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| Belief and Spirituality General thinking beyond the boundaries of religion and organised belief |
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08-01-2008, 02:27 AM
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#16 (permalink) |
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Optimistic Realist
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Near Boston
Posts: 2,692
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
For me it's not the experience of spirituality that's hard, just defining what spirituality is. I think it's possible to reverse engineer a definition though, by looking at activities you've done that are associated with spirituality and paying attention to those activities where you have felt something internally that is different from your ordinary experience of the world, ignoring the fact that some activities didn't stir anything up for you. I get the sense from some of the things you've said that you've had experiences others might define as spiritual, maybe in nature, but that putting your finger on what it means or what it's supposed to feel like is hard for you. Anyway, have a good night and I hope you find what you're looking for or it finds you.
-- Dauer |
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08-01-2008, 09:01 AM
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#17 (permalink) | |
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Interfaith Forums
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 6,363
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
 JOHN 10;16 REVELATION 7;9-10 "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you."—JAMES 4:8. |
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08-01-2008, 03:50 PM
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#18 (permalink) | |||
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FRANCE! You're next.....
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: You misunderstand, I am not locked in here with you, you're locked in here WITH ME!
Posts: 8,155
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
Quote:
Anyone else out there gonna share their view of spirituality? Quote:
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08-01-2008, 03:51 PM
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#19 (permalink) |
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UNeyeR1
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 8,003
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Namaste my brother,
I hear ya!! I walked that walk. Couldn't find a home and wanted one. I agree with Dauer, interfaith or UU could be a place to play and explore. Maybe even Bahai. I tried all sorts of Christian denominations, visited and explored a variety of eastern religions, found a lot that I like in a lot of other than Christian religions. In the denominations I found the reality of the congregation didn't resonate...the walk and the talk didn't coincide. Then I was recommended to try a church because of the way I walked and talked...folks thought I belonged there. I tried it, and it was like coming home. There are others like me!! That was 13 years ago after 20 years in the wilderness. I had really quit looking. I was sure I didn't need a building, or congregation, or preacher or dogma or creed or religion...that I was comfortable with my beliefs and reading. Then like I said I walked in those doors. And now I love the congregation the preacher, the ..... |
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08-01-2008, 03:57 PM
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#20 (permalink) |
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Executive Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: oopmehownerse
Posts: 1,282
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
alex...
a person wants a religion... They want one really bad lol... Not sure why they want it too much... But, they do... But They don't have one... And it seems like they will never have one.... my thoughts? Religion is like chocolate... in small doses, it is great- theobromine, releasing endorphins, potentially causing a serotonin cascade- wondrous stuff... yet... too much chocolate makes a person fat and rots their teeth... Religion is like a relationship... u start off not being able to keep your hands off each other, u want to spend every minute of the day with ur new lover... u can laugh at their bad jokes, ignore they've eaten garlic bread, still want to dive on them... then... this wears off, something else develops... u either develop committment, love, companionship, get married, or u start noticing that their cute ways annoy u to death, and u start arguing, u split, u move on... Religion is like society... it has it's rules and regulations, it's in and outgroups, it's shared goals and values... you won't agree with everything "society" says, but you choose "inside" or "outside" for yourself... Realistically... people "quest" for "truth" not just for the sake of truth... it is best to see whether u involve urself with "questing" for the sake of "truth", or for the sake of something else, such as... belonging, community, a rock to tether yourself to when storms approach, somebody to tell u what to think, etc... If u examine urself, and think ur motives lie outside of "questing for truth", then ignore religion. Take up an art class, go to the disco more often. But, if truth is what u seek, then u will quest forever... forever u will almost grasp it, almost taste it, you will consider giving up, you will hate it and love it, but the quest will always beckon... and one day..? The truth appears... |
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08-01-2008, 04:05 PM
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#21 (permalink) | ||
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FRANCE! You're next.....
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: You misunderstand, I am not locked in here with you, you're locked in here WITH ME!
Posts: 8,155
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
 Not looking for someone to tell me what to think, I am looking for something that will click in my thoughts and I'll somehow magically know it's right and that is the way onwards ;/ And one day the truth appears? lol... You speak like you hold the truth... Quote:
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08-01-2008, 04:43 PM
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#22 (permalink) | |
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UNeyeR1
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Maryland
Posts: 8,003
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
I don't go to brag, or prove I'm better, or be part of the club, I go because I like it, because it carries me over on a high for the week. |
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08-01-2008, 04:48 PM
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#23 (permalink) | |
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FRANCE! You're next.....
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: You misunderstand, I am not locked in here with you, you're locked in here WITH ME!
Posts: 8,155
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
Can't think of much else to say lol, dedicated huh? 60 miles a week just to get to the church? That is some inner drive... Nothing I have ever experienced (religious or not) has motivated me to go out of my way by that much... lol I seriously am missing something.... Thanks for the post again man! -edit- Wait! I lie, I once drove to exeter and back, four times in a week to adopt a dog! That is 47.33 miles each way lol... That's a one off though, not a weekly or monthly or routine of sorts. |
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08-01-2008, 05:36 PM
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#25 (permalink) | |
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merely a shadow...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 719
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
brudda alex, this is from the "jesus:what happens now"thread. it came to mind as i was reading yours and dauer's posts. hope you remember.
