I view Jane Goodall's experience which she describes in her 2018 Earth Day message as spiritual. She states:
“There was a moment when I was in Gombe National Park and it began to pour rain, and then the rain stopped and I could smell the smell of wet hair on the chimpanzees and I could hear the insects singing loudly, and I just felt absolutely at one and it was a sense of awe and wonder. Out in the rainforest you learn how everything is interconnected and each little species, even though it may seem insignificant has a role to play in the tapestry of life.” (courtesy of Google)
Religion, based on some belief or dogma, is a social artifact or institution. Institutions provide structure and a sense of meaning in human social existence. Some other examples of institutions are the educational system and the legal system.
Religion may help to provide psychological security by helping some to deal with the uncertainties of daily life and the event of death – something that awaits each one of us.
Just as a child may feel comforted and secure in the caring provided by its parents or significant others, so too, in later life, many seek a similar relationship with a “supernatural entity” as espoused by religion.
Anthropomorphism is a key factor in the difference between being spiritual versus being religious. (CS, in recogniton of this difference, caters for it by having a special category: “spiritual but not religious”)
The path that leads past heaven and far beyond the highest god-realms runs straight from the spot where we happen to be standing It is mysterious and invisible to minds befogged by concepts such as good and evil light and dark going and arriving self and other is and is not
To perceive it requires the seeing beyond sight the hearing beyond sound The truth is grasped when the mind in its stillness reaches the no-place beyond thought Knowledge is discarded Wisdom remains God and no-god are found to be identical
No mental concept is involved only experience -a unique perception joy-bestowing that leads to imperturbable tranquillity to recognition of the beauty inherent in every flower in every grain of dust cement or dung and to unqualified liberation from the human state The experience is nameless being luminously perceptible but utterly beyond description This is the way of mysticism
Unfortunately everything pertaining to mysticism lies beyond definition and description Transcending logic it deals with truth that is attainable only by direct intuition The Taoist Lao-tzu says of it: He who knows does not speak He who speaks does not know
“After a while the mind is full with information stored in the memory. Next people start to consider that all the information stored are valid an true and they start to use those as those are. This is the belief.”
I do not think a person has to wait until his/her mind is full with information stored in his/her memory before he/she believes the information that is valid and true. Besides, how does a person when his/her mind is full with information?
"What you wrote here is the product of your mind. Is based on what you read, saw, experimented. Is based on your memory, on your past. Is commng from your mind".
I assume that your reference to memory relates to conceptual knowledge acquired through what a person has “read, saw, experimented” (as you put it).
Mystical experience to which this blog refers is a direct immediate insight into Ultimate Reality linked with the realization of the unity of all things. Direct immediate insight or direct intuition is not based on conceptual knowledge. In fact, it is at a deeper level than conceptual knowledge.
I agree that through the process of meditation, one may come to a level of consciousness that is deeper than conceptual knowledge. However, I do not think that such a process of meditation is a necessary requirement to experience the stated level of consciousness that is deeper than conceptual knowledge.
Such a level of consciousness can also be experienced directly as a “mystical experience” of which John Blofeld states:
No mental concept is involved only experience -a unique perception joy-bestowing that leads to imperturbable tranquillity to recognition of the beauty inherent in every flower in every grain of dust cement or dung and to unqualified liberation from the human state The experience is nameless being luminously perceptible but utterly beyond description This is the way of mysticism
Unfortunately everything pertaining to mysticism lies beyond definition and description Transcending logic it deals with truth that is attainable only by direct intuition The Taoist Lao-tzu says of it: He who knows does not speak He who speaks does not know
Jane Goodall's experience, which I have mentioned, in which she “ became tuned in” to the interconnectedness of the different species in the rainforest and experienced a sense of awe and wonder provides an example of this.
Thanks for your inputs. Based on what I have read by Osho, Maya is between Reality and Illusion. Through meditation a person can go beyond Maya and experience Ultimate Reality.
I feel certain that there are CS members who have had similar experiences. I wish to invite you to share such experiences with others here if you do not mind.
I have had such experiences of my own which I hope to post in subsequent blogs.
The path that leads past heaven and far beyond the highest god-realms runs straight from the spot where we happen to be standing It is mysterious and invisible to minds befogged by concepts such as good and evil light and dark going and arriving self and other is and is not
To perceive it requires the seeing beyond sight the hearing beyond sound The truth is grasped when the mind in its stillness reaches the no-place beyond thought Knowledge is discarded Wisdom remains God and no-god are found to be identical
No mental concept is involved only experience -a unique perception joy-bestowing that leads to imperturbable tranquillity to recognition of the beauty inherent in every flower in every grain of dust cement or dung and to unqualified liberation from the human state The experience is nameless being luminously perceptible but utterly beyond description This is the way of mysticism
Unfortunately everything pertaining to mysticism lies beyond definition and description Transcending logic it deals with truth that is attainable only by direct intuition The Taoist Lao-tzu says of it: He who knows does not speak He who speaks does not know
“...You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars...”
The above-mentioned quote from the Desiderata reflects our interconnectedness to everything in the universe. It is a feeling of awe and reverence which may be termed “spiritual” and is independent of any anthropomorphism which is a key factor of religion.
I concur with your statement. A person does not need religion to be spiritually aware.
“It is being fully aware of the world and all its animate and inanimate parts - animals; plants; mountains; rivers, and of course humans, and being fully part of that world.”
Here is the poem that I posted, and to which I referred:
Spiritual but not Religious Author: socrates44
Spiritual but not religious what does it really mean This claim is quite prevalent on today's scene
Is it just a new age fad or is it contradictory If in fact it is the latter then what is the discrepancy
Religion has divided a person into body, mind and spirit It claims it seeks the spirit's welfare and is sincere about it
If religion really deals with the spirit then why is there such a fuss that many still continue to claim they are spiritual but not religious ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Posted: Oct 24, 2013
About this poem: Many persons today claim to be spiritual but not religious, even at CS. I am curious to know the views of CS members on this topic and to share them with others. What do you think? Please comment especially if you are such a person!
Religion, based on some belief or dogma, is a social artifact or institution. Institutions provide structure and a sense of meaning in human social existence. Some other examples of institutions are the educational system and the legal system.
Religion may help to provide psychological security by helping some to deal with the uncertainties of daily life and the event of death – something that awaits each one of us.
Just as a child may feel comforted and secure in the caring provided by its parents or significant others, so too, in later life, many seek a similar relationship with a “supernatural entity” as espoused by religion.
Anthropomorphism is a key factor in the difference between being spiritual versus being religious. (CS, in recogniton of this difference, caters for it by having a special category: “spiritual but not religious”)
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My Sunset Experience - Spiritual versus Religious
UnfayzedGlad to know you had a similar experience.
The feeling of awe and wonder it invokes is truly unique.
Again, I invite others to share their experiences.