What is a good way to start on a spiritual path?

reply to post by spartacus699


And that's a load of rubbish OP, don't bother with it.

learn to love yourself, then you can share that with others. No need for a third party to get on your knees for.

Especially one that was made to control weak minded souls who ar elost in a world full of danger.

reply to post by EllaMarina

I've always been interested in making more of myself in that realm of thought and being . . .

I think that you already have a start in realizing that you are already in it, and that it is not something that you have to go somewhere to find.

Know that the spirit is always aware of you so you don't have to do anything to get its attention.

Purity of thought should be your goal and constant intention.

Read the New Testament... go to church.

spartacus699
reply to post by EllaMarina

 

Well I can tell you one thing for certain... it doesn't involve your ego. It flies in the face of it. So what you have to do is get on your knees and pray to God. That's how you start. If you can't do that, just forget it.

Simple and elegant. You hit the nail on the head and I love how you state this. Open your heart, but not before humbling it first. Like a child.

winofiend
reply to post by spartacus699

 

And that's a load of rubbish OP, don't bother with it.

learn to love yourself, then you can share that with others. No need for a third party to get on your knees for.

Especially one that was made to control weak minded souls who ar elost in a world full of danger.

You confuse invariant symmetry to control of weak minded individuals. How, exactly, do weak minded individuals become strong? By walking away from natural law and principles of right action? No. They move closer to invariant law and abide in the life that comes from following natural law. Working against law goes against a God that is invariable. He is invariable for a reason. Are you suggesting He is malevolent? God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. You are stating the case for walking away from this nature of perfect goodness--a God that fashioned a universe from nothing.

Why would a person shun a God that demands our own holiness? What benefit would there be to falling further against the laws that are set by our Creator? Do you suppose these laws are set to invariability for a reason? What benefits are there when a person lives a wholesome life, adopting the very laws that created the universe? What detriment is there to working against the law?

EllaMarina
I was wondering what your ideas are on how to begin a life of spirituality. I've always been interested in making more of myself in that realm of thought and being, but I don't know where to start, exactly.
All thoughts are welcome to this confused, would-be traveler.

The definition of 'spiritual' means radically different things to different
people. If you ask this question to ten people, you might get twelve answers!

It sounds like you are open to making a very large change in your life.
This is the very first thing to keep in mind --- being open to change
is such an unusual thing for a human being, that this might in fact be
a good working definition - "focusing upon self-honesty and being open
to positive personal change". I think that your own words have shown
you the beginnings of your path! I've noticed that so many people start
out humbly and honestly like you are, but then they fill their head full
of other people's words and fancy quotes from books of some sort. They
then get lost in the 'glitter' of the spiritual path, rather than practicing
the self-honesty and openness to change, that set them upon the path
in the beginning!

If you keep the self-honesty and openness to change as your core values,
and add in compassion and patience for yourself and others, and keep
practicing these virtues for at least 60 days (the time it takes to form
a new habit), then you will discover you are a changed person - in
fact far more 'spiritual' than many people who dive for the fancy symbols,
words, recitations and formulas.. which in fact leave you with a handful
of dust and a head of delusions.

Once you are dependent upon what you know, and what symbols you
are supposed to memorize and recite (as in religion) then you are
a prisoner of those symbols.. you give years of your life to those
symbols, and even if you wake up eventually.. you will feel like
you have wasted your life, if you discard them. So this fear of
wasting your life, will waste your life. No symbol, word, or
'formula' has ever saved or improved one single life. This truth
is classily referred to as "not confusing the finger pointing
at the moon, for the moon".

Given that you are considering a huge life change, the first
thing that I'd recommend is counting the cost. What results
are you seeking? If modest, then perhaps a few months of
your life dedicated to your path might be all that's required.
On the other hand, if you want to 'crack' the great spiritual
mysteries that stymied even the Buddha or other great
lights in the world, then you might need to give your entire
life to your search.

Some people might say, "you don't need all those fancy
concepts! Just give your heart to God / your Higher Self
or what not. Well you can do this.. you can abdicate your
life to an unknown, unproven ritualized concept that
has been forming for perhaps 200,000 in human
society. Only you can decide if you want to just 'punt'
and hope that you picked the right team.. amongst the
millions of teams this world has known. If you are born
in one part of the world, you'd be a Hindu. If you are
born in another part of the world You'd be a Sikh or
a Christian; and no matter how hard someone tries
to convert you to what makes them comfortable;
you are likely to keep your cultural programming,
which is based upon where you were born alone.

