Spirituality

[gonegirl1]

Does anyone feel like if they could practice spirituality more or make the effort to "enlighten" themselves they could cope with this life a little more?

 

[Cage]

It's something I've thought about a lot, yes. My dad's a Buddhist and I've dabbled in it a little myself; part of the whole doctrine is to reach a point in your life called the "enlightenment" where you only see everything for how it is, and you're not weighed down by all the artificial problems humans have created for themselves.

There are obviously things in there most people here on SS would disagree with, including myself, but I can see how it might bring clarity to some people who are suicidal from all things in their life that are outside of their control.

Ultimately, societies where religion plays a strong authority are more orderly, more pure, more disciplined and less degenerate than all the Western secular societies of today. Their communities are stronger and people are emboldened to live and contribute because of the sense of purpose their religion provides them. For that I support the existence of religion.

I fucking hate atheists.

 

[gonegirl1]

It's something I've thought about a lot, yes. My dad's a Buddhist and I've dabbled in it a little myself; part of the whole doctrine is to reach a point in your life called the "enlightenment" where you only see everything for how it is, and you're not weighed down by all the artificial problems humans have created for themselves.

There are obviously things in there most people here on SS would disagree with, including myself, but I can see how it might bring clarity to some people who are suicidal from all things in their life that are outside of their control.

Ultimately, societies where religion plays a strong authority are more orderly, more pure, more disciplined and less degenerate than all the Western secular societies of today. Their communities are stronger and people are emboldened to live and contribute because of the sense of purpose their religion provides them. For that I support the existence of religion.

I fucking hate atheists.

i don't particularly agree with buddhism in some aspects but i agree with what you are saying.

i do love the side of religion that brings ppl together as a community, but hate the brainwashed minds it produces.

about atheists, i used to hate them too. i just realized most of them are probably in a lot of pain (like i am and am not an atheist) because not being able to see the slightest piece of light or at least mistery in this universe feels sad to me.

 

[Cage]

i don't particularly agree with buddhism in some aspects but i agree with what you are saying.

i do love the side of religion that brings ppl together as a community, but hate the brainwashed minds it produces.

about atheists, i used to hate them too. i just realized most of them are probably in a lot of pain (like i am and am not an atheist) because not being able to see the slightest piece of light or at least mistery in this universe feels sad to me.

I hate atheists because they're all degenerate hedonistic losers who support the collapse of all civilized societies. Instead of gods they worship heads of state, brands, ideologies, political parties, objects, money, sex, war, porn, drugs, all these disgusting meaningless things that make the world worse. They're also white supremacist elitist colonialists because they try to push their vile beliefs on the rest of the world from the safety of their first world imperialist countries. They see religious developing countries as backward when those countries are more civilized and orderly than their stupid rancid first world countries are.

Atheists are agents for evil

 

[gonegirl1]

I hate atheists because they're all degenerate hedonistic losers who support the collapse of all civilized societies. Instead of gods they worship heads of state, brands, ideologies, political parties, objects, money, sex, war, porn, drugs, all these disgusting meaningless things that make the world worse. They're also white supremacist elitist colonialists because they try to push their vile beliefs on the rest of the world from the safety of their first world imperialist countries. They see religious developing countries as backward when those countries are more civilized and orderly than their stupid rancid first world countries are.

Atheists are agents for evil

i think u are generalizing, one could view theists as some vile ppl that force their beliefs onto others as well

 

[Cage]

i think u are generalizing, one could view theists as some vile ppl that force their beliefs onto others as well

Talk to any actual atheist and you'll see that I'm right

 

[gonegirl1]

Talk to any actual atheist and you'll see that I'm right

ur not but ok. if its right you want to be i'll give you that

 

[DarkRange55]

i don't particularly agree with buddhism in some aspects but i agree with what you are saying.

i do love the side of religion that brings ppl together as a community, but hate the brainwashed minds it produces.

about atheists, i used to hate them too. i just realized most of them are probably in a lot of pain (like i am and am not an atheist) because not being able to see the slightest piece of light or at least mistery in this universe feels sad to me.

Religious gatherings act as a facet of a community in my opinion. I think a sense of community is always relevant. Religion maybe not.

