Spirituality without faith

Discussion in 'Existentialism' started by Deidre, May 20, 2018.

  1. tikoo

    tikoo Senior Member

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    I might relate to Balance in giving and receiving as represented by the crystal mandala . Huh ?
    Will work for cookies .
     
  2. Deidre

    Deidre Visitor

    Totally agree. Too bad not everyone sees it like that.
     
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  3. tikoo

    tikoo Senior Member

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    Multi-plistic Idealism ? too bad . It's spirit has no motion . Please advance the positive and
    a focus .
     
  4. Mountain Valley Wolf

    Mountain Valley Wolf Senior Member

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    Au contraire. Nature moves in many directions. Left alone--it is all good, and everyone eats.

    I'm sure some people know about a forest here in North America----I forget all the details----but the wolves had been killed off years ago. They were recently re-introduced, and of course we all know how fearful many people are to introduce such an evil dangerous animal. They predicted that the deer would be killed off and that the whole ecosystem would be disrupted. Then they would move off to eat the animals of ranchers and so forth----a common theme.

    But the opposite actually happened---the wolves only ate the deer they needed, and these were the weak ill ones. And it was the same with other animals they ate. This allowed the trees to retain more leaves and the under brush to grow better. Other animals that had not been seen for some time moved back into the forest. A natural order was reset that even allowed the streams to naturally cleanse themselves allowing more fish to move back into the ponds. Over a very quick time, the forest became very healthy again, and the wolves never bothered anyone.
     
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  5. MeAgain

    MeAgain Dazed & Confused Lifetime Supporter Super Moderator

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    Yellowstone National Park
     
  6. Monkey Boy

    Monkey Boy Senior Member

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    There's a thought world not described by science that leads to words and actions. That said, I save bugs and other living things every chance I get.
     
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  7. Deidre

    Deidre Follow thy heart

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    Read an article recently that church-going is slowly on the decline in the US (possibly globally) and spirituality, however one defines that, is on the rise. (monotheism, in particular)
     
  8. themnax

    themnax Senior Member

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    how about faith in a spirituality that does not require personification?

    gatherings of believers have their own value. more of a social one then of spirit.
    where as the universal wonder of strangeness does not require a book, a gathering, or even a common belief.

    faith in what cannot be proven or even known, is not a requirement for any unknown thing to exist.
    nor even to be on friendly terms with it.

    whatever names or images we attach to it, these are our own doing to do so,
    to which no good thing owes imitation.

    the only and true obligation of goodness, is to NOT wish to be feared.

    many people use words without definitions, expecting assumptions to be shared.
    the wonder of strangeness is universal. such assumptions are not.

    no one perspective nor belief is.

    spirit is indeed the thing that is unknown, and exists just fine, whatever claims of belief or faith might or might not also.
    its not that these are without use, but rather this is not the use or value of them.

    their use is not always negative or positive, but can be neither or both.

    it is possible my understanding of such terms, from experience and perception of usage,
    differs slightly to what might or might not be intended by them.

    i apologise if it is, but the only eyes and mind i have are my own.
     
  9. McFuddy

    McFuddy Visitor

    I wonder if the irony here is deliberate.
     
  10. Astray

    Astray Visitor

    Spirituality of a person is about the spirit within that person.
    The spirit is not the person though the person affects the spirit.
    The spirit did not come from the person, but originally from whatever is true and loving. This is its default nature.
    The spirit has the body of the person, and can be seen as a vehicle, but does not drive it while the person is driving it consciously or not (self-will).
    As soon the the person lets go of self-will, such as when the person is in a state of total acceptance, the spirit is invited to take over the driving of the body.
    It is at this state/time that we discover the real purpose of the spirit within us. To express its default nature of truth and love.
    At this point, the spirit has a means to express itself through a physical vehicle (our body). It becomes a witness for all to see that unconditional truth and love really exists.

    Meditation, dance, yoga, etc are activities which can bring a person closer to the state of total acceptance. Spiritual people who are aware of this state, naturally go to that state of 'being'. They are often seen as expressing truth and love. What they are doing is allowing their spirit to express itself. The 'faith' part is surrendering self-will to a state of total acceptance, even of one's own death. It is at this point where one totally accepts their truth, that they are not the body, but the spirit within the body.
     
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  11. You forgot drinking.
     
  12. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    In order to have faith in something, you needn't have seen or experienced it before. Certitude , on the other hand, professes ideas that should be considered faith, when it comes to the nature of god-head/existence. We are not meant to know in our present forms.
    Trillions of galaxies? Pretty big area to keep tabs on sentience. Makes paying a price for say--uttering a 'bad word " seem kind of silly.
     
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  13. Deidre

    Deidre Follow thy heart

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    What a thoughtful post. Agree. It means different things to different people. For me, it has to do with how I see God in my life.
     
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  14. Meliai

    Meliai Banned

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    I think i need to get in touch with my spiritual side again, i'm becoming entirely too cynical

    Spirituality for me always came from nature rather than a god
    I like feeling the energy of other living things
     
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  15. Deidre

    Deidre Follow thy heart

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    However you define it, it brings a peace, I think. We are bombarded by so much negativity on a daily basis, I find spirituality (for me, God) to be a comfort. Doesn’t remove the negativity from others but helps to balance and not be so influenced by it, you know?
     
  16. scratcho

    scratcho Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    I think those that find comfort spiritually in a god or gods are maybe lucky in their comfort. I just was never able to feel that --whatever it is-- that gives one that sense of certitude, as I said.

    I told a story in here once that I'm going to repeat. ------On my porch in the jungle on the big Island of Hawaii. No one else home with me. Took a full hit of windowpane and waited. A small but distinct buzzing began to emanate from ---? Soon after, the view I was observing began to vibrate and change colors. Eventually all was a dark green. As this progressed, everything in my sight, including myself was composed of buzzing , pulsing dots. The terrain, the sky, the jungle, the ocean, and myself were seen by me in a most miraculous way---and I knew then that each and every NATURAL object was exactly the same as every other natural object. This is as spiritual as I have ever felt. I'm sure there are those folks that feel a miraculous thing has happened when they commit to a higher power. We all have our ways of getting to-------------------?
     
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  17. Meliai

    Meliai Banned

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    yeah I agree,and really that's one of the goals of any sort of spiritual practice, to learn how to detach from the world and find peace within
     
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  18. God is so lonely, I don't know what it matters to have faith anymore. You could be God's best friend, but he doesn't know what it's like to be a human. In the end he just loves you, but you reject him for other people's favor first.
     
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  19. Deidre

    Deidre Follow thy heart

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    I guess my Christian upbringing still lingers and I find value in Jesus’ teachings. The Bible as a whole can be problematic to me.
     
  20. I'm not altogether familiar with his teachings. I'd like to say it was all about loving your neighbor, but I bet someone could poke holes in that idea. I generally like Christians, though. They're my best friends, really, even though I'm not one myself. I wasn't raised to believe in anything. The love for Jesus goes way over the top, though, in my opinion, to where he becomes this authoritarian figure. Or to where you think he'll be waiting for you in Heaven and you'll spend all of your time together.

    I think Christians go over the top with their love. I think he'd want to be treated like a regular guy somewhat. If he loved people so much, certainly he'd want others to have their day in the sun at least.
     
    Deidre likes this.

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