Yes I do. Blake facinates me. I am obsessed. If I start a cult it's going to based upon his writings and artwork. Ha!
I am not studying this so I can sign up for a religious experience. I am quite done with religion. But I have always studied religion. I just finished reading an english translation of the Dau De Jing. Facinating stuff. A lot of it I liked, some of it I found worthless.
I have become a collector I guess. I read these scriptrial/inspirational texts of different religions, and just read for the enjoyment of finding out how other people come toward spirituality. People's experiences is what facinates me now. I have no desire to persue my own spirituality. It's shriveled up and gone. I guess I now experience spirituality through the convictions of others. Appreciating what they have to say. Gaining new insights and moving on to a new interpretation.
Gnosticism is my study of the week.
And thanks to everyone so far who has had something to say on this subject. I appreciate the extra info while I navigate my way through this book.
I guess I now experience spirituality through the convictions of others. Appreciating what they have to say. Gaining new insights and moving on to a new interpretation.
Well, it's good that you distinguish between insight and interpretations.. I actually don't see spirituality as having anything to do with conviction, but it's one of those words that people have issues about. You can call it whatever you want, but if you want to appreciate it some kind of experience is probably involved right, even if you don't like the word spirituality. Call it the human condition or whatever you want, but it seems that appreciation can hardly be there if it's only a dry intellectual process. You say you are interested in people's experiences, you can actually have their experience to some extent - after all how else would you really know about it? Look at it this way: You can have the same experience as someone but not consider it a religious experience or believe in anything.
Well I'm not interested in hijacking the thread, it's up to you of course, if you want to just understand what you read then by all means, but it may be of interest to get inside their head (I am pointing to that as a step beyond what has been written) and what they feel, if you want that insight. Don't get the idea I mean some special kind of religious insight, either, but it's simply a matter of what's going on inside of those people.
