THEO 103 LECTURE

Spirituality

The word “spirituality” can be traced from its origin in the Letters of St. Paul especially in 1 Corinthians
2:14-15 (Schneiders, 1989 as cited in Oman, 2013). By the 5th century words spiritus and spiritualis
(Latin translation of pneuma and pneumatikos) has come to signify those individuals whose mind, will
and heart were ordered and led by the spirit over against those egoistically attached to things of the
world (Fuller & Parsons, 2018; Oman, 2013).

In Hebrew, spirituality can be traced from the concept of “ruach” which means “breath, spirit or wind,”
which is the one that animates. Woods (1989) defines spirituality as primarily concrete and real, since it
encompasses all the ways, beliefs, and attitudes people have ever had regarding the development of the
human spirit in its collective as well as particular forms. It has social dimensions as well. Woods (1989)
further noted that spirituality can also refer to the organized study and teaching of the varieties of
personal and communal spiritualities that have appeared in history and are appearing at this moment.

Astin et.al (2011) as cited in Chenot and Kim (2013) explains that spirituality is viewed primarily as a
subjective, “inner” pursuit that includes the inclination to perceive the self and others as “spiritual” and
an existential search for meaning and transcendence.

The term spirituality can be understood depending on the kind of thought it is being expressed. The
Western thought has a different understanding of spirituality over the Eastern/Asian thought.

Fisher (2011) proposed several points of agreement regarding the nature of spirituality as explained by
existing literature. Spirituality is 1) innate, 2) emotive, 3) related to religion, 4) subjective, and 5)
dynamic.

Spirituality can be defined in various perspectives. Spirituality is often defined more broadly than
religiosity, with a focus on seeking the sacred or ultimate truth without the institutional boundaries of
organized religion (Newberg & Newberg, 2008 as cited in Brandenberger & Bowman, 2013).

Spirituality is also often connected with the concept of religion and religiosity. The foregoing history
shows how religion and spiritualty have carried many shifting and sometimes opposed connotations,
underscoring the need to clarity their meanings (Oman, 2013).

According to Oman (2013) he compiled a list of past and present selected definitions of spirituality from
various scholarly contexts:

Year Author and Definition of Spirituality Context 1965 von Balthasar (1965, p. 7): The basic practical or
existential attitude of man which is the consequence and expression of the way in which he understands
his religious – or more generally, his ethical committed – existence Theology 1975 Tart (1975, p. 4):
That vast realm of human potential dealing with ultimate purposes, with higher entities, with God, with
love, with compassion, with purpose Psychology Transpersonal 1983 Wakefield (1983, p. 361): Those
attitudes, beliefs, and practices, which animate people’s lives and help the to reach out towards super-
sensible realities Theology 1984 Shafanske and Gorsuch (1984, p. 231): A transcendent dimension within
human existence…discovered in moments in which the individual question the meaning of personal
existence and attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context Psychology Transpersonal
1991 Fahlberg and Fahlberg (1991, p. 274): That which is involved in contacting the divine within the Self
or self Health Promotion 1991 Vaughan (1991, p. 105): A subjective experience of the sacred Psychology
Transpersonal 1992 Doyle (1992, p. 302): The search for existential meaning Medicine, pallative 1994
Hart (1994, p. 2): The way one lives out one’s faith in daily life, the way a personal relates to the ultimate
conditions of existence Psychology 1998 Wuthnow (1998, p. viii): All the beliefs and activities by which
individuals attempt to relate their lives to God or to a divine being or some other conception of a
transcendent reality Sociology 2000 Hill et al. (2000, p. 66): The feelings, thoughts, experiences, and
behaviors that arise from a search for the sacred Psychology 2003 Myers and Williard (2003, p. 149): The
capacity and tendency present in all human beings to find and construct meaning about life and
existence and to move toward personal growth, responsibility, and relationship with others. Psychology
2006 Hufford and Bucklin (2006, p. 29): Spirituality refers to the domain of spirit(s): God or gods, souls,
angels, jinni, demons – and only by metaphorical extension to other intangible and invisible things…
Medical Humanities 2009 Puchalski et al. (2008)” The way individuals seek and express meaning and
purpose and the way they experience their connectedness to the moment, to self, others, to nature, and
to the significant or sacred.

