ABSTRACT
Meaning is one of the core aspects of spirituality that is frequently studied. The reason is simple: Meaning is not only seen as the basic defining element of spirituality but also as an essential quality of the human experience. Frankl (1969) has asserted that the will to meaning is what drives the human experience. Park (2013) believes that individuals create an entire meaning system in an effort to organize personal experiences, to evaluate and appraise them, and to eventually construct a global sense of meaning that provides coherence, direction, and purpose. Theologians, too, also acknowledge the central role of meaning in the spiritual process and experience (Tillich, 1951, 1952/2000). How we create meaning says much about who we are as individuals and how we see the world. Meaning provides us with the overall template for organizing our experiences of the world and for creating our anticipations for the future. Meaning arrives as a consequence of our efforts at addressing core existential questions, such as “Why am I here?” “Where am I going to in life?” Because of the obvious role of meaning in the study of spirituality, frequently we are asked by students and colleagues whether the study of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and its constructs and concepts is merely simple existentialism. In other words, is a religious or spiritual focus simply a special kind of existential meaning-making? This is an important question, one that is frequently raised by professionals from other disciplines, and one that has important consequences for the viability and importance of numinous research (e.g., Buss, 2002). Our answer to this question has always been, “No!”
