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spiritual people, how do you worship?

Karolina

Member
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?
 

susanblange

Active Member
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?
I worship God by reading and studying his word, the OT KJV. I also worship God by music. "The Lord is my Rock, my strength and my song". This is medium Rock, what I call Messianic Rock.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?

In my faith, it's more a beseeching, a calling, than anything else. A bit like walking outside after it just rains and feeling the moisture in the fresh spring air. Externally, it's called puja.
 

Jeremiah Ames

Well-Known Member
I completely left religion (Christian) about a year ago.
I found it to be highly misleading and a major impediment to anyone seeking God. Their goal seemed to be growing the churches and controlling what people think and do. And their idea of worship became more and more abhorrent to me. Matthew 15:9 kept showing up in my intellect: “They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'"

I have since learned that to truly worship the Lord, you MUST treat others as you would like to be treated. Rituals, singing songs at 120 db, and reciting creeds are not worship.

Matthew 22:36-40: 36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: "'Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

So, how exactly do you “Love the Lord your God” ? To me, by loving the goodness and truth in other people that comes from the Lord.

imo
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?

Spirituality IMO is more a matter of self improvement. Making your life better, making your relationship better etc...

Belief in a deity isn't necessary unless it is a means to self improvement. Most "Gods" are the ideal being. An entity of moral standard. I don't know that "worship" in the sense of acting in a manner to please "God" is a necessity as much as seeing God as the ideal for human standards/behavior.

For example, Jesus could be seen as the ideal being, doesn't necessarily mean that you have to go to church on Sunday, perform rituals/sing/pray to make God happy/be in God's good graces.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
I don't recognize any distinction between "spiritual" and "religious" (which I can get into later if need be) so in my view anything and everything said of one applies to the other. I always use the word "religion" or "religious" so substitute other terms accordingly as you prefer.

There's a tremendous amount of diversity in terms of what worship looks like in various religions. Worship is the act of meaningfully demonstrating your respect of the gods. Embodying the virtues of your gods can be one mode of worship (e.g., aspiring to be Christlike by being charitable and forgiving as a person). Practicing things in accord with their domains can be another (e.g., learning old fashioned blacksmithing as a devotee of Hepaistos). Creative expression is also huge in most religious traditions (e.g., theater reenacting sacred stories of the gods). Worship ranges from simple to complicated, highly ceremonial to improvisational. You find a style that works for you and is appropriate for the gods you honor.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
how do you worship this God?

I like what @Gerry has written. I'd add the following thoughts.

First, quoting Rumi: "there are a thousand ways to kneel and kiss the ground". So to me the fundamental point is that people can worship God in many different ways. The important point is that it be from the heart and not mechanical.

Some people worship God through formal prayers. Some through finding Him in nature. Some by repeating a Name. Some by contemplating an image.

Personally, I particularly focus on two forms of prayer: visual and aural. For the latter, this from Ramakrishna expresses it better than I could:

With beaming face chant the sweet name of God
Till in your heart the nectar overflows.
Drink of it ceaselessly and share it with all!
If ever your heart runs dry, parched by the flames
Of worldly desire, chant the sweet name of God,
And heavenly love will moisten your arid soul.
 
I primarily worship Lucifer by honoring myself and making an effort every day to take on attributes I admire in him. Trying to learn something new every day, being assertive, blaspheming things/thought patterns that previously oppressed me, and overall carrying myself like royalty and making my needs and desires a priority instead of dismissing them as selfish.

I also practice sex magick as an act of worship and sometimes leave food offerings, but until I'm able to have an actual altar in my house that'll probably be the closest I get to what people typically think of when they think worship (bowing, etc.)

I don't recognize any distinction between "spiritual" and "religious" (which I can get into later if need be) so in my view anything and everything said of one applies to the other. I always use the word "religion" or "religious" so substitute other terms accordingly as you prefer.

