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Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#171

Post by colordrops »

skinney6 wrote: post #119

Not long ago in my new apartment after breaking up with a long time girlfriend I had an amazing experience while meditating. The odd thing was I never really meditated back then. Something just told me to do it. I was led on an internal journey that showed me some things about my self. One, don't turn away from uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. Two, don't judge yourself. Three, the ego or this idea of myself is an…

What you are describing is an experience sought after by those practicing "nondual" meditation. Tibetan buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, and Taoism are the major traditions in the east that practice this, though zen could also potentially be considered nondualist. I'm currently in a class taught by Michael Taft that takes a syncretic approach to teaching nondual meditation [1]. One of the best books on the subject is "Nonduality" by David Loy [2].

Michael mentioned that some people can achieve it right away with a single meditation and others take years. Sounds like you are in the former category. Unfortunately I'm in the latter.

[1] https://deconstructingyourself.com/nondual-awareness-meditat...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Nonduality-Buddhism-David-R-Loy/dp/16...

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#172

Post by hackingthelema »

I practice mysticism and magick. Essentially it breaks down to Raja Yoga-style mysticism and Western tradition occultism (i.e. in the style of the Goetia and Book of Abramelin). I tend to view things through a Thelemic lens:

'Every man and every woman is a star.' - AL. I. 3

'Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.' - AL. I. 40

'The word of Sin is Restriction.' - AL. I. 41

'Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay.' - AL. I. 42-43

'Love is the law, love under will.' - AL. I. 57.

'Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.' - AL. II. 9.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#173

Post by dharmatech »

I see many posts here mentioning the Bible.

If you've struggled to get into the Bible before, consider reading the NLT translation.

Read it slow. Maybe one chapter a day. (They're very short chapters.) It will take you a few years at that rate.

Start from the beginning. Read it in order.

NLT can be read online:

https://biblehub.com/nlt/genesis/1.htm

Don't let anyone tell you what it means. No church, priest, or pastor has a monopoly on these teachings. It's your journey.

If you don't feel comfortable going to a church, don't feel pressured to. If you ever sit down with even just one person to discuss your feelings on the Bible, then that is a church.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#174

Post by alexvoda »

yakshaving_jgt wrote: post #63
GavinMcG wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP asked an earnest question, and deserves earnest replies.

I’m an atheist, so I think the most spiritual thing I do is indeed believe in the power of my favourite programming languages’s type system to stop me from writing broken software.

True words you speak

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#175

Post by ren_engineer »

forinti wrote: post #78

I am not religious at all and I've thought of myself as tolerant of religion (they all have some very good teachings, after all). But lately organised religion has been bothering me a lot. It is just so obviously a form of controlling people: you have to believe this and that and also hand over some cash and vote for such and such. I can't get around the fact that this still goes on so blatantly in this day and age.

>It is just so obviously a form of controlling people: you have to believe this and that and also hand over some cash and vote for such and such.

could be generalized to any mainstream ideology, enforcement is the same with anybody going against the ideology being cast out of the group. Human nature hasn't changed, you could get rid of all organized religion and the same thing would happen. I think politics has become more heated because it has replaced religion for so many people, same anger vented using a new outlet

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#177

Post by [deleted] »

2bitlobster wrote: post #107
jjbinx007 wrote: post #39

Not religious at all. I don't believe in the supernatural and I don't think it would even be possible for us to detect it even if it does exist. I'm not superstitious (after all, it's unlucky to be superstitious) and I'm not even sure what spiritual means as I've never heard a coherent definition. I get my sense of awe, wonder and beauty from the natural world, whether that's star gazing or studying and appreciating…

How is this as a definition of spiritual? “The practice of engaging with the unknown for practical effect.”

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#178

Post by p0d »

sudosteph wrote: post #146
p0d wrote: post #3

Every morning I read a section of the Bible's Old Testament, Psalm, Proverb and New Testament. I then use the Lord's Prayer as a framework to pray. Having done this for many years I have observed we begin 'Our Father' and focus on God. My own inclination would be to start with 'Forgive me' and focus on me. I then spend my day trying to honour Jesus's teachings. The highs and lows of the previous day are discussed the…

I love your observation about the Lord's Prayer. I often end up using it as a framework too, partly because it does feel so complete (also because of course Jesus literally told us to pray like that). I feel you a lot in the urge to otherwise start with "forgive me" part, and I myself still do that a lot. I realize I need to work on practicing gratitude towards Him more often too, which is important to escaping the t…

Thank you. There is something special about taking the focus of yourself and it is hard to do :-)
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