Understanding the growing movement of spiritual-but-not-religious approaches to meaning.

Introduction: The Spiritual-but-Not-Religious Movement Emerges

Over 60% of American adults now embrace some form of spirituality outside organized religion, marking one of the most significant cultural shifts of our time. This remarkable transformation reflects a blending of beliefs from New Age philosophy, mindfulness practices, and humanistic values, creating a rich tapestry of spiritual expression that transcends traditional religious boundaries. The Pew Research Center’s 2018 findings illuminate just how widespread this movement has become, touching lives across demographic and geographic lines.

Secular spirituality focuses on cultivating inner peace, discovering personal meaning, and fostering deep connections without reliance on supernatural beliefs or institutional religious structures. This approach represents a fundamental reimagining of what spirituality can be—rooted in human experience, psychological insight, and philosophical inquiry rather than divine revelation or religious doctrine.

Throughout this exploration, we’ll delve into the philosophical foundations that support secular spirituality, examine the cultural forces driving its rapid growth, and investigate the humanistic values that shape its practice. From ancient wisdom traditions to contemporary mindfulness movements, from philosophical debates to lived experiences, we’ll trace how this new spiritual landscape is redefining our understanding of meaning, purpose, and transcendence in the modern world.

American Adults

Embrace spirituality outside organized religion

Pew Research

Year of landmark study on spiritual trends

Defining Secular Spirituality: Inner Peace Without the Divine

Secular spirituality emphasizes personal meaning, experiences of awe, and ethical living without invoking gods or supernatural beings. This definition challenges traditional assumptions about what spirituality requires, demonstrating that profound spiritual experiences need not be tethered to theistic beliefs or religious institutions. It represents a democratization of the spiritual life—accessible to anyone, regardless of their metaphysical commitments.

Philosopher Robert C. Solomon articulated this perspective powerfully, describing secular spirituality as “spirituality without any need for the ‘other-worldly,’” fully compatible with science and reason. This compatibility is crucial in an age where many find themselves torn between spiritual yearnings and rational worldviews. Solomon’s vision suggests we need not sacrifice intellectual integrity to pursue spiritual depth, nor abandon our sense of wonder to maintain scientific rigor.

Relationship with Self

Deep self-awareness and personal growth through introspection and mindfulness

Connection with Others

Empathy, compassion, and meaningful human relationships

Unity with Nature

Reverence for the natural world and ecological interconnection

Universal Truths

Shared human experiences transcending cultural boundaries

At its core, secular spirituality centers on four fundamental relationships: with ourselves, with others, with nature, and with universal truths experienced through shared human experiences rather than religious dogma. These relationships form the foundation of spiritual practice, providing concrete touchpoints for transcendent experiences grounded in reality. By focusing on these tangible connections, secular spirituality offers pathways to meaning that feel authentic and accessible to modern seekers navigating an increasingly complex world.

Historical and Philosophical Foundations

The roots of secular spirituality trace back through centuries of philosophical thought, drawing from perennial philosophies like Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and transcendentalism. These ancient traditions, while often emerging within religious contexts, contained seeds of ideas that would later flourish in modern secular spiritual movements. Neoplatonism’s emphasis on the One as an impersonal ultimate reality, Gnosticism’s focus on direct spiritual knowledge, and transcendentalism’s celebration of nature and individual insight all contributed philosophical DNA to contemporary secular spirituality.

Philosophers such as Cornel W. Du Toit have highlighted secular spirituality’s remarkable adaptability to modern worldviews, noting its capacity for community-building through shared experiences of awe rather than shared doctrine. This adaptability represents one of its greatest strengths—the ability to evolve with scientific discoveries, incorporate insights from psychology and neuroscience, and remain relevant to diverse populations with varying intellectual commitments. Du Toit’s research demonstrates that secular spirituality doesn’t require metaphysical agreement to foster genuine community; instead, it unites people through common experiences of wonder, beauty, and existential questioning.

