Spirituality beyond the dogma of Religion

1. 83

   Jewelsposted 8 years ago

   "The ordinary life is that of the average human consciousness separated from its own true self and from the Divine and led by the common habits of the mind, life and body which are the laws of the Ignorance.
   The religious life is a movement of the same ignorant human consciousness, turning or trying to turn away from the earth towards the Divine, but as yet without knowledge and led by the dogmatic tenets and rules of some sect or creed which claims to have found the way out of the bonds of the earth-consciousness into some beatific Beyond. The religious life may be the first approach to the spiritual, but very often it is only a turning about in a round of rites, ceremonies and practices or set ideas and forms without any issue.
   The spiritual life, on the contrary, proceeds directly by a change of consciousness, a change from the ordinary consciousness, ignorant and separated from its true self and from God, to a greater consciousness in which one finds one's true being and comes first into direct and living contact and then into union with the Divine. For the spiritual seeker this change of consciousness is the one thing he seeks and nothing else matters" - Sri Aurobindo
   
   Do you understand the concept of Union with your Divinity?

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   1. 95

      wildernessposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      As the term "divine" is inextricably intertwined with God and God is inextricably intertwined with religion, it would seem that you do not or cannot separate "spiritual" from religion.  Not necessarily the maintstream religions that we see building churches and mosques or even those that ritualize the beheading of chickens or dancing in the woods, but religion nevertheless.
      
      But while I do separate the two, and find no necessary connection between spirituality and a god, I'm not sure I can define it, either.  Pretty sure I cannot, as a matter of fact.

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   2. 77

      Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      … Makes Sense to Me, Jewels:
      The spiritual life, on the contrary, proceeds directly by a change of consciousness, a change from the ordinary consciousness, ignorant and separated from its true self and from God, to a greater consciousness in which one finds one's true being and comes first into direct and living contact and then into union with the Divine. For the spiritual seeker this change of consciousness is the one thing he seeks and nothing else matters" - Sri Aurobindo
      
        The question is, what is the motivation to seek the change?
      If we could inspire each other to be motivated toward the possibility of a CHANGE in Consciousness… wouldn't that be great?
      I have heard we are about a hundred years behind where we should be … I blame the school system.
      I blame fear and lack of vision to change how we educate.
      We are afraid of our own children. We understand them not.
         And Yet, they are the key. They are the key to higher consciousness.

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      1. 83

         Jewelsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         A change in consciousness is happening though the old is not going to let go without a fight.  I love the saying by Samuel Sagan"  We don't change by solving our problems, we solve our problems by changing."  The exvoluted part of this is that we think that the problems are outside of us.  If the school system changed, if the pharmaceutical company had more integrity, if people weren't so greedy, if if if.  Yet we can only change ourselves.   And when more and more people change themselves then the shift is more noticeable.  The motivation is that when your life changes the world feels better, cause you are not being dragged along in the mire of ignorance.  Seeking joy as an inner job.  It can't come from external means - and that means people also.  It's a false note to believe people are what make you happy.  It's your attitude toward people and the life you live that makes you happy.
         
         I'd like to see the stats, but I hear more and more of home schooling and it's not a religious choice, more that the system is broken and children are not being taught what will serve them. Parents are waking up.  Along side this there are more teachers acknowledging the broken system.  I'd like to snap my fingers and see it change in a second.  Then I get back into reality!!

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2. 75

   cheaptrickposted 8 years ago

   I hesitate to use the word spirituality because the word has been corrupted by a 'Casper the ghost' mentality that seems to have attached its self these days.
   For some inexplicable reason we fail to answer the fundamental questions of the 'nonphysical world and jump directly into the workings of our individual understanding of what spirituality is;Neither do we address the questions of cohesion and change in self awareness.Ultimately the truth (or absence) of spirituality will reveal its self when we shuck this mortal coil;Until that moment arrives,it's nothing more than mental masturbation which soothes our deeply embedded fear of death and possible annihilation;That fear,which we hold so deeply that most of us are in denial of it,gave rise to a desperate search for immortality through religion,science,legacy,and on and on.
   The most attractive feature of atheism is the understanding that life is short so we must squeeze every moment of love,joy,and fulfillment out of it...Hi Jewels

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   1. 83

      Jewelsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi back to you cheaptrick, good to read you again
      And I hear you.  If you look up the word spiritualism you get taken to another set of teachings full of ghosts and the like.  I gasped when I found that out!
      
      My definition of spirituality or being spiritual is to do with being the REAL you, or the essence, or the highest of yourself, which when revealed and engaged entices you to squeeze every moment of life and fill it with joy and every task is fulfilling.  You emit Love.  That last sentence is the icing and not to be confused with any new age nonsense of actually saying it and not doing it - I mean being it.  Love is not something you DO, it's something you BE.  Which is why I like many joyous atheists so much because they are actually doing the 'spiritual' thing by default!   So you don't become spiritual from a book or following rules.
      
      Sadly spiritual is a loaded term, but put simply I'm referring to your essence.  Real essence void of conditioning and external stimulus.  It's Divine in my experience!

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