Spirituality refers to certain kinds of activity through which a person seeks meaning, especially a "search for the sacred".[1] It may also refer to personal growth, blissful experience,[2] or an encounter with one's own "inner dimension."
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In modern times the emphasis is on subjective experience[8] incorporating personal growth or transformation, usually in a context separate from organized religious institutions.[3]

herzern:
Poo as usual!....come down here to Ijebu and see someone turn a fellow human being into a goat...riqht in front of yhu!.......

herzern:
Poo as usual!....come down here to Ijebu and see someone turn a fellow human being into a goat...riqht in front of yhu!.......

herzern:
Poo as usual!....come down here to Ijebu and see someone turn a fellow human being into a goat...riqht in front of yhu!.......

Elohim1:

Were Can We Find This ijebu Men We Need Them To Rescue Our Chibok Girls

Ranchhoddas:
See how these Jew worshippers want to derail this fine thread.

herzern:
Poo as usual!....come down here to Ijebu and see someone turn a fellow human being into a goat...riqht in front of yhu!.......

KingEbukaNaija:
How can an atheist attain any level of spirituality when he is more interested in sleeping with little females

cloudgoddess:
The existence of a soul is a belief held by most religions. The concept was born from early mythology,

KingEbukaNaija:
How can an atheist attain any level of spirituality when he is more interested in sleeping with little females

cloudgoddess:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

I would first like to make it clear that I have no intentions to argue semantics with anyone. I am well aware that the word "spiritual" is highly associated with religion and superstition (the Wiki article discusses this as well), but words can have multiple definitions.

The spirituality I'm discussing deals with our experience & existence as human beings -- our emotions & our relationship to them, our relationship with other humans, our place in the universe, self-concept and outer perspective, the meanings we attribute to things, subjects like love and compassion and joy, healing from past hurts, and feeling connected to something greater than the individual self. As you can probably tell, there is overlap with the religious definition, and there are reasons for this.

Religion was one of man's earliest attempts to understand not just our outer world, but this inner human experience as well. Unfortunately, most organized religions got a lot of things wrong. But this should be expected, because they were thought up during a time when we lacked much of the information we have now, but still had all of the cognitive biases, ego-driven motives, and subconscious fears that are a part of our evolutionary history -- religious books like the bible & Qu'ran are evidence of this.

Humanity has progressed in our knowledge and understanding. This is why, like the Wiki article states, new expressions of spirituality are emerging. Expressions that make sense scientifically, do not make unsubstantiated claims (or at the very least, make less of them), do not require dogmatic adherence, are light and never oppressive, and acknowledge the human condition with dignity.

My views have been informed & inspired by various readings I've done on human psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of the mind, biological and stellar evolution, mindfulness, and traditional Buddhist teachings. I just thought I'd share a very tiny snapshot of them (maybe I will add more), and perhaps start some interesting conversation or maybe inspire someone. Please, if anyone has something to share or ask, feel free!

~~~
A short intro into my views

An atheist is someone who does not believe in the literal existence of gods. Someone who simply recognizes that Odin, Zeus, Yahweh, Allah and the rest, are fictional characters that were formulated by human beings and passed on through generations. But the rejection of these characters in no way leaves us barren. In fact, it frees up collective mental space for more enlightened ways of thinking about our human experience.

As more and more evidence emerges, it appears that we are not in any permanent way separate from the rest of nature. On the contrary, we are interconnected expressions of this same universe we gaze at in awe and wonder. We came from the same stardust that formed the sun and we're still exchanging energy with it today. The molecules that make our bodies up are being recycled with other matter on earth all the time. Each of us were born from the interaction of two beings, who were each born from two beings slightly further back in time, on and on till the first sexually reproducing organisms and beyond.

And as these connected beings/expressions, capable of traits like compassion and empathy, we actually have the power to produce more happiness and growth for other human beings as well as ourselves. Some ways we are able to do this are through accepting, inspiring & being generous (one form of generosity is openly sharing our knowledge and ideas).

We can each develop our abilities to embody and express the most loving parts of our nature, while taming our more survival-driven and reactive emotions & thinking patterns. Neuroplasticity, our brains' potential to rewire itself, allows us to evolve our own brains towards more kindness, self-acceptance, presence, creativity, and endless more possibilities (one tool for doing this is mindfulness meditation, which I will probably go into more detail on later).

The universe, including our planet and all the beings within it, is constantly evolving -- expressing itself in new ways. Biological evolution is just one expression of this. The evolution of galaxies and celestial bodies are another. The evolution of human societies, technology, etc. is yet another. The evolution of our collective thoughts and behaviors is another. We can all help progress towards a more compassionate and enlightened world, starting with personal change.

To sum up, we aren't separate from this universe. We are an inextricable part of it. All of the atoms in our bodies have a history. We are "star stuff" as the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan put it, experiencing a consciousness gift. We are free to do what we want with this gift, but surely it would be best spent aiding the evolution of humanity, this collection of conscious beings possessing incredible potential, towards more peace, creativity, innovation, love, all that good stuff that makes us light up inside. And all of that starts within ourselves.
~~~

DeSepiero:


Young man don't spew trash here without reading the post.

herzern:

Bros.....don't mind those atheist

I wonder how they want God to reveal Himself to them even when they indulge in fornication

Their level of hypocrites will still make them be shouting "morals".....they claim they live their lives based on morals my foot!

adoyi8:
nice post, i will save it and read it again and again. i feel so joyous and emotional (what theists misunderstand as the holy spirit). when i see an intelligent, Nigerian woman.

KingEbukaNaija:


How can she accede to the other definition of spirituality simply because she is an atheist ? Her opinion is bigoted because she is intolerant of our acceptance of the first definition which is the right one .

