InesQor: @OP

I think you've conflated pantheists, panentheists, polytheists etc with atheists in your simplified redefinition. In short it seems like you bundled all non-monotheists into the same pile.

For instance Ifa worshippers are not atheists though an Ifa worshipper can have atheistic leanings. Same goes for Buddhism, the Buddha had strong atheist leanings but buddhism is not necessarily an atheist worldview.

Probably. I was just going by the simple definition of atheism which is the non-belief in deities. But spirituality and religion are not confined to the recognition or worship of deities only. If one doesn't believe in deities and yet conducts himself according to paranormal principles he believes judges and influences his karma, wouldn't you agree that is deeply spiritual/religious though such a person identifies as an atheist? A typical example being buddhism which you agree has strong atheistic leanings, Now taking away the denominations of buddhism that later introduced deities in their rituals, what do we have left if not atheist buddhists? My examples may not be perfect but the underlying principle(as I understand it) is still that one can believe in occult/paranormal spirituality and still be an atheist. No??

@okeyxyz

I understand you better now. Yes it is possible to be an atheist and yet believe in paranormal experiences or non-physical forces.

The distinction here would be that the atheist rejects the notion that these upshots are caused by a being or beings under agency. I.e. A "spiritual" creature or a deity or something else that can be considered a person, and not a collection of energies that may be physically observed given the right scientific equipment.

I believe once a so-called atheist accepts the existence of a rational agent behind a paranormal observation then such a person is well on their way to discarding their atheistic worldviews.

okeyxyz:

Probably. I was just going by the simple definition of atheism which is the non-belief in deities. But spirituality and religion are not confined to the recognition or worship of deities only. If one doesn't believe in deities and yet conducts himself according to paranormal principles he believes judges and influences his karma, wouldn't you agree that is deeply spiritual/religious though such a person identifies as an atheist? A typical example being buddhism which you agree has strong atheistic leanings, Now taking away the denominations of buddhism that later introduced deities in their rituals, what do we have left if not atheist buddhists? My examples may not be perfect but the underlying principle(as I understand it) is still that one can believe in occult/paranormal spirituality and still be an atheist. No??

Well said....well said

plaetton:

I could not have said it better.

I would like to add that the subject of alchemy is the precurser to modern empirical science.
Alchemy was a blend of physical science, philosophy and the spirituality.

Although derided today as a pseudoscience, My personal opinion is that alchemy is still a valid science, in fact, a higher science than our conventional textbook science.

Alchemy is still actively studied and practiced today under the guise of more exotic sounding names.
As far as I am concerned, alchemy is so powerful a science that it is deliberately taken out and hidden from the public domain .

Alchemy , known as spirituality to some, and occultism to others, is nothing but higher dimensional physics.
Scalar physics to be exact.

My position, which I have stated severally, is that the line between science and spirituality are getting increasingly blurry as we go deeper into areas like quantum physics and scalar physics, and as we deal with phenomena such as torsion fields, superconductivity, etc.

Take for example, the human brain. Brian cells and neurons are made of crystals and arranged symmetrically for optimum modulation and conductivity of electrical energy.
In addition, recent findings are suggesting that the brain , unlike modern computers, processes information through quantum mechanical processes.

In other words, the brain is a one of a kind room temperature superconductor of electrical energy, as well as a transmitter and receiver of electromagnetic impulses within and beyond our physical medium.

The brain, aka, the mind , as a superconductor, is capable of transmitting and receiving cosmic impulses beyond our physical space, inter-dimensionally.

This, if true, implies that man , when his mind is finely tuned, is capable of projecting his consciousness into and beyond the physical medium, to partake of , or merge with the primordial energy, even if only for a micro-second( in timeless phase).

This extension of consciousness beyond the physical medium is, what I suppose, the origin of the religious practices of meditation, prayer, revelations, and many other religious practices.

This is what the shamans, the prophets, the swamis of antiquity were practicing.

Interesting. Some author(I don't remember who now) once said: There's a degree of knowledge/science you can achieve by your own efforts, but to go beyond that, you'd have to be invited to partake. In other words: Invited to join an occult group.

InesQor: @OP

I think you've conflated pantheists, panentheists, polytheists etc with atheists in your simplified redefinition. In short it seems like you bundled all non-monotheists into the same pile.

For instance Ifa worshippers are not atheists though an Ifa worshipper can have atheistic leanings. Same goes for Buddhism, the Buddha had strong atheist leanings but buddhism is not necessarily an atheist worldview.

ifa worshipper? Nairaland sha. Lol

okeyxyz:

Interesting. Some author(I don't remember who now) once said: There's a degree of knowledge/science you can achieve by your own efforts, but to go beyond that, you'd have to be invited to partake. In other words: Invited to join an occult group.

I dont know if we have same view on spirituality. Spirituality doesn't refer to spirits in the sense that you're referring to. It's the ability to wonder, to marvel, at actual facts and reality as revealed by modern science. I define my spirituality as the exploration and appreciation of the fundamental underlying nature of reality and the way in which we are all connected in the part of existence that goes beyond our normal perception. Ergo:
The feeling you get when you look up to a clear sky at night and realise that those points of light you're looking at are how they appeared many years ago.
The astonishment you get when you consider the immense variety of life on this planet, that you are demonstrably connected to every other form of life, and that 99% of the species that ever lived are now extinct.
The humility of knowing that you (and all homo sapiens) are very, very recent arrivals on the geological clock, and that an unbroken line of successful reproduction going back billions of years has emerged with you as the end product (so far).
I could go on all night... there are literally thousands of thoughts like these. And the fact that they're all based in reality is nice.
So my answer is that by learning about the universe, the Earth and the pursuit of knowledge, requiring no appeal to anything supernatural, you hit upon a 'spirituality' (search 'Spinoza's God') more pervasive and wonderful than anything you'll find in the world of religion.

