--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The word \"spiritual\" normally means…" description: "\"The word \"spiritual\" normally means something that's distinct from the fleshly or the material. It's not of the world. But that version of spirituality..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/640/charles-eisenstein-6748_conscious_the-word-spiritual-normally-means-someth_2002301.jpg" --- # The word "spiritual" normally means something that's… ![“The word "spiritual" normally means something that's distinct from the fleshly or the material. It's not of the world. But that version of spirituality is bankrupt today. It had its use when the program of science divested matter from the spiritual qualities - - the qualities of a self, or of a…” quote by Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/640/charles-eisenstein-6748_conscious_the-word-spiritual-normally-means-someth_2002301.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/640/charles-eisenstein-6748_conscious_the-word-spiritual-normally-means-someth_2002301.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/640/charles-eisenstein-6748_conscious_the-word-spiritual-normally-means-someth_2002301.jpg) > “The word "spiritual" normally means something that's distinct from the fleshly or the material. It's not of the world. But that version of spirituality is bankrupt today. It had its use when the program of science divested matter from the spiritual qualities - - the qualities of a self, or of a being. When science divested the world of those qualities and made it into just a thing, rather than a self, it gave us license to treat it as just a thing, and not as something sacred, conscious, alive, intelligent. So this is tied into the whole trajectory of our civilization.” [Charles Eisenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-eisenstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science’s removal of spiritual qualities from matter leads to a materialistic worldview that neglects the sacredness of life. **In simple terms:** Science can strip meaning from nature. Key Takeaway Reintegrate spirituality with science. Themes science spirituality materialism civilization Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - environmental policy - education reform - personal worldview Key Concepts philosophy ecology anthropology Questions to Reflect On - How can science honor the sacred? - What practices restore reverence for life? A Different Perspective Balancing empirical rigor with reverence is challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) [Intelligent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent/) [Matter Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-spiritual-2672387/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Program](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/program/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spiritual Normally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-normally-3529834/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Word Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-spiritual-1621437/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [No matter your spiritual beliefs, if you hold any, the answer is the same: sometimes, why is not knowable. 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The heavenly teachings are expressed in parable in order to be understood and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdu-l-bah/divine-things-are-too-deep-to-be-expressed-by-common-words-the/) [Abdu'l-Bahá](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdu-l-bah/) > [“As much as I can, I avoid using the word "spiritual" altogether. 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Without them being self-conscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-schnabel/i-don-t-think-my-paintings-are-self-conscious-but-you-feel-the/) [Julian Schnabel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-schnabel/) [Browse all 3,716 Conscious quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscious/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The word \"spiritual\" normally means something that's distinct from the fleshly or the material. It's not of the world. But that version of spirituality is bankrupt today. It had its use when the program of science divested matter from the spiritual qualities - - the qualities of a self, or of a being. When science divested the world of those qualities and made it into just a thing, rather than a self, it gave us license to treat it as just a thing, and not as something sacred, conscious, alive, intelligent. 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