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Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#901

Post by cogman10 »

8note wrote: post #778
cogman10 wrote: post #443

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is, frankly, no such thing as a "god hating atheist". Those two notions are incompatible. Consider, for example, how little you (probably) care about fairies. Are you a fairy hating afairist? You may find an Atheist that says something like "If god does exist, it's a dick". but that's not really hating god but rather pointing out the silliness of believing in a supernatural all powerful being that is good which…

I'd consider it the difference between answering this question with "I don't have any" and "I have atheism" "I don't have any" is the one that doesn't care, vs "I am atheist" says you care a whole lot about god. You don't identify as afairist at all. If you do, you're almost certainly a fairy hating afairist

Big difference here is that there aren't multibillion dollar organizations with billions of followers firmly and strongly convinced of the existence of fairies to the point where they want to write laws based on fairy culture and teachings. If I lived in such a culture, I'd probably describe myself as an afairist.

I would not call myself an atheist if it weren't for the fact that theism is thoroughly and deeply ingrained in american culture.

In china, most people are atheists, but they don't really identify as such. It's simply the default. Were I in that circumstance, I certainly would feel exactly the same way.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#902

Post by lisper »

theonething wrote: post #812
lisper wrote: post #695

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the fact of sin Yeah, there's your problem right there. At the risk of stating what should be painfully obvious to any sane person, there is no "fact of sin", and you certainly can't use the claim of a "fact of sin" as a justification for the idea of original sin. It's a completely circular argument. Garbage in, garbage out.

> should be painfully obvious to any sane person, there is no "fact of sin" When Chesterson asserts the fact of sin, he's saying that there in fact exists plainly perceptible offenses against morality [1], e.g. murder, pedophilia, rape to name the more extreme and obvious cases. In other words, evil. So you deny the existence of offenses against morality or evil? [1] "But they essentially deny human sin, which they c…

> So you deny the existence of offenses against morality or evil?

I deny that any human has ever come out of the womb having committed any such offenses, and I deny that infants (and even children) are morally culpable for offenses committed by fully fledged persons with moral agency. You should be ashamed of yourself for even contemplating such a horrible notion.

Also, since you list pedophilia in your trinity of offenses against morality, I will also point out that the biggest coverups of child sexual abuse in history was conducted by the Catholic church. The cases that have come to light recently are probably just the tip of the iceberg. Taking men at the peak of their sexuality, telling them that having sex is a sin, and then putting them in charge of a congregation is like putting someone in charge of a kitchen and telling them that eating is sin.

And finally, as long as you've gone and pulled my trigger, I will also point out that there is a lot of daylight between pedophilia (which is a psychiatric disorder, not a moral offense) and actual child abuse (which is a moral offense because there is a victim). Getting sexually aroused is not a sin. Neither is gratifying that arousal by self-pleasuring, or by any sexual activity between mutually consenting adults irrespective of their gender and marital status. You want a "fact of sin"? Here you go: one of the biggest sins humans commit is telling people they are sinful simply because they experience a normal human emotion. That is so sick and twisted that the word "sin" doesn't even do it justice. If you believe in original sin and you want to see evil, look in the mirror.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#903

Post by mcjkrw »

Zen. I do the "shikantaza" version of it every day in a 40 min session (20 min sitting, 20 min walking - yeah I know shikantaza means "to sit" or something related). It's a very intense type of zazen meant to gain a very clear perception of your body and surroundings. When I first learned about it, the example was that the engagement is not unlike engagement you would have if you engaged into a swords battle to death. That you cannot slip and need to be super duper alert. There are many elements that come into it actually and it's all well described in a book "3 Pillars of Zen".

I have noticed that the intense focus does me much better than calmer types of zazen like counting breaths. I'm only intense during formal practice, but in daily activities I just try to relax and focus on the task at hand - nevertheless, if it was not for the daily practice of the intense version, I would not be nowhere near as alert when I'm more relaxed.

The combination of formal practice (40 min of shikantaza) and the right attitude (to engage well into every task, no matter how menial) did wonders to my wellbeing and quality of life. It is a powerful tool for change and a great way to practice spirituality.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#904

Post by rixed »

good8675309 wrote: post #890
rixed wrote: post #884

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many (historical) people have died for others, you do not need any mysticism for that.

