Spirituality is just a coping mechanism

reply to post by YourForever


It's definitely a cry for help! That should be obvious.

The help is not in becoming spiritual, it is in understanding what I perceive to be absurdity in other people. I hung around "misfits" all my life. I know it's a bit of normal behavior to be defiant, and curious now, but back when I was in school we were the minority. Anyways, most of my group ended up going the spiritual route, but I always intuited the nonsense in this.

What I see in people who take on a spiritual perspective is an unwillingness to accept situations as they are. I see people, "focusing on their self", and "not caring what others think". These lines of thinking leads to narcissism and apathy! It leads to a narrow perspective, not of their self, but of the world around them.

I guess if people are so spiritual that they don't care that we're in a period of mass extinction, testosterone levels plummeting, overfishing, mass poverty, etc..then it's all good and perfect as is, but....this just seems insane to me.

reply to post by unityemissions


I think you have spirituality confused with Narcicism. I am a very spiritual person and my spirituality has led me to understand all of the problems we face today and has given me more courage to actually step up and do something about it.

If anything it has expanded my knowledge on humanity and why we are in this current state versus one of peace and harmony.

Don't be so quick to lump us all in one category. A spiritualist without an open and caring mind is just as bad as a christian with a closed mind.

~Keeper

reply to post by unityemissions


Ah I see, well if thats the case then you should read the material from The Law of One, that should atleast give you some logic behind spirituality.

reply to post by unityemissions


Philosophy is the love for knowledge.
You can get trapped into one kind of knowledge.
One philosophy discredits another philosophy.
Philosophies can contradict each other.
Spirituality includes all philosophies and a little more.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Great analogy, agreed!

I'm sorry for lumping all spiritualists into one grouping. It must be the people whom I've encountered that I know to be spiritual.

reply to post by agentofchaos


I have read a little of The Law of One. Ever seen the video? It's practically a marketing ploy for how to scam other people via confidence in ones beliefs. It seems to be anti-spiritual, as it focuses on material gain.

Just to make it clear, I'm all for the golden rule. I do think that we should learn to build empathy and compassion, but question the beliefs which may accompany the gathering of such ideals.

Originally posted by unityemissions
What I see in people who take on a spiritual perspective is an unwillingness to accept situations as they are.

No, it's a way of accepting a situation how it is while changing the manner in which one relates to it. Without that, there is nothing from which to work.

I guess if people are so spiritual that they don't care that we're in a period of mass extinction, testosterone levels plummeting, overfishing, mass poverty, etc..then it's all good and perfect as is, but....this just seems insane to me.

These situations came about as a result of people being unable to accept things how they are. That much should be clear, that ambition and greed played a central role. It is perfect as it is in the sense those are the consequences of the choices of the past. Accept the situation. Next, transform the type of mind that tends to create those calamities.

Originally posted by unityemissions
reply to post by Yourself

 

The help is not in becoming spiritual, it is in understanding what I perceive to be absurdity in other people. I hung around "misfits" all my life. I know it's a bit of normal behavior to be defiant, and curious now, but back when I was in school we were the minority. Anyways, most of my group ended up going the spiritual route, but I always intuited the nonsense in this.

But what really is that route? Sitting in a field holding a flower saying OM? Waving around a magic quartz crystal and feeling the vibrations? You and I both can agree, there is a tremendous amount of nonsense in the world of spirituality and religion. A lot of it just stinks really.

Originally posted by unityemissions
reply to post by Yourself
What I see in people who take on a spiritual perspective is an unwillingness to accept situations as they are. I see people, "focusing on their self", and "not caring what others think". These lines of thinking leads to narcissism and apathy! It leads to a narrow perspective, not of their self, but of the world around them.

The reality, you have to focus on yourself to unravel some spiritual realizations... It is you who needs to come to the realizations that may give you some other insights into yourself and everything around you. It doesn't mean you shut down everything else around you and become careless and selfish.

It's doing your own homework instead of expecting someone else to do it for you. Or expecting it [truth] to just be handed to you silver spoon in mouth. Introspection is not selfish, it's just a part of coming to terms with who and what you are as a being. We each walk alone, even with many people on the street.

