Something I've noticed is that Veeky Forums is possibly one of the most spiritual communities I've ever seen on the internet without it specifically espousing religion.
The common stereotype is that heavy readers today are deeply atheist and pessimistic, and though the brooding artist image is still the majority, there's a surprising amount of people here who are deeply spiritual.
Any ideas why this could be?
Hypothesis: Veeky Forums is full of homos
Reading, if you actually read, and a variety of things at that, has you encountering a lot of different philosophies and perspectives. Reading leads to empathy, and to empathize with so much I feel can only lead to developing some kind of spiritual connection between the world, yourself and others.
At least I believe this is what happened with me.
Pessimistic or cynical atheism only makes your personal search for meaning more urgent
Aesthetics and bureaucracy are the closest you can get to atheist religions. This is coming from a NEET aesthete
Because we have read Jung, and we understood that being religious is important for having a healthy mind, user.
OP said spiritual, not religious.
not that guy but what is the difference between religious and spiritual? a lot of times I see them synonymous
I have wondered this myself, and wondered if my own brand of nameless 'spirituality' wherein I have essentially deified myself, or 'the self' in a kind of solipsistic narcissism comes from reading. It probably did. I think I read a lot of books way too young when I wasn't able to properly process them- Dostoevsky at sixteen is merely an introduction to nihilism rather than anything with higher implications- and my loose belief in something bigger than myself results from a years long scrabble for any way out of my nihilistic slump. There is 'something' better than myself that I can and must aspire to.
Furthermore I think reading philosophers requires a certain amount of deification, or at least saintliness- you are giving your entire way of thinking over to someone else, that's powerful on a level that an irreligious man never has a need to use and will never allow himself to use because he sees it as a weakness. It's just another muscle to be exercised.
They are not the same, but they overlap.
Also, I blame that nigger Plato.
Intuition is the driver of divinity. We grow, we dream, we are reborn. If you have never experienced this wellspring at the quantum level, it can be difficult to exist. Being, look within and beckon yourself. Although you may not realize it, you are psychic. How should you navigate this eternal cosmos?
Without transcendence, one cannot believe. Yes, it is possible to extinguish the things that can disrupt us, but not without balance on our side. The complexity of the present tie seems to demand a summoning of our hearts if we are going to survive. Imagine an unfolding of what could be. It is a sign of things to come. We are being called to explore the nexus itself as an interface between flow and potential. We are at a crossroads of curiosity and selfishness. We are in the midst of a Vedic refining of fulfillment that will align us with the planet itself. Our conversations with other beings have led to a refining of supra-authentic consciousness. Throughout history, humans have been interacting with the quantum soup via pulses. Humankind has nothing to lose. Reality has always been electrified with messengers whose brains are enveloped in stardust.
I don't think about it too much, but as I understand it the term "Religious" has a structured and systemic connotation to it that alludes to things like Catholicism, Islam. Spirituality is more about obtaining fulfillment, beit from religion or from art or relationships. It isn't about following a code or rules but possessing and seeking fulfillment and purpose.
>The common stereotype is that heavy readers today are deeply atheist and pessimistic
How's the 9th grade going, OP?
this is the relativity of understanding, or the peacock's tail in alchemy. most people live in their ethnocentric perspectives, believing in sorrowful and joyful things. this is the negredo (a world of dualities). by purging one's self of these dualities by means of a black sun, one whitens one's self. in one white light (albedo) there is all the world's colors (this the similar to the law of refraction in psychics). we live within each color (which is culture) and dance and mingle and enjoy ourselves. but, we must understand that all of these colors (when combined) form the one white light. in this, one passes the stage of relativity and become the phoenix bird of eternal flight (i.e, the rubedo).
I feel it, brother.
Bugs... Easy on the ayahuasca.
Not the user you replied to, but i enojy art and wouldn't consider myself religious. I would guess spirituality has to do with a belief in trascendance or some shit like that. But not like in a natural way like the an idea being spread or remembered, more like 'omg quantum physics implies this world = virtua,l then our vital forces are the only truth!!2!'
Anyways, not sure what im doing here, i was supposed to be browsing mulpee, im soo fucking tired i missclicked
Yeah it's a bit nutty sounding, but you can always take it metaphorically and it is applicable to your life even if you can't relate to the science of alchemy.
You didn't comprehend what I said at all, I'll let you know that.
The dreamscape is buzzing with supercharged electrons. We exist as supercharged electrons. We reflect, we exist, we are reborn. Who are we? Where on the great mission will we be reborn? Humankind has nothing to lose. We are in the midst of a life-affirming invocation of choice that will give us access to the planet itself.
>psychics
physics
Welcome. You have learned that 'words read you' also. Black ink? Black Iris? Information? Bypass the back and forth?
You are describing an introduction to infinity.
I have a serious question for you guys: What is the difference between a certain aesthetic feeling, and spirituality? For example, when people talk about how they feel something "more" and that they're very spiritual, as contrasted with someone who reads something like War and Peace and really derives immense pleasure and meaning out of it, what is the actual difference between the two, if there is any?
aesthetic items are juxtaposed with their opposite (which is often outcast). the spiritual person does not outcast this Other, but accepts it, even though it is the antithesis to aesthetics. in a sense, All is accepted, whether it be aesthetic or not. also, spiritual people (in general, mind you) have usually been broken at some point of their philosophical travels. this can be compared to the tower card of the tarot or the idea of a black swan. all you once believed (or interpreted to be true) ends up being nothing more than an illusion, which formed your life into a lie (what you believed was a truth was nothing more than a relative interpretation). this form of metanoia reshapes the psyche into something more holistic in perspective, one that encompassing of the Pan (or All) that is. it has nothing to do with pleasure, user.
there is no clear line between aesthetics and ethics
and any personal ethics is necessarily "spiritual" insofar as it must exist unsupported by facts
Contrarian distancing from the euphoric fedora archetype, Veeky Forums as a whole also has been ironically embracing right wing ideologies for years, which is why you see so much christ shilling on here
I could personally argue that I've always tried to find the flaws in everything and everyone, friends and family say that I'm quite analytical when approaching ideas and I can have a lot of empathy towards someone else's viewpoint quite easily, so that helped me toy with spirituality.
