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dart board;; science bs
rule #1: be kind
any practice, religious or otherwise, through which an individual finds ultimate meaning, purpose, and connection to something greater than themselves
To this study, my volunteer work testing and fixing electronics for my local charity shop would probably be counted as a "spiritual" practice, even though I do not believe in spirits or ghosts or magical energy.
Doing charity work, with no thought of a reward here or hereafter, is pretty much the definition of 'spirituality.'
"Spirituality" is feeling a connection to something beyond yourself. It doesn't have to be God, or magic.
I understand that might be what it means to you but I can't find any source that suggests that the world is commonly used that way without any supernatural, magical, or metaphysical aspect.
Personally, I do the charity work I do because I find it rewarding on two levels. I enjoy repairing things and I enjoy knowing it will benefit someone in need. I derive a sense of satisfaction from both.
I don't experience a feeling of connection to "something" beyond myself. I don't know what that would other than something magical, like a spirit.
"I enjoy knowing it will benefit someone in need."
The 'something' beyond yourself is the community.
You have a community spirit, an esprit de corps.
Sounds to me like we're arguing semantics.
Old story. Aleister Crowley was a pretty horrible person in general, but he had a few smart ideas. He called himself a wizard, and someone once asked him to prove it. He asked if making someone fall without touching them counted? It did.
They went to a nearby boulevard and waited. Crowley picked a victim and began to follow him. Crowley matched his steps to the other man's. Crowley then began to step more heavily, still in rhythm with the man. The man heard the steps, but didn't really register them. Then Crowley mistimed one step and the man fell. He'd been following the rhythm without thought, and when it changed he tried to adjust.
I wouldn't call it magic, but it was a power beyond his control
I take pride in being a contributing member of my community. I see no value in obscuring that by using the vocabulary of magic to describe it.
I think it actually devalues such real tangible contributions to jumble them in with rituals and ceremonies that also give the practitioners a sense of satisfaction and inner peace but do nothing for the world outside of them.
I guess, "Spending time doing things that give you a high sense of satisfaction, especially in ways that help others, will make you less likely to take drugs" isn't a very exciting headline?
I wouldn’t call it magic, but it was a power beyond his control
I don't understand how it was a power beyond his control. Taking the story at face value, Crowley created a rhythm and then manipulated it. Crowley's understanding of how some people are very susceptible to following rhythms and can apparently be tripped up by syncopating the rhythm is in his control.
Personally, I think it's just semantics, but I won't argue any further.
I wish you all the best.
You're resisting because of how the concept of spirituality has been stolen by religion. But in doing so, you're missing an opportunity to take back the real meaning of the word. Volunteer work gives back to the community, which is an emergent greater power. A local community is more than its GDP: it creates culture, safety, and purpose. The choice to work toward fulfilling this idea at the cost of your time and energy requires faith that your good deeds will have an impact, even if they only affect a single person. When many of us do the same, the net output ends up being powerful beyond the sum of its parts and greater than any of us can individually understand. Is that not the definition of a god?
That’s also ancient religion, aka modern spirituality. Ancient religion wasn’t about a personal connection with god, by my understanding, but about a lens you reason through for all activities in life. You garnered a connection to community, to the world, and to the spiritual via seeing yourself as a fundamental piece of all these matters. Modern religion is, as I understand, more hyper-individualized and about a personal connection to god.
It's really rough to just grab the experiences of dozens of billions of people and lump them together into two categories, separated only by the time they lived in.
It's hard to make a more generalized and less nuanced statement.
I thought spirituality was taking how you felt on mushrooms too seriously
You should consider buying a device with a 'search engine.'
You can use a program like 'Bing' or 'AskJeeves' questions and learn things.
Really, think about it.
Religion is the opiate of the masses.
And you best believe I'm smoking an opiate that doesn't cost money and doesn't damage your health.
Yearly DMT sessions.
Don't need to get high if you're already high on some bullshit.
Meditation is bullshit now?
Always has been.
Right... You want to elaborate on that? This is the first time I've encountered such opposition to the practice of sitting still and learning to pay attention to one's mind. Are you sure you know what, for example, mindfulness meditation actually entails?
You're reading too much into a single sentence sarcastic statement.
I don't think there's anything wrong with sitting still and thinking intently. I think more people could benefit from that. It's finding any sort of spirituality in those moments that I think is bullshit.
Spirituality is a bit tainted term, I'll give you that, but it doesn't need to imply belief in anything supernatural.
sitting still and learning to pay attention to one's mind.
Are you learning to pay attention to your mind, or are you merely sitting and telling yourself that you are?
Are you sure you know what, for example, mindfulness meditation actually entails?
Oh, don't go no-true-scotsman on us. It's a weak move, dude.
It's perfectly valid to assume that the layperson has no clear understanding of what meditation - especially in the Western context - actually is. They tend to picture it as a religious practice tied to Hinduism: sitting still in lotus position, chanting a mantra, and waiting for something mystical to happen.
I have no idea where you pulled that no-true-Scotsman from.
Well it doesn't work if you dont believe in meditation.
What's neat is that the placebo effect works even if you know that it's just a placebo.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10355843/
Numerous scientific studies have proven meditation to have health benefits.
Substitute one shit with another.