Spirituality enables people to see more within the world and within others. It’s no surprise that this leads to a greater sense of fulfillment. A new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute has found that higher levels of spirituality are strongly correlated with higher life satisfaction.

As a person of faith, my experience with organized religion has ebbed and flowed throughout my life. Yet I have always appreciated how spiritualities across a variety of traditions animate expansive visions and compassionate ethics. Even as the religious landscape in the United States rapidly changes, the importance of spirituality won’t necessarily go away. Now, there’s more evidence to flesh this out.

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PRRI and Florida State University have jointly conducted a national survey that measures spirituality by self-reported experiences of being connected to something larger than oneself, and religiosity by frequency of religious attendance and the personal importance of religion. By making this distinction, they’re able shed more light on the phenomenon of “spiritual but not religious” Americans.

Writers such as Kaya Oakes, author of The Nones Are Alright: A New Generation of Believers, Seekers, and Those in Between, have shared stories showing that those with a jaded relationship to institutional religion can’t be painted as a monolithic group. This survey confirms that the picture is more complex.

It turns out that nearly one in five Americans is spiritual but not religious. And importantly, there are some significant differences between those who are spiritual and those who are not. For example, a consistently higher percentage of those who are spiritual (whether religious or non-religious) report feeling inspired while doing activities such as listening to music or reading a book.

This may seem like a bizarre divergence, until one thinks about the fundamental meaning of spirituality. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement ... get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

Spirituality, in its purest form, is not an escape from the world but a richer engagement with it. In contrast to a reductionistic disposition, which collapses the world to the rational and empirical, a spiritual disposition understands that there is always more to this world and to other people, things that are not quantifiable.

The root of spirituality is the Latin spiritualis, “pertaining to breath, breathing, wind, or air”. Spirituality is made up of everyday experiences. It’s not so much about the fantastical as it is about illuminating the ordinary.

Perhaps that’s why the Sufi poet Rumi remains so popular. Inspired by seeing the Divine Love behind all of creation, his ability to illuminate human love and experience through words continues to captivate readers.

Spirituality changes the way you see and treat others. According to the PRRI survey, spiritual Americans report more frequent altruistic behaviors.

This makes sense. Having a more expansive view of the world and people around you will probably lead to more satisfaction. PRRI found that spiritual Americans have higher levels of satisfaction across a range of measures such as personal health, family life, and quality of life in the local community.

All of this is not to deny that certain forms of spirituality, including religion, can become toxic. Some people have been taught spiritualities that promote shame, self-hatred, and a warped view of others. Nevertheless, there’s also a legacy of minorities with spiritualities that helped them to develop an empowering view of themselves.

It’s no coincidence that history is full of female mystics whose brilliant insights have been dismissed. Spirituality can enable powerful forms of resistance in a world that teaches you to see things one way. It was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz who said: “One can perfectly well philosophize while cooking supper.”

Spirituality has existed as long as our species, before modern methods demonstrated its positive impacts or correlations. And if our species and our planet have a future, we will continue to need spirituality in order to make meaning, in order to see more.