On New Spirituality – An Attempt to Describe the Phenomenon

Abstract

Many sociologists pose the question whether we should be talking about a new sociological sub-discipline, namely, the sociology of spirituality, which analyses new forms of spirituality in the context of the transformation of modern societies. Some sociologists consider new forms of spirituality as a sign of the return of the sacred, or a new kind of religiosity. Others tend to see them as a symptom of the secularization and decadence of religion. Still others are inclined to regard the so-called alternative spirituality as an important sociocultural megatrend heralding the “return of religion”. In reference to these discussions, the author poses a question about the relationship between religiosity and spirituality, and analyses the phenomena of the so-called new spirituality in the contemporary world. He further tries to define the new spirituality as a phenomenon independent of religion. The new spirituality is formed outside of the institutional dimensions of religion, sometimes in opposition to it, in the context of post-modernity.