When I was a teenager I thought like a Fedora-lord denying God and spirituality. I thought that would lead me to a better life, because I thought people that followed any metaphysical meaning were dumb and the cause of why the world was on it's state, so doing the opposite meant I was on the right track. However I wasn't fulfilled at all, quite the opposite, I came to realize I was a horrible/toxic/immature person and all around me during college/university I saw like-minded people that were awful too. I tried to challenge my world view so the first step was to check religions, mysticism and anything that could hold my interest on the topic.
While I'm not a religious man right now, I came to realize (thanks in part to meditation and reading) that we have a spiritual side on ourselves, and it can be filled by very different things depending on your personality. That's part of your growth and I don't like criticizing most choices, some feel connected to nature, others get that feeling from looking at something beautiful, isolation might be the path for few, parenthood might be rewarding for some, etc... My personal realization was that: 1) It's more about trying to find the sweet-spot between being religious (as in dogmatic) and atheistic (chaotic or nihilistic), coming to terms to something that fits your life, it's just that the extremes are dangerous and boring. 2) We need to feed that spiritual side of the mind in order to keep it growing, denying something out of pure ego seems childish.
Some of these things are symbolic too, but that doesn't mean they don't work. I've tried to thank God/The All/Nature/The Universe/Whatever fills that role for you/ every day for the life I have and the experiences I've gone through, and I have been a more thankful person to those around.
Atheist != non-spiritual
I don't know what you are trying to say at all.
wilde has a discussion on it in de profundis, but he does end up catholic so his praise of that aesthetic might have more to do with his spirituality than the spirituality of aesthetic itself. ymmv don't worry if you wind up hindu
Catholic here. Other way around for me. Reading and logic and legalism are a big part of the faith. I'd expect Jews to read a lot too because they argue well from texts and precedent.
Protestants only have to memorize one book, and I'd expect they only read one YA series because of that.
Is spirituality necessarily ethics?
You sound like a shill for globalism and the destruction of all cultures by blending all distinctions into bland meaninglessness. Dress it up in esoteric woo-woo metaphors all you like.
If globalism scares you, you have nothing to define you other than your culture.
What they're talking about is the absolute opposite of meaninglessness. You will never reach understand anything if you mire yourself in your own subjectivities.
I see there is a tree growing out of your subjects head. Perhaps the roots embedded in his brain explain the inane content of your argument.
this argument is unsound
Why?
for me spirituality is recognizing that radiowaves are invisible and yet we can pick them up with a radio, and that there is an easy possibility that there are many other kinds of waveforms of increasing frequency beyond the known spectrum which permeate the world
simply because they extend beyond the gambit of our organism doesn't mean they do not exist
knowing this is primarily what spirituality means to me
that there is a subtle body which your consciousness 'returns' to after death and all that that implies is a great remedy to existential dread
Plato says that the Good is intertwined with the Beautiful is intertwined with the True. Things which are very good and very true are beautiful. When you read of mystical and religious experiences throughout history, the people who have had the visions speak of them as being unutterably beautiful.
In my own opinion, most of the search for aesthetic/artistic joy is just a sublimated/weaker version of the joys of spirituality.
>In my own opinion, most of the search for aesthetic/artistic joy is just a sublimated/weaker version of the joys of spirituality.
I can appreciate this sentiment but you must realize that creation, the universe, is an act of divine artistry by "god", and in the act of creating ourselves we are coming closer to the divine source of creation, which is creativity in action
there are many paths to the ground of being
ah, i wanted to add to this something which Buckminster Fuller said, which is in my experience correct
He says that any theory or idea which comes into his mind or that he formulates, if he does not feel it to be beautiful then he knows it is not true
This is a wonderful concept
It leads back to the supremacy of imagination
That is to say, the more beautiful you can imagine a universe to be, the more beautiful a fantasy you can contrive, you are actually closer to recognizing the state of reality and not merely escaping into fantasy
imagination is key to knowing reality in this sense, the more beautiful a thing you can imagine, the closer you are to knowing the truth, because the truth is the most beautiful thing anyone can imagine, or rather more beautiful than
Could you explain this a little more in detail?
Woah. You blew me away. Thank you.
Hypothesis: you're one
Veeky Forums contrarianism
I've always felt that religion is the bureaucratic arm of faith or spirituality. Sort of the way government is to democracy.
Antithesis: The real world is full of homos, and Veeky Forums are the real heteros
that expression really rustles my jimmies.
it is because you are an unintelligent brainlet
No. It's because I actually have an MA in religious studies and unlike you, have studied the matter a little, as Newton famously said.
...
t. PhD in Pseudery.
Or a basic suspicion of rapacious megacorporations, and distrust of liberty-crushing, supranational bureaucracies ...
No, it IS because you are a brainlet I assure you. Don't get triggered like a retard next time and maybe this part of you will remain in the dark.