Measuring spirituality and spiritual emptiness: Toward ecumenicity and transcultural applicability

The authors review Eastern and Western conceptions of spirituality, explicate the spirituality construct and differentiate it from religiosity, propose strategies for achieving ecumenicity and transcultural applicability, and suggest innovative techniques for measuring spirituality and spiritual emptiness. The essential attributes of ecumenical spirituality are that it (a) is concerned with existential or transcendent questions; (b) belongs to the domain of cardinal values underlying all aspects of life; and (c) is self-reflective, and hence metacognitive, in nature. The paths to spirituality are many and are grounded in different values and beliefs across philosophical-religious traditions. However, commonalities may be extracted at a high level of abstraction and with maximal inclusiveness. Thus, the goal of ecumenicity, and hence transcultural applicability, is attainable.