Here is a collection of definitions and descriptions of spirituality.
Spirituality: Mankind’s innate need to understand the world and his place in it.
After working with the concept of spirituality for many years this definition just popped into my head one day. I have come to prefer it because it’s the most basic and clearly identifies three fundamental characteristic.
- Spirituality is innate or universal. Its is common to mankind across time and civilizations.
- Spirituality is knowledge about the big picture. In secular terms, life, reality, the world. In religious terms, God, the divine, cosmos. In mystical terms, higher power, universal reality.
- Spirituality is about us. Its about how we fit into the big picture, our place in the world, or relationship to God.
Or for a more clinical definition:
“… a routine practice dedicated to the cultivation of a contemplative mental mode in which one’s attention is directed toward reality as a whole, its foundations and unchangeable aspects, and the place of the observer and humankind within it.” Segev, Arik. (2023). Secularism and the Right to Spirituality: Work, Leisure, and Contemplation. The International Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Society. 13. 99-115. 10.18848/2154-8633/CGP/v13i01/99-115.
This definition only contains the last 2 out of 3 of elements. But I think universality can be implied.
Here is a description I found on a Catholic website in an article titled: “Religion is a fact of life that even atheists must accept“.
On every continent, among every people, and in every era, human beings have sought knowledge about the divine power that governs and directs the world. They have striven not only to possess knowledge, but to order their lives according to that knowledge.
This is a description rather than a definition and it clearly contains all 3 elements.
And I found this description on a Muslim website in an article titled: “Why Is Shirk the Greatest Sin of All?”
Humanity’s enduring fascination with the same set of existential questions—life after death, the human soul, morality, ethics and the nature of God—has compelled some anthropologists to describe us as Homo Religiosus, distinct as a species based not on ‘sapience’ (wisdom, intelligence) but on shared religious activity. Even in modern times with the decline of traditional religion, human beings cannot escape these so-called religious questions.
This description doesn’t include the third (personal) element, but I think it can be implied.
Three Spiritual paths
There are three general paths people take to satisfy their spiritual needs.
- Religion
- Mysticism/new age
- Secular
Religion: Religion is the most popular spiritual path as 85% of the world identifies as having religious beliefs, as per Major Religious Groups in the World – 1945/2025.
Mysticism: Mysticism… represents an introspective pursuit aimed at experiencing direct communion with the divine or transcendent reality. So mysticism also entails a belief in some form of the supernatural.
Secular: And finally, the only path that doesn’t depend on the supernatural, is the secular spiritual path.
Spirituality manifests itself in many ways. Some positive and some negative.
Positive methods reflect actions that satisfy our spiritual needs
- Religion
- The general search for meaning and purpose
- Personal development
- Meditation
- Art & creativity
- Charitable work
- An interest in philosophy, psychology, sociology, or cultural anthropology.
Negative results happen when our spiritual needs aren’t met
- Existential crisis
- Midlife crisis
- Crisis of faith
- Over use of alcohol or drugs to escape reality
- Depression, hopelessness, despair, suicide.
Which came first: spirituality or religion?
Spirituality proceeds religion because mankind’s innate spiritual nature is the foundation upon which all religions are built. Our spiritual nature asks the questions and religions developed over time to provide the answers.
- Spirituality is a function of human nature.
- Religions are a function of human culture.
There have been thousands of religions throughout history, most/all of which are either doctrinally or logically exclusive of each other.
- This confirms that religions don’t actually have to be true to be effective.
But religions as a whole have survived and even thrived because they are so effective in satisfy man’s fundamental spiritual needs.