Originally posted by unityemissions
reply to post by Yourself
I guess if people are so spiritual that they don't care that we're in a period of mass extinction, testosterone levels plummeting, overfishing, mass poverty, etc..then it's all good and perfect as is, but....this just seems insane to me.

You mean the Holocene mass extinction event that is currently under way, the sixth mass extinction to occur on Earth since the advent of life? One that the primary cause is Man, not a natural disaster like the five predecessors.

Or that trendy all-you-can eat Sushi restaurants offer an endless supply of blue fin tuna when the very ocean cannot offer such a limitless supply?

Or that we are facing a global food shortage and the sun since solar cycle 24 has not been producing enough energy causing a maunder minimum micro iceage to threaten and shorten growth production.

When you are on a train wreck, how does what you spiritually believe or feel impact the hard cold reality of the impending crash?

Are we saying that everyone is insane and doesn't care? It sure feels that way. I don't think spirituality invites this kind of apathy to the world. I certainly care. It's sad to see the end of any species that has walked the Earth for millions of years knowing that biological investment is now lost to carelessness.

You are mixing your bias towards a broad spectrum of dirty spiritualism in my opinion, seeing the bad and not seeing the good because of what ever taint you picked up in your friends lack of compassion.

Try not to generalize, there is a lot more out there then the walking dead.

There are awesome states of consciousness out there/ in here. These states are the origin of all the talk on spirituality. The states are rare, very rare. Once you experience only a glimpse of it you think differently about the subject. May you catch a glimpse, OP. Just a glimpse.

[edit on 13-10-2009 by Skyfloating]

reply to post by Skyfloating


I agree 100%. An truly open mind is something very rare, and once a person gets a glimpse of whatever truth it is they are seeking, it changes them in the very core of their soul.

~Keeper

I understand what your saying...when i first started learning about buddhism and that we are ALL ONE...it really made no sense and didnt "CLICK" for me...than one day i just thought about it, and it started to make sense.

WE ARE ALL ONE...
why?
well when we get down to it...(and this is just my way of explaining it in 1 2 3 fashion)...
when we get down to it...we all have bones...we all have muscles...we all have blood...smaller?...we all have atoms etc...
literally we are ALL ENTIRELY THE EXACT SAME THING, when we get down to the atoms, and even to the quantum levels...

the only difference is we have different EXPERIENCES...
we have different views, and different beliefs...but to think your the ONLY ONE...that has ever experienced what you have is somewhat foolish to me now.
Yes we have been threw different circumstances...and took in things differentley...but have we ALL NOT felt happiness?...joy?...greed?...passion?...LOVE?...
Although the types are different and the magnitude differs, we are all feeling the same emotions. I feel its our BRAIN and MIND, that holds us back. WE SEE A BLACK PERSON, who lives in a certain plce...we see a RICH asian man living in a nice place...we see a MEXICAN WOMEN living somewhere...and we perceive there struggles and ideas to be different then ours, because obviously there LIFESTYLE IS DIFFERENT. BUT WHEN U GET DOWN TO IT...its fundamentally the exact same thing..
we all feel the same pain
the same joy
same happiness...
I think thats the first step in somewhat understanding "we are all one"

l

Originally posted by Skyfloating
There are awesome states of consciousness out there/ in here. These states are the origin of all the talk on spirituality. The states are rare, very rare. Once you experience only a glimpse of it you think differently about the subject. May you catch a glimpse, OP. Just a glimpse.

It seems to me though alot of silly nonsense gets snowballed all over these origins and the whole thing becomes something that no longer even resembles the original talk of what originated it. There is a tendency to want to "add value". I suppose that reminds me of the value of silence even though it can seem like a frustrating block.

Originally posted by EnlightenUp

Originally posted by Skyfloating
There are awesome states of consciousness out there/ in here. These states are the origin of all the talk on spirituality. The states are rare, very rare. Once you experience only a glimpse of it you think differently about the subject. May you catch a glimpse, OP. Just a glimpse.

It seems to me though alot of silly nonsense gets snowballed all over these origins and the whole thing becomes something that no longer even resembles the original talk of what originated it. There is a tendency to want to "add value". I suppose that reminds me of the value of silence even though it can seem like a frustrating block.

