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Sprituality and Atheism
I miss the spirtual in my life as an atheist and have been working on how to increase this in my life because I need it.
I have had what seems like intense spritual feelings while watching my grand-children being born or hearing certain music (not necessarily religious) or having climbed to the top of a mountain (not happening anymore).
Because atheists do not do groups or rituals ( and really who wants all that,) it is difficult some days to practice daily appreciation for the beauty of life. Especially when it is only Wednesday and you hear there will be snow the rest of the week and into the weekend.
I am not sure what I am trying to convey here. I like my 'religious' feelings but I don't and cannot believe in religious thoughts. I don't yearn to go back to religion but I need to work on more meaning for my life. I think.
Comments and suggestions would be helpful.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adriana on
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Radu, when you reach a certain age, you appreciate the snow less :) The 'winter blues" come more easily as you age.
I'm not there yet, I still love going out in the snow and I actually feel awe and great feelings of belonging to the universe when I walk out of my building and powerful New York City is buried under a blanket of thick snow, muffling all the sounds, forcing people to slow down, etc. My husband, on the other hand, only sees the pain in the butt that the commute to work becomes :-)
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I get a "spiritual" buzz in my mind when I make something that I like either work related or other and as Radu says you can see beauty and meaning in everyday life.
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The feelings you describe are probably familiar to everyone. Wish we could find a new word, only because most people connect spirituality with religion. Whether that's your definition or not, that is what most people think when they hear the word,
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Main Entry: spirituality Part of Speech: noun Definition: immateriality Synonyms: incorporeality, otherworldliness, unearthliness Main Entry: spirituality Part of Speech: noun Definition: piety Synonyms: devoutness, holiness, piousness, religiosity,religiousness, spiritualty Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2011 by the Philip Lief Group.
Cite This SourceRelated WordsMain Entry: spirituality Part of Speech: noun1, noun2 RelatedAdjectives:inherent, universal, anagogic, animastic,asomatous, astral, clear, disembodied,ectoplasmic, extramundane, farseeing, holistic,hylic, immaterial, immateriate, imponderable,incarnate, incomprehensible, incorporal,incorporeal, indescribable, inexplicable, innate,innominate, integral, material, moral, organic,personal, pneumatoscopic, realized, revealed,spiritual, subjective, timeless, unearthly,unembodied, unextended, unspeakable,unspoken, unwrittenMain Entry: devotion Part of Speech: noun Definition: commitment; loyalty Synonyms: adherence, adoration, affection, allegiance,ardor, attachment, consecration, constancy,dedication, deference, devotedness,devotement, devoutness, earnestness,enthusiasm, faithfulness, fealty, fervor, fidelity,fondness, intensity, love, observance, passion,piety, reverence, sanctity, service, sincerity,spirituality , worship, zeal Antonyms: apathy, carelessness, indifference, neglect,negligence Main Entry: holiness Part of Speech: noun Definition: religiousness Synonyms: asceticism, beatitude, blessedness, consecration,devotion, devoutness, divineness, divinity, faith,godliness, grace, humility, inviolability, piety,purity, religiosity, reverence, righteousness,sacredness, saintliness, sanctity, spirituality ,unction, venerableness, virtuousness, worship Antonyms: agnosticism, atheism, sin, unholiness, wickedness Main Entry: psyche Part of Speech: noun Definition: innermost self; personality Synonyms: anima, animus, character, ego, essential nature,individuality, inner child, inner self, mind, pneuma,self, soul, spirit, spirituality , subconscious, truebeing, élan vital Antonyms: body, physicality Main Entry: religion Part of Speech: noun Definition: belief in divinity; system of beliefs Synonyms: church, communion, creed, cult, denomination,devotion, doctrine, higher power, morality, myth,mythology, observance, orthodoxy, pietism,piety, prayer, preference, religiosity, rites, ritual,sacrifice, sanctification, sect, spiritual-mindedness, spirituality , standards,superstition, theology, veneration Antonyms: agnosticism, atheism, disbelief
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According to the visual thesaurus, spirituality derives into spirituality.
Wouldn't that be circular?
Or does it mean that spirituality leads to more spirituality?
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Permalink Reply by Jean Marie on
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doone fournd a graph on spirituality? ha ha, i'm not surpriseD!!!!!!!!
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I prefer using the word "awe" myself. It's the feeling of extreme happiness and elation at seeing beauty; the beauty of nature, of feelings, of feeling your body in total harmony with its surroundings (to say something cheesy, sorry). It's the feeling my dog gets when I let him off the leash at the park and he explodes in a speedy, un-concerted zig-zagging run, his tongue hanging out and flapping in the wind.
I'm going to sound crazy, but I get this feeling in the middle of a long run, when nothing else matters except the smell of the air, the rhythm of my breathing, the squirrel that runs up a tree, the oriole that hides in the reeds, the Canada geese that scatter in flight as I approach.
And of course, I get this feeling when I hear my sons' manly, roaring laughter, when I speak to my sister in Uruguay for an hour and we remember something funny my mom used to do, when I hug a dear friends, etc.
Life is all about human connections, collaboration with others, friendship, appreciating of nature, awe at new discoveries, the pleasure of figuring something out.
Not sure if this is what Katy was thinking about, but I think it is, at least in part.
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Yes i do, I love life and I enjoy it unabashedly. It is not hard for me to experience awe and amazement at the natural world. I realize I'm very lucky, because it's my personality, combined with my upbringing as well. I never stop acknowledging that I am a very privileged person.
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Yes awe, with curiosity, astonishment, discovery, amazement, the sheer high of understanding something. The physical and mental effects of being moved by one's understanding are unmistakeably profound and allow a chance to actually see and witness oneself change.... with no spirit involved.
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Permalink Reply by Robert E. O'Dell on
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I think that among the primary motivations to embrace religion is the common stiuation where a friend of an acquaintance tells you that a member of their family has a medical condition that may be (or is nearly certainly) terminal. By saying "I'll be praying for him/her" your sympathy appears to take an active role. If the family member dies you have also stated your expression that they didn't really die, they just "went to a better place". Thus, the theist can think how much good they just did (by promoting a fantasy). The athiest (if not taking some actual active role to assist) is left with saying something like: "I'm so sorry, I wish him/her my best, let me know if I can do anything to help." Thus, without actually saying it, you have inferred; that is bad, but we all have to go some time.
There are times when realty sucks; but does that mean that we should embrace fictions to avoid facing life's trying times? Lying to ourselves about "spirituality" not only takes away much of the beauty and wonder of life, it fosters dishonesty in other contexts, such as politics. There is no greater measure of a person's integrity than his ability to face his own mortality. The optimist can hope that there will be a day when that is a commonly held perception.
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Grief's Depths
Meghan O'Rourke follows it down:
[T]he story of Orpheus, it occurs to me, is not just about the desire of the living to resuscitate the dead but about the ways in which the dead drag us along into their shadowy realm because we cannot let them go. So we follow them into the Underworld, descending, descending, until one day we turn and make our way back.
Now and then, you think you discern glimpses of that other life. Running along a quiet road four months after her death, I thought I felt my mother near me, just to the side. I turned, and saw nothing except a brown bird with a gray ruff and strangely tufted feathers. I did not know its name. She would have.
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