what's the point of spirituality?

[PMPM71]

Originally Posted by iamthat

Is spirituality just a new age substitute for redundant religions? Religions come and go but there have always been those who are truly spiritual.

Religions tend to focus on the teachings of a particular individual, usually dead. These teachings provide moral guidelines, some idea of an external God with instructions on how to pray to this God, and some promises about the after-life. These teachings usually require priests to act as intermediaries between the individual and the Divine, and it all takes place within an organised structure.

Spirituality is not about organised structures and priests as intermediaries between us and the Divine. Spirituality is more about looking within ourselves to discover our own true nature, our own spark of Divinity. Spirituality is less concerned with faith and more concerned with knowledge. Spirituality may take its inspiration from many teachings and practices.

We may say that religions are redundant yet there are still billions of people following some form of religion. But at the same time, there are increasing numbers of people who want more than is offered by religion. Perhaps there are many old souls taking physical incarnation at this time, and these old souls left religion behind a long time ago.

Peace

I don't see any difference between "old" religions and "modern" spirituality. In both cases it is based on belief in something you cant prove to be true. You believe therefore it is, for you. Religions are dead in sense that they are not state sponsored in the west at least in last 100y. With science replacing them there was left this big moral gap in peoples personal lives and main driving force of all old religions was always to give people sense, organizational part was just power projection in real world. You always had and still have gurus, yesterday they were called "prophets" today they are "life coaches, light workers etc." Spirituality/religion comes from people need to make sense of chaos in the world and themselves and that has not changed.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by PMPM71

I don't see any difference between "old" religions and "modern" spirituality. In both cases it is based on belief in something you cant prove to be true. You believe therefore it is, for you. Religions are dead in sense that they are not state sponsored in the west at least in last 100y. With science replacing them there was left this big moral gap in peoples personal lives and main driving force of all old religions was always to give people sense, organizational part was just power projection in real world. You always had and still have gurus, yesterday they were called "prophets" today they are "life coaches, light workers etc." Spirituality/religion comes from people need to make sense of chaos in the world and themselves and that has not changed.

Has science really replaced religion? Science provides alternative explanations for physical existence, but for many people these alternative explanations are extremely limited and do not really provide answers.

After all, what is the difference between the Big Bang theory of science where somehow the universe manifested out of nothing and the Christian doctrine of God creating the universe out of nothing. Science has simply removed the factor of intelligent purpose. For many people, the existence of intelligent purpose is self-evident.

Eventually science and spirituality will converge, when science finally gets round to truly investigating the nature of consciousness. Until then, science is in its infancy.

Peace

[PMPM71]

You answered your own question. For a modern state science is religion of 21c

Both are dogmatic, people believe something to be true because "a scientist" say so and is accepted in academia same as 100s of years before they would believe a local priest.

In reality most things science claims and cant prove are just most probable assumptions, not facts but are treated as facts nevertheless.

Synthesis of science and spirituality is not something that could/should emerge, its the other way around. Since beginning of philosophy in ancient Greece science went along with God. This kind of breakaway of science and religion is relatively new thing, again in last ~150y I think even Charles Darwin was religious.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by PMPM71

Both are dogmatic, people believe something to be true because "a scientist" say so and is accepted in academia same as 100s of years before they would believe a local priest.

In reality most things science claims and cant prove are just most probable assumptions, not facts but are treated as facts nevertheless.

Absolutely.

Peace

[BigJohn]

what's the point of spirituality?

............... to give us something to 'argue' over'. LOL!

[django]

The point of spirituality is to become whole, that elusive thing we intuitively feel we are missing. To fulfill our ultimate potential, to be ordered emotionally and mentally, and to reconnect to the higher order and the higher energy. There is a deep intuitive knowledge that we lack all of these things and that some of us cannot ignore, and we become the spiritual seekers.

[HITESH SHAH]

Originally Posted by PMPM71

Synthesis of science and spirituality is not something that could/should emerge, its the other way around. Since beginning of philosophy in ancient Greece science went along with God. This kind of breakaway of science and religion is relatively new thing, again in last ~150y I think even Charles Darwin was religious.

Indeed science and spirituality are not different . It's breakaway just last 150 years phenomenon . Newton's all books are books of philosophy and not books of physics or science though though these books are purely about physics .

Both Science and spirituality try to envision something invisible out of seemingly apparently visible .e.g.
Newton found gravitational force seeing the falling apple . Wright brothers got an inspiration to fly seeing birds fly . James watt got a lifelong fascination of steam engine from childhood watching the steam rising from the boiling tea kettle .
Similarly spiritual people like Jesus / Buddha who see invisible God in all everywhere and get mobilized to inspire people century after century .

Scientists creates something visible out of seemingly invisible .e.g. Wright brothers created aircraft out of principle of floating object .
Same way spirituals see something extra in some seemingly insignificant like feeling the presence of in-dwelling god in an individual body, seeing human God (messenger / son of god ) in apparently ordinary individuals .

So I really dont see much difference really between science and spirituality . It is true that European renaissance was driven by Greek philosophers but it was the same in India more than a millennium ago before advent of buddhism . All just appear to change last 100+ years which is not necessarily perfect.

Originally Posted by django

The point of spirituality is to become whole, that elusive thing we intuitively feel we are missing. To fulfill our ultimate potential, to be ordered emotionally and mentally, and to reconnect to the higher order and the higher energy. There is a deep intuitive knowledge that we lack all of these things and that some of us cannot ignore, and we become the spiritual seekers.

nice explanation, thanks :)

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by django

The point of spirituality is to become whole, that elusive thing we intuitively feel we are missing. To fulfill our ultimate potential, to be ordered emotionally and mentally, and to reconnect to the higher order and the higher energy. There is a deep intuitive knowledge that we lack all of these things and that some of us cannot ignore, and we become the spiritual seekers.

Yes, this was excellent! Wish I'd said it...from now on I will!

[ayur3112]

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life.