The short answer
Spirituality is a broad term for a person’s search for meaning, connection or something larger than themselves. Mysticism is a narrower term for the pursuit of direct, personal experience of ultimate reality or the divine. Most mystics could be called spiritual, but many spiritual people would not describe themselves as mystics.
What spirituality means
Spirituality has no single agreed definition. It can mean prayer or worship within a religion, a personal sense of awe in nature, ethical commitment, meditation, or a general attention to inner life. It can be religious or entirely secular, and it can be practiced alone or in a community.
What mysticism means
Mysticism centers on direct experience, often described as union with God or the absolute, or a deep sense of oneness. It usually involves sustained discipline and a path of transformation. For the full picture, see what mysticism is.
Key differences at a glance
| Spirituality | Mysticism | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Broad and loosely defined | Narrower and more specific |
| Focus | Meaning, values, connection | Direct experience of the ultimate |
| Setting | Religious or secular | Usually within or alongside a tradition |
| Practice | Varied, often occasional | Typically sustained and disciplined |
| Typical language | Everyday, accessible | Symbolic, paradoxical, poetic |
These are tendencies, not strict rules, and writers draw the line in different places.
Does spirituality mean believing in God?
Not necessarily. Some people understand spirituality in terms of God, others in terms of nature, humanity, meditation or personal values. Mysticism is more mixed: many mystics describe union with God, while some traditions, such as certain Buddhist and non-dual schools, speak of an ultimate reality without a personal deity. See Eastern mysticism for examples.
Spirituality vs spiritualism
These are easy to confuse. Spiritualism usually refers to a specific movement, which grew in the nineteenth century, centered on communication with the spirits of the dead through mediums. Spirituality is the much broader concern with the inner life described above.
Can a person be both?
Yes. Mysticism can be seen as one intense form of spirituality. Someone may begin with a general spiritual interest and later take up contemplative practices of the kind described in mystical practices and esoteric meditation techniques. For a related wording question, see the difference between mystical and spiritual.