Spirituality for the none religious

[Pete]

The dictionary describes spirituality as:-

noun

1. the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

   "the shift in priorities allows us to embrace our spirituality in a more profound way

    

   How would members describe it for themselves in a none religious sense?

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

2 hours ago, Pete said:

The dictionary describes spirituality as:-

noun

1. the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

   "the shift in priorities allows us to embrace our spirituality in a more profound way

    

   How would members describe it for themselves in a none religious sense?

 

 

 

I don't trust this distinction, between Spiritual and Material.

 

Donating blood, which is physical, is a spiritual act.

 

Working hard for money, then donating that money, is a spiritual act.

 

I don't have even a working definition of Spiritual.  I do have a disdain for false binaries -- which this definition clearly is.  Further, I think that religious people, like Dan, have so poisoned the word -- that it is now useless.

 

 

 

 

[Key]

20 hours ago, Pete said:

The dictionary describes spirituality as:-

noun

1. the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

   "the shift in priorities allows us to embrace our spirituality in a more profound way

    

   How would members describe it for themselves in a none religious sense?

I can't say that I really agree with this definition, either. I think, like the words God, spirit, or even soul, mean different things to different people.

I tend to think of spirituality as more of a heightened sense of awareness, whether of self or intangible connections to others, yet can't pin down an exact definition, nor a perfect example to present, myself.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

13 minutes ago, Key said:

I can't say that I really agree with this definition, either. I think, like the words God, spirit, or even soul, mean different things to different people.

I tend to think of spirituality as more of a heightened sense of awareness, whether of self or intangible connections to others, yet can't pin down an exact definition, nor a perfect example to present, myself.

 

 

Yes.  Defining the word as spirit or soul is useless.  What do they mean?  All of these esoteric words break down, to invisible assumptions about metaphysics.  The deeper we look, the more useless it gets.

 

What happens if we take a shallow look?  Defining spirituality as spirit is no help at all.  Some of it is pure fluff.  Some of it is spirits.  More religion.  Soul is a religious argument -- like God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete]

I get a feeling of peace being in the countryside or even places of worship. It's not worship but I feel a link with the generations before me. I also get a lift helping some of the needy but also a drop knowing I cannot stop their need or cure it for everyone.  Life is hard for so many people.  

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

4 minutes ago, Pete said:

I get a feeling of peace being in the countryside or even places of worship. It's not worship but I feel a link with the generations before me. I also get a lift helping some of the needy but also a drop knowing I cannot stop their need or cure it for everyone.  Life is hard for so many people.  

 

 

Yes.  One of the things that does it for me, is a night sky full of stars.  It is a feeling of great awe.  Or a great thunder and lightning storm.  Or a deep contemplation of a mountain.  There is no element of worship.

 

 

 

 

[Pete]

22 minutes ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

 

Yes.  One of the things that does it for me, is a night sky full of stars.  It is a feeling of great awe.  Or a great thunder and lightning storm.  Or a deep contemplation of a mountain.  There is no element of worship.

 

 

 

 

Exactly. Nature has its wonders.

[Pete]

Some of our churches go back to the 11 century and took years of labour to build. Many of the artisans who crafted the stone and timbers were pagan. Which you can gather from the ornamentation on the outside of the building. Their labour and the use by the community echoes of bygone years. I find it a good place for meditation. Not on the religion but the peace. I also used to like mountain and hill tops when I was younger and fitter.Even sitting in a wood is inspiring. It's not religion.  It is finding that balance in life.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

15 minutes ago, Pete said:

Some of our churches go back to the 11 century and took years of labour to build. Many of the artisans who crafted the stone and timbers were pagan. Which you can gather from the ornamentation on the outside of the building. Their labour and the use by the community echoes of bygone years. I find it a good place for meditation. Not on the religion but the peace. I also used to like mountain and hill tops when I was younger and fitter.Even sitting in a wood is inspiring. It's not religion.  It is finding that balance in life.

 

 

Yes.  It can be difficult to find quiet spaces.  Churches are useful.

 

 

 

 

[cuchulain]

I enjoy my walk in at work every day.  It's a little walk, but for me it is all about the time of day, four am usually with a sky pitch black and full of stars.  We're located a good ways from major lighting and in Georgia so it's usually a clear sky.

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

9 minutes ago, cuchulain said:

I enjoy my walk in at work every day.  It's a little walk, but for me it is all about the time of day, four am usually with a sky pitch black and full of stars.  We're located a good ways from major lighting and in Georgia so it's usually a clear sky.

 

 

 

You get the night sky without light pollution.  It sounds glorious.  

:-)  

[Pete]

The night sky without light pollution is magnificent. The sheer scale of it all

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

54 minutes ago, Pete said:

The night sky without light pollution is magnificent. The sheer scale of it all

 

 

 

Yes.  The size.  The distances.

 

 

[Key]

I kind of envy you guys. I work graveyard shift at a grocery store. My wife works as a caregiver during the day. It isn't often we get to share a day off to go on peaceful nature walks.

But a form of meditation for each of us are our hobbies. She does crafts, and can be lost in it for hours. (She's very talented, btw.) I play guitar. I'm self taught since age of 7, but can't play anything anyone might recognize. LOL

To be lost in the notes is very comforting to me, whether I'm playing a serenade for her, or just rocking out with wild abandon. Btw, I'm also hearing impaired, but for some reason tuning and playing are not a problem for me. Maybe it's the closeness of the sounds, eh. 

Occasionally, I turn off my aids and enjoy the quiet. My wife hates that sometimes.

[mark 45]

i find the northern lights to be natures color show.being color blind doesn't lessen my enjoyment of them.

[RevBogovac]

On 1/4/2020 at 9:45 PM, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

 

Yes.  One of the things that does it for me, is a night sky full of stars.  It is a feeling of great awe.  Or a great thunder and lightning storm.  Or a deep contemplation of a mountain.  There is no element of worship.

 

 

 

 

 

Just to add a bit, on that contemplation, from one of my favourite "classics" (Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos):
 

Quote

How long [...] would it take dump trucks to cart away an isolated mountain, say Japan's Mount Fuji, to ground level? Assume trucks come every fifteen minutes, twenty-four hours a day, are instantaneously filled with mountain dirt and rock, and leave without getting in each other's way. [...] a period [of] five thousand to ten thousand years required to move the 12,000-foot Mount Fuji by truck.

 

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

2 hours ago, RevBogovac said:

 

Just to add a bit, on that contemplation, from one of my favourite "classics" (Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos):
 

 

 

 

 

Consider the damage done to mountains, by the coal industry.  Their strip mining has done worse.

 

 

[RevBogovac]

1 hour ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

 

 

Consider the damage done to mountains, by the coal industry.  Their strip mining has done worse.

 

 

 

 

True, but still... the sheer numbers (to me) are "fun" contemplating... 

 

 

 

[Jonathan H. B. Lobl]

4 hours ago, RevBogovac said:

 

 

True, but still... the sheer numbers (to me) are "fun" contemplating... 

 

 

 

 

 

"Fun"?  Maybe.  The majesty of a mountain, in it's glory, is worth contemplating.

 

   

 

 

[RevBogovac]

14 hours ago, Jonathan H. B. Lobl said:

 

 

"Fun"?  Maybe.  The majesty of a mountain, in it's glory, is worth contemplating.

 

   

 

 

 

 

Yeah, it says something about me; it just gives me a "spiritual moment" putting things in (numerical) perspective... 

 

Another example would be a numerical comparison of the number of grains of sand on our planet and the number of stars in our universe... just for (my?) fun and perspective...