If you decide to take the path of an open, honest
spiritual person, who doesn't just cave to the random
place in the world where they were born, then you
very well might meet God in your heart as a result
of your spiritual path. Some call this blessed state
being enlightened, or indwelt by the Holy Spirit..
just FYI, the "Holy Spirit" was known to people
thousands of years before modern religions and
their concepts of both good and evil even
existed.

I myself took one of the most difficult paths in
the entire world -- the world of going as far
as I dreamed I could ever go.. then going back
a second time, to record what I'd learned so
that I could share it with others. My path
took 50 years.

No matter which path you choose.. or who you
choose to believe can help you.. things don't
happen overnight, and at each step of the
way, you must determine if this is still the
path for you.. or if you need to turn left
in Albuquerque. There is never shame in
that.. there is only shame in being afraid
to do that, should it be necessary.

I wish you the best and am happy to
share or not share as you so desire.

KPB

reply to post by EllaMarina


Read the Bible.

Ella,
read EVERY text you can find on EVERY religious tradition. Include recent titles by theology scholars.

"The Bible" is a compilation, an 'anthology' of myth, legend, and SOME history. It alone will not suffice.

The Urantia Book
Baghavad Vita
Tibetan Book of the Dead
anything by Allan Watts (on Buddhism)

Don't be afraid of "New-Agey" stuff. Spend a LOT of time with "yourself" - in silence, in nature, in thought, in sleep. It will come to you. But mostly, HAVE FUN!! You GO, girl!!

OptimusSubprime
Read the New Testament... go to church.

yeh... and find out if you read closely that church isn't necessary...

God wants a personal relationship with you... Worship him in spirit and truth, not in "organized groups"

Skip Paul... he'll just confuse the true path...

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John... (And Thomas when you're ready) are the books you'll need in the NT...

Show love to your neighbours, help them in anyway you can... and do as they ask of you...

Give willingly without expectation... do not be aggressive, and do not harm others verbally or physically...

That's a pretty good start

EllaMarina
I was wondering what your ideas are on how to begin a life of spirituality.

Talk to people or listen to people who have 'died' and come back.
They get their information straight from the source.
Near Death Experiences

The common theme ... LOVE.
And Jesus two commands ... LOVE God and LOVE your neighbor.

So I'd say if someone wants to begin a life of spirituality ... LOVE.

reply to post by Akragon

Of all the books in the bible and in the 'gnostic bible', I find John to be the deepest.
Of everyone in the New Testament, my guess is that John understood Christ the best.

FlyersFan
The common theme ... LOVE.
And Jesus two commands ... LOVE God and LOVE your neighbor.

So I'd say if someone wants to begin a life of spirituality ... LOVE.

Love yourself first.

Before you can have a good relationship with anyone else, you must first have cultivated a good one with yourself. It's essential to have a solid foundation of knowing and understanding who you are, and what matters most to you. The hard part for most people is getting to know a person when you don't even know who you are yet. It is like a puzzle, it is something that takes time, patience and a lot of willingness to unravel the layers through trial and error.

reply to post by EllaMarina


In my estimation you are already on the path. You were born spiritual. People that get derailed do so because of their environment. Don't confuse being spiritual with being religious though; they are 2 vastly different concepts.

Spirituality does not require praying to God. You may find some comfort in religion and that is okay, but to me, religion is used to stifle spiritualism. There is only one spiritual way; there are many different religions.

Semantics play a role in creating the friction we have from religion to religion and most have been involved in wars claiming theirs is better. Ask yourself these questions?

Does your God want you to kill others because their beliefs are different?

Is it necessary for religion to exist in order for you to know the difference between acceptable moral behavior?

Do you need someone to explain what moral behavior is?

Being spiritual is understanding that we are all from the same energy source and that we all are attached to each other. It does not require killing. It does not require preaching. It does not require reading. It does not require praying.

Being spiritual requires one thing; LOVE (LIGHT)

Good Luck on your endeavor to discover the truth.

Soul

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. I appreciate your thought and attention.

EnochWasRight

winofiend
reply to post by spartacus699

 

And that's a load of rubbish OP, don't bother with it.

learn to love yourself, then you can share that with others. No need for a third party to get on your knees for.

Especially one that was made to control weak minded souls who ar elost in a world full of danger.

You confuse invariant symmetry to control of weak minded individuals. How, exactly, do weak minded individuals become strong? By walking away from natural law and principles of right action? No. They move closer to invariant law and abide in the life that comes from following natural law. Working against law goes against a God that is invariable. He is invariable for a reason. Are you suggesting He is malevolent? God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. You are stating the case for walking away from this nature of perfect goodness--a God that fashioned a universe from nothing.

