What do you get out of spirituality?

[Jane_the_Bane]

Knowledge of ones Self...that's like opening a can of worms. Once opened who knows where that can lead. Which can be a scary thought to the ego, who wants to be in control.

I don't quite get why the "New Age" vilifies the self so much, somehow seizing upon Freudian terminology yet turning it into something else entirely. The evil "ego".
Yes, our identity is a composite, often self-contradictory construct. Yes, identity is an activity, not an essence.

BUT: returning to a mental state prior to self-awareness is a step back, not forward. I'd say genuine mystic experiences do not reduce us, but *expand* our consciousness.

 

[Arthra]

Curious as to why people are into religion/spirituality? What draws you to it the most? As for me, I'd say emotions were the biggest thing.
Might add more later.

For me my religion has been my life for around fifty years since 1965 when I first declared. I married my wife in a Baha'i marriage in 1973. A few years later we went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and visited Holy places around Haifa and Akka in northern Israel. We raised our children with Baha'i values and they are still Baha'is.

In our Baha'i marriage our in-laws have been supportive of us and assisted us when we needed help during our marriage. The Faith requires that in-laws approve the marriage.
We are non-partisan politically and vote in all elections. The Faith also requires us not to use alcohol or illicit drugs. We also pray daily in privacy certain prayers.

So I would say for me being a Baha'i has been more than emotions it's been the "warp and woof" of the tapestry of my life.

 

[MehGuy]

Knowledge of ones Self...that's like opening a can of worms. Once opened who knows where that can lead. Which can be a scary thought to the ego, who wants to be in control.

For me it was certainly like opening up a can of worms. Also being more self aware helped destroy my faith and realize how biased and phony it was. Although if you're willing to take the risks the rewards can be great. Being self aware can open up the eyes to new paths that you'd probably never be able to realize existed prior.

For those who need guidance I'd say one major pitfall I've faced is overestimating the capacity for the human mind to understand itself and all the intricacies that come along with it. This can lead one down a road where they only are able to grasp a portion of their psychology and as a consequence expresses a largely false idea of their psychology and overall deteriorating it.

It's happened to me when trying to study my own sadism psychology. Originally thinking it was akin to having low/no empathy and more resembling something like psychopathy when in reality sadism is more an expression of empathy and really a polar opposite of psychopathy. It's only from the last few years that I've slowly been able to recover from such damaging and false thoughts about myself. Even now I still should be cautious and have greater respect for my lack of knowledge despite the increase of knowledge I've had about myself recently.

Still if you can handle all that, I'd say it's best to know thyself as much as possible than to remain ignorant. The latter being an position I largely held when I was still a theist. Just be prepared to face possible downtime and often excruciating self growth.

 

[juvenissun]

The way I understand it, reasoning and logic are things of religion but not so much of spirituality.

If I have religion, why do I need anything about spirituality?

 

[dlamberth]

I don't quite get why the "New Age" vilifies the self so much, somehow seizing upon Freudian terminology yet turning it into something else entirely. The evil "ego".
Yes, our identity is a composite, often self-contradictory construct. Yes, identity is an activity, not an essence.

BUT: returning to a mental state prior to self-awareness is a step back, not forward. I'd say genuine mystic experiences do not reduce us, but *expand* our consciousness.

I don't know if that was a general comment or not, but just for the record I'm not New Age and the Ego is not evil. With that said, spiritually speaking, because of our attachments to this physical world the Ego can get into the way of opening one's inner self where expanded conscious awareness happens. Some call that opening of conscious awareness an "awakening". An expanded consciousness does not and can not happen via the Ego. The very nature of those mystical experience moments bypasses the Ego. At the same time because we do live in a physical world, we need the Ego with all of it's duality, judgments and attachments to even function in this world. Try buying a gallon of milk while in woo woo land.

 

[W2L]

Curious as to why people are into religion/spirituality? What draws you to it the most?

As for me, I'd say emotions were the biggest thing.



Might add more later.

Having purpose is the reason i i follow the Lord. I am a son of God. Doesnt that sound unbelievable? Well its not. Its the meaning of life.

 

[dlamberth]

If I have religion, why do I need anything about spirituality?

Maybe you don't need anything spiritual. Personally, this is just me mind you, but I found that I'm in need of living and growing in the awareness of God's presence such that He has become an actual reality for me. I found religion as a place to learn about God. It's in the spiritual world where I became consciously aware of the "presence" of God as a reality in my life. That's why I need spirituality.

 

[juvenissun]

Maybe you don't need anything spiritual. Personally, this is just me mind you, but I found that I'm in need of living and growing in the awareness of God's presence such that He has become an actual reality for me. I found religion as a place to learn about God. It's in the spiritual world where I became consciously aware of the "presence" of God as a reality in my life. That's why I need spirituality.

So you take religion as a knowledge only.
Fine, if so, then religion is the wrong world for major "religions" of this world. You simply created a confusion. And you are the first one to be confused by yourself.

 

[dlamberth]

So you take religion as a knowledge only.
Fine, if so, then religion is the wrong world for major "religions" of this world. You simply created a confusion. And you are the first one to be confused by yourself.

Yes, religion is scripture and beliefs. God is neither of those things. No confusion here.

 

[juvenissun]

Yes, religion is scripture and beliefs. God is neither of those things. No confusion here.

Why is God not a belief?

 

[Rajni]

Why is God not a belief?

God is a Person, not merely a belief.

 

[dlamberth]

. Sorry

 

[dlamberth]

Why is God not a belief?

That's the difference between religion and the spiritual. It's in the spiritual arena where God becomes experienced and a reality. In the example I first gave, I see God in the smile and laugh of my infant grand-daughter. That's not religion. It's God as ones reality.

 

[Zoness]

Curious as to why people are into religion/spirituality? What draws you to it the most?

As for me, I'd say emotions were the biggest thing.



Might add more later.

I'd say a tool set to figure out my place in the universe. It's not something that can be precisely described in concrete, measurable terms. Plus studying other people's religions and spiritual beliefs help me understand what drives them.

 

[juvenissun]

That's the difference between religion and the spiritual. It's in the spiritual arena where God becomes experienced and a reality. In the example I first gave, I see God in the smile and laugh of my infant grand-daughter. That's not religion. It's God as ones reality.

You made a mess again. Now, God is not in a religion.
Fine. Define everything as you like to. And modify the definition as it needs.

 

[MissRowy]

Where is the mess juvenissun? And Arthra the Baha'i faith is quite interesting. I was looking into it and it has quite an interesting history.