I have agonised over many years about whether, in addition to holding an atheistic worldview, I should also hold a materialistic worldview. For many years, I have called myself a naturalist, disavowing all forms of the supernatural. A naturalist basically claims that everything that exists in the universe (or metaverse) can be explained in purely natural form. Thus, a naturalist claims that if it turns out that a "supernatural" realm does exist, this realm is actually a manifestation of the generality of the natural, and would become subsumed into the natural.

On the other hand, a materialist makes the claim that ONLY the material world exist and everything in the universe (or metaverse) is a manifestation of matter in one form or the other. I have found it hard to square materialism with my knowledge of the feature of the universe?

Over the last few months, I have been looking at some research in what is generally term the paranormal, and am quite impressed with some of the results of work in this area. What stands out clearly is that the paranormal is amenable to being studied by naturalistic means. What also stands out is that there is a lot which cannot yet be explained using existing materialistic theories. Checkout the following two lectures:

1) Dean Radin

2) Rupert Sheldrake


I recommend you watch at least one of the videos above before commenting.

Huxley, i urge you to recognise the spiritual within you, and live in accordance with its promptings. Otherwise a rude shock may await you at the moment of death when you recognise the greatness of creation after your immaterial part severs itself from the gross matter which is your physical body.

^the above are groans of confusion.
Huxley, why not try Jesus again. Only Jesus gives lasting satisfaction, not church or science or self.

. . . but before you do that, why don't you take the scenic route via a bit of Islam - One God, no partnership, buy it low! And you get to have sex with 9 year olds if that's your thing.

Don't forget to pop into a bit of Buddhism, but if you want to get away from the crowds and the well worn paths then you must try Shamanism. You get to smoke and drink all sorts of concoctions that some kids pay good money for in nightclubs.

If you need a guru, don't hesitate to contact me.

I am a naturalist and also a humanist . Paranormal is pseudoscience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fBj2wsimvQ

Selling your brand of belief through FEAR again?Why do you feel that that is the only way to get someone to believe in your own beliefs?Does that not indicate that your beleifs are devoid of any spirituality?Spirituality is never about fear,but about having knowledge that goes beyond what the 5 senses present as reality,and that is always by choice and not by fear.This is what huxley has just discovered.
Science(atleast physics) has gone beyond the billiard ball mechanics(material physics) and into the realm of energy(energetic physics) since the discovery of the quantum field.This can no longer be denied anymore by materialists today.

Deep Sight:

Huxley, i urge you to recognise the spiritual within you, and live in accordance with its promptings. Otherwise a rude shock may await you at the moment of death when you recognise the greatness of creation after your immaterial part severs itself from the gross matter which is your physical body.

Jagunlabi - by "rude shock" i simply meant that he would be very very surprised to discover that the spiritual is as real, or more real, than the physical.

I don't see how that has anything to do with fear.

jagunlabi:

Science(atleast physics) has gone beyond the billiard ball mechanics(material physics) and into the realm of energy(energetic physics) since the discovery of the quantum field.This can no longer be denied anymore by materialists today.

What in hell does this have to do with anything??

Pardon for not properly clarifying what i meant.Energetic physics is another way of saying that physics has dragged science into the spiritual realm.That is what is meant by energetic physics.In the spiritual realm that is beyond the 5 senses,it is all energy,fluctuating energy that gives rise to all that we perceive with our 5 senses known as the material world.That is the latest in science now.Even the concept of parallel universes have moved out of the paranormal to the mainstream science proper.
Folks like huxley have relied on the information provided them by old school science/physics that the material universe is all there is.But this has now changed and that will ofcourse have an effect on materialist atheists.
Hope that is clear now.

Deep Sight:

What in hell does this have to do with anything??

^^^ Yes thanks.

However we should note that the substance of the spiritual is altogether sooo different from the substance of gross matter that even the finest material energies do not necessarily have any technical link with the spiritual. . . this is admittedly conjecture at this stage of investigation though.

