Words do come with pre-existing meanings, though. Sure, meanings can and do change with usage and time, but the way they are typically used does have some significance, I think.
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- Thread starter Spirit of Light
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Words do come with pre-existing meanings, though. Sure, meanings can and do change with usage and time, but the way they are typically used does have some significance, I think.
Heyo
Veteran Member
... as long as the spiritual and the educated can still communicate with each other and their paths haven't diverted so much they don't have a common language any more.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
Very important point.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
1: O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.As long i can have a heart filled with love and kindness i am ok to be called naive. People will disagree with the path and that is just a part of it all.
The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 3
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Me too, but I am not sure I am fully back.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
You will soon be fully backMe too, but I am not sure I am fully back.
You are loved in this forum, and you have people who will guide you and back you up when you face new or difficult situations.
osgart
Nothing my eye, Something for sure
Some people judge without cause and hate on people. Some people only value people based on material success. In reality there will always be people finding fault and hating.
Even those who have no morals have a code they live by. Some people are unlovable.
Myself, I don't care about religion, or no religion. I don't want to be so critical of others that I fail to see that they mean well. From the wealthy to the poor and disabled, I only care about those that mean well of others. I really don't care otherwise, other than having to deal with those that only care about a person's use, or measure of success.
Even those who have no morals have a code they live by. Some people are unlovable.
Myself, I don't care about religion, or no religion. I don't want to be so critical of others that I fail to see that they mean well. From the wealthy to the poor and disabled, I only care about those that mean well of others. I really don't care otherwise, other than having to deal with those that only care about a person's use, or measure of success.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
That is what some other people ho know me off the forum have been telling me, this is a new beginning and I have much to look forward to, but it is hard to see that now, when every day is a struggle not to think about what I have lost recently. The only way I am getting through it is the kindness of other people and assistance from God. I pray nonstop for two hours every day.You will soon be fully back
I am grateful for this forum and people like you and my bff @Truthseeker who are always here to support me. God works through the people he sends to help me, and I am glad he sent you back.
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
God knows what we need and when to grant it to us.That is what some other people ho know me off the forum have been telling me, this is a new beginning and I have much to look forward to, but it is hard to see that now, when every day is a struggle not to think about what I have lost recently. The only way I am getting through it is the kindness of other people and assistance from God. I pray nonstop for two hours every day.
I am grateful for this forum and people like you and my bff @Truthseeker who are always here to support me. God works through the people he sends to help me, and I am glad he sent you back.
Sometimes it is though other human beings.
Another good question!
I'm an atheist, an anti-theist, and a secular humanist who likes to discuss religion and philosophy with others. Most people (and most on this forum), are religious. I have found that many religious people claim that only religion can provide things like morals and ethics and other - what the religious often call "spiritual" guidance.
So I guess long story short, I use the term "spirituality" intentionally, to let religious people know that they don't have a lock on these things. (and of course, "spiritual anti-theist" has been in my signature for years
)
Spirit of Light
Be who ever you want
You are a good human being even you are anti-theistAnother good question!
I'm an atheist, an anti-theist, and a secular humanist who likes to discuss religion and philosophy with others. Most people (and most on this forum), are religious. I have found that many religious people claim that only religion can provide things like morals and ethics and other - what the religious often call "spiritual" guidance.
So I guess long story short, I use the term "spirituality" intentionally, to let religious people know that they don't have a lock on these things. (and of course, "spiritual anti-theist" has been in my signature for years
You didn't ask me, also a secular humanist, but I have an answer. I refer to the spiritual experience, but like you, try to avoid the word spirituality for the reasons you gave - the baggage, including the idea of spirits being involved.
The spiritual experience generally follows some sensory experience like gazing at the night sky or gardening, when we adopt a mindful attitude. We experience connection to our world, with associated feelings such as mystery, awe, and gratitude. There is a thrill associated, a rich sense of belonging and of the world being right and life a privilege. It generally depends on some understanding of what one is experiencing.
