Is anyone else here practicing a religion without beliefs?

[metis]

silence is golden

That's what my wife keeps telling me, and she's Italian!

 

[Jim]

NOTE: This thread is in the Seekers Circle, forum, which has special rules.

... desire to be without a belief system ...

It’s true that I’m trying not to have a belief system.

... you're trying to place yourself above the majority by being more objective, more of a "free-thinker" ...

No, that isn’t what I’m trying to do.

... you try to make it appear that you've come up with all of your beliefs by yourself ...

No, I’m not trying to do that.

 

[Jim]

I might have found what I was looking for. I’ll need to do some observation, to be sure.

 

[Jim]

Maybe a better way to say what I was looking for is people who are practicing members of a religious community that they think is right for them, who don’t have any beliefs that they want to discuss with other people.

 

[izzy88]

It’s true that I’m trying not to have a belief system.

Why?

 

[Jim]

No, that isn’t it either. I can’t find any simple way of explaining it. People who are practicing members of a religious community that they think is right for them, who don’t have any beliefs, or any opposition to the beliefs of others, that they want to discuss

 

[izzy88]

Okay, why?

If you'd provide more information on the actual reasoning behind what you're asking, why you're wondering about this, it would help a great deal in trying to give you clearer and more relevant answers.

 

[Jim]

If you'd provide more information on ... why you're wondering about this ...

I did that in the OP.

 

[Jim]

I understand and agree.

I use prayerful meditation a great deal, and this involves less words and more "listening", if you know what I mean. The impact on me from that has been phenomenal in terms of giving me senses of direction that has opened so many "doors" for me over the last 40 years.

I’m thinking now that when I started this thread, I was looking for people who are practicing members of a religious community that they think is right for them, who don’t have any beliefs, or any opposition to the beliefs of others, that they want to discuss. From your profile and your posts, it looks to me like you might fit that description. Anyway, close enough to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[Jim]

I understand and agree.

I use prayerful meditation a great deal, and this involves less words and more "listening", if you know what I mean. The impact on me from that has been phenomenal in terms of giving me senses of direction that has opened so many "doors" for me over the last 40 years.

I looked at your profile again and I see that you’re an anthropologist. That fits. I’ve been thinking that I’d like to know how anthropologists view religious communities, and their stories and scriptures.

 

[Jim]

I love it.

Aspects of Religion | Cultural Anthropology

 

[Jim]

Now I’ve found something even better than what I was looking for when I started this thread.

 

[metis]

I’m thinking now that when I started this thread, I was looking for people who are practicing members of a religious community that they think is right for them, who don’t have any beliefs, or any opposition to the beliefs of others, that they want to discuss. From your profile and your posts, it looks to me like you might fit that description. Anyway, close enough to satisfy my curiosity.

Ya, that's pretty much where I'm coming from. Generally speaking, I feel comfortable in other houses of worship, including those in other religions. Where I don't feel comfortable are in those that preach the "my way or the highway" and the "health & wealth" messages.

 

[metis]

I looked at your profile again and I see that you’re an anthropologist. That fits. I’ve been thinking that I’d like to know how anthropologists view religious communities, and their stories and scriptures.

I think with most of us, it's the adage that if you have one clock you know exactly what time it is, but if you have many clocks then you will not know exactly what time it is.

 

[dfnj]

I didn’t know, when I came to these forums, how much the discussions would be about beliefs. I wasn’t thinking of religion as being about beliefs, because mine is not about beliefs at all. I’m wondering now if I’m the only one in these forums practicing a religion without beliefs. If there are others besides me practicing a religion without beliefs, that is with no beliefs at all about anything, I would like to know.

The only group I know of having no-mind is the people who practice non-duality:

In an interesting contradiction to the whole way of being she wrote a fascinating book on the subject: A bible for people practicing the religion of "no-mind".

https://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Grasp-Joan-Tollifson-ebook/dp/B01AL2ZN3U/ref=sr_1_1