Spirituality is a part of a worldview-a set of beliefs regarding the fundamental tenets of reality and the various elements influencing an individual's thinking, perception, and knowledge. The worldview is, therefore, a philosophy, a mindset, and a formula in life (Wong, 2013). Some of the primary questions that shape the worldview include the definition of spirituality and nature. Furthermore, questions regarding what human being entails and the primary life characteristics such as knowledge, human history, and death are all part of an individual's worldview. With a keen interest in spirituality and questions on human existence, human beings develop various meanings and conceptions that eventually shape their worldview.
Definitions of Spirituality
Spirituality is a term that has existed since antiquity. As a broad concept, it has received various definitions, meanings, and perspectives. Generally, many authors tend to agree that spirituality is about a connection to a bigger entity that oneself and involves the search for meaning in life. It is regarded as a universal human experience and a significant human characteristic. Most fundamentally, it is transcendent and sacred and involves a deep sense of interconnectedness and aliveness. Alternatively, spirituality can be defined as the extent to which individuals allow grace not only to enter their lives but also guide individuals along the way. Authors in theology have sought to look at spirituality through the lenses of a human experience with no significant boundaries. McAvan (2012) asserted that such scholars have further refuted the claim that spirituality can be subjected to scientific methods since it is by and large personal and subjective. Spirituality primarily defines the expression and meaning that people draw from their connection to the self, the moment, nature, and others. For a person to be spiritual, they must also exhibit a contact with divinity and sacredness. As a practice, spirituality refers to the quest of making harmony with the universe and the desire to answer the infinite questions.
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Spirituality has also received various definitions and meanings depending on the context of the philosophical era. The three main worldviews that have shed light on the meaning of spirituality include scientism, pluralism, and postmodernism. According to Richard Olson, a historian, scientism includes, "efforts to extend scientific ideas, methods, practices, and attitudes of human social and political concern" (Clarke, 2016). Therefore, the age of scientism involves a strong belief in a skeptical inquiry is the best way of finding knowledge. Thus, through the lenses of scientism, spirituality broadly refers to a method of seeking faith and enlightenment in a manner guided by empirical evidence rather than the metaphysical connections. Postmodernism is an era in western philosophy beginning in the late 20 th century characterized by skepticism, subjectivism, and widespread suspicion of reason and ideology. Postmodern spirituality took a more individualistic path. The primary aim of individuals at this time was to separate spirituality from religion. Therefore, spirituality is a desire to experience transcendence and higher consciousness without necessarily having a supportive moral structure (Huss, 2014). The worldview of pluralism operates under the principles of diversity and acceptance. It is modern philosophical thinking that leverages social, scientific, and economic societies to enhance the common good. From a pluralistic point of view, spirituality can refer to a lived experience, doctrines and traditions specific to a given group, and an individual's lived experience.
Questions on Human Existence
Prime reality is a concept that aims at establishing the position of God in the life of human beings. It describes a divine, and infinite God described in the Bible. Some of the characteristics that come with prime reality include sovereignty, omniscience, and transcendence (Wong, 2013). Other than the ideation of a God in the prime reality, human beings must remain mindful of the physical world around them. I can describe the nature of the world around me as composed of both living and non-living aspects interacting to form a whole society. One of the most significant parts of the physical environment is filled with human beings. Philosophically, human beings are the only rational creatures with the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Biologically, human beings are part of the larger animal kingdom comprising of the most intelligent species in the form of Homo sapiens sapiens.
As earlier mentioned, human beings are the only creatures on earth with the ability to differentiate between good and bad since they have a sense of rationality. The ability to know is a characteristic embedded in the ability to develop a worldview due to a complex brain structure that can perceive, learn, and appreciate the knowledge. The superior cognitive ability, coupled with the human senses, enables people to develop knowledge. After a person dies, several changes occur that can broadly be classified as physical or biological and spiritual alterations. Biological changes include the cessation of all the physiological processes in the body. Many religious bodies believe that once a person dies, as Socrates explained, their body is separated from the soul which proceeds to the afterlife (Yang, Staps, & Hijmans, 2010).
Human rationality and ethics guide the knowledge of what is right and wrong. Various philosophical and ethical theories have been developed to understand the two concepts. Generally, actions are considered right of they have overall good or a positive outcome. On the contrary, they are wrong if they have a negative ending. Lastly, human history is a broad tenet or discipline that attempts to explain the origin of human beings. It focuses on their evolution and activities in the social, economic, and political spheres.
References
Clarke, B. (2016). Suffragism, Imagism, and the “Cosmic Poet”: Scientism and Spirituality in The Freewoman and The Egoist. In Little Magazines & Modernism (pp. 137-150). Routledge.
Huss, B. (2014). Spirituality: The emergence of a new cultural category and its challenge to the religious and the secular. Journal of Contemporary Religion , 29(1), 47-60.
McAvan, E. (2012). The Postmodern Sacred: Popular Culture Spirituality in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Urban Fantasy Genres. McFarland.
Wong, P. T. (Ed.). (2013). The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications. Routledge.
Yang, W., Staps, T., & Hijmans, E. (2010). Existential crisis and the awareness of dying: The role of meaning and spirituality. OMEGA-Journal of death and dying, 61(1), 53-69.
