by stillin 15 Replies latest jw friends
What does being a "spiritual person" mean to you? The religion would have had us to believe that our place in the Organization is definitive of that. Or how often we pray. Or even who we know.
I am cut adrift and I keep going back to what I thought was spiritual before I was interrupted by the religion.
Any takers?
A 'spiritual person' to me is a person who can be aware of those things that you can actually hear, see, taste or recognize especially when there is something special going on.
A sunrise or sunset that is wildly different from the norm Is a "hey come look at this" moment.
Whatever it is one realizes it was always there but you just didn't see it or hear it.
Smell plays a role as well. A baking pie or cake can trigger a reaction. That evergreen Christmas tree can cause a spiritual reaction as memories of past celebrations flood in.
It's like a door opening up or a window letting in the smell or sight of something that triggers a response.
It can be a collective moment like fireworks, a stilling of the crowd as everyone watches the spectacle. Or a music performance.
Being a spiritual person has nothing to do with religion....... though religion has always claimed it.
It's a special moment when you see or hear something....... that allows you to get beyond yourself.
Beyond physical...inner connection with universal energy...your spirit...the qualities you embrace and express. The love and compassion...your ethics.... Realization that you are human and that there is more than what is tangible. Appreciation that our scope is limited..just a few thoughts on something quite elusive. I do believe love is the key but it gets skewed.
Spirituality = inspired imagination through appealing emotions
JW spirituality has nothing to do with heart condition and everything about your works to support their real estate empire.
A baby's laugh.
True that, Wasanelder. Or a baby's birth.
Religion separates people with the Us vs. You mentality, we are right and everyone else is wrong. People have even murdered and gone to war over this nonsense. You tell a religious person that your spiritual, most of the time they will pull away from you. I have first hand experienced this with my religious family. Those family members were never JWs. Religion is based on fear, and all religions have a fear base behind their rules. Aka you don't do this or you do that there will be consequences to those; be it burning in hell, destruction, or any other number of ways they come up. Spirituality does not base itself on fear, but love. Religion uses the word love, but there is always something attached to their version of love, which is not true love.
The term "spirit" or "spiritual" comes from a latin word meaning "to breath".
Religion's, and especially watchtower's hijacking that word, makes me repulsed by the word "spiritual".
Being spiritual can come from an event or experience that changes the chemistry of the brain that gives a person a hightened awareness or consciousness.
This can be triggered by religious, traumatic, euphoric and drug induced experiences.
I'm off to work for now, but if you're interested I'll relate my own personal, trauma induced "spiritual" experience later on this afternoon.
To me recognising we have spiritual needs means there is more to life than filling our physical needs for water, food, shelter and sex. We also need music, art, literature, creativity, love, friendship, travel and curiosity about how the universe works.
From prehistoric times when we painted on cave walls and made music with our voices and danced for the joy of it we knew there was more to life than physical needs.
I think we also need a purpose but that should be personal to each person. Whether we live for saving lives as a doctor, raising children to be happy and healthy or following our sports team, we need a passion and a reason to be alive. We shouldn't let anyone dictate our life's purpose, that's our decision. No one in silly robes quoting an ancient book should decide for us.