 

[XINGBATAI]

This is something I think about all the time. Or at least something similar. Not knowing the Spiritual Truth of existence is responsible for two factors that cause me distress:
1. Without knowing what happens when we die (ie permanent heaven, temporary heaven followed by reincarnation, or nothing at all) I can't commit fully to life; by that I mean, I don't know how to live and instead merely exist. this causes me much distress. How I would live my life is completely dependent on what does or doesn't happens When we die. I've thoroughly investigated most religions. I am almost certain that the Catholic faith has it wrong for reasons I won't get into. At this point, it's a tossup between Buddhism, Daoism, and nothing.

2. The second issue I have is that no matter how much I suffer, I am unable to bring myself to CTB. I just can't take the risk if there is a possibility that I will suffer even more for making that choice, either through eternal punishment, or by being reincarnated again and having to go through the same shit that I tried to escape from by ending it. Once I leave this world, I want my suffering to end.

Now, In regard to the first problem (afterlife) This is my struggle in terms of how I would live if I knew the truth:
a) Catholicism (permanent heaven based on how we live this life. We only get one shot, and how we live will determine our place for eternity. )
If that were really true, than I would become a priest and wouldn't care how much I suffered in this life because it would be negligible compared to a permanent heaven. Anyone who claims to believe in the Catholic faith and doesn't become a member of the clergy is either a great fool or, moe likely, doesn't truly believe it, but can't admit it to themselves. But like I said, I don't believe in this, so Catholicism is out.

2. Buddhism and Taoism - Temporary stay in the heavenly realm followed by reincarnation. (I put both together because in regard to the afterlife, Karma, and Reincarnation they are very similar and are often practiced simultaneously without issue).
If this is true, then I would put all of my effort into eliminating attachments and spend as much time as possible meditating and working towards enlightenment. Again, my suffering would mean little if I knew this to be true

3. Nothing. If we just cease to exist when we die, my only concern would be living in a way that brings me the greatest joy and happiness. I wouldn't care about anything else but satisfying my desires because if there is no afterlife, my enjoyment in this short life would be the literal purpose of life.

Now, by proof I don't necessarily mean objective, scientific proof. Any type of subjective evidence that would none the less cause me to KNOW FOR A FACT the truth. (Eg. A vision, a voice, a deity or being appearing to me, the development of extra sensory or intuitive perception, out of body experience, etc. )
But until that happens(if it ever does) I just can't summon the will to live and everything feels meaningless to me, but at the same time I can't do anything about it because I won't risk more suffering when this life ends.

This is my struggle and why I say I mostly exist rather than live.

I apologize for the long post, but I just joined the site, and I have no one that I can discuss this with that will understand, so I just needed to get this off my chest and see if anyone else feels the same way.

 

[Pluto]

This is something I think about all the time. Or at least something similar. Not knowing the Spiritual Truth of existence is responsible for two factors that cause me distress:
1. Without knowing what happens when we die (ie permanent heaven, temporary heaven followed by reincarnation, or nothing at all) I can't commit fully to life; by that I mean, I don't know how to live and instead merely exist. this causes me much distress. How I would live my life is completely dependent on what does or doesn't happens When we die. I've thoroughly investigated most religions. I am almost certain that the Catholic faith has it wrong for reasons I won't get into. At this point, it's a tossup between Buddhism, Daoism, and nothing.

2. The second issue I have is that no matter how much I suffer, I am unable to bring myself to CTB. I just can't take the risk if there is a possibility that I will suffer even more for making that choice, either through eternal punishment, or by being reincarnated again and having to go through the same shit that I tried to escape from by ending it. Once I leave this world, I want my suffering to end.

Now, In regard to the first problem (afterlife) This is my struggle in terms of how I would live if I knew the truth:
a) Catholicism (permanent heaven based on how we live this life. We only get one shot, and how we live will determine our place for eternity. )
If that were really true, than I would become a priest and wouldn't care how much I suffered in this life because it would be negligible compared to a permanent heaven. Anyone who claims to believe in the Catholic faith and doesn't become a member of the clergy is either a great fool or, moe likely, doesn't truly believe it, but can't admit it to themselves. But like I said, I don't believe in this, so Catholicism is out.

2. Buddhism and Taoism - Temporary stay in the heavenly realm followed by reincarnation. (I put both together because in regard to the afterlife, Karma, and Reincarnation they are very similar and are often practiced simultaneously without issue).
If this is true, then I would put all of my effort into eliminating attachments and spend as much time as possible meditating and working towards enlightenment. Again, my suffering would mean little if I knew this to be true

3. Nothing. If we just cease to exist when we die, my only concern would be living in a way that brings me the greatest joy and happiness. I wouldn't care about anything else but satisfying my desires because if there is no afterlife, my enjoyment in this short life would be the literal purpose of life.

