Fascinating site: Secular Spirituality

by Sunchild 9 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Sunchild

  I ran across this site by accident last night. If you're not too attached to the Bible and are willing to keep an open mind, you might want to check it out: http://www.secularspirituality.org/index.html

  Taken from the site's index page:
  

  Secular Spirituality strives to be a supportive and informative resource for people who are seeking to cultivate a nontheistic, Earth-based spirituality. Opening to and embracing and celebrating this life in this world, we cease the quest for transcendence and invest ourselves wholeheartedly in the here and now, to the benefit of ourselves and our world.

  Whether you call yourself an atheist, agnostic, nontheist, pantheist, pagan, humanist, or what-have-you, may you find in these pages healing and inspiration for cultivating a positive and fulfilling life in this holy world.

  There are also useful links and resources for people who are recovering from Fundamentalism, very much worth looking at.

  Enjoy!

  *Rochelle.
  (Edited to add last note.)
  ---------
  "Most men complacently accept 'knowledge' as 'truth'. They are sheep, ruled by fear."
  -- Sydney Losstarot, "Vagrant Story."
• 

  teejay

  An excerpt from one of the pages ("An Atheist's Faith") on the site:

  "And now there remain these three, wrote Paul of Tarsus, faith, hope,
  and love.

  And now there remain these three, agrees the atheist, faith, hope, and
  love.

  Faith, not in a better world beyond this miserable one, but in our
  ability to better this one.

  Hope, not in the sweet bye-and-bye, but the here-and-now which
  awaits our sweetening labors to become that for which we hope and dream.

  And the greatest of these, love, from which springs the desire to
  invest in ourselves, in one another, in our world.

  Do love the world, and the things, and the people, of the world, for
  love, not fear, is the beginning of wisdom."

  
  ---------------------------

  I got no problem with that. Thanks, Rochelle.

  peace,
  todd

  Ps. Did you see the question on Tina's thread that I asked you about Xenogears? The game sounds interesting. Later.
• 

  Introspection

  That's funny, some might say transcendence IS being here and now..

  I have no problem with the basic idea, but I can see it becoming an "it's all good" excuse for mediocrity. There is a difference between not being caught up in the future in a type of spiritual development and making no effort in that direction. While we may not believe in an apocalyptic salvation earned by an accumulation of brownie points with God, it doesn't mean that sitting around doing nothing or doing anything is as spiritual as it gets.

  Of course bringing spirituality into everything you do is a good thought, but it's easier said than done. The only thing that is certain about a person who thinks they are spiritual and awake is that they think they are, how conscious they are in actuality does not necessarily correspond to their self assessment. Fortunately we have the capacity to honestly evaluate ourselves and thus others to an extent, and while we might compare ourselves with others who are evidently farther along in the way of spiritual development - say the capacity for keeping their cool in a situation where we might just lose it - it doesn't mean we have to judge ourselves against them as a standard. But it does tell us that it is possible to reach another level if you will.

  I think it's already been expressed on this board that the supernatural is only an aspect of nature that we don't understand yet. It seems to me it then follows that what is not agreed upon is simply the explanation or understanding of things which might be considered supernatural, though there are phenomena we don't understand. We might deny superstitious explanations for them, but it would be foolish to deny the existence of the phenomenon itself.

  "It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
• 

  Sunchild

  While we may not believe in an apocalyptic salvation earned by an accumulation of brownie points with God, it doesn't mean that sitting around doing nothing or doing anything is as spiritual as it gets.

  
  Have you read the articles on the site? That isn't the point that's made at all. The general idea seems to be that you don't need to believe in a being called "God" to reach for your own higher self and better the world around you. If you haven't read it, you might want to start here, with the article "Spirituality Without Supernaturalism": http://www.secularspirituality.org/spirituality/spirituality.html
  

  I think it's already been expressed on this board that the supernatural is only an aspect of nature that we don't understand yet.

  
  I know. I'm the one who expressed it.
  

  It seems to me it then follows that what is not agreed upon is simply the explanation or understanding of things which might be considered supernatural, though there are phenomena we don't understand. We might deny superstitious explanations for them, but it would be foolish to deny the existence of the phenomenon itself.

  
  I can't say that my own worldview coincides 100% with that of the site's author. But that doesn't negate the fact that s/he has presented some very interesting ideas, and I'm all for making new possibilities available to people in their search for themselves.

  *Rochelle.

  ---------
  "Most men complacently accept 'knowledge' as 'truth'. They are sheep, ruled by fear."
  -- Sydney Losstarot, "Vagrant Story."
• 

  Fredhall

  Sunchild,

  I post a message in their guestbook. That site sucks.
• 

  FreePeace

  Hey! I like your new picture Fred! Very fitting! (Damn! I forgot...I don't believe in Satan anymore! Well...maybe I could start again.)

  FP
• 

  Introspection

  Rochelle, please see my reply to your message in a new thread with your name on it. I decided to reply in another thread because I really get into another topic, in any case it's explained in the other message..

  "It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
• 

  bigboi

  Spirituality, demystified, is simply a natural aspect of human psychology. Much of what falls under the banner of the spiritual has nothing to do with belief in spirits or deities or anything supernatural. Rather, it has to do with consciously pursuing a meaningful life, according to however one might define what makes life meaningful.

  I like that statement. I think it's true. Spirituality has nothing to do with doctrine, placing magazines, commenting at meetings or how anyhours you put on a timesheet. It is all about how you live your life and how you treat others, period.

  ONE....

  bigboi

  "it ain't what ya do. it's how you do it" quote from the song "True Honeybunz" by Bahamadia
• 

  larc

  Rochelle,

  I haven't read your links yet, but I fully agree with the summary ideas you presented. I disagree with two of Introspection's comments. I don't think that spirituality can equate to mediocrity. It should lead in all cases to the betternment of the individual. I also don't believe that is "easier said than done" when trying to apply it to everything we do. I think it is easy to do, once we practice and get in the habit of it.
• 

  Introspection

  Larc, let me explain what I meant by those statements. As far as the comment on mediocrity goes, I really did leave out something which is the view that everything you do can be spiritual might be interpreted as you're already being very spiritual because there's nothing special to do, though the important part of how you do it is pretty much ignored. Of course, if you keep doing everything the same way that is what one might call mediocrity.

  That of course relates to the second comment about it being easier said than done. What I had in mind was to do everything spiritually, you have to be mindful of everything you do all the time, and frankly that isn't easy. Now by that I don't mean we have to be control freaks, but it seems that from what I can see in the general population, including myself, we're on autopilot most of the time.

  I think you're right in that once we practice it can become easier, but that's just it. How do you come to practice doing everything spiritually when there is no specific spiritual practice, because everything is spiritual? I certainly agree that having altruistic intent is important, but even though a child might offer you candy out of love, if you're diabetic the end result is not good. Maybe I'm just looking for simple answers where there are none, but it would be nice to have a grasp of basic principles that might guide one to living a more spiritual life.

  "It is not so much that you use your mind wrongly--you usually don't use it at all. It uses you. This is the disease." -Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now