Spirituality and Suffering

Abstract

Abstract Could spirituality help free us from suffering in an increasingly secularized and secularizing world? If spirituality can help us toward this goal, are we talking of merely individual spirituality, or is there room for collective spirituality, and so for activism? To answer we consider the historical significance of spirituality, and its meaning(s) in contemporary society, focusing on the growing interest in “secular” spirituality. Such “secular spiritualities” differ from traditional religious spiritualities in that they neither invoke, nor rest on, an “external” or transcendent supernatural foundation. We consider broadly Marxist, Buddhist and Existentialist spiritualities.