Ancient Foundations

Neoplatonism and Gnosticism emphasize direct spiritual knowledge and impersonal ultimate reality

19th Century

Transcendentalism bridges Eastern and Western thought, celebrating nature and individualism

20th Century

Humanism develops robust ethical frameworks independent of supernatural beliefs

Contemporary Era

Secular spirituality synthesizes ancient wisdom with modern scientific understanding

Secular morality and humanism provide ethical frameworks independent of religion, drawing on ancient traditions like virtue ethics and consequentialism. These philosophical traditions demonstrate that moral reasoning and ethical living need not depend on divine command or religious revelation. Virtue ethics, originating with Aristotle, focuses on character development and human flourishing. Consequentialism evaluates actions by their outcomes, promoting the greatest good for the greatest number. Both approaches offer sophisticated moral guidance grounded in reason, human welfare, and empirical observation—pillars that support the ethical dimensions of secular spirituality while maintaining intellectual coherence and practical applicability in diverse contexts.

Key Humanistic Values in Secular Spirituality

Secular spirituality emphasizes a constellation of profound humanistic values: love, compassion, patience, forgiveness, responsibility, and harmony as core spiritual qualities. These values aren’t presented as divine commandments but as essential elements of human flourishing discovered through millennia of human experience and philosophical reflection. They represent the best of what humanity has learned about living well together, distilled from countless cultural traditions and tested against the realities of human psychology and social dynamics.

Mindfulness Practice

Present-moment awareness cultivates clarity, reduces anxiety, and enhances emotional regulation without requiring supernatural interpretations. Grounded in neuroscience, mindfulness transforms how we relate to thoughts and feelings.

Meditation Techniques

Contemplative practices foster empathy, emotional balance, and self-understanding through systematic training of attention and awareness. Research confirms measurable benefits for mental health and well-being.

Cultivating Awe

Experiences of wonder and transcendence arise naturally from encounters with beauty, vastness, and complexity in nature, art, and human achievement—no deity required for profound spiritual experiences.

Practices like mindfulness and meditation are embraced for fostering empathy and emotional balance without supernatural interpretation. What makes these practices particularly compelling in secular spirituality is their empirical validation—neuroscience has confirmed that meditation physically changes brain structure, enhancing areas associated with attention, emotional regulation, and compassion. These aren’t mystical claims but observable phenomena that bridge ancient wisdom with modern science.

“Spirituality need not involve religious doctrines or supernatural beliefs. It can arise from feelings of awe, joy, and wonder—the profound experiences that make us feel connected to something larger than ourselves.”

— Daniel Dennett, Philosopher and Cognitive Scientist

Daniel Dennett, one of philosophy’s most rigorous naturalists, links spirituality to feelings of awe, joy, and wonder, arguing persuasively that it need not involve religious doctrines or supernatural beliefs. Dennett’s perspective is particularly significant because it comes from someone deeply committed to scientific materialism yet acknowledging the genuine power and importance of spiritual experiences. His work demonstrates that we can honor and cultivate these profound states while maintaining intellectual honesty about their neurological and psychological origins, enriching rather than diminishing their significance.

Contemporary Expressions and Practices

Yoga, mindfulness meditation, and nature immersion are popular secular spiritual practices adapted from religious origins but practiced non-theistically. The remarkable journey of these practices from sacred ritual to secular wellness illustrates secular spirituality’s creative adaptation. Yoga, originally a Hindu spiritual discipline aimed at union with the divine, now flourishes in studios worldwide as a practice valued for physical health, mental clarity, and stress reduction—no religious commitment required. Similarly, mindfulness meditation, rooted in Buddhist traditions, has been secularized and validated through clinical research, becoming a mainstream tool for mental health and performance enhancement.