Spiritualism is nothing more than communicating with your subconscious.....thats what it is to me. Cheers

Lol, someone groups all our nice feelings as spirituality. So spirituality is a state of well being? abi, to be in a constant state of awe and 'wonderment' na spirituality?

Nonsense. Confused fellow.

aManFromMars: Lol, someone groups all our nice feelings as spirituality. So spirituality is a state of well being? abi, to be in a constant state of awe and 'wonderment' na spirituality?

Nonsense. Confused fellow.

high on weed

FOLYKAZE:

I dont know if we have same view on spirituality. Spirituality doesn't refer to spirits in the sense that you're referring to. It's the ability to wonder, to marvel, at actual facts and reality as revealed by modern science. I define my spirituality as the exploration and appreciation of the fundamental underlying nature of reality and the way in which we are all connected in the part of existence that goes beyond our normal perception. Ergo:
The feeling you get when you look up to a clear sky at night and realise that those points of light you're looking at are how they appeared many years ago.
The astonishment you get when you consider the immense variety of life on this planet, that you are demonstrably connected to every other form of life, and that 99% of the species that ever lived are now extinct.
The humility of knowing that you (and all homo sapiens) are very, very recent arrivals on the geological clock, and that an unbroken line of successful reproduction going back billions of years has emerged with you as the end product (so far).
I could go on all night... there are literally thousands of thoughts like these. And the fact that they're all based in reality is nice.
So my answer is that by learning about the universe, the Earth and the pursuit of knowledge, requiring no appeal to anything supernatural, you hit upon a 'spirituality' (search 'Spinoza's God') more pervasive and wonderful than anything you'll find in the world of religion.

Spiritualism is nothing more than communicating with your subconscious.....thats what it is to me. Cheers

Chaii!! Bros you completely missed it. You are expressing an emotional appreciation for quantities, for numbers, for sizes, when they seem extreme or impressive. This is like a person's reaction when he enters an elevator and is taken up to the top of a sky scrapper for the first time in his life. He is impressed by the feat man has attained with building structures, impressed with man's creativity and genius. The word hear is impressed, not awe and therefore this is not a spiritual experience. You get a spiritual experience or awe(or as yoruba's put it: iyanu ) at phenomena that are beyond your literal/empirical comprehension. It is not enough, what you have written above, to express wonder at things that are clearly understood and surmounted by man.

FOLYKAZE:

ifa worshipper? Nairaland sha. Lol

Lol bros you suppose understand say na ogberi I dey follow yarn naa! Make I talk the one wey hin go understand.

okeyxyz:

Chaii!! Bros you completely missed it. You are expressing an emotional appreciation for quantities, for numbers, for sizes, when they seem extreme or impressive. This is like a person's reaction when he enters an elevator and is taken up to the top of a sky scrapper for the first time in his life. He is impressed by the feat man has attained with building structures, impressed with man's creativity and genius. The word hear is impressed, not awe and therefore this is not a spiritual experience. You get a spiritual experience or awe(or as yoruba's put it: iyanu ) at phenomena that are beyond your literal/empirical comprehension. It is not enough, what you have written above, to express wonder at things that are clearly understood and surmounted by man.

FOLYKAZE:

I dont know if we have same view on spirituality. Spirituality doesn't refer to spirits in the sense that you're referring to. It's the ability to wonder, to marvel, at actual facts and reality as revealed by modern science. I define my spirituality as the exploration and appreciation of the fundamental underlying nature of reality and the way in which we are all connected in the part of existence that goes beyond our normal perception. Ergo:
The feeling you get when you look up to a clear sky at night and realise that those points of light you're looking at are how they appeared many years ago.
The astonishment you get when you consider the immense variety of life on this planet, that you are demonstrably connected to every other form of life, and that 99% of the species that ever lived are now extinct.
The humility of knowing that you (and all homo sapiens) are very, very recent arrivals on the geological clock, and that an unbroken line of successful reproduction going back billions of years has emerged with you as the end product (so far).
I could go on all night... there are literally thousands of thoughts like these. And the fact that they're all based in reality is nice.
So my answer is that by learning about the universe, the Earth and the pursuit of knowledge, requiring no appeal to anything supernatural, you hit upon a 'spirituality' (search 'Spinoza's God') more pervasive and wonderful than anything you'll find in the world of religion.

Spiritualism is nothing more than communicating with your subconscious.....thats what it is to me. Cheers

Do you read the bold at all or just pick on what you want?

Here is spirituality from wiki

The term spirituality lacks a definitive definition, [ 1 ] [ 2 ] although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for "the sacred," where "the sacred" is broadly defined as that which is set apart from the ordinary and worthy of veneration. [ 3 ]

The use of the term "spirituality" has changed throughout the ages. [ 4 ]In modern times spirituality is often separated from Abrahamic religions, [ 5 ]and connotes a blend of humanistic psychology with mystical and esoteric traditions and eastern religions aimed at personal well-being and personal development. [ 6 ]The notion of "spiritual experience" plays an important role in modern spirituality, but has a relatively recent origin. [ 7 ]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

Pls can you show me any difference? I tire for nairaland o