Spirituality vs Spiritualism
Though spirituality and spiritualism look the same, there is a difference between them in their meanings. Most of the people confuse between Spirituality and Spiritualism thinking that both of them carry the same meaning. Spirituality exists within the mind of a person. It is a condition or a state that is achieved by a person, may be after a long period of attempts and trials. Spiritualism, on the other hand, is a belief that the spirit of the dead has the ability and prefers to communicate with the living. Let us look at the terms, spirituality and spiritualism, and the difference between them in detail.
What is Spiritualism?
Spiritualism believes that, when a person dies, he/she may have an afterlife and also he/she can keep contacts with the living. However, spiritualism has many interpretations in different religions. There are some of the things that are commonly shared by all the believers of spiritualism. The soul of a person is able to have an afterlife and there is an existence beyond the physical body of humans, even after death. These afterlife beings are usually called “spirits” and they are also able to communicate with the living people. Further, they have the ability to improve themselves and go for another human form, as well.
Spiritualism provides a clue for the reincarnation as well. However, the world of spirits is not a static or a stable place but these spirits get to evolve in that and as mentioned above. They might have rebirth too. Moreover, spiritualism considers that the spirits provide knowledge on God and about afterlife too. There are many followers of spiritualism around the world.
What is Spirituality?
Spirituality is a state of mind that is achieved based on a subjective experience or according to the religious ideals. In simpler terms, we can identify spirituality in people who have attained an extreme state of mind, which is far more beyond the physical existence. This can also be identified as a process of human transformation from one psychological state to another. Many religions have identified this psychological transformation of the mind and they have interpreted it in many ways. However, spirituality is not a product of religion only, but the particular person should put his/her effort in achieving this state of mind or the higher level. Spirituality does not have a direct relationship with the outer appearance of the person and he/she may remain like the same, but his/her inner self is much more advanced.
What is the difference between Spirituality and Spiritualism?
When we look at the similarities between the two terms we can see that both of these have a connection with the idea of an existence that is beyond the human faculty. Also, both these have their own religious interpretations.
• In terms of the difference, spiritualism is achieved by somebody after his/her death whereas spirituality is a state of mind, which is achieved within the human life itself.
It should be noted that both words look alike but their meanings are very much different from each other.
Images Courtesy:
- Theodor von Holst, Bertalda, Assailed by Spirits via Wikicommons (Public Domain)
- Meditation by Hartwig HKD (CC BY-ND 2.0)
