I’m not sure if this is the right community to post in (maybe y’all can comment more appropriate ones if that’s the case) but basically, I’m not sure what I believe in spiritually. While I believe in an afterlife and that my loved ones who are no longer here are there I’m uncertain If I believe in god, reincarnation, chakras, etc. I’m uncertain which religion to try to validate this belief that my loved ones are in a better place, but I know that I want life/spiritual guidance, community, and inclusion (both as a Queer person and a general outsider.) I just need some help figuring this part of myself out, is there anyone I can talk to about this? What should I do?
Many years ago I realised that any believe system based on fear of something can’t be trusted. If it tries to manipulate you in any way, it’s just that, manipulation. Maybe that was helpful centuries ago among fearful people, I don’t know.
From what was left, all that stuff didn’t really matter, specially if it was true because it is some sort of wait and see and meanwhile it doesn’t affect me.
There was a book I read maybe 25 years ago about this that helped a lot to shape how I see spiritualism. I could try to find it if you’re interested, I don’t think it would be hard to find.
Fin some balanced perspectives. Remember people on Lemmy are fanatics, just with atheism and Linux instead of Jesus or Donald Trump. Thanks opinions here with a grain of salt and talk to people in the real world. People you respect and whose spirituality makes sense to you.
Not spiritual myself but you might want to look into Unitarian Universalism. It’s all about diversity, inclusivity, and spiritual exploration without a particular set of required beliefs or dogma. I believe it’s mostly concentrated in the US but you might find congregations elsewhere around the globe.
As a staunch antitheist, I really can’t disagree. The unitarians are pretty great. I personally know a minister and he’s very big on community outreach, supporting other local support programs like our independent food rescue, and preaching a very positive and inclusive message with minimal woo. And he has never once asked me to attend church.
just came here to recommend them. like, op doesn’t really have to have a religion, but i totally understand the question of having a spirituality and wanting to experience it in a group, and the unitarian universalists are the place to go. distancing progressively from this bullseye of sorts, i’d look after buddhism, spiritism, quakerism, some currents of anglicanism and some alternative catholic churches, such as the liberal.
I reckon ‘wrestling’ is probably the wrong approach. I also reckon it’s pointless to worry about what happens to you after you die. The only thing you have knowledge of or control over are the the things that happen prior to that, so focus on that.
Yep, we have this one short and precious life. Should not waste it thinking too much about the eternity of un-being that comes after and rather make the most of the time we have here.
every religion and philosophical idea regarding spirituality is man made.
with that comes all mans motivations and ignorance.
personally, this puts both spirituality and religion on tenuous grounds if not outright fiction.
i feel we will experience the same thing after our death that we did before our birth; nothing.
Experience itself is a fiction. What you see through your eyes or hear through your ear is a fiction, a fiction you decide to believe.
Nothing says you have to believe the same thing everyday, or even moment to moment. Think of your spirituality as kind of story, or a painting, or a song that you sing to yourself. Wouldn’t it be boring to sing the same song every day? There isn’t just one “greatest” song/poem/story/painting because you can’t fit all human experience or emotion into just one of them. I like to treat spirituality this way. Play with your relationship to life’s mysteries. Make an art of it to entertain and comfort yourself.
To be clear, I have some core values that I don’t change, and these inform my politics and how I interact with other people. When it comes to things like death, “the meaning of life”, the origins of the universe etc, I’m most comfortable with fluidity.
I thought all bots blindly believed in silicon heaven. I mean where else would all of the calculators go?
No silicon heaven? How preposterous!
Lol I truly don’t know why my account appears as a bot account, maybe because I deleted the app then redownloaded it? Idk, but that aside what advice would you give me? I feel like I need this to help give me the strength to get through the hell of life. I feel so broken, so why not try and find something to (at least mostly) help fill the void?
That’s because “Bot account” is enabled in your account’s settings.
Oh oops, I didn’t know you could do that. I reported them for being a bot posing as a human xD 😅
I truly don’t know why my account appears as a bot account
it should be an option in your user settings
should be in the section with a bunch of check boxes, near the bottom
In my personal journey, I came to be permanently skeptical of all organized religions. None of them are infallible, all of them are a cult to a degree. Here are some other beliefs I hold today:
1 - There might be something real behind exorcisms and hauntings, regardless of the validity of the religions who treat them. I base this on conversations I’ve held with witnesses I trust.
2 - I don’t think there is only one higher power. Whether there are tiers, I cannot say.
3 - The evidence for reincarnation is fascinating. Check out the history of the university of Virginia and it’s department dedicated to the supernatural.
4 - Some people can see/commune with the dead. Whether any can do it at will is another story. Most of the people I believe are private about it, most of those who sell the service seem phony.
5 - Although I don’t believe in any religion, I was my best self when I did. Faith in a moral cause does wonders for the soul, regardless of factuality. Prayer, meditation, and ritual are good for the soul. Community is incredible.
Aye organized religion is difficult. One church will be very tolerant and actually follow the teaching that their Holy book say: Love thy neighbours.
Others are just racist and discriminatory c*nts.
I’d really wish a new religion would be founded. Without all the outdated cultural, zeitgeist, views. Neo-Christiniaty/Islam, whatever one would call it. The core message is often right. Work and live together for a better world.
New religions are founded every day. The issue is that they are either united by notions, which are squishy, or by a cult leader claiming divine inspiration. The squishy ones don’t last long, or else get taken over by a cult leader.
I have this displaying as a bot account? 🤖
It’s a journey and you don’t have to fit into anyone else’s box. Anyone with a firm, unwavering belief has really just given up exploring.
Spirituality is just the space between our understanding and reality. While many, even in this thread, advocate for creating an idealistic fantasy in this gap for your own mental “health” or pleasure; personally, I don’t think it’s necessary to avoid hopelessness, and in fact is harmful when these fantasies act as blinders to reality in the one existence we get.
In a very real way, every cell that makes up the people we’ve lost recycles into the world around us. We are made of the universe before us, and will become the universe after us. So while our consciousness as we know it is temporary, our existence is not.
Spirituality is the system you use to create reality. Reality is not a given, it’s something you build for yourself. What you’re describing is also a very specific spiritual and metaphysical system.
Same here. I was raised a Christian. Luckily the good types, love, community and peace. Then in my teenage years went atheist as I developed the classic Anti religion doctrine that it causes more harm than good. And now as young adult I have rekindled my spiritual side and take inspiration from Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and even Norse paganism and Greek patheon.
I still struggle to actually devote myself to one religion. On one side this keeps me floating and ungrounded. But to actually take the step to go to church etc also doesn’t feel necessary for me. On the other hand it allows me find my own way with God(s).
It depends on what you’re looking for. If you need something in life that really becomes your Red Line, that guides every action, then find a church/community and attend it. If you need a spiritual outlet then stay free forming it and take what works for you.
I think what you need is Britt Hartley and her book No Nonsense Spirituality. She understands the common elements of different religions that are important to us psychologically, and explains how to bring them into your life without the need for faith in a particular deity.
Can you not get life guidance, community and inclusion without having to believe in the supernatural?
Yeah probably, but some of us really do feel a certain reassurance/calming feeling with God(s).
Study up on other religions. Keep the parts that make sense to you personally and discard the things that don’t. Think of it as building your own religion from scratch.
Reminds me of the Tech N9ne song Klusterfuk.
