3 January 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20888141
By Tom de Castella BBC
News Magazine
Research has suggested "spiritual" people may suffer worse
mental health than conventionally religious, agnostic or atheist people. But
what exactly do people mean when they describe themselves as "spiritual,
but not religious"?
Spirituality is a
common term these days, used by Prince Charles, and by the
Archbishop of York as a way of stepping beyond religious
divides.
But many now call
themselves "spiritual" but not religious. About a fifth of people in
the UK fit into this category, according to Prof Michael King from University
College London.
In the US, a Newsweek survey in
2005 put the figure at a quarter. Asurvey in October
by the Pew Research Center suggested a lower figure with a
fifth of people religiously unaffiliated and 37% of those regarding themselves
as spiritual but not religious.
King's research
suggested that in the UK the "spiritual" group are more likely to have mental
health problems, such as anxiety or depression.
There will be
people who will dispute the research, but it's certainly clear that the
"spiritual, but not religious" represents a major strand of belief
across the West.
It's a broad
church, so to speak. The spiritually aligned range from pagans to devotees of
healing crystals, among many other sub-groups.
But for millions of
others it is nothing so esoteric. Instead, it's simply a "feeling"
that there must be something else.
The rise of this
type of spirituality has been driven by a sense that religion is out of keeping
with modern values, says Mark Vernon author of How To Be an Agnostic.
"People associate religious institutions with constraining doctrines, and
bad things that are done in the world. That may be outright fundamentalism, the
oppression of women or some kind of conflict with liberal values."
Science has
replaced God for many today, Vernon suggests.
But while science
may be able to explain the world, it doesn't evoke how many people feel about
their place in the universe.
Awe and wonder is how
spiritual people often describe their relationship with the world. There's a
sense that life is more than pounds and pence, of work, childcare and the rest
of the daily grind.
“Start Quote
There are moments
that seem transcendent in their lives - a beautiful sunset, a football crowd
filling a stadium with noise, or a moving piece of music.
Oliver Burkeman,
author of The Antidote, says the phrase "spiritual but not religious"
has become a bit of a joke. But the concept is worth defending.
"Spirituality I take to refer to things that are not expressible in words.
There's an aspect of human experience that is non-conceptual."
It's about more
than belief, Burkeman says. Just as for Christians and other religions, it is
the practice of worship that is as important as the belief, he argues.
Gaetan Louis de
Canonville practises mindfulness meditation in Richmond, south London.
"We're not worshipping a God or paying homage to something in the sky.
It's about learning to accept things like impermanence and living in the
moment. If you get a glimpse of how happy you can be by embracing the moment,
all the chattering of your thoughts stops."
Mike Stygal, is a
secondary school teacher who practises paganism in his private life. He
believes in a divine force in nature. "I believe everything is connected,
I feel very in touch with nature and the changing seasons. Awe is a very good
word for how I feel. It's a sense of deep respect for nature. I can communicate
with the deity."
Bridget McKenzie, a
cultural learning consultant, does daily walking meditations. "It's about
making time to contemplate the awesomeness of life on earth, the extraordinary
luck this planet has in sustaining life."
She is not a pagan
but for the summer solstice organises a Garlic Man Parade in south east London
to reconnect with ancient traditions. "We all sense changes in the light
as the seasons change. It's important to mark the occasion."
Colin Beckley,
director of the Meditation Trust, says the only true spiritual experience is
silence. "Transcendence is often triggered by nature like being on a
mountainside. But by learning to meditate you can bring that mountain
experience to your flat in London."
Deb Hoy a
practising reiki master says that by laying hands on someone according to reiki
tradition, a profound change can take place. "When I give myself a reiki
treatment by placing my hands on different parts of the body I can rebalance
the energy flow of my body."
It's a physical
healing practice that promotes calmness and a sense of connection with the
world, she says.
Giles Terera, an
actor, is not religious but is moved by everyday experiences. "When I'm
abroad I love going to a church and sitting there. As much as I disagree with
some of the things the Catholic Church has done, there's something very
beautiful about the architecture and all the effort that that has been gone to.
It's probably the same for all sacred spaces."
But for some,
spirituality is a byword for irrational beliefs and a sense that anything goes.
The comedian David
Mitchell mocked the tendency, writing a columnimagining a
spiritual summer camp. "From reflexology to astrology, from ghosts
to homeopathy, from wheat intolerance to 'having a bad feeling about this',
we'll be celebrating all the wild and wonderful sets of conclusions to which
people the world over are jumping to fill the gap left by the retreat of
organised religion."
Alan Miller,
director of the thinkers' forum NY Salon, wrote that "'spiritual
but not religious' offers no positive exposition or understanding or
explanation of a body of belief or set of principles of any kind".
Another group of
people likely to be dismissive towards the "spiritual but not
religious" mindset might come from organised religion.
"People have wanted
to see how they fit into the big picture, which is really fantastic," says
Brian Draper, associate member of faculty at the London Institute for
Contemporary Christianity. But there's a smorgasbord-like array of beliefs and
many are built on "pseudo-science", he argues.
"I don't just
choose spirituality as a lifestyle choice to enhance what's there, there's an
element of self sacrifice to Christianity. The danger is you use spirituality
as a pick and mix from consumer culture."
Humanists are
deadlocked over the issue of the "spiritual" category. Andrew Copson,
chief executive of the British Humanist Association, accepts that for many
people it's a shorthand for saying "there must be more to life than
this". But he finds its vagueness unhelpful.
"It can be
used for everything from the full Catholic mass to whale songs, crystals,
angels and fairies." As a humanist he prefers to avoid spirituality.
Humanism is about
the belief "that human beings find value in the here and now rather than
in something above and beyond". "People have social instincts and as
a humanist it's about reinforcing those instincts," he explains.
The search for
meaning can be exhausting. Philosopher Julian Baggini writes in The Shrink
& the Sage that there is a yearning for something more. "My short
reply is that you can yearn for higher as much as you like, but what you're
yearning for ain't there. But the desire won't go away."
That doesn't make
it a bad thing, Vernon says. But it may lead to awkward questions. And that may
explain why the research finds that spiritual people have more mental health
problems.
"You're going
on an interior mental journey. It's risky to go and try and see things from a
bigger perspective. The promise is tremendous but the journey can be very
painful."
The Maharishi
The Beatles were
the most famous of many Westerners who started to look at Asian philosophies
and traditions for spiritual answers in the 1960s and 70s.
A 1968 trip to
study with Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (pictured, far right) proved a
mixed experience for the band. For George Harrison, it was the start of a
lifelong association, but for John Lennon, initial enthusiasm gave way to
scepticism, later expressed in the song Sexy Sadie.
I love Native American spirituality and paganism, and I've studied
Buddhism - I steer clear of organised religion and go straight to spirituality”
US singer Pink
Spiritual
bestsellers
·
The Alchemist (1988) - Paolo Coelho
(pictured) sold more than 60 million copies of his story about a shepherd
seeking his "Personal Legend"
·
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance(1974) - Robert
Pirsig's philosophical novel sold five million copies
·
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970) - Richard
Bach's counter-culture parable about seagull who refuses to conform topped US
bestseller lists
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