To elucidate. Sensors can be placed on a persons head able to detect the slightest flicker of thought. Thoughts are immaterial things, but the nerve cells involved in "thinking" give off physical indications of the thought processes. Those physical indications remain purely material. The thought itself, is an immaterial abstract thing, which exists in real form within the astral plane.

That plane, i doubt if physics can access.

I love that
The veil is beginning to clear off at last,

Yeah,but don't hold your breath that this is going to help popularise the christian doctrine,because there is nothing spiritual about christianity and it's dogma(s).

skydancer:

I love that
The veil is beginning to clear off at last,

Deep Sight,scientists and quantum physicists say that we live in a conceptual universe,meaning that we live in a thought universe.There is no matter as such.The atoms that make up the physical universe is 99.999999999999% empty!That says it all,does it not?

Deep Sight:

^^^ Yes thanks.

However we should note that the substance of the spiritual is altogether sooo different from the substance of gross matter that even the finest material energies do not necessarily have any technical link with the spiritual. . . this is admittedly conjecture at this stage of investigation though.

To elucidate. Sensors can be placed on a persons head able to detect the slightest flicker of thought. Thoughts are immaterial things, but the nerve cells involved in "thinking" give off physical indications of the thought processes. Those physical indications remain purely material. The thought itself, is an immaterial abstract thing, which exists in real form within the astral plane.

That plane, i doubt if physics can access.

jagunlabi:

Yeah,but don't hold your breath that this is going to help popularise the christian doctrine,because there is nothing spiritual about christianity and it's dogma(s).

You would be shocked how much truth exists within christianity which is being ignored or suppressed by the main stream church. Forinstance, have you read the 'gospel of thomas'? If you haven't i think you should, it is very thought provoking especially the opening verses. The truth is that the christianity being practised today is not the same as the christianity established by the Jesus and the Apostles, that is why there is so much disconnect btw the 'church ' and true spirituality.

Believe me,i am very familiar with the gospel of Thomas and few other non-canonized scriptures.But that text is not part of the christian doctrine,and that is big deal.
Yes,there are a lot of hidden truths in the christian biblical texts,even the canonical ones,if you know how to wade your way through the tons and tons of senseless BS in it to fish out the true gems.

But then,the same holds true for all other scriptures of other religions.So what makes christianity so special in this regard?Nothing,absolutely nothing.There are tons and tons of true spiritual gems in vedic literature as well.So,

KunleOshob:

You would be shocked how much truth exists within christianity which is being ignored or suppressed by the main stream church. Forinstance, have you read the 'gospel of thomas'? If you haven't i think you should, it is very thought provoking especially the opening verses.

I disagree with the two points you made here:
1)Jesus did not establish any religion before he left the scene.What he had were collections of spiritual teachings,and that's it.There was nothing like an established christian religion in the very early part of christian history.What was there were small groups here and there with their own form of interpretations based on one or two texts per group.And there were many different scriptural texts floating around at the time to go around many many groups or sects that existed then.
2)The church never grounded it's foundations on spirituality from day one of it's establishment.The church was founded as a political tool for controlling the populace,and that was it.Spirituality had absolutely nothing to do with the established church because it represented a "public religion" that based it's doctrines on literal interpretations of specially selected texts.It was never meant to be based on any form of spiritual depth from the get go, and that has been carried over to this day.The present day christians(especially the african christians) have only inherited church doctrine/programming masking as the teachings of christ.So it comes as no surprise at all that the modern day christiandom is so dysfunctional and schizoid in nature.It has always been that way.

That is why to really understand the very deep meanings that are hidden in those biblical texts,you first of all have to shake off the entire doctrine that the church has fed you with since childhood and step out of the doctrinal box that has imprisoned your consciousness for so long.Only then can you begin to see the deeper meanings and the hidden spiritual gems in the biblical pages.

The christian doctrine has little or nothing to do with Jesus' teachings and most average christians don't know that tosay,which is tragic.What they are left with is "church programming",which is why the doctrine is bereft of any form of enlightenment.It is all dogma from A to Z.

KunleOshob:

The truth is that the christianity being practised today is not the same as the christianity established by the Jesus and the Apostles, that is why there is so much disconnect btw the 'church ' and true spirituality.