What is Spirituality?

by Lady Lee 9 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Lady Lee

  Darned if I know. It certainly isn't what the WT S said. As JWs we were indoctrinated into an organizational regime. True spiritual growth was never possible because the only thing that mattered was hawking WT litterature. The only expressions of spirituality was meeting attendance and "preaching"

  After years of being indoctrinated with this type of work driven ethic it is no wonder most ex-JWs run from anything
  spiritual" or "religious". I was talking to a friend and we started discussing this issue. What is the difference between being
  spiritual" and being Religious"? Dictionaries don't really help because they equate the two.

  A few years ago a prof told me that she thought I was one of the most 'spiritual" people she knew. WHAT? Not me. I ran from anything "religious" in nature. But I had to stop and think about it. It has taken me years to define what my spirituality is

  I think when the WTS took out the "soul" of a person they separated us from who we are. We had no personal identity. We were Jehovah's Witnesses and nothing else mattered. But I think the "soul" of a person really does matter. To me it is who I am, the essence of me, my connection to myself and to people and the world around me. If I am not connected to me as a person then I am not connected spiritually to the awareness of who I am as a unique individual. The WTS does a great job of stripping that away from people. JWs are not unique individuals. That isn't important. The psychological well-being of a person is not important.

  So I have had to develop my own definition for "spirituality" one that totally negates any religious or WT meaning. And I have struggled for years on how to define it to others. So I went hunting. (The internet is a wonderful tool). I found the following at http://timeforchange.org/definition-of-spiritual-growth-what-is-spiritual-growth and it is the best explanation of how I see my spiritual self.

  There is no official and exact definition of spiritual growth. We - and many others - use personal spiritual growth as synonyms for other terms like e.g. personal spiritual development, to develop higher awareness or to develop higher consciousness.

  With our understanding of spirituality , one can also define personal spiritual growth as way to integrate spirituality to a higher and higher degree in our daily live.

  . . .

  We can use the model of a bright lamp to represent our level of awareness or level of consciousness: Our body represents the lamp which is lit ever more brightly as our awareness (consciousness) increases. The brightness of our awareness (consciousness) lights up our surroundings so that we can see and hence perceive additional aspects of ourselves and our surroundings.

  The light fully illuminates a space around us which is approximately the shape of a sphere. In the following we will describe this space as the awareness sphere or consciousness sphere. It serves as model for our spiritual level or spiritual growth: We can clearly perceive everything within the sphere with our common sense or our intuition. Outside the awareness sphere (consciousness sphere) the brightness of our lamp is no longer sufficient. The further away something is from our sphere the less easy it is to perceive it.

  We can now define personal spiritual growth as follows: Personal spiritual growth is the personal development to enlarge the diameter of the above mentioned sphere of consciousness. As such, personal spiritual growth is an integral part of our purpose of life.

  Another interesting quote comes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

  If spirituality is understood as the search for or the development of inner peac
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  cantleave

  I think it is the essence that makes us what we are. Our upbringing, our beliefs and values, our goals and ambitions, our loves and hates, our fears our joys, what we give out and what we learn from others.
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  frankiespeakin

  Spirituality? I guess persons of different religions would answer that one according to the indoctrination they have received and accepted. To a WT drone spirituality might be mainly dependant on ones place in the organization where GB member would be considered as reaching the pinnacle. Or it might be defined and determined by field service hours, meeting attendance, ones comments during a WT study or perhaps learning a bunch of bible verse and reciting them.
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  yellow

  Never knew what it meant and tried very hard to be spiritual in terms of what the borg thought. i.e often on field service studied regularly, prayed very hard even put on the christ like personality but was still considered spiritually weak. A derogatory term in my eyes. The most cold and unfeeling ones I came across in the cong were considered spiritually strong. What the f--k. I always thought maybe it meant your personal relationship with God. Now I don`t know. To me it means being true to yourself and the people around you and being all you can be despite any hardships challenges you encounter in life, having true peace of mind and that doesn`t always need to include any form of organised religion or God.
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  wobble

  I certainly feel since my exit from the WT that I have become a more spiritual person in the way you have highlighted dear Lady Lee.

  I think this is a natural thing ,because I have had to make myself more aware of the world around me as it really is,and I try to relate to it, and the people who inhabit it, in a positive way,living by the Golden Rule.

  The funny thing is,the more spiritual I become,the less I feel the need for a God.

  Thank you so much for this post, it has made me look at where I am today.

  It is posts like yours that keep me here on JWN, thoughtful and encouraging and character building.

  Much love,

  Wobble
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  Sad emo

  For me, spirituality is becoming fully who I am meant to be (the journey of a lifetime!), being aware of who I am (self-esteem development?) and where and how I fit into creation/existence (develpment of relationships - to others and the universe I inhabit).

  Personally, I would term this in relation to the God in whom I believe, but I do also see that it can relate in more general terms to those of other faiths or none.
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  Gordy

  Attending all meetings

  Placing 100 Watchtower/Awake magazines a month

  Being regular in field service at least 30 hours a month.

  Doing everything the Governing Body expects of you.

  Not disagreeing with the Elders.
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  Lady Lee

  It sounds like many of you are well on your way to finding out about the YOU that the WTS didn't want you to know
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  AllTimeJeff

  Lee, this has been my position on spirituality since leaving JW's.

  The concept and definition of the word needs to expand (and I think it is) to include those who seek that spiritual dimension of themselves outside of the confines of organized religion. Certainly, there are spiritual people who have nothing to do with organized religions.

  While the idea of sacrifice is inherent in organized religion, no one purposely joins a religion, esp as an adult, without the consideration of what they get out of it. While giving is a part of spirituality, more and more, people are learning that they can give, and grow, without following an organizations agenda.

  This is a rich subject.
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  OnTheWayOut

  About the simplest of definitions of "spirituality" is: a quality with focus on things that are not 'material.'

  So growing up, getting an education, finding employment, establishing a family, dating and marriage- all these are generally not 'spiritual.'
  Even there, each person develops their philosophy and ethics to accomplish these material goals- so there is some spirituality.

  I lean toward disbelief in a creator, certainly I am confident that the Almighty of the Bible does not exist.
  I want absolutely nothing to do with organized religion. But I define myself as much more spiritual than I ever was after converting to JW.
  I constantly focus on life's big questions in both a material and a spiritual way. Why mankind believes as he does- this is a fascinating subject to me.

  Also, finding joy in life is very spiritual. My personal belief system is far secondary to my 'spiritual journey' of finding personal purpose and contributing to the good in the world.