Personal Exploration

Individuals begin questioning traditional religious frameworks and seeking alternatives

Practice Sampling

Experimenting with various traditions—meditation, yoga, philosophy, nature connection

Integration Phase

Combining elements that resonate into a personalized spiritual framework

Community Connection

Finding or creating communities of like-minded seekers for support and shared practice

Ongoing Evolution

Continuously refining and deepening practice as understanding and needs evolve

Technology increasingly mediates secular spiritual experiences, from virtual meditation groups to apps promoting mindfulness and community. This digital dimension represents both opportunity and challenge. Apps like Headspace and Calm have introduced millions to meditation, democratizing access to practices once requiring specialized teachers. Virtual communities connect geographically dispersed individuals around shared spiritual interests, creating new forms of sangha or spiritual fellowship. Yet critics worry about the commodification of spirituality and the potential loss of depth when ancient practices are reduced to smartphone notifications.

The “spiritual but not religious” demographic often curates personalized spiritual paths, blending elements from diverse traditions. This approach reflects broader cultural values of individualism and autonomy while also raising questions about authenticity and depth. Supporters celebrate the creative synthesis and personal agency involved in crafting one’s own spiritual path. Skeptics worry about superficiality, cultural appropriation, and the loss of wisdom that comes from committing deeply to a single tradition. This tension between breadth and depth, freedom and discipline, innovation and preservation characterizes much contemporary discussion about secular spirituality’s evolution.

Critiques and Challenges

Critics argue secular spirituality risks diluting spirituality into mere humanism or emotionalism without transcendent grounding. These critiques deserve serious consideration. Philosophers and theologians from traditional religious perspectives often contend that authentic spirituality requires some reference to the transcendent, the sacred, or the divine—something genuinely “other” that calls us beyond ourselves. Without this vertical dimension, they argue, spirituality collapses into horizontal concerns about human welfare and emotional states, losing the transformative power that comes from encountering something truly beyond human construction.

The Dilution Critique

Risk of reducing profound spiritual traditions to self-help techniques or wellness trends, losing depth and transformative power in the process of popularization

Materialism Concerns

Possibility that secular spirituality inadvertently reinforces consumer culture and individualism rather than challenging dominant social paradigms

Relativism Dangers

Without grounding in metaphysical truth claims, secular spirituality may struggle to provide robust ethical guidance or resist harmful ideologies

Cultural Appropriation

Concerns about extracting practices from their original cultural and religious contexts without understanding or respecting their deeper significance

Some caution that New Age and secular spiritual movements can inadvertently reinforce secular materialism or relativism, losing connection to deeper metaphysical truths. The concern is that secular spirituality, in its efforts to accommodate modern sensibilities, may become complicit with the very materialist worldview it seeks to transcend. When spiritual practices are marketed as productivity tools or stress management techniques, do they challenge our achievement-oriented culture or simply help us function more efficiently within it? When all spiritual paths are deemed equally valid, does this openness devolve into an inability to distinguish wisdom from delusion?

The tension between secular spirituality and traditional religion continues to provoke debate about the nature and boundaries of spirituality itself—questions that may not admit of simple resolution but remain vital for authentic spiritual seeking.

These critiques shouldn’t be dismissed but engaged seriously. They push secular spirituality toward greater rigor, deeper practice, and more thoughtful integration of wisdom traditions. The ongoing dialogue between secular and religious approaches to spirituality enriches both, preventing stagnation and encouraging each to address its blind spots. Perhaps the most fruitful path forward lies not in choosing between secular and religious spirituality but in maintaining creative tension between them, allowing each to challenge and inform the other.

The Role of Philosophy in Secular Spirituality’s Growth

Philosophy of religion challenges the myth that philosophy must be secular and separate from spirituality, opening space for secular spiritual inquiry. This challenge represents a significant shift in academic philosophy. For much of the 20th century, particularly under the influence of logical positivism and scientific naturalism, mainstream philosophy maintained strict boundaries between rational inquiry and spiritual concerns. Religious and spiritual questions were often dismissed as meaningless or relegated to the private sphere of subjective preference.

