Atheism and Spirituality

It happens to the best of us.

rhonjon wrote:

We won’t find out. We can’t even remember the early days of this life. Being slapped by a doctor while we hung upside down. Letting go of the coffee table and taking out first step. Once we cross the river Stix in another existence the most we’ll have is the same choice between unfalsifiable spiritual hopes and cold reaso…

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We won’t find out. We can’t even remember the early days of this life. Being slapped by a doctor while we hung upside down. Letting go of the coffee table and taking out first step. Once we cross the river Stix in another existence the most we’ll have is the same choice between unfalsifiable spiritual hopes and cold reason.

rhonjon wrote:

General anesthesia is a perfect analogy. The brain is part of the physical body and once it’s dead, it’s dead. Because I cannot undo my experiences, I can’t know if my feelings of something beyond my physical body may just be a result of decades of Christian indoctrination. If I’d grown up in a Buddhist society, I might interpr…

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General anesthesia is a perfect analogy. The brain is part of the physical body and once it’s dead, it’s dead. Because I cannot undo my experiences, I can’t know if my feelings of something beyond my physical body may just be a result of decades of Christian indoctrination. If I’d grown up in a Buddhist society, I might interpret my dreams and une…[Read more]

rhonjon wrote:

I often wonder what it will be like when I die. I can’t shake the feeling that it’s going to “be like” something.

The problem with wondering what something is like is that you need something else to compare it to. “Langostinos taste a lot like lobsters,” for example.

At the heart of trying to comprehend death is to accept the fac…[Read more]

I don’t see anything wrong with going with the flow of those feelings. Feelings of one’s connectivity to the world are in themselves essential motivations to keep making and celebrating new connections.

Do you ever get goosebumps from music? Sometimes I do, and it proves to me that something deep within me is stirred. Although I’ve rarely ever…[Read more]

Hi rhonjon – I often wonder what it will be like when I die.

It will feel the same to you as the year before you were born does now.

How many songs have you heard that never had the sensation of being  coincidental to what you were currently doing? I think we overestimate the amount of times something like that happens to us.

Revisiting this topic helped clarify in my mind how I wish to keep using terms like spiritual, sacred, and perhaps other words previously invented and/or owned by writers of religious or metaphysical texts. Some usages of the word sacred, for example, are of secular context.

For as long as I can remember I always felt that spirituality refers to…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

I think you raise a good point: this “Great Spirit” is amoral…

And as such, is unworthy of much respect or regard.

it would seem to imply you are saying that there is “agency” involved in the process. There is not.

I’m not meaning to imply that at all…but I think you know that. I’m standing by my word…perhaps I’ll just avoid bringing it up around a group of atheists next time unless I’m ready to defend. 😆😎

“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space…[Read more]

@JodyLee Our vibrating mass of molecules that we call our bodies, our subconscious and conscious minds, the variety of frequencies we experience….that’s spiritual, the essence of living to me. On a small scale.

The first part – Our vibrating mass of molecules that we call our bodies….that’s spiritual…

If you were to say that when you came to u…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

I’ve learned (thanks to @JodyLee‘s discussion) that what spirituality means to people is very personal; or rather, the way it is expressed is very personal.  This reflects the fact that everyone lives their lives in their own way.

I agree, and endeavor to keep learning the depth of this very uniquely-human evol…[Read more]

I’ve learned (thanks to @JodyLee‘s discussion) that what spirituality means to people is very personal; or rather, the way it is expressed is very personal.  This reflects the fact that everyone lives their lives in their own way.