There's a tremendous amount of diversity in terms of what worship looks like in various religions. Worship is the act of meaningfully demonstrating your respect of the gods. Embodying the virtues of your gods can be one mode of worship (e.g., aspiring to be Christlike by being charitable and forgiving as a person). Practicing things in accord with their domains can be another (e.g., learning old fashioned blacksmithing as a devotee of Hepaistos). Creative expression is also huge in most religious traditions (e.g., theater reenacting sacred stories of the gods). Worship ranges from simple to complicated, highly ceremonial to improvisational. You find a style that works for you and is appropriate for the gods you honor.
Very well said!
 

danieldemol

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?
The thing about spirituality as I see it is it’s diversity. Worship may be more common amongst the religious, but there is no orthodoxy to spirituality, so some people will say personal prayers or chants, some wont.
 

Jim

Nets of Wonder
Working on improving myself in ways that benefit others, and community service. Doing the work that I do for income honestly, responsibly, with fairness, friendliness, kindness and other virtues that I want to practice, to help make life easier and more fun for people around me.

Also, communing with nature, and reading some parts of scriptures, like the Psalms, the prophets praising God, and the gospel stories.
 
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Jim

Nets of Wonder
People in China say that they aren’t religious and don’t believe in God, and I wanted to find something to do with them that would lift us up in the same way as saying prayers together. I found it: poetry and songs. Actually, some of my friends here had already been doing that with me on their own initiative, but I hadn’t thought of it as a spiritual practice before.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?
Spiritual people "worship" by living life according to the dictates of the divine spirit within them. The means used are honesty, integrity, spontaneity, self-awareness, reason, generosity, etc.,.
 

Quintessence

Consults with Trees
Staff member
Premium Member
Everyday acts can be spiritual with the right mindset. Quakers don't see a separation between secular and religious activities.

It's often the same way in contemporary Paganism in part because acts of religious expression just look different in those traditions than what is commonly visualized when the word "worship" is mentioned. When I've done river/stream cleanup, I'm sure most of the folks around me consider that a secular activity. For a tree-hugging dirt worshiper like myself, it's nothing of the sort. :D

That does shed light on something is "secular" or "religious" (or "spiritual" if one prefers) only because we say it is. What, then, is behind the label? When we call something "religious" that someone else doesn't perceive that way, what does that mean? A certain depth of reverence? A particular sort of seriousness? Symbolic or mythic significance? Something sets it apart, yes?
 

Karolina

Member
That does shed light on something is "secular" or "religious" (or "spiritual" if one prefers) only because we say it is. What, then, is behind the label? When we call something "religious" that someone else doesn't perceive that way, what does that mean? A certain depth of reverence? A particular sort of seriousness? Symbolic or mythic significance? Something sets it apart, yes?

These are very helpful questions, thank you!
 

Sand Dancer

Crazy Cat Lady
It's often the same way in contemporary Paganism in part because acts of religious expression just look different in those traditions than what is commonly visualized when the word "worship" is mentioned. When I've done river/stream cleanup, I'm sure most of the folks around me consider that a secular activity. For a tree-hugging dirt worshiper like myself, it's nothing of the sort. :D

That does shed light on something is "secular" or "religious" (or "spiritual" if one prefers) only because we say it is. What, then, is behind the label? When we call something "religious" that someone else doesn't perceive that way, what does that mean? A certain depth of reverence? A particular sort of seriousness? Symbolic or mythic significance? Something sets it apart, yes?

It's totally subjective, so own it with a vengeance! I am a tree-hugging dirt worshiper too.
 

r2d2009

Member
The Divine Fire. How to Become It?

...It is significant that some people, who are already quite psychogenetically adult, having found themselves in a social environment where there is no serious spiritual knowledge, prefer to remain atheists… Although they could do a lot both for themselves, and for other people, and for God, if they got in touch with knowledge corresponding to their level of intellectual development.