This is the irony of the OP statements on spirituality. It leads to a generalization without true definition of what that spirituality really is. There are several members alluding to and defining a certain quality of their spiritualism, but even then it doesn't answer the definition of what the OP states as spirituality.

What is spirituality? Are we to believe that because we think that we have a spirit, we are spiritual?

For myself, spirituality is simply a journey of oneself into a knowing of the truth, and the quality of love that one realizes.

Everything else that describes the journey is part of the path that takes us to the love and truth we desire to express and realize.

Some might argue that spirituality is ones relationship with God, others might say it's meditation every day. The inevitable flaw with any generalization is we lack clear definitions and struggle endlessly to find the truth we already possess.

If we can seek the truth, then at least we should find it. But if we stop at belief then the journey for truth will stop. Spirituality is just another word, but how we live and define ourselves can be our personal definition of it [spirituality].

reply to post by YouAreDreaming


I do seek truth, and meditate daily. I guess it is my generalization of spirituality that seems to be hindering further growth. For me, being existential is more real than having spiritual beliefs.

I do think we are part of the cosmos. I think it is entirely unproven one way or another, what happens after death. Personally, I think our individual consciousness is lost, but our energy is dispersed into the cosmos, our ashes return to make the stuff from which they came, stars. This actually provides me with comfort and closure to death. It doesn't much matter that I will no longer exist. Life, and the cosmos goes on.

I do think we can relate to other people equally as being different or alike in a multitude of ways, but don't think it's true to say we are one and the same.

I starred your longer post above, because a lot of what you wrote rang true to me. It seems I need to broaden my perspective on what it means to be spiritual.

Thanks.

reply to post by unityemissions


After I thought about it for a while and put myself back to before I became 'spiritual', I realized that I used to think just like you are now.
I even catch myself sometimes looking at my collection of crystals, books, Om's and bookmarked websites and think, wow, I have sure changed!

I was watching a documentary once, gosh I wish I remembered what it was even about, but they were interviewing a young teen who was really down on her luck and she said, "I am so distraught, all I want right now is my Bible." I thought, geez woman, get real, face reality! She was merely reaching for stability, the stability that she knows to be real to her.

There is so much crap floating around out there, and it's easy for an intelligent person to look at these beliefs as coping mumbo jumbo. What we don't get is that each person travels a different path. What I think as my truth, may seem to you like a coping mechanism. And actually it is, but so what? Once we find our reason for being here, we can 'cope' much easier with our reality. Isn't that better than running to the doctor for Xanax?

Since I awoke to the fact that there are greater things than what we see day to day, I have gained the strentgh to deal with most anything. I know that it's not just me against the world. I believe I am here to experience this illusion, to gain insight and to evolve my soul. In doing so, I gain the insight for the collective, the whole.

I do, however, believe organized religions are an evil concocted to control the masses by using fear.

reply to post by unityemissions


I'm tounge and cheek with spirituality and religion because I've learned that we exist in a world where people try to pimp their beliefs. It's nausiating to say the least the number of times I have a friend who finds religion and tries to convert me.

Like you, I just want the truth. I don't want all the B.S. Fortunantly, truth exists Universally, so to find the truth really means to realize what is already there. And you are already on your own personal journey with it, doing the right thing... critically questioning it all. That's the best trait you have going for you because it will help slice through all the crap faster then just accepting face value the beliefs others want to pimp.

This process of truth reclaimation can take lifetimes. You need to question everything, remain highly skeptical and validate until you satisfy your own sense of truth that what you have come to understand is true at all.

You almost have to sit down and define it all yourself. For example, having an out-of-body expeirence may be equated as some major spiritual realization.

It could be. All an out-of-body expeirence really is, is a demonstration of consciousness existing fully alert and awake while the body is asleep. It remains a focus state and a tool for deeper introspection outside the normal waking hours of our life.

Being conscious when your body sleep is far more revealing that you also have a virtual non-physicial reality that you can become conscious in. Is the brain in the body creating it? That could be a big debate, but the end result is consciousness in a non-physical reality generated by the mind.

