The Paradox of Modern Spirituality

Originally posted by Angle
reply to post by STARTRUTH49

 

There is no mass consciousness, or you must mean the mass outside of the mass. Mass consciousness, there do exist people who think for their own in this world.

We do have somthing that is called mass consciousness, why dont you just google it for yourself and try learn some truth instead of trying to correct what is already correct.

reply to post by LesMisanthrope


Meanings associated with words change over time and I don't see a problem with that. It is culture transforming.

Why must we go beyond that in our search? Why must we look further forward or backwards, beyond the scope of our lives to find reasons for them?

Yes, you are right that is meaningful just to exist. But personally, I had a profound spiritual experience when I was younger. That experience made life beautiful for me. Before that, I felt meaningless.

You found your meaning through philosophical analysis. I found mine through 'modern' spirituality, inexplicably.

What I'm trying to say is, I don't think there is anything wrong with the modern view of spirituality or the historic. For me though, seeking "spirituality" has made life more beautiful.

To each his own.

reply to post by wasaka
Oh that was just sweet! You got a real niceness goin there,like your style.......

Originally posted by LesMisanthrope
reply to post by BlueMule

 

No it isn't. The foundation of spirituality is the mystical experiences of people like Jesus, Lau Tzu, The Prophet Muhammad, Moses, etc.

The laws of logic are the laws of our everyday consciousness and experience... they have no application to mystical experiences which are beyond everyday consciousness and experience, beyond ideas, beyond words, beyond logic, beyond definitions.

But not beyond experiencing.

That One which is beyond all thought is inconceivable by all thought -Dionysius the Areopagite

That Oneness is on the other side of descriptions and states. Nothing but duality enters speech's playing-field -Rumi

Nonsense. That is the foundation of religion—the repudiation of spirituality, the antithesis of spirituality, denial of spirituality. I mentioned the etymology of the words "spirit" and "spirituality" mean "to breathe". Life is the roots from which the tree of spirituality grows. If you can refute the etymology of spirit, you could refute my arguments.

To be spiritual, one must be alive. How does "to breathe" translate to mystical experiences? Correct; it doesn't—at least not until religion has had its perverse way with the concept, having convinced the religiously motivated and credulous otherwise. One must first be breathing and living and animated before he can have a mystical experience.

spirit derives from ancient words that can mean either wind, breath, AND spirit.

how can you deny that spirituality is something that is beyond physical when from time immemorial we have always had holy men (shamans) who bridge the physical and ethereal realities.

whether any of it is true is totally another discussion

In modern times "spirituality" has acquired a new meaning. It still denotes a process of transformation, but is often seen as separate from religious institutions, as "spiritual but not religious." [5] Spirituality has come to mean the internal experience of theindividual. According to Yuk-Lin Renita Wong and Jana Vinsky, religion represents the organized aspect, the institutions which press people into a mold.[5] Dick Houtman and Stef Aupers write that modern spirituality blends humanistic psychology with mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions.[6]
Social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration, for example "a transcendent dimension":

[...] a transcendent dimension within human experience [...] discovered in moments in which the individual questions the meaning of personal existence and attempts to place the self within a broader ontological context.[10]

Spirituality can be sought not only through traditional organized religions, but also through movements such as the feminist theology and green politics. Spirituality is also now associated with mental health, managing substance abuse, maritalfunctioning, parenting, and coping. It has been suggested that spirituality also leads to finding purpose and meaning in life.[3]

The Wiki description of "spirituality" seems confused to me.

First it denotes some sort of 'transformation', as if a person can become "spiritual". The definitions also suggest that spirituality is something to be "experienced". Finally, it suggests that spirituality is something to be attained or "sought".

I disagree with these explanation. Maybe I see "spirit" as the OP does... (?)

For me ones spirituality is within one at all times. It gives us life-forms the ability to analyze, operate our body and to react sub-consciously. Even during sleep and moments of unconsciousness our spirit remains, fully functioning and recording our percepts.

How people think and use the data about themselves and their environment is entirely down to their analytical mind and how well it functions: mental and physical damage sustained previously can seriously inhibit and/or prevent mental function. The spirit is still their, but sometimes (as with most human beings who have been damaged through life's events) how they think is unethical and plainly "wrong". Thus we have people who commit all sorts of things such as murder, rape and drug-taking. To suggest that they have no spirit is wrong; it is just that they have suffered so much damage that their analytical abilities have become sort of demonized. With the correct treatment (I would suggest Dianetic therapy), those internal demons can be cleared and the person's spirit will reign supreme, and the person will see heightened analytical state and better health.

But all that is just my opinion.

I have always been of the opinion that this life that we are living does in fact matter and that anybody who thinks that this life is entirely, completely, transitory or without true meaning is trying to escape from our reality (an admittedly #ed up one) or are otherwise deluding themselves.

I am not claiming that I understand our reality or what it is about but the fact that we are here in this moment certainly means something.

When we assert, dear reader, that this life is merely temporary, our bodies are prisons, the flesh is without value, this existence isn't real and we should instead focus on the salvation of some inner and immortal idea, we are not in the least bit being spiritual, but anti-life, and anti-spiritual.

After these temporary bodies all that might remain are immortal ideas which shape you, me, everybody and everything. These bodies are not prisons, they are more like standalone computers which generate personalities like you and me which then become animated. Once one has seen the light one is online, the personality has been uploaded and the computer is abandoned. Those who don't make it are remembered by those who did, until that day.

To me antispiritual would be being convinced there is nothing beyond this physical world, to go out and seek those who are convinced there is and trying to change them into believing there is nothing else.

reply to post by Dragonfly79

To me antispiritual would be being convinced there is nothing beyond this physical world, to go out and seek those who are convinced there is and trying to change them into believing there is nothing else.

But in believing the opposite - that there is more beyond the physical world than there is inside of it - is to slowly forget the value in that which can be learned from the expendable, the flawed, the perpetually dying and degrading. Finiteness has many lessons to teach us, but many times we miss the forest for the trees. Again, duality has much to teach us...but we are a species of extremes. In making a judgment, in judging a particular idea or particular spectrum abhorrent, we miss all the beautiful lessons we could have taken from it and we only revere half of the coin, which reduces its value and unity. This is why the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil became a curse - in our independence, we tend to judge far more than we tend to learn. That doesn't mean we're incapable, it just means no one has bothered to teach us.