* * *

To what, more specifically, can those, who have already matured to the ability to perceive higher spiritual knowledge and make real and intensive efforts for the spiritual transformation of themselves, direct their efforts?

The first is to carefully understand what is God, man, Evolution, God’s plan for us, and accordingly — what is the meaning of our lives and how it can be realized.

The second is to intensively begin the ethical transformation of ourselves in accordance with what namely God wants to see in us, but not the leaders of this or that religious association of people.

The third is to work on oneself in the psychoenergetical direction of development. It includes the following steps:

1. Cleansing the body of coarse energies, starting with the chakras, main meridians and vertical segments. Usually, this can already give a radical improvement in the state of health, even those diseases, against which physicians are powerless, diminish.

Also — mastering the ability to volitionally move the concentration of consciousness along these structures, with an emphasis on the chakra anahata. On this basis, the art of psychic self-regulation is mastered [9].

2. The development of oneself as a spiritual heart — more and more refined through the cultivation of subtle emotions and also growing in quantitative terms. As a result, a steady calm, silence is formed — in the vast depths of the spiritual heart.

Only after this the confident direct cognition of God becomes possible in His different Aspects, including individual Manifestations of the Holy Spirits and Their United We in Their states of rest and activity. The latter can be seen — by the vision of the developed consciousness — as the Divine Light or Fire of different brightness.

At this stage, spiritual devotees acquire for themselves quite really perceived non-incarnate Divine Teachers — Holy Spirits.

3. A fundamentally important stage of perfecting is mastering the methods of Mergence, Fusion with God in all His indicated Manifestations, and also with Him in the Aspect of the Absolute.
.........

The Divine Fire. How to Become It?
 

j1i

Smiling is charity without giving money
I know how religious people worship - according to the traditions of their religions. So as a Catholic, I know I've always felt like I worship God during Mass. I never really considered personal prayers or devotions as "worship" for some reason, but I now have reason to believe that I've had it backwards.

I'm leaning more into the spiritual side of things, but I'm finding that most of what's written "out there" on spirituality doesn't include an element of worship of the Divine. Worship seems to belong to the realm of religion. Am I wrong?

If you consider yourself more spiritual than religious, or if your spirituality transcends a religious affiliation, or it includes two or more religious expressions, and you believe in some sort of personal loving God, how do you worship this God?

religion for me is a textbook (or instructions and guidance) that teaches me how to be spiritually connected to God properly

That is why religion is the teacher for how to lead a successful lifestyle
Here, if the spirit is good and work hard, then it will be more successful if these divine instructions are applied

The result is that all of your movements, words, and actions are chosen by God (this is in true Islam, which few can understand) and which only few can implement.

If you have a smartphone and it is in your hands, how will it show you everything you want without clicking on it, or without giving any signals.

Likewise, your day and your daily needs without pressing buttons, which are what we call God's supplication (I ask God always the best) and thanks God for everything

How do you want a certain life without asking God? How will God answer you without question,
You are now in the rule of dispensed with God

You must always show the need to address God

For myself, I cry because crying is the most powerful message to God and he shy among angels ( honest an emotional intelligence) :oops:

Because God is shy about human crying in seeking mercy for success and best

(Lord of the Universe) is Modest and Generous, and would never turn the hands of a slave without gain when he raises them to Him (in supplication).

Therefore, it is always important in everything that you ask and talk to God

But there should be mutual respect
Imagine you are working in a position with a job manager (you will be on high level in system and ethics)

Likewise with God, your life must be orderly and moral (steer clear of forbidden and immoral things or not ethics).

Believe me, I feel God’s strong close to me and see strange dreams that drew upon her and took my successful steps in my life.

It is true that I am deprived of fulfilling many aspirations, but perhaps obtaining these wishes will motivate me to stop praying and ask God for the needs

I see myself in safety (save place) and I am lucky to have many contacts with God daily

Sorry for talking a lot and I hope you understand what I meant

good luck brother :)
 
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