However, recent decades have witnessed philosophy’s increasing engagement with spiritual questions from non-religious perspectives. A 2023 MDPI study highlighted how contemporary philosophy of religion has expanded beyond traditional theistic debates to embrace diverse spiritual perspectives, including secular approaches. This expansion reflects philosophy’s recognition that questions about meaning, purpose, ethics, and transcendence remain deeply important even when divorced from supernatural commitments. Philosophy provides tools for rigorous investigation of these perennial concerns without requiring faith in revealed truth.

Questioning Foundations

Critical examination of assumptions underlying both religious and secular worldviews

Meaning Construction

Philosophical frameworks for creating significance without supernatural grounding

Ethical Reasoning

Developing moral principles through rational reflection on human flourishing

Ultimate Questions

Grappling with existence, consciousness, and reality through philosophical inquiry

Secular spirituality can be seen as a philosophical quest for meaning, ethics, and ultimate reality without reliance on the supernatural. This framing elevates secular spirituality from mere lifestyle choice to serious intellectual project. It positions spiritual seekers as philosophers engaged in ancient questions through contemporary methods, utilizing insights from science, psychology, and diverse wisdom traditions. This philosophical approach invites critical reflection on institutional knowledge and encourages a self-aware, inclusive spirituality grounded in reason and experience.

The philosophical dimension of secular spirituality also provides resources for addressing its critics. When challenged about lacking transcendent grounding, secular spirituality can draw on philosophical accounts of meaning-making, virtue, and human flourishing that don’t require metaphysical foundations. When questioned about relativism, it can invoke philosophical ethics and reasoning that establish rational bases for moral principles. Philosophy thus serves not just as historical foundation but as ongoing resource for deepening, defending, and developing secular spiritual thought and practice in conversation with both scientific and religious perspectives.

Social and Cultural Impact: Building Community Beyond Religion

Secular spirituality fosters solidarity through shared universal truths and collective experiences of awe, transcending religious divides. This community-building capacity addresses one of the most significant challenges facing secular spirituality—can it provide the social cohesion and mutual support traditionally supplied by religious congregations? Research by Du Toit and others suggests it can, though through different mechanisms. Rather than uniting around shared doctrinal beliefs, secular spiritual communities coalesce around shared values, practices, and experiences.

Pluralism

Celebrating diverse paths to meaning

Individualism

Empowering personal spiritual authority

Skepticism

Questioning traditional authorities

Rationalism

Valuing evidence-based understanding

Globalization

Cross-cultural spiritual exchange

Well-being Focus

Prioritizing mental and physical health

Secular spirituality reflects broader cultural shifts toward individualism, pluralism, and skepticism of institutional authority. These cultural currents have been building for decades across Western societies. The decline of traditional religious affiliation, increasing educational attainment, growing exposure to diverse worldviews through globalization and technology, and generational shifts in values have all contributed to an environment where secular spirituality can flourish. It both responds to and reinforces these cultural changes, offering spiritual resources tailored to contemporary sensibilities while furthering the evolution toward post-traditional forms of meaning-making.

Wellness Industries	Yoga studios, meditation centers, mindfulness apps, and retreat centers proliferate, creating economic sectors around secular spiritual practices
Education	Schools incorporate mindfulness training, social-emotional learning, and contemplative pedagogy informed by secular spiritual principles
Healthcare	Medical institutions adopt meditation, yoga, and other practices as complementary approaches to treatment and prevention
Corporate Culture	Businesses offer meditation rooms, mindfulness training, and wellness programs drawing on secular spiritual practices
Social Activism	Movements for environmental protection, social justice, and peace increasingly draw on secular spiritual values of interconnection and compassion

This movement influences wellness industries, education, and social activism by promoting ethical living and interconnectedness. The impact extends far beyond individual spiritual seeking to shape institutions and practices across society. Whether this influence represents genuine transformation or co-optation by capitalist culture remains debated, but the pervasiveness of secular spiritual themes in contemporary life is undeniable. From corporate mindfulness programs to environmental movements grounded in ecological spirituality, from therapeutic applications of meditation to educational initiatives teaching contemplative practices, secular spirituality has moved from countercultural margins to mainstream influence, reshaping how millions approach questions of meaning, purpose, and the good life.

