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“Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is
something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory
experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in
nature.
Spirituality means knowing that our lives have significance in a context beyond a
mundane everyday existence at the level of biological needs that drive selfishness
and aggression. It means knowing that we are a significant part of a purposeful
unfolding of Life in our universe.
Spirituality involves exploring certain universal themes – love, compassion, altruism,
life after death, wisdom and truth, with the knowledge that some people such as
saints or enlightened individuals have achieved and manifested higher levels of
development than the ordinary person. Aspiring to manifest the attributes of such
inspirational examples often becomes an important part of the journey through life for
spiritually inclined people.
Spiritual development often involves spontaneous happenings that cannot be
accounted for scientifically and that may be attributed to an external force, for
example: grace, or angelic or divine interventions.
The development of spirituality is generally recognised as requiring some sort of
practice or discipline in order to make ‘progress'. This can involve the aspirant in
paradoxes such as non-striving, the gateless gate, or coming home to oneself.
Contemplative practices such as prayer and meditation are the common
denominator of many religions and the foundation of spirituality. Without them,
personal growth is much slower and haphazard. A teacher or mentor is usually
recommended.”
Before you get too excited about this, it in no way indicates that spirituality is anything more than training the brain to develop instances of serotonin that makes the person feel good and essentially experience delusions which, to them, they translate as “spirituality” and can even go further to claim that some sort of personal God is involved, although those conclusions speak more to “faith” than to any objectivity involved.
Here is the result of a study involving the interaction of serotonin and spirituality: “CONCLUSIONS: This finding in normal male subjects indicated that the serotonin system may serve as a biological basis for spiritual experiences.”
Read it again: a BIOLOGICAL basis for spiritual experiences.
psychiatryonline.org
something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory
experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in
nature.
Spirituality means knowing that our lives have significance in a context beyond a
mundane everyday existence at the level of biological needs that drive selfishness
and aggression. It means knowing that we are a significant part of a purposeful
unfolding of Life in our universe.
Spirituality involves exploring certain universal themes – love, compassion, altruism,
life after death, wisdom and truth, with the knowledge that some people such as
saints or enlightened individuals have achieved and manifested higher levels of
development than the ordinary person. Aspiring to manifest the attributes of such
inspirational examples often becomes an important part of the journey through life for
spiritually inclined people.
Spiritual development often involves spontaneous happenings that cannot be
accounted for scientifically and that may be attributed to an external force, for
example: grace, or angelic or divine interventions.
The development of spirituality is generally recognised as requiring some sort of
practice or discipline in order to make ‘progress'. This can involve the aspirant in
paradoxes such as non-striving, the gateless gate, or coming home to oneself.
Contemplative practices such as prayer and meditation are the common
denominator of many religions and the foundation of spirituality. Without them,
personal growth is much slower and haphazard. A teacher or mentor is usually
recommended.”
Before you get too excited about this, it in no way indicates that spirituality is anything more than training the brain to develop instances of serotonin that makes the person feel good and essentially experience delusions which, to them, they translate as “spirituality” and can even go further to claim that some sort of personal God is involved, although those conclusions speak more to “faith” than to any objectivity involved.
Here is the result of a study involving the interaction of serotonin and spirituality: “CONCLUSIONS: This finding in normal male subjects indicated that the serotonin system may serve as a biological basis for spiritual experiences.”
Read it again: a BIOLOGICAL basis for spiritual experiences.
The Serotonin System and Spiritual Experiences | American Journal of Psychiatry
OBJECTIVE: The serotonin system has long been of interest in biological models of human personality. The purpose of this positron emission tomography (PET) study was to search for relationships between serotonin 5-HT1A receptor density and personality traits. METHOD: Fifteen normal male...
psychiatryonline.org
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