The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape of man", oriented at "the image of God" as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during the Late Middle Ages to include mental aspects of life.
In modern times, the term has spread to other religious traditions. It broadened to refer to a wider range of experiences, including a range of esoteric and religious traditions. Modern usages tend to refer to a subjective experience of a sacred dimension, and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live", often in a context separate from organized religious institutions. This may involve belief in a supernatural realm beyond the ordinarily observable world, personal growth, a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning, religious experience, or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension" or spirit.
Etymology
The term spirit means "animating or vital principle in man and animals".
The term "spiritual", meaning "concerning the spirit", is derived from Old French (12c.), which is derived from Latin , which comes by or "spirit".
The term "spirituality" is derived from Middle French ', from Late Latin (nominative ), which is also derived from Latin '.
Definition
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 with limited overlap. A survey of reviews by McCarroll, each 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.
According to Kees Waaijman, the traditional meaning of spirituality is a process of re-formation that "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, Prophet Muhammad." Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality is a blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions, and Eastern religions.
In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience and the "deepest values and meanings by which people live", incorporating personal growth or soul transformation, usually in a context separate from organized religious institutions. Spirituality can be defined generally as an individual's search for ultimate or sacred meaning, and purpose in life. Additionally it can mean to seek out or search for personal growth, religious experience, belief in a supernatural realm or afterlife, or to make sense of one's own "inner dimension".
Development of the meaning of spirituality
Classical, medieval, and early modern periods
Bergomi detects "an enlightened form of non-religious spirituality" in late antiquity.
In ancient Rome, the concept of spirituality consisted mainly of the pax deorum (the peace of the gods); this was achieved through rituals and festivals that ensured divine favour and cosmic order. While Roman spirituality was communal, it also involved personal engagement with the divine through the study of mythology and philosophy. Myths served as allegories for moral lessons and models for personal conduct, guiding individuals in their relationship with the gods. The influence of Pythagorean philosophy, especially the Golden Verses, encouraged introspection, self-discipline, and ethical living. This blend of myth, philosophy, and ritual shaped a spirituality focused on both societal harmony and personal connection with the divine.
Words translatable as "spirituality" first began to arise in the 5th century and only entered common use toward the end of the Middle Ages. In a Biblical context the term means being animated by God. The New Testament offers the concept of being driven by the Holy Spirit, as opposed to living a life in which one rejects this influence.
In the 11th century, this meaning of "Spirituality" changed. Instead, the word began to denote the mental aspect of life, as opposed to the material and sensual aspects of life, "the ecclesiastical sphere of light against the dark world of matter". In the 13th century "spirituality" acquired a social and psychological meaning. Socially it denoted the territory of the clergy: "the ecclesiastical against the temporary possessions, the ecclesiastical against the secular authority, the clerical class against the secular class". Psychologically, it denoted the realm of the inner life: "the purity of motives, affections, intentions, inner dispositions, the psychology of the spiritual life, the analysis of the feelings".
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a distinction was made between higher and lower forms of spirituality: "A spiritual man is one who is Christian 'more abundantly and deeper than others'." The word was also associated with mysticism and quietism, and acquired a negative meaning.
Modern spirituality
Modern notions of spirituality developed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, mixing Christian ideas with Western esoteric traditions and elements of Asian, especially Indian, religions. Spirituality became increasingly disconnected from traditional religious organizations and institutions. It is sometimes associated today with philosophical, social, or political movements such as liberalism, feminist theology, and green politics.
Modern Roman religion
In modern Roman neopagan spirituality, initiation is a central element that facilitates deeper spiritual development and access to sacred knowledge. It is viewed as a transformative process, guiding the initiate through stages of spiritual growth. Initiation introduces the individual to the esoteric meanings of Roman myths, deities, and the concept of pax deorum (peace of the gods), aligning the individual with cosmic order. This process not only prepares the initiate for participation in rituals but also emphasizes personal alignment with the divine will. As such, initiation is both a rite of passage and a means to engage meaningfully with divine forces, ensuring the individual's spiritual preparedness to uphold the traditions of Roman religious practice.
Transcendentalism and Unitarian Universalism
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) was a pioneer of the idea of spirituality as a distinct field. He was one of the major figures in Transcendentalism, an early 19th-century liberal Protestant movement, which was rooted in English and German Romanticism, the Biblical criticism of Johann Gottfried Herder and Friedrich Schleiermacher, the skepticism of Hume, and Neoplatonism.
The Transcendentalists emphasized an intuitive, experiential approach to religion. Following Schleiermacher, an individual's intuition of truth was taken as the criterion for truth.
