Monday, December 21, 2009

Instruction Manual for Life

Spiritual worldviews are like pieces of artwork; there's no right way of artistic expression, just your way. 

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Christmas is for Everyone

Here’s O’Reilly on recent Atheist Bus Ads:

 

Rather than Atheists having a problem with Christmas, as suggested by O’Reilly, they have a problem with being the #1 hated minority in America.  These Ad’s clearly suggest Atheists are merely trying to gain acceptance into a culture that is  full of misconceptions about them. Weather this was the best way to go about it is another question.  Backlash reports such as O’Reilly’s will only further deepen the negative image of Atheists.  If they are at all ‘anti Jesus’, their tactics would probably look a lot more like the aggressive anti-America displays of the Westborough Baptist Church. These atheist Ad’s couldn't be more passive in their approach with  inoffensive language and images suggesting holiday festivities. They are not telling Christians they are wrong for celebrating Christmas, but rather, they are trying to alter the cultural close-mindedness surrounding Atheists and their values. 

 

Here’s what atheists have to celebrate:

 

Although life should be a daily calibration of mere existence, Celebrating Christmas,  Hanukkah, the winter solstice, or any other religious or secular tradition, all represent this shared meaning of joy. Christmas (being the must dominant in America) is not necessarily a religious calibration, but rather, its origins suggest it is a secular festival built on Christian adaptations to a pagan tradition.  Call it what you want, its meaning amongst individuals who recognize the holiday is the only real measure of its worth. As Shakespeare said; “Does a rose by any other name not smell just as sweet?”  Understanding our shared humanity is the true meaning of Christmas.

Peace, Joy, and Love

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

6 Ways to be Spiritual

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This is a post for those of you who want the benefits of spiritual practice without the traditional method turning to God or church.

#1 Stop trying to be spiritual

The moment you start trying to be spiritual is the moment you are not being spiritual. Trying too hard just creates the illusion of spirituality. Even worse are the self-righteous image conscious people who want to look spiritual. Get your head out of the clouds!

#2 Parkour

Also known as ‘free-running’, this practice of urban gymnastics can let you experience your body in a way that is truly unique, while getting exercise while you’re at it.

Atkinson (2009) describes his experience of free-running as the following:

“We took turns shepherding one another through the city, practicing speed and stealth in our movement at times as we made our way across the rolling and varied architectural terrain. The movement, and our underlying orientation in the session, encouraged me to let go of all conscious thought and simply be present with my breath, movement, and the physical environment. Lines separating roads, buildings, cultures, selves, and bodies disappeared. I had never experienced the city, or running for that matter, in this way. And even though I felt exhausted at the end of the session, a strange peace descended upon me.”

#3 Meditation

Visit my meditation post for various practical techniques:

Practical Meditation

#4 Contemplation

Albert Eisenstein said it best:

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery — even if mixed with fear — that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man.”

The ‘religion’ referred to is a pantheistic metaphor for contemplative exploration into the nature of the universe

#5 Pilgrimage

This does not require a special trip to across the world; rather, it can be practiced anywhere using any method you choose.  A pilgrimage is defined as a journey to a sacred place. The delusion exists in the view  that the destination is the purpose. Just as in life, the true meaning lies is in the journey. A pilgrimage can consist of a hike, a road trip, or even a motorcycle ride across the country as seen in the American Run for the Wall motorcycle event.

#6 Being in Awe of Nature

As Richard Dawkins says:

“After sleeping through a hundred million centuries we have finally opened our eyes on a sumptuous planet, sparkling with color, bountiful with life. Within decades we must close our eyes again. Isn’t it a noble, an enlightened way of spending our brief time in the sun, to work at understanding the universe and how we have come to wake up in it? This is how I answer when I am asked—as I am surprisingly often—why I bother to get up in the mornings.”

Taking awe in life, existence, and the complexities of consciousness  that allow us to experience beauty, may be one of most spiritual endeavors. 

 

References

Atkinson, m. (2009). Parkour, Anarcho-Environmentalism, and Poiesis. Journal of   Sport  and  Social Issues. Volume, 33. Number, 2. 169 – 194

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Pantheism: The Spiritual Metaphor

Pantheism is sexed up atheism” – Richard Dawkins

        What comes to mind when we hear “sexed up atheism”? If it’s a hedonistic sex addicted atheism, you may have to reconsider – but don’t get your hopes up too soon. Just as sex is pleasurable, natural, and perhaps even a spiritual experience: so is pantheism.  So what is it?

       Pantheism states that God is all. It is basically a form of atheism that uses spiritual or religious terms as a metaphor for the natural world. All of nature is revered and looked at with a sense wonder and awe. The word God can also be synonymous with the words truth and love.  As with any worldview, there are many variations in pantheistic perspectives between individuals; the common element is merely the lack of belief in god as a transcendent deity and acceptance of the metaphorical use of spiritual and religious terminology.

      Some Pantheists view god as being the whole of physical existence, while humanity is just a part interconnected with everything else within God. Just as our cells make up our bodies, we are a minuscule part of a much grander scheme that, from our perspective, we can never grasp in whole. As Richard Dawkins also states, “The universe is queerer than we can suppose”.

     We can only use symbols to describe spiritual matters. As Lacanian theory posits, the symbol (the metaphor) can never fully represent the symbolized (the true nature of the universe) we are always at a disconnect from the true reality. As all religions use their own metaphors to explain the unknown, pantheists use these metaphors in nature and the physical world to create a spirituality that interconnected with all of existence.

Existential Dilemma: Free Will

Richard Lancaster's “Waking Life” ponders one of the greatest philosophical questions: free will vs. determinism.