Spirituality

AntiquityIranThe meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various connotations can be found alongside each other.Worship and serve Allah as you are seeing Him and while you see Him not yet truly He sees you.The Prophet ... returned from one of his battles, and thereupon told us, 'You have arrived with an excellent arrival, you have come from the Lesser Jihad to the Greater Jihad – the striving of a servant (of Allah) against his desires (holy war).'when increasing numbers of people ... began to perceive a broad similarity between a wide variety of 'alternative ideas' and pursuits, and started to think of them as part of one 'movement''.if an alcoholic failed to perfect and enlarge his spiritual life through work and self-sacrifice for others, he could not survive the certain trials and low spots aheadThe natural sciences have been invested with religious meaning, with antireligious implications and, in many contexts, with no religious significance at all.' The meaning of spirituality has developed and expanded over time, and various connotations can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which 'aims to recover the original shape of man', oriented at 'the image of God' as exemplified by the founders and sacred texts of the religions of the world. The term was used within early Christianity to refer to a life oriented toward the Holy Spirit and broadened during late medieval times to include mental aspects of life. In modern times, the term both spread to other religious traditions and broadened to refer to a wider range of experience, including a range of esoteric traditions and religious traditions. Modern usages tend to refer to a subjective experience of a sacred dimension and the 'deepest values and meanings by which people live', often in a context separate from organized religious institutions, such as a belief in a supernatural (beyond the known and observable) realm, personal growth, a quest for an ultimate or sacred meaning, religious experience, or an encounter with one's own 'inner dimension'. The term spirit means 'animating or vital principle in man and animals'. It is derived from the Old French espirit, which comes from the Latin word spiritus (soul, courage, vigor, breath) and is related to spirare (to breathe). In the Vulgate the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruach. The term 'spiritual', matters 'concerning the spirit', is derived from Old French spirituel (12c.), which is derived from Latin spiritualis, which comes from spiritus or 'spirit'. The term 'spirituality' is derived from Middle French spiritualité, from Late Latin 'spiritualitatem' (nominative spiritualitas), which is also derived from Latin spiritualis. There is no single, widely agreed upon definition of spirituality. Surveys of the definition of the term, as used in scholarly research, show a broad range of definitions with limited overlap. A survey of reviews by McCarroll each dealing with the topic of spirituality gave twenty-seven explicit definitions, among which 'there was little agreement.' This impedes the systematic study of spirituality and the capacity to communicate findings meaningfully. Furthermore, many of spirituality's core features are not unique to spirituality; for example self-transcendence, asceticism and the recognition of one's connection to all were regarded by the atheist Arthur Schopenhauer as key to ethical life. According to Kees Waaijman, the traditional meaning of spirituality is a process of re-formation which 'aims to recover the original shape of man, the image of God. To accomplish this, the re-formation is oriented at a mold, which represents the original shape: in Judaism the Torah, in Christianity there is Christ, for Buddhism, Buddha, and in Islam, Muhammad.' Houtman and Aupers suggest that modern spirituality is a blend of humanistic psychology, mystical and esoteric traditions and Eastern religions. In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience and the 'deepest values and meanings by which people live,' incorporating personal growth or transformation, usually in a context separate from organized religious institutions.