The difference between Spirit & Spirituality?

[Two-bit guru]

It seems to me that sometimes people think of spirituality as more religious than spirit.
Sometimes I use the words interchangeably but feel more comfortable with spirit.

Does anybody have anything to add to this?

 

[Awoon]

"Spirit" is the life force of Humans. "Spirituality" is becoming Humane

 

[Straw Dog]

"Spirit" comes from the Latin spiritus which means "breath". We breathe in the oxygen produced by the flora as we breathe out carbon dioxide back to be absorbed by them. It's this fundamental relationship that forms the basis of my spirituality.

 

[SageTree]

Spirit is the Spark in Us.
Spirituality is the Application, the Practice the way we Connect our Spark with the World...

To perhaps do some good?

Warm people up with your Fire?


The Verb form is the most important one for Spirit to take....
I truly believe that even God, Itself, is more of a Verb than a Noun.

 

[Me Myself]

Spirituality, in the way that I use it, means the awareness that you bring to the state of your spirit and other people´s/ deity´s spirits

 

[SageTree]

"wring"?

Explain pleas

 

[Two-bit guru]

"Spirit" comes from the Latin spiritus which means "breath". We breathe in the oxygen produced by the flora as we breathe out carbon dioxide back to be absorbed by them. It's this fundamental relationship that forms the basis of my spirituality.

I think of breath as our connection, or at least a very important connection, with the universe. My meditations center around the breath. Do you think there is meaning to the concept of prana, or is breathing just the oxygen and carbon dioxide?

 

[Two-bit guru]

"Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist.....Only Breath"

Rumi is absolutely swell! I refer to this one often, too:
"This silence is worth More than a thousand lives, This freedom worth More than all the empires on earth. To glimpse that truth within yourself, For even just a moment, is worth More than all heavens, all worlds, All this, and all that."

Breath and silence are a pretty decent combo, I'd say.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

In the world, both materialistic things and non-materialistic things are manifested, and each one should have an origin or source. What manifests from the "materials" are always a physical matter or energy, which are always subject to the laws of physics and chemistry.
On the other hand, we have things that are non-materialistic, such as love, forgiveness, generosity, patience, kindness....
As human, we know our body is a physical composition. We eat food, then this produces energy, and we can walk, carry things and etc, just like a machine that consumes energy and works. This is the characteristic of our physical body, which can be well explained by the laws of physics and chemistry. However, we also manifest non-materialistic things from ourselves. These non-materialistic things cannot come from our physical body, since a physical thing can only manifest physical matters from itself. Thus, from what, these non-materialistic virtues manifest from, and what is the source? It is believed that other then this physical body, we have another part, which is non-materialistic, and cannot be explained by laws of physics or chemistry. In religion it is called Spirit, and the non-materialistic virtues are called spirituality.
Thus as our body can manifest physical actions, our spirit can manifest spirituality from itself, as the sun manifest light from itself.

 

[Straw Dog]

I think of breath as our connection, or at least a very important connection, with the universe. My meditations center around the breath. Do you think there is meaning to the concept of prana, or is breathing just the oxygen and carbon dioxide?

I think that the concept of prana probably holds meaning with some people, although I'm not wholly familiar with it my self. If it's anything akin to the Chinese concept of Qi, which is literally translated as breath, air, or gas,then I may have some idea. It essentially means "vital energy"? My contemplative and meditative focus is on the external reality around me. The physical act of breathing is a part of a feedback loop with the flora. It's a critical elemental, but not singular, source of the total vital energy of any one person. Water is also pretty vital I guess. We're the mixture of many different natural elements coming together into one working system.

 

[Madhuri]

It seems to me that sometimes people think of spirituality as more religious than spirit.
Sometimes I use the words interchangeably but feel more comfortable with spirit.

Does anybody have anything to add to this?

I think of spirituality as engaging with spirit (loose definition), just as materialism is engaging with matter (also loose definition).

 

[Meow Mix]

I'm not entirely sure what a "spirit" is supposed to be other than what I consume on most weekend nights; but I usually conflate "spirituality" with the term "religion."

 

[SageTree]

Rumi is absolutely swell! I refer to this one often, too:
"This silence is worth More than a thousand lives, This freedom worth More than all the empires on earth. To glimpse that truth within yourself, For even just a moment, is worth More than all heavens, all worlds, All this, and all that."

Breath and silence are a pretty decent combo, I'd say.

Thanks for sharing that.
I'd concur with the last line you shared, and would say it's best to interrupt breathing and silence only when you can improve upon it

I'm not entirely sure what a "spirit" is supposed to be other than what I consume on most weekend nights; but I usually conflate "spirituality" with the term "religion."

Thanks for the post.

I DO know some atheists who are still, self described, 'Have Spirit/uality', and I was intrigued because what I gather from folks is that this isn't the case...
That is that, Atheism = Nothing superstitious or unprovable.

For me another way I think of 'Spirit' is the elements of our interconnectedness with the Cosmos, our minerals, our make up.... the way we're interlaced and bound.

And on that note, I consider 'Spirituality' the awareness of that connection, like how some people describe that 'feeling' when they go for a walk in the woods.

I feel most people would admit to that feeling, so is it just a matter of labels?

I DO however think there can be intentional practicing of 'Spirituality' or 'Feeling of connectedness' religious/theist/spiritualist/atheist if we PLAN to go on regular walks or things that make us feel more alive and aware.

It's 'provable', that is, I feel it could be investigated why these things make us feel 'present', but there is also the side of us that 'knows' without having to 'figure it out' or 'have proof'.

And that doesn't make 'connection' more or less real because of what we 'know' and 'know for sure'....

I don't see that experience, that I'm labeling 'spirituality' is mutually exclusive in the a/theist spectrum, and don't feel it implies 'superstition'... if anything, 'Practicing your Connectedness' or moments when you experience is seems pretty practical and empirical to me.

Not sure how you feel or what you'd say about it, and I'm not trying to TELL you anything, so I hope you didn't mind me expounding some of my own thoughts, which your post triggered for me

:namaste
SageTree

 

[chinu]

It seems to me that sometimes people think of spirituality as more religious than spirit.
Sometimes I use the words interchangeably but feel more comfortable with spirit.

Does anybody have anything to add to this?

Soul is like Water,
Spirit is like Running Water,
Spirituality is like River,
& God is like Sea.

_/\_
Chinu

 

[Orias]

It seems to me that sometimes people think of spirituality as more religious than spirit.
Sometimes I use the words interchangeably but feel more comfortable with spirit.

Does anybody have anything to add to this?

I can agree that people can tie spirituality with religion, and to be honest it can be. Though it isn't always depending on the person.

To possess spirit is to possess an essential nature of oneself's own being. To be spiritual is to propagate this "spirit" into something inteded to be "better". If religion is essential to this persons nature then it is religious, the same can be said about certain philosophies and ways of life. Though the word religion also has some baggage on it that doesn't apply to all religious people.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Spirit is that annoying loud thing cheerleaders do. Spirituality is what annoying, middle-age flakes pass off as religion.

 

[Orias]

Spirit is that annoying loud thing cheerleaders do. Spirituality is what annoying, middle-age flakes pass off as religion.

Haha, didn't know spirit were doable.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Haha, didn't know spirit were doable.

Some of them are.

 

[Orias]

Some of them are.

Yea, not the quirky spiritual type though...well thats subjective too