Growing up I have always wondered why we get a sense of connection to our surroundings. I believe it is a universal feeling that everyone wants to be a part of something bigger or have that sense of belonging. This is how many people define spirituality. Spirituality is often associated with religion, which is why many people tend to relate the meaning of life to spirituality. People go their whole lives searching for connection with our surroundings or looking for the meaning of life. Spirituality has been a question for centuries and I question if we are born with the instinct of spirituality or if we learn it throughout time from our surroundings?
As I began to explore the meaning and origin of spirituality, I wanted to start with learning
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He begins reminiscing about prior beliefs that spirituality was a symptom of a mental illness. He then went on to explaining studies that proved that spirituality has been proven to lead to the increase in health. It may help an individual cope with stress and illness. Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of incorporating spirituality within a community. Spirituality can play the role in patience and hope for an ill patient. Having that sense of connection can help a person accept their handicaps and stay away from the symptoms of depression. Verghese concluded that spirituality is an important treatment that can help heal a person. Spirituality can help a person grow as a person and turn their handicaps into their …show more content…
Graziano discusses human spirituality in three points. His first point addresses the theory that gaining acceptance is the result of spirituality. Spirituality is acting as our social intelligence, which is exactly what human brains were evolved to do. Although, a downfall is that humans tend to believe in life after death and a spirit world. To many spirituality means moral honesty, love and a sense of togetherness. Next, he talks about the social intelligence in spirituality. It is the way that we act according to other people 's behavior or instinctively admire our surroundings. Emotions are a human impulse. Lastly, he talks about our evolutionary past. We are prone to see beauty in our surroundings. Our behavior is only human. He summarizes by stating that humans have developed to see the world around us passionately. Spirituality has evolved as a consequence of social
In all dominations there are people who may consider themselves spiritual because that is how we connect as human beings. For example, those of the Pentecostal faith, view the “holy ghost” as their spiritual higher power. A Buddhist may not look at Buddha as necessarily their God, but a higher power as well. A female person of the Islamic faith will have her head covered; that is religion. In this chapter authors have given examples supporting this concept, however, in theses readings, my understanding of spiritually does allude to religion as the foundation. Additionally, it would be safe for me to view spirituality with a connotative meaning. Spirituality transcends religious practices; therefore, religion expresses how one worships. Yes, according to our readings they are very separate; however, it is my belief they carry the same foundation. This is where the theme of spirituality was somewhat weak to
While spirituality is often defined today as the synonym for religion, there are many dissonant voices in Christianity who would disagree with this meaning. Peterson is one of them, arguing that spirituality is not religion or exclusive, but that spirituality is deeply integrated in the
Melhem et al (2016) define spirituality as an “abstract, subjective, and complex term, whose definition varies between individuals, philosophies, and cultures” and has “many subjective meanings” (p.43). I have learned from many friends who view themselves as spiritual, but don’t follow any particular religion, that spiritualty has allowed them to find meaning and balance in their life. Many feel that all individuals have the capacity to be spiritual, but I haven’t felt the need to tune into this concept thus far in my life. I would tell you where I find meaning and balance in my life, but I don’t even fully know that answer myself. Spirituality is such a new concept for me, and I find it hard to wrap my head around the ways in which I may be able to view or understand it. Therefore, it is something I hope to explore as I mature and continue to understand who I am as a person in this
Religion has 7 core attributes that allow someone to call it a religion, these include Narrative, Doctrine, Emotional, Material, Ethical, Ritual and Social. These seven attributes help individuals identify what can be classified as a “religion”, however spirituality has no “easy way” to identifying it. Spirituality can be found within the individual looking for their “meaning” but not physically expressed.
Worthington et. al. (2011) says historically, religiousness involved individual and institutional elements; however, now spirituality is thought of as an individual phenomenon and linked with meaningfulness, New Age beliefs, and personal transcendence. Additionally, spirituality is described in personal terms like one’s relationship with God, and as a result, spirituality is more highly regarded than religion. The authors define spirituality as a feeling of closeness and having a relationship or dedication to God or a higher power; this can be a religious experience or a nonreligious one. They state that what one considers sacred is usually related to the awareness of social influences. According to the authors, four types of spirituality have been identified based on closeness to God. First, is religious spirituality. Religious spirituality’s connectedness to God is based on one’s specific denomination and the closeness is specific to the deity identified. Second is humanistic spirituality. Humanistic spirituality involves closeness to humans. This type of spirituality fosters a loving connection with a specific group of people and a sense of selflessness and concern
Loffredo, Joseph A. Jr. (2000, March). Spiritualist Basics. The Spiritualist Religion Page, 1-16. Retrieved November 1, 2004, from www.geocites.com.