Now, by proof I don't necessarily mean objective, scientific proof. Any type of subjective evidence that would none the less cause me to KNOW FOR A FACT the truth. (Eg. A vision, a voice, a deity or being appearing to me, the development of extra sensory or intuitive perception, out of body experience, etc. )
But until that happens(if it ever does) I just can't summon the will to live and everything feels meaningless to me, but at the same time I can't do anything about it because I won't risk more suffering when this life ends.

This is my struggle and why I say I mostly exist rather than live.

I apologize for the long post, but I just joined the site, and I have no one that I can discuss this with that will understand, so I just needed to get this off my chest and see if anyone else feels the same way.

I enjoyed reading your post. I've had a lot of similar thoughts. I was raised as a Catholic as a child and after hearing about all their dramatic claims regarding the afterlife, I also reasoned that it makes sense to become a priest and focus on nothing else.

I am very familiar with the dark side of this religion. Fundamentally, it seems to rail against anything that is natural (e.g. the human body, human sexuality) and leave followers in a neurotic battle with themselves. My own school was one of many afflicted by the widespread paedeophilia, which is just another symptom of a culture that is weird, unnatural, hypocritical, insane and dysfunctional.

Worse is the claim along the lines of 'give us power/money or else burn eternally in the afterlife, and you can't disprove this'. This could be the worst scam in all of human history, yet it remains alive and well to this day.

Having said all of that, there was a wonderful 20th century spiritual teacher named Bernadette Roberts who was at one point a Catholic nun. She achieved what Buddhists call enlightenment, and even used the 'no-self' terminology, yet was able to describe her teachings in ways that are entirely compatible with Catholic nomenclature.

This is why I have concluded in past musings that religions are all trying to guide people to enlightenment, but there is so much that can be corrupted along the way that they fail in 99.9% of cases.

However, if it can be argued that all religions are merely different pathways to the same thing, we have mostly solved the problem of how to approach life. It can be summed up that there is a single goal and everyone will get there, though some pathways arrive more directly and with less suffering than others.

 

[sserafim]

I think that one can be spiritual without being religious or engaging in organized religion. I see the Abrahamic religions especially as tools being used to control people

 

[XINGBATAI]

I enjoyed reading your post. I've had a lot of similar thoughts. I was raised as a Catholic as a child and after hearing about all their dramatic claims regarding the afterlife, I also reasoned that it makes sense to become a priest and focus on nothing else.

I am very familiar with the dark side of this religion. Fundamentally, it seems to rail against anything that is natural (e.g. the human body, human sexuality) and leave followers in a neurotic battle with themselves. My own school was one of many afflicted by the widespread paedeophilia, which is just another symptom of a culture that is weird, unnatural, hypocritical, insane and dysfunctional.

Worse is the claim along the lines of 'give us power/money or else burn eternally in the afterlife, and you can't disprove this'. This could be the worst scam in all of human history, yet it remains alive and well to this day.

Having said all of that, there was a wonderful 20th century spiritual teacher named Bernadette Roberts who was at one point a Catholic nun. She achieved what Buddhists call enlightenment, and even used the 'no-self' terminology, yet was able to describe her teachings in ways that are entirely compatible with Catholic nomenclature.

This is why I have concluded in past musings that religions are all trying to guide people to enlightenment, but there is so much that can be corrupted along the way that they fail in 99.9% of cases.

However, if it can be argued that all religions are merely different pathways to the same thing, we have mostly solved the problem of how to approach life. It can be summed up that there is a single goal and everyone will get there, though some pathways arrive more directly and with less suffering than others.

Thank you for your insights. I think about this stuff all the time, and it's nice to see that I'm not alone in my thinking because everyone I know seem to not even contemplate these things. I was raised Catholic as well, and I remember even as a child asking questions to priests that they couldn't give an adequate answer to. I have nothing against Catholicism or any religion, but in my experience the Catholic religion seems to value blind obedience and faith above all else. Being raised that way really set me back because I used to feel like I was doing something wrong when I even questioned something that didn't make sense to me. And with such a long history of greed, corruption, and power seeking, I feel that they use the threat of eternal damnation to manipulate people into giving them money and power.

And the pedophilia really is rampant. There were two priests from my grade school and one from my high school that I recently found out were charged with molesting numerous children.

anyway, Thanks for the reply. It's nice to get this off my chest and hear from someone who has similar thoughts.