Interesting. I’m curious though, how many of them claimed to be God? How many of them fulfilled over 300 prophesies written hundreds of years before their birth? And how many claimed to have died for the sins of the world?

I'm actually more moved by the sacrifice of a mere mortal who is trying to improve things by sacrificing himself/herself, than by someone who believes his sacrifice will not really be the end; And I have a really hard time to see things the other way around, in fact.

Actually, I never managed to understand this: if one believes souls are eternal and virtue is rewarded in the after-life, then any kind of sacrifice seems cheaper and virtuous behaviors get closer to self-interest. How to reconcile morality with such beliefs?

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#905

Post by chrispine »

skinkestek wrote: post #868
hycaria wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not pick some less controversial church?

Many don't get to pick. Our "leader"[1] have told us more than once to go elsewhere if we aren't interested. At times it can come of as a trick, but twenty years later and seeing the way he treats people that leaves our church, i.e. friendly and with all respect I've come to realize he just doesn't want anyone to stay around just because they feel they must. Still I'd find it hard to leave luckily to a large degree b…

From the folks who have left the LDS church that I've talked to, "friendly and with all respect" is profoundly not the experience that most have.

And my personal experience: it was a great shame on my family, and all the church wanted to know was (and this is the weirdest part) who had offended me??

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#906

Post by chrispine »

skinney6 wrote: post #527
Dumblydorr wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes! Your experience is closest to mine. I tried Sam Harris's meditation, Joseph Goldstein's insight meditation, and came across "The Headless Path". This led to multiple moments where my consciousness expanded to fill it's container, in this case my old apartment, or a bar where I was playing music, or a shore next to a lake. It's almost like I became a 3D VR panorama of what I could sense, my center fell away and I…

Rad, i'll look into this "headless path". I like trying to expand the fuzzy cloud while meditating sometimes which sounds like it's along those lines.

While I'm not necessarily a Sam Harris fan in general, I am a huge fan of his Waking Up app. It's approachable, serene, sacred (but also no-nonsense), and really just beautiful. And useful! I can't say enough good things about it.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#907

Post by Thiez »

theonething wrote: post #819
sam0x17 wrote: post #737

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always found this whole bit farcical. Firstly, if God is the one who exercises judgement in the first place in the form of who goes to heaven and who does not, then (as is written elsewhere in the Bible) what God says is good, is good, and what God says is bad, is bad, for no intrinsic reason other than God says it is so. When I do the good, I want to do it because I have some stock in the moral value or principle…

> but that Jesus had to suffer, to what, to make God decide to be more lenient with how he interprets our sins? Justice requires accountability for wrongs committed. When we break God's moral law, justice requires that we be held accountable. Jesus suffered for us to take the punishment that our sins require. Jesus took the penalty for us. That allows God to be a merciful judge, yet still fulfill all justice.

To punish one for the sins of another does not sound like justice to me, not does it hold the sinner accountable. A judge who kills his own son so that he could pardon the people that come before him is clearly insane. Doubly so if the judge is the same one who wrote the laws.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#908

Post by anarticle »

samhain wrote: post #459
scop wrote: post #223

I am a practicing Catholic. I have four kids all under 7. My normal day consists of feeding them, bathing them, calming tantrums, losing my temper, getting bitter at my lack of time for hobbies, and growing resentful of my lack of time for reading the Bible, praying, etc. But then I remember that this is a true dying to self. Not only a dying to self, but a dying to the world too as each of these sacrifices, failures…

It’s funny too, since some of those kids may eventually realize that they were brought here without their consent, and that they don’t actually like working and paying bills. You, suffering for them, then suffering for their existence, and a death of your previous self, in which you draw yourself as a type of martyr. No one’s happy on your road to Damascus, and yet you’re faith and community demand your consent to yo…

You're in luck! This belief system will likely die out in a generation or two.

Or you can accept that this belief system is directly opposed to humanity itself, and expect to be treated that way.

I think saying the only reason to have children is out of guilt and peer pressure is myopic.

Re: Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?

#909

Post by anarticle »

I am Thelemic. I recite an affirmation to manifest my will in this world. I believe that every day reveals my self-realization. I perform self-aware meditation to force myself to be honest.

It's not too different from many other forms of introspective study.

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