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Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
601–610 of 966 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#602100% atheism. Was raised some kind of protestant I forget which one, and derived tremendous spiritual and psychological relief when I realized all of that was absolute nonsense at the age of 9. I knew I was gay at the time and wouldn't come out until I was 18 or so, but my life just got a lot easier when I removed religion completely. I also recall discovering increased moral agency -- as a Christian I had been taugh…
"What is your favorite pizza?" "I don't eat pizza." "Huh, thanks for answering, I guess?"
If you ask a question in a form that has an answer where they are forced to lie or give you an answer you don't like, which do you prefer?
EDIT: Mobile mistake =(
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#603Earlier quoted context omitted.
My observation is that while religious people are kind and charitable, religious societies tend to be the opposite. An example is that the US is full of charitable organizations, yet in the aggregate, we are relatively uncharitable as a nation, especially towards the poor and weak. And how religious organizations actually spend their money overseas is anybody's guess, when a little bit of money can buy a lot of polit…
I'd check your assumption that the US in aggregate tends to be uncharitable. While it doesn't tell the whole store, in financial terms the US leads the world in per capital charitable contributions (by a significant margin). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_charitabl...
I'm thinking about quality of life measures such as infant mortality, life expectancy, car crashes (just pulling a few things out of the hat), policy on global warming, etc. Not charitable contributions but actual charity. Also, I was talking about charity towards our own people.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#604Not exactly an answer but I think I've definitely been in a kind of spiritual crisis for a lot of my late-twenties, maybe longer, ever since I stopped being Christian, and am struggling to find some kind of spiritual anchor.
To the extent I've developed any kind of spiritual mantra so far, it's something like: "focus on what you owe society". I think a lot of especially the West has become obsessed with seeking comfort and focusing on what society owes them, to the extent that we've erased or completely compartmentalized any sense of what our responsibilities to society are, and thus what our role is.
Man's Search for Meaning was a bit of a source of focus for something like this. Why Honor Matters was also an interesting read (authored by the co-host of my favorite podcast) along these lines. I wouldn't describe myself as a huge Jordan Peterson fan (haven't really read much of his work myself, when speaking I find he can be kinda incoherent/ramble-y), but I think he's a more well-known modern "prophet" of this "religion".
Anyway, all still very disorganized thoughts at this point, but I think starting to congeal to something over the past two years.
(Day-to-day I do meditate but I don't, at least yet, really view this as a spiritual thing as much as a helpful psychological tool/practice.)
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#605I haven't seen anyone mention Hinduism. I am a Hindu and belong to Advaita Vedanta school of thought. I begin my day my saluting to the One and the Only Brahman reading Bhagavad-Gita. meditation on the mantra 'Satyam Jnanam Anantam Brahma' and trying to realise that everything is Brahman, there's nothing apart from Brahman
Namaskaram. I follow Saiva Siddhanta which heavily incorporates Vedanta. My morning sadhana is Ganesh puja then reading Vedas/Agamas/Satguru Upadesha
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#606Not 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 "Nond…
Try googling 45 Days to Awakening course, a new and improved version of the Finder’s Course. Their data shows something like 65% of people reach that state after 45 days, up to 85% after a second course for total of 90 days. It sounds way too good to be true and I didn’t believe it myself until I did it and it worked for me, and then for several friends I convinced to take it. It took me over 90 days to get there (had to keep practicing the meditation styles that worked best for me) but then stabilized. One of my friends transitioned literally on her first meditation on day one. Good luck on your journey!
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#607I am a Practicing Stoic, Morning routing is to spend about an hour reading texts and scholarly commentary while drinking my coffee. Then I journal, my morning journal entries are discussions with my inner daemon about how to handle the days events. Preparing myself and remembering what is and isn't in my control. Throughout the day I have reminders set to step back and examine what I am doing at that moment. This is…
> Throughout the day I have reminders set to step back and examine what I am doing at that moment.
How does it work? Does an alarm sound and you've resolved to stop whatever you're doing and reasses? What is a success story? Has it caught you browsing youtube and put you back to work?
> This is usually coupled with one or more mental exercises to keep perspective.
What are the exercises?
> In the evening before going to bed I sit back down with my journal and go over any major events from the day and examine them against my philosophical beliefs.
Is this a written or electronic journal? How long have you been able to consistently do this? I've had many 2-week streaks but none better.
Do you recommend any other resources? I've read Meditations, Pigliucci's book, and pick up Farnsworth's book every few days, but so far it's mostly quotes instead of a description of practices like the title promises.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#608Mostly karma yoga: I'm working towards various big goals which largely benefit other people or manage crises. When I was younger, lots of meditation in the Nath tradition (sort of Hindu dzog chen - Nepalese, so there was a lot of cross talk with Tibet, Mahasiddha stuff).
I have heard the Vajrayana Buddhism is similar to certain Saivite Hindu sects. Hindu Dzog Chen sounds very interesting
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#609Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've never understood what part of the crucifixion was a sacrifice. Jesus is literally a god. He knew he would end up on the cross before he even took on human form. He could have left at any time. He can return any time he wants. And how can his death on the cross be actually considered a death? If he was dead, are we to understand that for those few days there was no god overlooking all of creation? It seems to me…
Jesus was God in flesh. So God the father is separate but connected. ( I'm a little under qualified to describe the exact nature of the Holy Trinity) So God the father has always been looking over creation. After Jesus ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit was sent to help the church in place of Jesus her on earth. Jesus was God in flesh so he purposely limited himself to experience all that we experience, to suffer all…
> Jesus was God in flesh so he purposely limited himself to experience all that we experience, to suffer all that we suffer. There is nothing that He can't empathize with.
This implies that God is incapable of fully knowing the experience of humans without becoming human, hence God is not omniscient; since now his omniscience is contingent on becoming contingent.
Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?
#610The philosophy of Alan Watts was to me completely life changing. Simple, powerful concepts, explained in a fun way. Concepts that give you a strong foundation for reality and your place in it, while allowing you to go about your daily life and find meaning.