Cyberspirituality: A New Form of Spiritual Practice and Existential Presence in the Digital Realm

In the digital sphere, religion and spirituality have become increasingly blurred, with new terms like cyberspirituality emerging. This conceptual analysis argues that cyberspirituality may be a distinct form of spirituality adapted to online environments, separate from both traditional religion and spirituality. The article explores how postmodernism, globalization, and technologies like social media, AI, and the metaverse have accelerated this divergence. It examines whether cyberspirituality can clarify the overlap between religion and spirituality in digital contexts, evaluating its unique features compared to conventional spirituality.

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Abstract

The intensified use of technology has enabled religion and spirituality to establish a presence in the digital sphere through shifting the location of their enactment. Both religion and spirituality have undergone rapid transformations, particularly in the digital world. Religion and spirituality, which have sometimes been used interchangeably but were also occasionally treated as opposites before the advent of the digital world, have diverged from each other under the influence of postmodernism, globalization, secularization, new forms of belief, new religious trends, and New Age movements. With the introduction of social media applications, artificial intelligence, the metaverse, and transhumanism into our lives, the conceptual confusion between religion and spirituality has become more visible in the digital world. Religion and spirituality appear on the internet with concepts such as digital religion, virtual religion, e-religion, cyber religion, techno religion, digital spirituality, techno spirituality, cyberspirituality, cyberspace spirituality, and virtual spirituality. This study investigates whether the concept of cyberspirituality can be regarded as an independent category that clarifies the conceptual overlap between religion and spirituality within digital environments. Through a literature-based conceptual analysis, the definition of cyberspirituality, its relationship with spirituality, and its presence in digital religion research are explored in this article. It argues that cyberspirituality may serve as an alternative form of spirituality, specifically tailored to online contexts, and evaluates its distinct features in comparison with traditional understandings of spirituality.