.
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#3
Magical Realist Offline
LOL @ SS trolling a duplicate thread..

Stryder...request that this thread be deleted.
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#4
Secular Sanity Offline
(Apr 26, 2018 06:14 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: LOL @ SS trolling a duplicate thread..

Stryder...request that this thread be deleted.

It's your own fault, MR.  If you had a little more patience, you wouldn't keep duplicating threads.

BUT this one came in handy.  Big Grin

(Apr 26, 2018 04:16 PM)Secular Sanity Wrote: IMHO, there was no need to change anything.  You didn’t have to remove or limit the delete and editing function. It would have worked itself out.
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#5
Magical Realist Offline
Quote:It's your own fault, MR. If you had a little more patience, you wouldn't keep duplicating threads.

Duplicate threads occur all the time. They're nobody's fault but the site software.

Quote:BUT this one came in handy.

It's alright dearie. We all fuck up now and then.

You really should contribute to the other thread. We could use your insights on this matter. Syne as usual displays a gross ingnorance of the topic.
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#6
Syne Offline
(Apr 26, 2018 06:59 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:
Quote:It's your own fault, MR.  If you had a little more patience, you wouldn't keep duplicating threads.

Duplicate threads occur all the time. They're nobody's fault but the site software.

Yet I only see duplicates from you. Must be a conspiracy, huh? Rolleyes
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#7
Magical Realist Offline
(Apr 26, 2018 08:21 PM)Syne Wrote: [quote='Magical Realist' pid='19725' dateline='1524765565']
Quote:It's your own fault, MR.  If you had a little more patience, you wouldn't keep duplicating threads.

Duplicate threads occur all the time. They're nobody's fault but the site software.

Quote:Yet I only see duplicates from you. Must be a conspiracy, huh?  Rolleyes

Liar. It happens with everybody.
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#8
C C Offline
(Apr 25, 2018 07:43 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: Many definitions for spirituality. It's hard to pin down such a general concept.

The Etymological Fallacy: (also, "The Underlying Meaning"): The fallacy of drawing false conclusions from the (most often long-forgotten) linguistic origins of a current word, or the alleged meaning or associations of that word in another language. E.g., "In physics, electronics and engineering the term 'hysteresis' is sexist since it originally came from the Greek word for 'uterus' or 'womb.'"  Or, "I refuse to eat fish! Don't you know that the French word for "fish" is 'poisson,' which looks just like the English word 'poison'? Doesn't that suggest something to you?" Famously, postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida played on this fallacy at length in his (1968) "Plato's Pharmacy." http://utminers.utep.edu/omwilliamson/EN...lacies.htm


OTOH, I fail to see how digging up the roots of a word to justify a particular usage of it or outright resurrection of an antique meaning would fall into a category of rational incorrectness. Another etymological abuse would stem from when such is being used to suppress all of or some of the other definitions and habitual practices that have arisen over time in connection with a word. Unlike special nomenclatures or disciplinary glossaries where "signs" can be restricted to one meaning and one significance only, the semantics of ordinary language is always going to be subject to mutability and dependence upon context or circumstances to discern which variant a usage is employing.  

From the "in-house" nomenclature of a Bowling Green State University department, among countless other contenders / choices:

How Do We Define Spirituality for Scientific Study?

Drawing on the work of Pargament, we define spirituality as “the search for the sacred" for the purpose of conducting scientific research.

There are two important terms here: search and sacred.

The term “sacred” refers not only to concepts of God and higher powers, but also to other aspects of life that are perceived to be manifestations of the divine or imbued with divine-like qualities, such as transcendence, immanence, boundlessness and ultimacy. Beliefs, practices, experiences, relationships, motivations, art, nature, war – virtually any part of life, positive or negative, can be endowed with sacred status.

By search, we are referring to an ongoing journey, a process that begins with the discovery of something sacred followed by attempts to build and conserve a relationship with the sacred, and when necessary, efforts to transform nontraditional; they can follow well-trodden pathways established by traditional institutions or they can construct their own distinctive pathways that have little if anything to do with established religions.


~
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#9
Secular Sanity Offline
(Apr 25, 2018 07:43 PM)Magical Realist Wrote: Many definitions for spirituality. It's hard to pin down such a general concept. What is your take on it?

spir·it
noun
  • brain, emotions, inner dialog, reactivity to stimuli
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#10
Syne Offline
(Apr 26, 2018 08:37 PM)Magical Realist Wrote:
(Apr 26, 2018 08:21 PM)Syne Wrote: Yet I only see duplicates from you. Must be a conspiracy, huh?  Rolleyes

Liar. It happens with everybody.

Really? I've never noticed. You'd have to show me some for me to believe this is anything but another in a long list of lies from you.
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