Spirituality refers to the perspective of that which is valued in life, and that which must to be upheld and defended under any and all circumstances, regardless of the social environment and surrounding conditions.
...locking out the idea. Spirituality also assists in fostering a healthy patient. Many individuals believe in a higher power and therefore we as nurses should encourage that connection when we see it being made. Spiritual connections are a way to give the patient an outlet. They are able to express themselves and rely on something other than physical care and diagnoses. They are about to look to this higher being for encouragement, peace, and healing.
There is evidence suggesting that attention to one’s spirituality influences the ability to cope with illness, help in the prevention of illn...
Spirituality can be defined as ‘‘ways of relating to the sacred’’ (Shults and Sandage 2006, p. 161) that involve the experience of significance (Zinnbauer and Pargament 2005)”. (Jankowski and Vaughn, 2009, p.82).
Ideologies creates a sense of community, purpose and order. Similarly, I find that my religion provides me with the conceptual frameworks in which to ground my life. My life revolves around my Islamic commitments, even school and work is set around my Islamic timetable. So to me, Islam is not just about praying, fasting and so on. Yet, it’s also about my moral conduct, the education that I seek and my worldly actions. Growing up in a community that practices an Islamic lifestyle and culture has convinced me that Islam is one of the exceptional religions which stress the development of the positive moral and ethical. I was taught to live peacefully, help each other and also tolerate with other religions. Not only that, Islam also governs all facets of my life such as moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, social and economic via the Quran and the Hadith. I also learnt the true values of my faith which is Islam is not only for the Muslim world, it is to be practiced wherever I am.
Spiritual formation is a process that morphs as we grow and change. There is no one singular correct path this type of journey takes because each journey is as individual as the person who is experiencing it. Most obvious, the journey will be different from those who identify as religious and those who do not and will diversify with in each category. For example, the spiritual journey a Buddhist takes will be different from that of a believer in Judaism or Christianity. In fact, the journey will continue to diversify between Christians, male and female, age groups, even by demographic location. Consequently, the spiritual formation process is as diverse as it is intricate and we may never be able to discover all the journey options. Although individuals may not actively recognize they are experiencing spiritual formation it is a process that affects all. Because it is in human nature to question, learn, grow, and act, everyone to a certain extent is exposed to a unique spiritual formation journey.
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...
Spirituality can be found in almost anything. Finding spirituality in something can make someone feel enlightened and bring strong emotion and deep feeling. In some cases, people would be willing to sacrifice nearly anything to help maintain the integrity of what they find to be spiritual. The earth is found in many cultures to be regarded as highly spiritual. There are countless numbers of people willing to sacrifice money, material goods, jobs and several other things that most people take for granted, only to help keep what they find spiritual in its natural, beautiful, and wholesome state: nature.
Ganga and Kutty stated (2013) spirituality refers to a path of life that enables people to seek reason of their existence and helps people explore challenges. Ganga and Kutty (2013) conducted a study on adults to see if spirituality had positive effects on their life, meaning did their life have purpose or value. Each participant partook in a study that asked questions about their life and purpose. The study consisted of a daily spiritual experience scale, it was a point scale that consist of 16 items to be rated on a 6-point scale. The results concluded that spirituality has positive effects on their life when seeking their purpose. Each participant felt that he/she had a purpose and that their life was valuable and meaningful (Ganga and Kutty, 2013). According to Ganga and Kutty (2013), spirituality is a way for people to discover the meaning of their life. Spirituality is a personal adventure to understand answers to the questions they seek to find about their spirituality and purpose in life. It says spirituality is a set of beliefs and practices that concludes with life changing paths that make a person’s life meaningful. Spirituality has been viewed as an important factor when realizing the purpose of life. Ganga and Kutty (2013) expressed spirituality enhances our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, relieves stress and it finds meaning and purpose of one’s life. I believe