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Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#191

Post by hackingthelema »

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…

> "Bad" feelings have lost their edge. When I sat with the feeling I discovered there is nothing "bad" about it. [...] With this I have become lighter, freer, happier and more at peace with the experience just as it is, right here, right now.

I'd like to give a heads up that this can and may come crashing down[1]. The 'Dark Night of the Soul' is a very real phenomena, and it can happen out of nowhere -- just a normal meditation session.

I'd suggest giving a search to 'mindfulness' and 'mental distress' or some such, if you continue on with this. It is really helpful to find a framework -- like Buddhism or Raja Yoga (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C4%81ja_yoga#Comparison_with...) -- before diving too deep, to give you something to fall back on when it happens, otherwise it can result in quite unpleasant, hard to overcome and understand situations. Edit to add: The specific framework doesn't matter as much as having one at all (Christianity/Islam/Buddhism/Yoga/etc.).

[1] I just found this article but it seems a decent overview to me: https://ronyabanks.com/the-meditators-dark-night-of-the-soul...

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#192

Post by oa335 »

I’m Muslim… on a day to day basis I pray, ideally five times a day. The prayer timings are tied to the location of the sun in the sky, which helps me be more aware of natural rhythms. I’ve observed that the periods of my life where I am praying regularly are associated with lower levels depression, higher levels of satisfaction and purpose.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#193

Post by ausbah »

as someone who doesn't subscribe to any major belief system (including atheism which I am aware isn't technically a "belief system"), this made me think when I feel "spiritual"

probably whatever makes me feel some sense of "ego death", where I feel more apart of others than myself. I think this usually happens when I am with good friends or in moments of self reflection - usually while running or journaling

I think these elements are what underlie many of the habits people in this thread describe, rather than anything attributable to any specific faith. that's just my two cents

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#194

Post by GreenWatermelon »

ren_engineer wrote: post #175
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 becom…

I think the same, especially when it comes to conflicts.

A lot of atheists love to say much about how religion only brings suffering and it's the source of all conflicts, much to my annoyance.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#195

Post by keawade »

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…

I'm 100% with you on the "not even sure what spiritual means as I've never heard a coherent definition". If anyone is interested, this position is known as theological non-cognitivism, ignosticism, or igtheism

> Theological noncognitivism is the non-theist position that religious language, particularly theological terminology such as "God", is not intelligible or meaningful, and thus sentences like "God exists" are cognitively meaningless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theological_noncognitivism

> Ignosticism or igtheism is the idea that the question of the existence of God is meaningless because the word "God" has no coherent and unambiguous definition.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignosticism

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#196

Post by dmwiens »

Wake up. Immediately start the hot water kettle. Put on warm clothes and use the bathroom. Go back to kitchen and make English Breakfast Tea. Sit down at my desk for 45 minutes.

At that point, I will either read from Meditations, or write in my journal, or plan out my day/week, or possibly "practice" computer science (overall, its a blend of spirituality and meta-productivity).

The content varies, but the ritual of it is a treasured part of my day.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#197

Post by mesid »

Sudarshan kriya - essentially breathing exercises taught by the Art of Living (AoL). It's simple and has a good effect on keeping the mind stable. Further, I also practise meditation taught by the same AoL foundation. Just closing my eyes and being there and observing my breath and surroundings. I go tho the temple (I'm raised as a Jain) for the peaceful environment it offers.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#198

Post by gjulianm »

g5095 wrote: post #125

Why do people have to comment here to say 'I have none' ? Why not just find a more interesting thread? I'm a follower of Yahweh and his Son Yeshuah, I don't consider myself Catholic or Protestant and believe both of those faiths (while honoring God in their own way, are full of the traditions of man). I left Institutional Christianity some years ago and with other like-minded saints gather wherever we feel like it to…

"None" can be a legitimate response and can elicit discussion, given that the OP seems interested in what people are doing and necessarily taking advice.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#199

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#200

Post by NateEag »

Yetiuiu wrote: post #81
GavinMcG wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP asked an earnest question, and deserves earnest replies.

Not to be snarky but why do you think this can't be seen as spiritual? What's the real difference? Even if you think believing in the spaghetti monster is just a joke, it does the SE thing as other believes: it units you with other believers, it gives you an answer and it gives you structure. It's not your place to evaluate your belie e against others. After all I have never seen someone who actually follows Jesus Ch…

People who genuinely devote their lives to following Jesus do seem to be incredibly rare.

I've historically believed in the Nicene Creed, but I doubt you could see much unconditional love in my practical actions, my ideals notwithstanding.

Simone Weil comes to mind as an example of someone who seems to have done it:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Weil

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