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Is "spiritual atheist" a strange concept? Only if you only think spirituality has to mean a belief in a god. But do the two have to be related? Not at all. Most people think of the historical Buddha as a spiritual person, yet don't know that he never expressed a belief in a god. In fact, he even discouraged his followers from such "speculation," preferring that they work on their salvation in this world.
Let's imagine a computer that has begun to get so complex and powerful that it starts to ask questions "outside the box." It is starting to become conscious. One of the first things it would realize is that for all its computing capacity, it's still very limited. Humans who use it, most of whom can't begin to understand it's complicated algorithms, are more powerful, and see the world more clearly.
Such a computer might recite a million facts, and yet not know what to use them for. It could describe human psychology, and not understand a smile. It wouldn't know why it existed, or what it was being used for. Now, if it came to understand these limitations, and to actually wonder about the world outside its circuits, and to desire to see more, and to grow - that would be a computer spirituality.
Atheists simply don't believe in a god. Without sufficient evidence, there is no belief. Contrary to what many think, there's no need for an atheist to disprove that a god exists, anymore than a Christian needs to disprove that the world is ruled by intelligent termites. The burden of proof is always with the person making a positive assertion.
Atheists can recognize the mystery of life, and marvel at how everything learned deepens that mystery, pushing "final" causes further into the distance. Atheists can recognize their own limitations, and seek to grow beyond them, perhaps even by developing contact with "higher powers." This is an atheistic spirituality, but how is it different from "regular" spirituality?
An atheist feels no need to pretend to understand the mysteries - no need to create gods and religions to explain them. Contacting "higher powers" might simply be tuning into subconscious resources through meditation or other means. Are these "higher powers" nothing more than electrical patterns in our brains? We don't know, but we don't have to know to tap into them.
If we look into the past, we see how narrow-minded people were, and how little they understood compared to us. Of course, we will appear that way to people in the future, as they will to people further into the future. We're forever growing in our knowledge and power, but just like that spiritual computer, our circuits are confined to a box that we need to grow out of. Seeking the way beyond that box is what makes one a spiritual atheist.