Theosophy, anthroposophy, and the perennial philosophy
A major influence on modern spirituality was the Theosophical Society, which searched for 'secret teachings' in Asian religions. It has been influential on modernist streams in several Asian religions, notably Neo-Vedanta, the revival of Theravada Buddhism, and Buddhist modernism, which have taken over modern western notions of personal experience and universalism and integrated them in their religious concepts. A second, related influence was Anthroposophy, whose founder, Rudolf Steiner, was particularly interested in developing a genuine Western spirituality, and in the ways that such a spirituality could transform practical institutions such as education, agriculture, and medicine. More independently, the spiritual science of Martinus was an influence, especially in Scandinavia.
The influence of Asian traditions on Western modern spirituality was also furthered by the perennial philosophy, whose main proponent Aldous Huxley was deeply influenced by Swami Vivekananda's Neo-Vedanta and universalism, and the spread of social welfare, education and mass travel after World War II.
Neo-Vedanta
An important influence on western spirituality was Neo-Vedanta, also called neo-Hinduism and Hindu Universalism, a modern interpretation of Hinduism which developed in response to western colonialism and orientalism. It aims to present Hinduism as a "homogenized ideal of Hinduism" with Advaita Vedanta as its central doctrine. Due to the colonisation of Asia by the western world, since the 19th century an exchange of ideas has been taking place between the western world and Asia, which also influenced western religiosity. Unitarianism, and the idea of Universalism, was brought to India by missionaries, and had a major influence on neo-Hinduism via Ram Mohan Roy's Brahmo Samaj and Brahmoism. Roy attempted to modernise and reform Hinduism from the idea of Universalism. This universalism was further popularised, and brought back to the West as neo-Vedanta, by Swami Vivekananda.
Carl Jung
Carl Jung placed a strong emphasis on the occult and spirituality. In his 1928 work "The Spiritual Problem of Modern Man," Jung wrote, "[T]he various forms of religion no longer appear to come from within, from the psyche; they seem more like items from the inventory of the outside world." Jung believed that something was missing in modern man, a sense of the mystical or the spiritual.
"Spiritual but not religious"
After the Second World War, spirituality and theistic religion became increasingly disconnected, and spirituality became more oriented on subjective experience, instead of "attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context". A new discourse developed, in which (humanistic) psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions are being blended, to reach the true self by self-disclosure, free expression, and meditation.
The distinction between the spiritual and the religious became more common in the popular mind during the late 20th century with the rise of secularism and the advent of the New Age movement. Authors such as Chris Griscom and Shirley MacLaine explored it in numerous ways in their books. Paul Heelas noted the development within New Age circles of what he called "seminar spirituality": structured offerings complementing consumer choice with spiritual options.
Among other factors, declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world have given rise to this broader view of spirituality. The term "spiritual" is now frequently used in contexts in which the term "religious" was formerly employed. Both theists and atheists have criticized this development.
Traditional spirituality
Abrahamic faiths
Judaism
Spirituality in Judaism () may involve practices of Jewish ethics, Jewish prayer, Jewish meditation, Shabbat and holiday observance, Torah study, dietary laws, teshuvah, and other practices. It may involve practices ordained by halakhah or other practices.
Kabbalah (literally "receiving") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought of Judaism. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal and mysterious Ein Sof (no end) and the mortal and finite universe (his creation). Interpretations of Kabbalistic spirituality are found within Hasidic Judaism, a branch of Orthodox Judaism founded in 18th-century Eastern Europe by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. Hasidism often emphasizes the Immanent Divine presence and focuses on emotion, fervour, and the figure of the Tzadik. This movement included an elite ideal of nullification to paradoxical Divine Panentheism.
The Musar movement is a Jewish spiritual movement that has focused on developing character traits such as faith, humility, and love. The Musar movement, first founded in the 19th century by Israel Salanter and developed in the 21st century by Alan Morinis and Ira F. Stone, has encouraged spiritual practices of Jewish meditation, Jewish prayer, Jewish ethics, tzedakah, teshuvah, and the study of musar (ethical) literature.
Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism have often emphasized the spirituality of Jewish ethics and tikkun olam, feminist spirituality, Jewish prayer, Torah study, ritual, and musar.
Christianity
thumb|Union with Christ is the purpose of Christian mysticism.
Christian spirituality is the spiritual practice of living out a personal faith. Pope Francis offered several ways in which the calling of Christian spirituality can be considered:
- "Christian spirituality proposes an alternative understanding of the quality of life, and encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption";
- "Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little."
- Work, with an understanding of its meaning, and relaxation are both important dimensions of Christian spirituality. This non-violent meaning is stressed by both Muslim and non-Muslim authors.
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, an 11th-century Islamic scholar, referenced a statement by the companion of Muhammad, Jabir ibn Abd-Allah: