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Page count: 348

This dissertation is an attempt to distinguish spirituality from the beliefs and practices of religions. I understand spirituality as a peaceful state of mind that flows from disinterested contemplation of immediacies, such as the fragrance of flowers or the image of the stitches that make up one's garment. Distinguishing spirituality from religion, I argue, makes the benefits of peace of mind available to almost everyone at every stage of life, regardless of the religious beliefs and practices we embrace or reject. Moments of freedom from the worries of life are key elements of human happiness that often elude us. Western culture is largely governed by the Protestant ethic, so many of us live by embracing means to further means, rarely arriving at ends in themselves. As we get older, we tend to focus on what we can no longer do and spend more time worrying about death. These factors make freedom from concern even harder to achieve. Spirituality as I describe it offers welcome relief from the worries of life in the form of contemplative absorption in immediacies, such as colors and sounds. This kind of experience is more widely available than similar ones that are tied to religions, because spirituality does not require special beliefs or practices, although certain practices such as meditation may provide greater access to spirituality. In principle all immediacies, including those that normally offend us, can be viewed from the standpoint of spirituality; but extending the range of spirituality to include offensive objects requires a level of training and discipline that is possible and desirable for only a handful of individuals. I am not interested in extreme feats of spirituality, for that is not where spirituality is most useful against the worries of life. What I suggest is that spirituality may enrich our everyday lives. I stress, however, that spirituality does not eliminate normal moral concerns, so that we stand agape at various sounds and smells while others are suffering around us. Instead, spirituality provides a momentary lightening of the burden of existence.