According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, spiritualism is the philosophy of higher reality, which has been variously defined by different philosophers in such terms as “immaterial reality.” “A universal mind”, “a supreme being”, “a spiritual cosmic force”, “an infinite personal God”, etc. Spirituality is an elevated state of intellectual awakening. It is a higher level of consciousness. Our world is, in fact, a dual world – a world of ‘material things’ and a world of ‘inner meanings’. When one raises oneself to a level where material things become secondary and inner meanings become of prime importance, then one can be said to be a spiritual person.
Spirituality has great importance for every man and woman. From mental peace to human values, it has many aspects to it. Since spirituality is interwoven in the human personality, it also has a deep relationship with our lives: spirituality and human values are interlinked. If spirituality was absent from our lives, there would be no human values. From the moment I have discovered spirituality as supreme truth, I can safely say that the whole of my life has been a journey towards spirituality.
Spirituality as a philosophy has been sustained and developed by many great thinkers over a period of five thousand years. Some of the greatest of these spiritual philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, came from Greece. In our present time also there have been many spiritual philosophers such as Descartes, Bradley, Bergson, etc., in the western world, and Aurobindo, Rajagopalachari and Radhakrishnan in India. These philosophers and thinkers have put forward various schools of spiritual thought to the people of the world. The main objective of the various schools of thought was to come to grips with reality.