The night sky experience is enhanced by an understanding of how far away those stars are and the incredible unlikelihood of a drop of starshine traversing lightyears of space to impact our retinas to inform us of their presence, couple with an understanding that we are literally stardust, the ashes of an earlier star that spread to the nebula that became our solar system through supernova. I don't know if a preverbal hominid could have such an experience.
The same experience can be conjured with a moving passage of music or even a moving church service. I know that when I became a Christian at age 18, my pastor, a gifted and charismatic man, could rouse that feeling in me with beaming smiles, singing hymns, clapping, and the like. In fact, I did mistake that spiritual experience for a literal spirit - the Holy Spirit. Later, upon relocating and trying other churches, I realized that it was the pastor responsible, not a spirit, and eventually left the religion.
I recognize that feeling when I have it today, but interpret it as a psychological phenomenon akin to finding something beautiful or delicious rather than an experience of something external like a god. Just yesterday, a theist on RF was commenting about how atheists don't share the theists experience of God, not looking the right way in the right places. I explained to him that there is no experience of reality available to him unavailable to the average atheist, and that I believe that theists who claim to have evidence and experience of God are merely misinterpreting their experience. This is a typical area where the theist would claim spirituality that he sees the atheist as lacking due to "scientism," which they describe as excessive reliance on science, but which they mean is insufficient reliance on faith. If only we could relax our standards for belief, they think, we could be spiritual like them and experience God, when in reality, if only they would shore up their criteria for belief, they wouldn't mistake their own minds for spirits.
To digress a bit, once there was a time in human evolution when there was no concept of creativity. When people first began having creative impulses, they didn't recognize them as being inventions of their own minds, but rather, something put in their minds by spirits. They were "in-spired." Thus, the muses. If somebody came up with a good poem, dance, or song, it never occurred to him or anybody else that he was its author. Something must have whispered it to him. This is similar, mistaking the output of one's own mind as something experience of external in origin and received.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
I am so touched!I am grateful for this forum and people like you and my bff @Truthseeker who are always here to support me. God works through the people he sends to help me, and I am glad he sent you back.
God will be there for you regardless, because now you are welcoming that help. You are open to God and want to be near Him, so He will be there sooner or later.Thou disappointest no one who hath sought Thee, nor dost Thou keep back from Thee anyone who hath desired Thee.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 156.5
That is why I am happy for you! You may be having troubles now, but the end is glorious!
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Thanks Duane, you are a true friend.I am so touched!
Thou disappointest no one who hath sought Thee, nor dost Thou keep back from Thee anyone who hath desired Thee.
Bahá’u’lláh, "Prayers and Meditations", 156.5
That is why I am happy for you! You may be having troubles now, but the end is glorious!
I sure hope God comes around soon because I need help right now.
Truthseeker
Non-debating member when I can help myself
I'm so sorry at the same time that things are bad for you right now.Thanks Duane, you are a true friend.
I sure hope God comes around soon because I need help right now.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
Meaning is always negotiable. The act of reading is not a one way process, it’s an interaction between reader and text.
All literature, including religious scripture, is subject to interpretation. Everything in this restless, ever changing universe is altered by perspective; as the light shifts, so does the view. That certain texts have survived for millennia and are still seen as relevant today, must surely be a tribute to some enduring quality each contains, a quality which has been able to transcend the shifting paradigm of culture and history.
RestlessSoul
Well-Known Member
As a sad / interesting side note: IMO, neither the religious belief nor mine have a lot of evidence to back them up these days
However bleak human affairs may seem, it’s useful to remember that a million tiny acts of kindness go unreported and unremarked every day.
Fine if it didn't usually result in splits and divisions, conflict and such, and where it is mostly down to what one accepts as truth - but hardly knows as to such actually being true. To compare religions with anything else I would suggest is fruitless, and demeaning to religion, given you will not see this with regards Islam, for example, where so many will just accept their beliefs as 'the truth', and which will occur in other beliefs too. I really can't see how some try to place religions in the same category as so many other beliefs when the believers themselves will not do so.
I like the idea of checking for little quotes, but my mind leaps more to humour than seriousness, so...this from a book called Sourcery, where someone gets a chance to talk to the personification of death.
And what would humans be without love?"
RARE, said Death.