I personally think that is a major spiritual baby step to taste consciousness when you sleep. Also because I know through a lifetime of this that it leads to other self-realized truths. And it's fun.

My advice is continue questioning and thinking your way through all the rubbish and further your perspective by simply being consicous, and directing that towards the truths you strive to realize.

There really is not much else I can offer up other then it's a long personal journey to unravel the truth, just as obtaining a doctorate degree takes study and practice. None of this is ever just handed out. And the reward doesn't mean any instant gratification. It's just a long drawn out personal journey.

reply to post by unityemissions


Well, have you watched the movie What The Bleep Do We Know: Down the Rabbit hole. That gets right down to the integration of soul and quatum mechanics and even finishes off Einstein's Law of Everything. Just to let you know there isn't one person here who's going to be able to spell out spirituality for you, because if they could they'd be able to do it for everyone and life would be grand. So I'm going to just finish off by saying that it took my own spiritual experience to pry my eyes open and it might just take the same for you.

reply to post by agentofchaos


I've seen the movie. Many times, actually. It used to move me. Then I went online and saw what many people thought about the flick. It was pretty evenly divided, but what I noticed was that the uneducated agreed with the movie, and the scientifically educated stated that what was said is not scientific, and only theory, or taken out of context entirely to push an agenda.

reply to post by unityemissions

I can understand where you are coming from with your opinions on spirituality. It is not so different from what many logically superior people believe.

But, it is only so because as yet you have not had a spiritual experience for yourself, and until then you will never know. One of the strongest mechanism to preventing spiritual experience for yourself is the thoughts and beliefs you hold as truths about yourself and everything else.

This is the problem with all those who have Beliefs, most as yet have not had experience for themselves of anything real outside of their chosen belief. So Beliefs will not provide experience of anything other than what that Belief is limited to.

That is okay too, so I'm not having a dig at you there.

If I can say this; there is so much disinformation relating to spiritual stuff, so many false prophets, and then of course there is the New Age Industry that would turn off any serious seeker of Awakening, added on top of the traditional beliefs, and we can see a lot of opposites being offered as beliefs. No wonder so many don't even bother to look, most of it sounds kooky and filled with new-age-wordage that makes me run the other direction.

To spend the effort and time to come up with this theory or opinion was effort and time that could have provided you with real experience had you experimented with methods that really do work for most people. Again, not having a dig, just illustrating a point.

From my 35+ years experience, not as a new-ager or follower of any belief-system, but of real experience in existent higher vibratory levels of awareness... see how hard it is not to use kooky sounding words?..... I can tell you that everything is Spiritual.

Yep, everything. Atoms, sub-atomic particles, you, the earth, cosmos, etc. It is all one thing that is diversified to form various "things" within Itself. It is comprised of aware-energy, so therefore we have awareness since we are miniscule diversified portions of it.

One is made up of many parts. That we are aware of ourselves as one part does not make the Whole less than One. It is simply a matter of bigger pictures in steps of awareness from the limited awareness we hold as a human being to our own higher awareness as a soul and beyond.

Thinking deeply on this will not provide you with direct experience either, because all "spiritual" experience lay outside the realm of the Mind. Hence why those with strong mental prowess and superior logical ability have so much difficulty with having a real experience for themselves.

My suggestion would be to find yourself a teacher, not a Teacher. The Teacher is someone you can pick out in the crowd due to clothing, words used, etc, while the teacher is someone you will not notice and who will show you how to connect and work with the real Teacher Within You. and that will cost you nothing.

Good luck and thank you for the opportunity to share with you.

reply to post by Tayesin


I find it strange that people keep assuming I haven't had what I thought at the time was a spiritual experience. I've actually had several peak experiences throughout my lifetime. It's just that, given proper time to digest it all, I've come to find these experiences can be explained logically.

Perhaps my logical abilities are clouding my ability to connect spiritually. Not sure. I'm not going to say where, but my ability is somewhere in the "superior" range. Always have layers of thoughts rolling around.

I've learned not to be attached to my thoughts, so the layers deepen, but am not yet able to go out my mind. Guess that's what the peak experiences were at the time. It's just been a bit too long since the last one.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by unityemissions]