How to Become Fully Human Part 2: What is Spirituality?

This article follows on from the post of the same name at the Lighthouse and here at Agloria. In that piece, I explain what I think it means to grow up spiritually as a Christian, and become fully human. You can read it here.

This follow up article digs a little deeper into my thoughts on the definition of spirituality. As with anything which is non-material, our scientific worldview struggles to explain it.

The predominant reason is that science is good at defining the physical world, but awful at categorising the spiritual one. Hence why we don’t have a definitive concept of the consciousness.

I think most people define spirituality as the opposite of a physical phenomena. Some treat it with suspicion and as something religious people believe in. And it is for the irrational and superstitious. Spirituality can give people a warm fuzzy feeling or makes them irrationally ecstatic or frightful. Having said that, I think the definition of spirituality goes further than this.

Spirituality is the way we connect with the immaterial realm. Like our physical senses connect with physical reality, our minds interact with the spiritual reality.

From this spiritual space we draw our worldview and value system. How we value our relationships with others, what we choose to prioritise or deprioritise and how we arrive at decisions, come from this place.

For example, sometimes we take the time to rationally think through the arduous process of making a decision. But mostly, we rely on our gut reaction, or in other words, quickly look to our worldview and value system and then make a decision based on that.

Where Do Values Exist?

If we ask a materialist where values exist, they’d probably say ‘inside a person’s mind’. But then, how do people in the same community share cultural values? It appears these values exist in a place outside the human mind, where we can all connect with them. I would call this space the spiritual realm.

So when we say we believe in something, what we mean is we are aligning ourselves with a guiding principle. This is connected to certain ideas, concepts, worldviews and values. And we embody and exhibit those values in our daily lives.

Who Do We Worship?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently said that the question should not be ‘Does God exist?’, but ‘Which God should we worship?’ Whichever ‘highest organising principle’ we choose to believe in or align ourselves to, will define our value system and worldview.

If we believe in a loving Christian God, we will act in a particular way. You would go to church, give our time and money to help charitable causes and seek to be more like Christ.

Those who perceive their inner world as the ‘guiding principle’, then they will engage with New Age meditation, psychedelics and New Thought practices. This will inform how they will interact with others and how they see themselves and engage with objective reality.

For political activists, spiritual activities entail going on protests or arguing with rival groups. This may seem an odd thing to say. Politics isn’t spiritual. But, if we define spirituality as that which is our guiding principle, I would say activists base their choices on the ideology they align to.

Even if we may choose to prioritise our physical needs over our spiritual natures and become materialists, we would still rely on an overriding organising principle. Most materialists use The Science as their guide. In my definition, materialists act spiritually, without realising it.

Conclusion

My argument is spirituality isn’t about ‘woowoo’ or getting warm fuzzy feelings, but about who do we align ourselves with.

We need to carefully choose our ‘shepherd’. Some of these masters (or gods) are nice, some are bad and others seek to destroy us.

As we move further into the 21st Century, the spirits of this age will become more apparent. Irrationality will increase. Divisions will grow. And then the question is not, ‘Do spiritual realities truly exist?’, but ‘How do we defend ourselves against them?’