Spirituality today differs from being a Satan worshiper to wearing bandanas of particular color. In my research I have concluded that there is an egregious amount of ideas to what Spirituality is. The people I found who had experience in this general area were benevolent on deciding if there is a difference between religion and spirituality. Spirituality is the traditional essence of spirituality contained in consciousness at its fullest, the expediential vigor of fun and enjoyment of life, and the simple relaxation or freedom in the moment.

The traditional idea of essence in personality bottled in maximum consciousness is quite the idea suggested by many authors and philosophers. Lawrence Richards says it like this, “Spirituality has to do with being an integrated person in the fullest sense.” This idea of spirituality is dealing with the sense that we are to be completely aware and transparent with our soul and self. Not only is this the idea of many authors but of many feminist. It seems that some women look to this idea of spirituality seeking higher means of reinforcement in their hearts. According to Donald Bloesch, “Feminist spirituality also by and large represents a rebirth of Gnosticism in which the key to personal and spiritual renewal lies in developing a higher form of consciousness.” Bloesch also gives warning that this basic idea of spirituality can be dangerous and goes on to say that, “The Paradox is that the growing fascination with things that are spiritual may highlight the death of true spirituality.” What I gain, he means by this, is simple. The idolatry of yourself all the time can result in many unwanted idosyncracies. Brianna Becker from SpiritualityWorld.com says that spirituality is supposed to be “activities which renew, lift up, comfort, heal and inspire both ourselves and those with whom we interact.”

Now on to more fun ideas, Robert Brown states that with an experiment on new coming freshmen each year he would quiz them, and after ten year of experiment he has concluded that spirituality “…includes all of life.” The idea that spirituality is everything that we do, think about, care about, want, and in everything. There distinguishes the idea that life itself and living apart of life is spirituality. More or less that the relationship of ourselves with the environment around us or rather the ideal world we live in is what is meant by “all of life”. As I come to see it this can be similar to talking on the phone, it is a communication of one thing to another that touches and reflects cause and reaction on something to something else; this is what I call communication of the parts. Gerard Broccolo, however, partitions this idea into two categories, “We can cope with life from the framework of the ideal or from the framework of the real.” So there is also a separation of what is real and what is thought of in this relationship of spirituality. Howard Rice suggests that “spirituality is the pattern by which we shape our lives….”,and goes on saying that it is “to describe those attitudes, beliefs, practices which animate people’s lives and help them to reach toward super-sensible realities.” Which I gather to means, spirituality in this sense has a inherent detail of achieving in live more than just the real but also the extra reality, in that of religion or faith. “And starting to review one’s most profound past spiritual experiences and reflect on how they might empower and support one’s success in the new year”, quoted by integratedspirituality.org.

Besides life as spirituality the next idea is rather exciting. Robert Brown says, “…spirituality and liberation are finally two ways of talking about the same thing….” He goes on to define liberation and how it is very similar to spirituality, then he records a metaphor. “Spirituality and Liberation sometimes appear to be “two atoms”; in the full understanding which we are pressing, however, they are replaced by a single atom and are “incapable of separate existence.”

Considering his view, you can see that he is very detailed about what spirituality is. So the idea rendered here is that spirituality is the footstool of freedom and liberation. He also adds that “”Spiritual” in the deepest sense, we find that it calls upon us to take risks, to change our priorities, to surrender our self importance….” So not only is it the freedom that we can relax and indulge in life but also the surrender and freedom of pride and irresponsibility.

Finally, we see that there are plenty of ideas on world spirituality that do not coincide with religion, but rather reality and self. When I consider the research and knowledge gained while digesting the facts and opinions of many people dealing with the idea of spirituality, I see myself leaning more towards the idea of optional realities and greater self power. Rather than the influence of freedom, I choose life. But, in another sense I might agree that these are reflexive. So in summary there is the idea of greater consciousness, reality as a whole, and liberation on what entails the idea of spirituality.