Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

The reminders are a combination of the Pomodoro Technique and vibration alerts on my watch or phone. Just enough to remind me to step back at periodic intervals. As far as success stories I can say that it has cut stress down considerably because I keep perspective and avoid tunnel vision. The exercises I talk about are usually mental imagery techniques, "the view from above" and recollections of the "dichotomy of control". My journal is hand written since it is not for anyone else. I try to write at least a half page or more per day. To other people it is probably completely illegible. Resource wise I can suggest this book https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781549877735&crid=TQ4VA5BUEQI9&s... for general exercises. It was written by a r/stoic redditor and is very plain language and contains lots of easy to understand mental exercises. For a good introduction to Stoicism look more to Sellars Stoicism Book. It is a little academic but a good read.

I think it's a reasonable response for atheists that were raised in these systems to have this strong negative reaction to that prior belief system.

This "hate", however, is not directed toward an entity this atheist thinks exists. The type of atheist you describe hates the concept of "god" that their prior belief system constructed.

When one comes out of a system that one feels they were duped by for 20+ years (in my case), sure, I retain a powerful, strong, negative reaction to that system and its concept of god.

It does not mean that my disbelief in this god is equivalent to some kind of "religiousness" and to suggest that I think is incredibly naive

You're asking some big questions, and they're good questions, and I'll assume you're asking in good faith and do my best to answer.

Before I became an Orthodox Christian, the best way to describe my worldview and mindset was "scattered and easily distracted". I have always pursued whatever I thought was interesting, but never had a cohesive worldview. I would jump and flit from topic to topic without having any way of incorporating what I learned into a daily practice and worldview. I swore constantly, was careless in my relationships, and frequently offended people around me, including my loved ones.

I was a consumer and was very alienated from the world around me and from my loved ones. I lived a very atomized life where I was convinced that my actions didn't affect anyone but me. Very much an individualist.

Since becoming Christian and realizing there is an objective reality, that my actions affect others, and their actions affect me, and that I will die sooner or later, my life has come into sharper focus. I understand much more clearly now that if you want to change the world and help with the healing process, the best place to start is in your own home, with how you treat your loved ones, and how you take care of your home.

Also, another important perspective from Orthodox Christianity, and one of the main reasons we wear a cross, is to remember to crucify our self, our ego, in the service of others each day. Christ said "No greater love hath a man than this, he is willing to lay his life down for his friends." We believe that is why males and females were created. So they could get married and martyr themselves in the service of another. We believe that is what it means to truly be a human being. Monks also take on this same responsibility, but in the service of God, the church, and their monastic community. (Monasteries are not a refuge from the world, but instead, the bleeding front lines of a spiritual battle.)

Praying for my loved ones (living and dead) daily, praying for my perceived enemies, and praying for God's mercy for the world, has dramatically changed how I see other people, and how I try to live up to role in serving others. I no longer obsess over whether my spouse is filling my chalice of invented "needs". Instead, I try to look for ways to make her life easier, more comfortable. And I'm still working on this part, but I try not to call attention to my efforts or to even call attention to what I've done. God sees my efforts and what is done in secret will be rewarded openly.

We also end each day together as a family by praying, and after prayer, we ask each other for forgiveness if we have done anything to hurt them or offend them today. This has ENORMOUS consequences that are hard to put into words.

My daughter used to be terrified of the dark. She used to have nightmares and insomnia, because my wife and I used to argue and fight in front of her. Our home was filled with trauma and despair. My wife and I were nihilists who were just following our passions (I mean that in the traditional way) and doing whatever we wanted to do/thought was right, and we were in constant conflict.

Now, we pray together, read the Bible together, share our daily frustrations with each other, encourage each other, eat together, listen to each other. We don't watch tv. We rarely go to movies. Last night I read out of the Bible while my wife and daughter worked on a puzzle, and after I read, I joined them and we were just talking and joking with each other and listening to music. This is what I mean by how my life has been healed.

Prayer is my personal way of participating in my relationship with God. Each day includes a review of my day, where I reflect on my sins and shortcomings, pray for forgiveness, and pray for strength in overcoming my weaknesses. I pray for guidance in how I can overcome my old patterns, and I read the scriptures with the intention of finding useful patterns of behavior that I can model in my own life.

Because of my daily prayer habit, I'm much more careful about what I say, and how I treat other people, because I know in the back of my mind that I will be standing before God, my Father and Creator of the universe, that evening in prayer, and I will be answering for how I treat others. I want to burn away the parts of myself that are interfering with my relationship with God and with those around me, and prayer helps serve as that reminder, that connection.

As for your last question, I can only say this: Jordan Peterson's lectures on the Bible series opened my mind and heart to the idea that there's a LOT more going on in the Bible than my old materialist, scientist brain was understanding. I began to study medieval philosophy, and the work of Jonathan Pageau has truly opened my eyes to how reality works, and how I fit into that cosmology, and what my role is in reality. I have also realized just how much effect being with other people in a community in person has on me, and how I only barely understand the power of standing in church together (Orthodox Christians typically stand during the Divine Liturgy service as a form of respect and worship) all worshipping together by standing together, looking in the same direction, hearing hymns and prayers, surrounded by icons, with the smell of incense in the air. There are some things you can only know through experience. Reading a book about Orthodox Christianity is basically like reading a book about martial arts. It won't get you very far in a fight.

Anyway, I pray that my answer has been helpful. Please forgive me if I didn't answer your questions adequately or if I misunderstood what you were asking. God bless you.

Oh yeah. It's really just totally insane. As someone born into the faith you are taught it's just another miracle like Jesus/Peter walking on water or coming back from the dead. Even though those events were recorded (according to most biblical scholars) around 100 years after they supposedly took place.

Quiet literally the same as if I wrote about how George Washington felled a cherry tree with a magic axe that granted him the ability to see through time.

When your parents believe it, and their parents believed it, etc all the way back to the founding of the church when your (rubes) of ancestors fell for a con... yeah, hard to see the lie for what it is. Even if, from the outside, it's beyond obvious.