Oman (2013, p. 28) also noted that “in the late 20th century, the word spirituality began to acquire an
additional English usage as something that can be explicitly pursued not only within a formal religious
tradition, but also outside of traditions.” Oman refers these people as “spiritual but not religious” and
nonorthodox spiritualities who are widespread in the US and some parts of Europe.

Other scholars cite the interconnectedness of spirituality and religiosity as a single scientific construct
(Good & Willoughby, 2014). Good (2011) as cited in Baring et.al (2016) who mentioned that the
interrelatedness of spirituality and religiosity (S/R) can be understood in the institutional and personal
levels. At the institutional level, religious participation promotes the acquisition of moral perspectives
and opportunities to develop extra-familial relationships, i.e., to develop social capital. At the personal
level, the individual obtains positive feelings and experiences, such as peace, hope and gratitude. Thus,
the construct Spirituality/Religiosity is defined as ‘feelings and behaviors involving the search for the
sacred, occurring both within and outside of institutionalized religion’ (Good 2011, 5).

In a recent article published by Baring (2018) on the emerging transitions of meanings on religious
constructs. Because of the shifts on diffused spiritual religiosity and the emergence of the communal-
personal poles in understanding religion (Figure 1) and the sacred (Figure 2), he proposed a new shift
towards “ethical spirituality” (Figure 3) which highlights the ethical character of the diffused condition of
spirituality and religiosity.

Major World Religions

Major world religions also present certain kind of spirituality depending on their emphasis and meaning
making. It can be said that spirituality is not owned by any religion nor movements. Each religion has its
own unique way of expressing and strengthening their members’ spirituality.

Bowen (2018) provided the latest religious demographics in the world. According to him, Christians are
the majority group (31.5 %) of about 2.2 billion people followed by Islam (22.3 %) with 1.6 billion people,
no religion (15.4 %), Hindu (14 %), Buddhist (5.3 %), Sikhism (0.3 % ), Judaism (0.2 %) and others (11 %).
It can be said that these major world religions have shaped the lives of their members and most
especially influenced their spirituality. The following are the major world religions aside from
Christianity since this topic will be discussed in the next lessons. The list may not be exhaustive but it will
provide a background of these religions influenced the lives of their followers. The information is based
from Bowen (2018).

a) Islam
Islam was founded 610 CE on the Arabian Peninsula by the Prophet Mohammed. It has estimated
1.6 billion members. To enrich their spirituality, members of Islam are encouraged to go on a
spiritual pilgrimage to their holy places such as Makkah (Mecca) and Madinah in Saudi Arabia. Their
holy book is Qur’an and their holy symbols are the crescent and star.

b) Hinduism
Hinduism was founded and developed gradually in prehistoric times. It has around 1 billion
followers. Hindus consider the following as their sacred places such as River Ganges especially at
Varanasi (Benares) and other places in India. As a source of their teaching and spirituality, they
consider the Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata and Rarnayana as their holy books. Aum is their holy
symbol.

c) Buddhism
Buddhism can be traced its beginnings in 535 CE in Northern India. It has 576 million followers. For
Buddhists, they consider Bodh Gaya, Sarnath in Northern India as their holy places. Tripitaka is
known to be their holy book and the eight-spoked wheel is considered to be a holy symbol.

d) Sikhism
Sikhism founded in Northwest India in 15th Century CE. According to the latest data, there are 23
million followers of this group. For the Sikh, they consider takhts, or seats of high authority in
Amritsar, Patna Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Nanded and Talwandi as holy places. Their holy books
include the Guru Granth Sahib and their holy symbol is the Khanda, the symbol of the Khalsa.