this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2026
20 points (95.5% liked)
askchapo
23338 readers
142 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Well recently while exploring ideas related to consciousness and how it works I've come to the conclusion that it's likely there exists something beyond the immediately physical so I'm kinda becoming skeptical of materialism, at least the hardline "consciousness is merely just physical stuff interacting" version of it.
Beyond that I'm in the dark, I've explored various strains of spirituality and while some of it makes sense the arguments in favor of it mostly boil down to some version of "it came to me in a dream". Furthermore from a political standpoint these philosophies rarely have much to say and the usual tone is "suffering is the nature of things and you should tolerate it and not try to change your surroundings too much beyond your own personal choices" or some form of "the universe manifests what you really want so if you're suffering it must be you're not vibing hard enough" both of which rubs me the wrong way.
I am trying to reconcile all this as well, and I'm not sure yet (or maybe the point is you're never 'sure'. "all I know is that I do not know", right?) but it seems the answer is some kind of paradox. It seems the best spiritual insights always end up being paradoxes. It's like, yes, suffering comes from within, but also, in order to wake up and realize that, there has to be a certain material chain of cause and effect that sets things up for you to be safe and free enough to sit down and meditate and receive such insights.
(this is why lots of spiritually developed people tend to be the privileged and wealthy, they can do it for hours and go on retreats and stuff)
So it's like, you wake up and realize "oh! it's just this" and get the 'cosmic joke' but in order for that to even happen, it required your conditions to improve to a certain baseline in order for you to have the time to put the work in. Then, if you want other people to be able to achieve this, their conditions necessarily must improve. I actually feel that, after reading the book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha by Daniel M Ingram, the principles of communism and the science of dialectical materialism absolutely fall under: Morality training + understanding causality to cultivate more compassion.
This might be a little more 'out there', but many people have had spiritual experiences that seem to imply humanity being on an evolutionary path toward 'more perfection', whatever that could mean. Given that implication, it really feels to me that the immortal science is humanity's latest best attempt at that evolution. I believe it is the next step. And becoming awakened could be a great way to help one's comrades since it greatly reduces suffering, increases tolerance for just about anything, eliminates fear of death, and cultivates an everlasting love for all. Even if you don't actually reach "it", any kind of spiritual path that includes practices of concentration and insight will reduce suffering, which will also help with any goal you have in life.
That book is great btw if you want a place to start! The guy really cuts through the fluffy BS, lays out a clear map, and acknowledges the hypocrisies and flaws of teachers. He even says that morality training is the absolute hardest part and the rest is easy in comparison lol. I think it's because they have overlooked communism.