What is Spirituality (Panpsychism)?

Spirituality is believed to be a fundamental quality of the universe. It is everywhere and in everything.

Unlike science, it can’t be explained in material terms and can’t be reduced to anything else. Another term I like to use in relation to spirituality is panspiritism or panpsychism. The Greek word pan means “all,” and psyche means “soul” or “mind.” Thus, panpsychism is the idea that matter at all levels (including fundamental particles such as atoms and molecules), has an inherent property of mind or experience.

Let me be clear, panpsychism is not claiming that all material objects (like furniture and cars) have minds, experiences, or purposes. Only self-organizing systems (systems that form, organize, and maintain themselves) have mind-like properties or experiences. This includes all levels of atoms, molecules, crystals, cells, plants, animals, the solar system, and ultimately the entire cosmos. Furniture and cars do not form, organize, and maintain themselves and they do not have purposes of their own. Therefore, they cannot be conscious. It also does not mean that these self-organizing systems are conscious in the same sense that we are, but only that they have some aspects of mind or experience. The more complex the system is, the more complex forms of mind and experience will emerge. 

Since panpsychism proposes that spirit or mind is an essential aspect of the universe, and that the universe is fundamentally alive and sentient, it adopts a twofold way. On the one side, it is about the role of consciousness in reality. On the other side, it deals with life and its place in the economy of the universe. Instead of consciousness being a by-product of the brain, it is believed that consciousness is a fundamental quality of the universe.

According to David Chalmers (a cognitive scientist), “Since consciousness cannot currently be explained in terms of present theories, and isn’t reducible to any other quality in the universe, it should be seen as a fundamental quality.” German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder, used the word kraft, which means “force” or “energy”,  for the underlying substance of reality. He attempted to integrate the concept of kraft with new forces that had recently been discovered by scientists, such as gravity, electricity, magnetism and light, by suggesting that they were all different manifestations of the same underlying “force” of the universe.

The majority of religions and spiritual practices involve the concept of consciousness and that it goes beyond what we know of on the human level. They believe that consciousness is more than just a production of brain activity and that the universe is alive and sentient.

Panpsychism is not a new idea. In medieval Europe, philosophers and theologians assumed without question that the world was full of animate beings. Plants and animals had souls, and stars and planets were governed by intelligence. The Greek philosopher Plato used the term anima mundi the “world soul”, and suggested that the cosmos has a soul in the same way as the body, and that everything in existence shares this soul. 

What makes panpsychism so appealing is that it solves the issue in the relationship of the spirit or soul to the body, by suggesting that the soul has always been in matter. Unlike scientism, that says life has no meaning, spirituality proclaims our lives are full of meaning and have a specific purpose and that purpose is to evolve. To evolve ourselves by becoming more connected to other people, nature, and the universe. To grow and push ourselves to our fullest potential and most importantly, to expand our consciousness. Having a spiritual perspective includes accepting the existence of consciousness, psychic phenomena, and a spirit realm that is all part of and one with the universe.