She attacks the religious reverence and idea of spirituality and then wants us to pay attention to her rubbish ? What nonesense !

Its called SPIRITuality

cloudgoddess:

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality

I would first like to make it clear that I have no intentions to argue semantics with anyone. I am well aware that the word "spiritual" is highly associated with religion and superstition (the Wiki article discusses this as well), but words can have multiple definitions.

The spirituality I'm discussing deals with our experience & existence as human beings -- our emotions & our relationship to them, our relationship with other humans, our place in the universe, self-concept and outer perspective, the meanings we attribute to things, subjects like love and compassion and joy, healing from past hurts, and feeling connected to something greater than the individual self. As you can probably tell, there is overlap with the religious definition, and there are reasons for this.

Religion was one of man's earliest attempts to understand not just our outer world, but this inner human experience as well. Unfortunately, most organized religions got a lot of things wrong. But this should be expected, because they were thought up during a time when we lacked much of the information we have now, but still had all of the cognitive biases, ego-driven motives, and subconscious fears that are a part of our evolutionary history -- religious books like the bible & Qu'ran are evidence of this.

Humanity has progressed in our knowledge and understanding.

An atheist is someone who does not believe in the literal existence of gods. Someone who simply recognizes that Odin, Zeus, Yahweh, Allah and the rest, are fictional characters that were formulated by human beings and passed on through generations.

As more and more evidence emerges, it appears that we are not in any permanent way separate from the rest of nature. On the contrary, we are interconnected expressions of this same universe we gaze at in awe and wonder. We came from the same stardust that formed the sun and we're still exchanging energy with it today. The molecules that make our bodies up are being recycled with other matter on earth all the time. Each of us were born from the interaction of two beings, who were each born from two beings slightly further back in time, on and on till the first sexually reproducing organisms and beyond.

And as these connected beings/expressions, capable of traits like compassion and empathy, we actually have the power to produce more happiness and growth for other human beings as well as ourselves. Some ways we are able to do this are through accepting, inspiring & being generous (one form of generosity is openly sharing our knowledge and ideas).

We can each develop our abilities to embody and express the most loving parts of our nature, while taming our more survival-driven and reactive emotions & thinking patterns. Neuroplasticity, our brains' potential to rewire itself, allows us to evolve our own brains towards more kindness, self-acceptance, presence, creativity, and endless more possibilities (one tool for doing this is mindfulness meditation, which I will probably go into more detail on later).

The universe, including our planet and all the beings within it, is constantly evolving -- expressing itself in new ways. Biological evolution is just one expression of this. The evolution of galaxies and celestial bodies are another. The evolution of human societies, technology, etc. is yet another. The evolution of our collective thoughts and behaviors is another. We can all help progress towards a more compassionate and enlightened world, starting with personal change.

To sum up, we aren't separate from this universe.

We are "star stuff" as the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan put it, experiencing a consciousness gift.

We are free to do what we want with this gift, but surely it would be best spent aiding the evolution of humanity, this collection of conscious beings possessing incredible potential, towards more peace, creativity, innovation, love, all that good stuff that makes us light up inside. And all of that starts within ourselves.
~~~

DeSepiero:


She made known her opinion by first acknowledging the religious and theistic view of spirituality. Could you point out where she attacked the religious reference as you have claimed?
By the way, that write up is expository and not argumentative.

DeepSight:
This a great write up with most welcome perspectives.
A few comments though.

Very well said.


True to some extent, but beware that both Abrahamic texts (as well as many other ancient religious texts) do contain a great many pearls of truth and wisdom - pearls which are far deeper than the surface reader might ever suspect in an entire lifetime - and this remains true notwithstanding that both books do contain mistranslations, misconceptions, deliberate alterations, addittions and subtractions and also some outright falsehoods - not to speak of barbarisms.

Nonetheless for the nuanced reader, they are and remain priceless works.


In some ways yes, but in many ways (Spirituality inclusive) we have regressed terribly.


This is a wrong and very misleading definition of atheism.
It is very insufficient to refer to gods such as Zeus, Allah, Yahweh, etc in defining atheism. Atheism is not just the rejection of the existence of these gods but the rejection of the existence of GOD, capital and period - and in this sense I mean a Creator of this reality, however one may define a creative element as GOD is understood in general terms to be.

It is very lazy to base one's atheism on the falsifiable attributes of any specific religious god and I will tell you why. The existence or non existence of GOD is a deep theological, philosophical and logical question which far transcends any religion or culture and has been discussed as a matter for extensive philosophical understanding for generations. It is a logical, philosophical and even scientific question which has and continues to concern eminent scholars and thinkers.

I have often said that there are various types of atheists. The Anti-Religionist Atheist is not really a pure atheist. He or she is atheist only on account of the falsehoods and contradictions in religion. This, as I said, is lazy. A pure atheist does not believe in the existence of any creator for reasons extending to the philosophy and logic of the matter and not merely because he finds old fables incongruous.

Fair enough but beware that we do not come from any stardust - only our bodies do. We are not our bodies. But yes, the inter-connectivity you mention is very much there.

Very well said.


True, but focus more on the Spirit being the centre for such rewiring - not the brain - for the brain is a mere tool employed by the being. The brain is meat remember - and yes it does make a very tasty dish for some.

I agree.

True to some extent, but beware that we are indeed separate from the material universe.

We are more than that. Even goats are more than that, I tell you.

Very well concluded.

PS - I would like to encourage more threads like this from you rather than threads on why God created bacteria.
Well done.

adoyi8:
nice post, i will save it and read it again and again. i feel so joyous and emotional (what theists misunderstand as the holy spirit). when i see an intelligent, Nigerian woman.

Ranchhoddas:
I know that feeling.