You have included a number of things here as examples of how you are defining "spiritual."
MMY was Hindu. In Hinduism as in Christianity, the existence of a personal "soul" is assumed. So, are you saying that all persons are spiritual because they have a "soul" and a "birthright" to discover it's natural attributes of peace and bliss? Of course, the Buddhists do not believe in the "soul." From Wikipedia: Anatta is a central doctrine of Buddhism, and marks one of the major differences between Buddhism and Hinduism. Buddhists do not believe that at the core of all human beings and living creatures, there is any "eternal, essential and absolute something called a soul, self or atman".[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#cite_note-6sourcesatman-5[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#cite_note-johnplott3-6[119] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#cite_note-129 Buddhism, from its earliest days, has denied the existence of the "self, soul" in its core philosophical and ontological texts. In its soteriological themes, Buddhism has defined nirvana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana as that blissful state when a person, amongst other things, realizes that he or she has "no self, no soul".[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#cite_note-6sourcesatman-5[120] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#cite_note-130 Are Buddhists "spiritual"? They do have a practice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Perhaps, as indicated here, all those who acknowledge that they have a conscience and are following it are "spiritual." When Thomas Jefferson wrote:"Laws of Nature" into the Declaration of independence, he was referring to an Enlightenment concept deeply rooted in Western philosophy. In later writings, Jefferson elaborated: Nature has written her moral laws on the head and heart of every rational and honest man, where man may read them for himself. If ever you are about to say anything amiss, or to do anything wrong, consider beforehand you will feel something within you which will tell you it is wrong, and ought not to be said or done. This is your conscience, and be sure and obey it... Conscience is the only sure clue which will eternally guide a man clear of all his doubts and inconsistencies. http://www.chivalrynow.net/articles2/natural_law.htm http://www.chivalrynow.net/articles2/natural_law.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you saying, finally, that those that engage in a spiritual practice, such as prayer, are "spiritual," by virtue of their practice? Exegesis keeps the Bible relevant. :) All told, it seems that "for spiritual people" boils down to: 1) All those with a soul, which in your belief system means *all people* 2) All people that consider their conscience in decision-making 3) All people that engage in prayer and meditation In that 2 and 3 are subsets of one, it appears that "for spiritual people" means "for all people" based on your definitions posted here. That's what I thought also! ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <dhamiltony2k5@...> wrote : emily.mae50 writes: The word "spiritual" always amuses me. Re: "for spiritual people." How do you define "spiritual?" In 1957, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said of Spirituality that: 'Spiritual development is the birthright of everyone, for it is the unfoldment of the essential nature of the soul, or inner consciousness…. Soul is the individual property of everybody. It is the natural and inseparable possession, nay, the very existence, of every man. Everybody has the right to enjoy his own possession. Everybody has the right to enjoy the sat [truth] chit [Being] ananda [bliss] nature of his own soul. In the most natural manner, everybody has every right to enjoy permanent peace, bliss eternal, which is the nature of his own soul.' -- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Thirty Years Around the World—Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, Volume One 1957-1964 (Netherlands: MVU Press, 1986), p. 195. The Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.. -Thomas Jefferson ..of the Unified Field the laws of Nature yet work in mysterious ways. -JaiGuruYou Spiritual Practices would be cultivating of Spirituality. Scientifically, stopping to pray may not be as effective as taking a 'quiet-time' or 'quiet-in' meditation, according to the Bible.. Matthew Ch:6 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret(Silence); and thy Father (Unified Field of Nature) which seeth in secret (Silence) shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, (verbal prayers) as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. FairfieldLife, “Not the customary analysis of politics and economics but a conversation about spiritual questions. What did it mean for our spiritual lives?” Om, as we have seen before on FFL, religiosity is not necessarily spirituality defined. History has shown us with plenty of repetition that religious formalisms as religion are not necessarily spiritual. Spirituality: In 1957, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi said that: 'Spiritual development is the birthright of everyone, for it is the unfoldment of the essential nature of the soul, or inner consciousness…. Soul is the individual property of everybody. It is the natural and inseparable possession, nay, the very existence, of every man. Everybody has the right to enjoy his own possession. Everybody has the right to enjoy the sat [truth] chit [Being] ananda [bliss] nature of his own soul. In the most natural manner, everybody has every right to enjoy permanent peace, bliss eternal, which is the nature of his own soul.' -- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Thirty Years Around the World—Dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, Volume One 1957-1964 (Netherlands: MVU Press, 1986), p. 195.
