"Spiritual But Not Religious" is a phrase you hear more and more these days and with good reason. In 2012, a Pew Foundation survey on religion found that almost 20 percent of Americans placed themselves in the category of "unaffiliated."

That 20 percent unaffiliated translates into a whole lot of people. It's a big enough number that, most likely, your next airport van ride will include someone without traditional religious attachments onboard.

But to really appreciate the importance of this 20 percent in the landscape of American life, you have to consider one more number: 10 years.

That's how long it's been since philosopher Sam Harris published his book The End of Faith and kick-started the New Atheist movement. Along with writers like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett, Harris was unapologetic in his denunciation of literalist religious beliefs.

Looking back, New Atheism was at its best when it provided a clear defense of reason against the many fundamentalisms that only look backward. At its worst, however, it dismissed all experiences of "spirituality" as worthless, pudding-headed confusion.

For persistent readers, however, Harris's now decade-old book held a surprise. In the last chapter, this fiery critic of religion argued that real spiritual experience was not only possible, it was a kind of birthright. I remember getting to that last chapter and thinking, "Whoa, what just happened?

What happened was Harris, like many in the 20 percent, had always found meaning in experiences of personal spirituality. Those experiences now take center stage in Harris's latest book Waking Up.

Harris's first step on this new journey is to give up being squeamish about language. As he writes:

"... I will use spiritual, mystical, contemplative and transcendent without apology. However, I will be precise in describing the experiences and methods which merit those terms."

Next, he tells us why these experiences matter: "Spirituality begins with a reverence for the ordinary that can lead us to insights and experiences that are anything but ordinary."

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What does being 'spiritual but not religious' really mean?