[I haven’t yet read the whole of this thread (reading from work) so someone may have said something like this:]
To understand “spirituality” we gotta wrestle with the word “spirit.” If we agree with T’Plana Hath of Vulcan, “Nothing unreal exists” then the “supernatural” is a null term if by “natural” we mean “reality.” Is there something real that can be described as “spirit”? If so, in what way is our behaviour affected by this something?
(I think my " key is stuck)
We can all concede that a human individual appears to be more than the sum of its parts (if you disagree, I’m curious as to the arguement). The gap between the parts and that sum is mysterious. Maybe it’s knowable maybe it’s not - but as of right now it is unknown and hence mysterious.
What is consciousness? What is emotion? What is memory? It may very well be nothing more than a bunch of chemical reactions obeying the formulas of physics. But there is a difference between such reactions in a test tube and the reactions inside my skin. That difference is what I woud call spirit.
Whatever it’s explanation, whenever that explanation arrives, that which makes me a sentient emotive being is my spirit.
Spirituality, then, at the very least is a celebration (of whatever scale) of this yet unexplaned aspect of who I am. It can (but doesn’t have to) extent to a collective celebration with others. As for behaviour: if I value my own spirit I am likely to value yours. The way I treat you should reflect this value.
What has this to do with God? Some more from the " key: If by God you mean “Jesus Christ” or “Shiva” or “YWVH” or “Allah” I can offer no qualified opinion. I kinda like the God=universe theory. Heinlein eloquently states this as “Thou art God.” So if all of us are piece of God then self-reflection is God contemplating his/her own navel. As each of us gets closer to understanding this, God gets closer to “waking up.”
This is all meant to be taken poetically. A scientist can maintain the rigours of scientific method and healthy scepticism without the need to explain in mathematical symbols Beethoven’s 9th to enjoy it.
The universe is musical. Spirituallity means to enjoy the music.