Is running a spiritual experience for some?

“I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings” - Albert Einstein.

I think running will be a spiritual experience for those who are looking for places to stick the label "spiritual".

MattDA wrote (see)

Some see that as somehow linked to a God, I just see it as the beauty of nature and a reminder of how lucky we are.

What's lucky about being stuck on a lump of mud planet, being born to spend your days wanting things you can't attain, and then dying soon to be forgotten and become worm food, for the chain to begin again?.

Lardarse, I'm not going to get into any arguments. I believe, you don't and no matter what I say that will never change

As for spirituality it doesn't have to involve a God at all. Buddhism is very well know as a spiritual religion. However they do not believe in a God.

Sprituality is feeling connected to yourself. Being switched on and in tune with yourself. As runners I believe this is the case. You feel the road under your feet you feel your breathing you know when to have a drink or eat. You switch on and listen to your body, the niggles the aches etc Its very spiritual

have you ever loved somebody or felt loved lardarse. Thats worth being on this planet for. Their are some amazing things around us trust me. My daughter. To see her happy thats worth being here for isn't it?

lardarse wrote (see)

 

What's lucky about being stuck on a lump of mud planet, being born to spend your days wanting things you can't attain, and then dying soon to be forgotten and become worm food, for the chain to begin again?.

Well it'll keep the worms happy!

Depending on what you believe Oceans were made on the first day but separated from the sky on the second day

TheVicar wrote (see)

Lardarse, I'm not going to get into any arguments. I believe, you don't and no matter what I say that will never change

As for spirituality it doesn't have to involve a God at all. Buddhism is very well know as a spiritual religion. However they do not believe in a God.

Sprituality is feeling connected to yourself. Being switched on and in tune with yourself. As runners I believe this is the case. You feel the road under your feet you feel your breathing you know when to have a drink or eat. You switch on and listen to your body, the niggles the aches etc Its very spiritual

Being connected to myself is about being connected to myself. Not about spirituality.
Being switched on and in tune, is about being switched on and in tune. Not about spirituality.

We have words to describe 'connected', 'switched on', 'in tune'. Those words are 'connected', 'switched on', 'in tune'. No need for "spirituality" to attempt to establish squatters' rights over those terms. (Especially now the Tories have made squatting more difficult).

Trying to attach spituality to those terms is nothing more than a taxonomic land grab.

On the other hand, for me, running often does involves some experience of spit-uality.

But being connected switched on and in tune is spirituality. Religious spirituality is different to Non religious spiritualism.

My running is spiritual because it incorporates my beliefs into what I am doing and I see what I call my God all around. Its much easier to define spirituality as part of something religious.

Non religious spirituality which is what I think the OP and almost everybody on here means, is individualistic. The three above stated words pulled together can make an experience spiritual to somebody who is receptive to it. Whatever 'it' is. If you are not that way inclined the three words will be only be connected, switched on and in tune

I think it is more to do with fulfilling a design. the human being is designed to be a transitory animal and when you are running at that just short of threshold speed,  a few miles in with everything warmed up and working nicely you get that feeling as though this is what you are meant to be doing, it is natural.

maybe that is why trail running feels better because you are doing what you are built to do in the place you were built to do it in, if that makes sense

Spirituality is real to you because you define it as real.
Typically spirtuality wanders in when people do not think there is an explanation for the world around them. As we can see, we can talk in term of being connected etc. Those words describe a feeling perfectly well. We do not have to use a word like "spirituality" which has its roots in the supernatural, to describe that feeling.

There is no need for the supernatural when we have the natural all around us.

Exactly, worm food.

@ the vicar:

No I don't want to argue, that wasn't and never is my intention on here, i'm just not as pc as some. I've nothing against your religion now it's grown up a little and become sanitised, your people no longer go to other countries and murder in the name of the Lord, unlike another more childish religion I could name.

Yes I have a daughter too, who obviously I love dearly, but it doesn't change the fact we're all going to die, and existance is a bit pointless, in fact having a daughter makes it worse, because now I feel sorry for her too, thanks for that! lmfao

lardarse

Dont you say anything about them Muslims

As Christians we try to keep our killing to a minimal.

Without stating the obvious though. That's essentially why we have our faith. We believe something will happen to us after we die other than being eaten by worms and the likes. I cannot begin to tell you how many people find that comforting when they are losing a loved one. But you either believe or you don't. If you don't believe then you will think their is nothing and all is pointles. If you do have a little faith then you see things a bit more differently and have that slight glint of hope that their may be more. I dunno

Somebody described spirituality as seeking the truth and conforming with it. (It may have been Giles Fraser and I have probably misquoted whoever it was).

But for me, that is exactly what I'm doing when I run, thinking about my form and my breathing. If I run as best my body can, that's an approach to truth which is a lot easier than doing it through prayer.  

As a Christian I do believe that prayer is the finest way. 

I just find that the word "spirituality" is thrown around willy nilly by some and is a very loose, vague term that seems to encompass a load of different (vaguely bullshitty) things. Maybe it could be a useful term but the way it is used today pretty much renders it meaningless.

Genuinely the only way spiritual can be used and made sense of is in religion. Non religious spirituality is hard to pinpoint

Sorry Vicar, but religion is one of the bullshitty things I was referring to.