Why would a person shun a God that demands our own holiness? What benefit would there be to falling further against the laws that are set by our Creator? Do you suppose these laws are set to invariability for a reason? What benefits are there when a person lives a wholesome life, adopting the very laws that created the universe? What detriment is there to working against the law?

Why would someone need an external imagined god in order to do anything? Something is missing within you if you need to place your beliefs in an external thing, in order to achieve personal things.

God has done nothing. No good. Nature has done it all. Not a lot of good, but symmetry. Equilibrium. Suffering and comfort.

If, and I say it again, there is a god, a consciousness that created all of this, then he is evil. A malevolent entity that watches his own creations, who he warns MUST love and worship him, suffer and perish. Worship this creature, or suffer in hell. If a man came up to you and said "love me or I will kill you." would you love him willingly? FOr fear that you will not have what you consider is yours? Or would you struggle against this oppression and fight? So many give up and throw themselves down at his feet. I simply do not understand this eagerness to embrace something that has done absolutely nothing for anyone. Nothing. The delusions of the mind are powerful, and so many people prefer to wallow in ignorance.

A loving god? Walk away from ? You bet ya.. I run from this evil entity that you so willingly law down for. When all he has ever done is torment his believers by their own thoughts, and destroy their world by their own inaction. Yet in ignorance they embrace him even tighter, oh such a loving god who loves us all unconditionally... they embrace him as he ignores their please for forgiveness and mercy. Because the illusion of paradise when they're dead is all they have. Everything will work out groovy in the end, as long as they proselytise themselves in suffering in life. They would pray for their child to be healed as the child weakens and dies, and then it was gods plan so no need for tears.

A weak minded person finds strength in themselves but they find a crutch in the external things. Externalising their weakness and embracing it in the form of an omnipotent creature that shows them a path, is this crutch. If someone needs a crutch, so be it, but for them to then proclaim everyone needs a crutch or they are unable to walk properly and to give up even trying, is stupidity. And what was presented in the post I replied to.

For god so loved the world that he gave his only son. then he left them all to suffering and poverty and the whims of those who are rich and powerful and he did nothing to correct the corruption. And his devout believers accepted this because it was his plan. And they knew their meaninglessness and worthlessness was part of this plan. And they cowered under the word of god because they feared hell in the after life. So they law down their lives on earth, to suffer for their god, to ensure they had a place in paradise, once they were dead. That is not spirituality. That is apathy and ignorance. It is the opposite of empowerment. It's how you treat a slave.

Get on your knees and consider yourself a lowly sinner... that is not the way to anything spiritual. It is a way to giving yourself no choice in the life you have. Gods plan... your god is an evil swine and it saddens me that so many people embrace unnecessary suffering because they are told to by humans who would control them.. the ultimate slave. the ultimate chains. the ones you wear willingly.

Broom
reply to post by EllaMarina

 

Read the Bible.

Get back in the closet you.

There could be more spirituality in finding waldo. At least, as a representation of an imaginary being, He has a physical appearance!!

I'd say, read the manual to your vehicle. It will serve you better should your path become halted, on the busy streets of life.

You are already a spiritual being, be yourself, go to where your soul pulls you.
We all have a "pull" to some sort of spiritual center, be it within yourself or outward in a church.

The great thing about spirituality is that you cannot go wrong if you stay true to yourself and not what everyone else thinks you should be.

No worries, you are already well on the way, you just don't know it yet!

i recommend at least a few beers before starting on the spirits myself [

winofiend

Broom
reply to post by EllaMarina

 

Read the Bible.

Get back in the closet you.

There could be more spirituality in finding waldo. At least, as a representation of an imaginary being, He has a physical appearance!!

I'd say, read the manual to your vehicle. It will serve you better should your path become halted, on the busy streets of life.

Ahem, we all know where you so vehemently stand. There is no reason to bud in to bring your crass sarcasm against the holy book. If you notice never once does the broom speak of such things with you. There is no reason to bud in to attack him if he so chooses to do so with others. It is the height of hubris.

No doubt these words apply to you and the broom always has applied them to you:

But a physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know them, because they are examined spiritually. - a scripture.

reply to post by winofiend

Why would someone need an external imagined god in order to do anything?

Very simple. You cannot take credit for making your hair grow, your eyes, your mind function, the Earth turn or the sun shine. You think and move only. Everything else is provided for you. I would be careful with the attitude you have. Everything in this life is a gift. We should appreciate every breath with reverence and respect for the one that provides it.