Vyazma, first it depends on which Strauss you meant. If it’s Rickard, I cringe. The others are OK, and I’d enjoy doing the same things as you describe except that it might be Schubert or Mozart. 
And I would describe it as a wonderful emotional experience rather than spiritual.
Occam
Vyazma, first it depends on which Strauss you meant. If it's Rickard, I cringe. The others are OK, and I'd enjoy doing the same things as you describe except that it might be Schubert or Mozart. :) And I would describe it as a wonderful emotional experience rather than spiritual. OccamYou're entirely free to do that but I get the sense that it goes beyond that. If you can't appreciate why someone else might call it spiritual, then I would have to say that limits your ability to understand others.
And since you have shown a quite limited ability to understand either my posts or the meaning behind the, you also have demonstrated a severely degraded ability to appreciate others.
Occam
And since you have shown a quite limited ability to understand either my posts or the meaning behind the, you also have demonstrated a severely degraded ability to appreciate others. OccamOh, you want to play that game? OK. I don't agree with you. That doesn't mean that I don't understand you. There's a vast difference between that and being unable to appreciate why someone else would use the word "spiritual." I don't berate you for using the word "emotional." It's a perfectly good word to use. But you have displayed an inability to appreciate why some of us would use the word "spiritual." I haven't done that, so your attempt at drawing a parallel fails - miserably.
And if you don’t appreciate Richard Strauss’ music, you’re missing something there too.
I define spirituality as belief in the supernatural, no matter what that entails. A belief in any god is spirituality. If others have different definitions, I wish they would post them and explain them.I could be sitting on top of a mountain and watching the sunset listening to some classical music. While doing that I could reflect upon myself being comprised of the same elemental particles that the rest of the Universe is comprised of. And how my particles came together in a natural process that is highly rare in the context of the universe, and how my particles will revert to the same state that they originally came from. In other words my parents ate food that provided the particles to create me. I became me. Then I will eventually revert back to food again essentially. So listening to Strauss on the top of a mountain contemplating that while watching the sunset, I could call that spiritual. Definitely. Can you explain the difference between an emotional experience and a spiritual one?
I define spirituality as belief in the supernatural, no matter what that entails. A belief in any god is spirituality. If others have different definitions, I wish they would post them and explain them.I could be sitting on top of a mountain and watching the sunset listening to some classical music. While doing that I could reflect upon myself being comprised of the same elemental particles that the rest of the Universe is comprised of. And how my particles came together in a natural process that is highly rare in the context of the universe, and how my particles will revert to the same state that they originally came from. In other words my parents ate food that provided the particles to create me. I became me. Then I will eventually revert back to food again essentially. So listening to Strauss on the top of a mountain contemplating that while watching the sunset, I could call that spiritual. Definitely. Can you explain the difference between an emotional experience and a spiritual one? The question isn't directed to me, and I hope VYAZMA will answer it independently, but I can answer that question. Each of the experiences VYAZMA describes in his post invoke his relationship to what people often describe as "something greater than himself." The common element is that he sees himself as part of the world, or universe, or nature or its laws - probably all of those. And all the experiences he (she?) describes are uplifting. No doubt, they have an emotional component but emotion alone does not well describe them. To demonstrate the point, contrast the experiences VYAZMA has described with the experience of being upset because you just spilled hot coffee on yourself, or your significant other just cheated on you, or the TV went blank in the final few moments of a big game. Those are all emotional experiences but most people wouldn't call them spiritual, because they don't bring to mind our relationship to the greater whole, and they aren't uplifting.
Can you explain the difference between an emotional experience and a spiritual one?PlaClair pretty much describes the difference here: ......contrast the experiences VYAZMA has described with the experience of being upset because you just spilled hot coffee on yourself, or your significant other just cheated on you, or the TV went blank in the final few moments of a big game. Those are all emotional experiences but most people wouldn't call them spiritual, because they don't bring to mind our relationship to the greater whole, and they aren't uplifting. But there are uplifting emotional moments too. And I could describe the "mountaintop" scenario as emotional I guess. But I would never use the word emotional!!! If I was describing that to somebody I would never say: "I was on the mountain and saw the sunset and it was Emotional" I would NEVER say that. Too me that sounds, I hate to use the term, but it sounds a little faggy. Spiritual would work. Emotional might make people think I was crying or something. Spiritual denotes that I had a handle on the situation. I was digging the cosmic realities so to speak! Emotional denotes I was up on the mountain weeping and laughing at the same time. I could also use the term spiritual because anybody I told that story to would already know I was an atheist. But like I said before, I wouldn't give a crap if I told somebody it was spiritual and they thought I saw god! I don't care if people think I believe in god. What difference does it make? NONE!