Conclusion: Embracing a New Spiritual Landscape

The rise of secular spirituality marks a profound cultural transformation, offering meaningful alternatives to traditional religion. This transformation reflects deep shifts in how people relate to questions of ultimate meaning, ethical living, and transcendent experience. For growing numbers, particularly in developed nations, the choice is no longer between accepting inherited religious traditions or living without spirituality. Secular spirituality carves out a third path—one that honors the human hunger for meaning and transcendence while remaining compatible with scientific understanding and pluralistic values.

Philosophical Depth

Drawing on millennia of wisdom traditions while engaging contemporary philosophical questions about meaning, ethics, and reality

Humanistic Values

Centering compassion, responsibility, and human flourishing as core spiritual commitments grounded in shared experience

Personal Experience

Validating individual spiritual exploration and direct encounter as primary sources of spiritual authority and insight

Scientific Compatibility

Embracing empirical validation of spiritual practices while maintaining openness to experiences beyond current scientific explanation

Rooted in philosophy, humanism, and personal experience, it invites individuals to explore spirituality on their own terms. This invitation resonates powerfully with contemporary sensibilities that value authenticity, autonomy, and direct experience over received authority. Yet it also carries responsibilities—to engage seriously with wisdom traditions rather than appropriating superficially, to build genuine community rather than retreating into individualism, to maintain intellectual rigor while honoring mystery, and to translate spiritual insights into ethical action rather than merely pursuing personal well-being.

The Ongoing Journey

As secular spirituality continues to evolve, it challenges us to rethink spirituality’s role in modern life—balancing reason, ethics, and the human search for meaning. This balancing act defines the work ahead: maintaining openness without sliding into relativism, fostering community without demanding conformity, honoring diverse traditions without losing coherence, and cultivating transcendent experiences while remaining grounded in reality.

The dialogue between secular and religious approaches to spirituality will undoubtedly continue, and rightly so. Each perspective has insights the other needs. Religious traditions carry accumulated wisdom, proven practices, and sophisticated philosophical frameworks developed over centuries. Secular spirituality brings adaptability, scientific rigor, and accessibility to diverse populations. Rather than viewing these as competitors, we might see them as conversation partners, each challenging the other to greater depth, broader inclusion, and more authentic engagement with the profound questions that make us human. The new spiritual landscape emerging contains room for both, and for the creative tensions and unexpected syntheses that arise at their intersection.

Connect and Explore Further

Join the conversation about secular spirituality and share this exploration with others interested in alternative approaches to meaning-making, ethical living, and spiritual practice beyond traditional religious frameworks.

#SecularSpirituality

Exploring spirituality without supernatural beliefs or religious institutions

#SpiritualButNotReligious

The growing movement of individuals seeking meaning outside organized religion

#Humanism

Ethical frameworks and values centered on human flourishing and reason

#Mindfulness

Present-moment awareness practices for wellbeing and spiritual growth

#PhilosophyOfReligion

Rigorous inquiry into spiritual questions and religious phenomena

#NewAge

Contemporary spiritual movements blending diverse traditions and practices

#InnerPeace

Cultivating tranquility, clarity, and emotional balance through spiritual practice

#EthicalLiving

Values-based approaches to daily life grounded in compassion and responsibility

#ModernSpirituality

Contemporary expressions of spiritual seeking adapted to 21st-century life

#SpiritualCommunity

Building connection and solidarity through shared spiritual values and practices

These hashtags connect diverse conversations about secular spirituality across social media platforms, academic discourse, and spiritual communities worldwide. They represent entry points into rich discussions about meaning, purpose, and transcendence in contemporary life—conversions that bridge philosophy and practice, ancient wisdom and modern science, individual seeking and collective flourishing. Use them to discover resources, connect with like-minded individuals, and contribute your own insights to this evolving exploration of what spirituality can mean beyond traditional religious frameworks.