Quote:
my friend, you don't need a "club" to be spiritual. the majority of religions lose sight of what is really important, they concentrate on their own self righteousness. their own doctrine and in the process, forget that a person really only wants to be listened to. that they simply just want to talk because their heart is broken. the world has lied to us. stabbed us in the back and it hurts. we're like weeping orphans looking for that love that was robbed from us, because we were too selfish to give this love to each other. look, these are merely my thoughts. i don't need a religion. what i do need to do is what is right. i did so many stupid things in the past and i am still making up for those mistakes. i don't think i'll ever make up for these things and no religion in this world will help me with this. i can understand that you want to feel like you belong somewhere, but what you feel is very rare. if you notice all the posters here on cr, look how far apart we all are. and we are only a hand full! it would be amazing if we all decided to just pack up and live in some sort of community and talk about religion face to face all day. and travel the world and help people in need, sort of like a super hero team or something. anyways, its a lonely road, get used to it. that is all i have to say on this. thanks for reading and hope you find what you are looking for, bruh. |
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08-01-2008, 05:59 PM
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#26 (permalink) | |
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FRANCE! You're next.....
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: You misunderstand, I am not locked in here with you, you're locked in here WITH ME!
Posts: 8,155
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Quote:
That was an amazing post... lol Seriously... That was really, really awesome. It would be great if we all packed up and lived in some kind of community in the wild! Travelling to help others would be sweet too !!! Hehe.. So my thoughts/actions for others are spirituality? I have no idea about spirituality huh? The reasons I say I look for a religion, isn't because I want to be apart of a club... But, I feel sometimes, that surley I must have some kind of religion.. And that Love can't just be it.... "all we need is love" Hard to explain.. lol nevermind I have attmpted now to type what I mean seven times and I keep deleting it cause it ain't what I mean lol... Screw it, lets all off and be superheroes!
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08-01-2008, 07:04 PM
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#27 (permalink) |
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Optimistic Realist
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Near Boston
Posts: 2,692
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
If we're all gonna be superheroes then I'm The Flying Jew! I can fly and I can hit a bad guy with a bagel from 500 meters away using my patented bagel gun. It all started during a freak accident in the bagel factory where I work. I was monitoring the quality of the bagels on the conveyor belt when I noticed a shiny penny. When I bent down to pick it up a radioactive bagel went past me on the conveyor. It got stuck in the machine. I investigated and got zapped with compound J, a radioactive material that previously had only been seen in dimension eleventy. I start to rise, like a bagel, and then I realize I can inflate and deflate myself like a bagel to control the height I'm at. I build rocket boots to help me maneuver more effectively and my patented bagel gun along with other gadgets like the magen david ninjew stars and the cholent cannon. Oh man I can't wait for champions online. xD
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08-01-2008, 07:40 PM
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#28 (permalink) |
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FRANCE! You're next.....
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: You misunderstand, I am not locked in here with you, you're locked in here WITH ME!
Posts: 8,155
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
You know I am going to have to draw these now....
Some funky religious superhero costumes/tools/strengths and wekaness that are coming to mind lol... |
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08-01-2008, 07:55 PM
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#29 (permalink) |
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Optimistic Realist
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Near Boston
Posts: 2,692
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
A-List -- Atheist Extraordinaire. Battling the forces of religious fundamentalism everywhere. His powers, he has long long lists -- think spells -- that he can read off to do damage to religious fundamentalists. He wears a dress suit with the image of a light bulb on the back as a symbol for brights.
The Bahai Behemoth! 10 feet tall, really big guy. He absorbs the abilities of evil-doers and uses them to promote dialogue. Seeker. Curious, x-ray vision, etc. New Paige. She used to be old Paige but then she died and like the Phoenix rose from her own ashes. She's an empath who can levitate. She also has the ability to channel beings from other realms, but when they inhabit her body she loses all self-awareness, nor is she very good at deciding who will inhabit her body. |
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08-01-2008, 09:51 PM
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#30 (permalink) | |
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Mod ~ Eastern Thought
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: In the jungles of Maryland being trained as a Ninja by Christopher Walken
Posts: 3,100
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Re: General feed back on "belief and spirituality"
Namaste Alex P,
thank you for the post. Quote:
why do you want a religion? from some of the responses that i've seen it would seem, correct me if i'm wrong, that there is a sense of impermanence in that you will die and be gone with nothing left behind, and this idea is unsettling and thus it has prompted you to inquire about religions. i'm also reading that it isn't the social aspect which you are seeking. religion, per se, has a broad enough definition that we could probably find some aspect of your life which has ritual and routine enough that it could be a religion. i've got a friend in the Temple of Psychic Youth who explains his view is that religion is that which we focus our attention on the most during our average day. i'm not so keen on that explanation but it does give a different perspective regarding what we are putting our attention towards. in a very real sense the seeking is part of the practice so in that sense you are engaged in a spiritual pursuit in terms of joining a formal religion or going for refuge, as Buddhism would term it, i'm pretty certain that it s a matter of timing more than anything else. i can relate to your sentiment in that you are looking for something that clicks. i can assure you that such does happen, just like love at first sight, it remains that most beings are not patient in that regard. the only real practical advise that i can give is to continue to read and practice which is the key point. reading gives you the theoretical base upon which you can base your experiments with the teachings under consideration but i would caution against letting the study replace the practice. in some situations its rather unavoidable for a whole host of reasons but teachings which you can directly test should be, in my estimation, directly tested. i'd say that if you test a teaching and find that it corresponds with your experience then it is one which bears a more thorough examination before accepting. if it doesn't correspond with your experience there is no reason to keep it around. metta, ~v |
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