Parsimony gives you an excuse to wear blinders, and stop looking to understand spirituality.
I agree with both you and nwr.
In my eyes, the moral of the story is, the scientific study of consciousness and the uscientific development of a sense of self and spirituality do relate to each other, but neither is a subset of the other.
As usual, it's important to be involved in both. When you fail to be aware of one, you'll make simple, amateurish mistakes in the other.