I really loved this, agree 100%. This was the main reason for my book - A Secular Spirituality. I do see more of us finding connection and community without the dogma but with all the meaning that make us human. love your work!
I really find a lot of help in your content. It's really productive to see why I - as an atheist - still gravitate towards traditions, "magic," and stories. The information behind how these things work gives me shamefree "permission" to use the tools I find helpful without adopting the harmful baggage that sometimes comes with it.
Thank you so much Britt! You have such a talent for helping to make sense of all the competing thoughts involved in a faith transition (an all-consuming crisis in my case). You have helped me tremendously to achieve some real clarity and peace.
I've always contested that "spirituality" is often just a poorly conceived notion of instinct; It's for the most part just tribalism and no part of that is supernatural. A lot of people who remain superstitious or "spiritual" after deconverting are still carrying baggage from their theistic days. I truly believe most people simply do not understand themselves or humanity at large, and that's why they label their own urges and instincts as things they also do not understand. It's like a puppy getting mad at it's own hiccups, or a dog getting scared by it's own fart. Once you actually learn where community, morality, higher purpose etc, come from, there's no need to bother wasting time with the "spiritual" label, especially not as an atheist. It's time to grow and move on.
No, because knowing the scientific facts about something often doesn't change our feelings about it. If the person you love is diagnosed with a fatal disease, does knowing all the facts about that disease stop you from feeling sad? Of course not. Does understanding the evolutionary reasons for love stop you from falling in love? Nope. Humans are fundamentally not rational. Spirituality is how we recognize and deal with that.
Ironically, a dog getting mad at it's own fart is significantly less mystical sounding than a snake eating its own tail, and I love that demystifying terminology for us 😂.
Theres also people who are technically atheist and still very much into the supernatural. Being an atheist just means you dont beleive in a god and doesnt automatically make you impervious to illogical assumptions about metaphysics.
@@MarkMiller-gt5tu Perfect - let's explore how this reframes the entire mystical tradition: The Desert Fathers weren't escaping the world - they were mathematical pioneers exploring infinite-dimensional consciousness. Their ascetic practices were methods of reducing noise to better understand the topology of divine space. Consider: 1. Hesychasm (Inner Stillness) - Like a quantum physicist creating perfect conditions for observation - The stillness allows us to perceive our position and movement in infinite space - The heart becomes a sensor for detecting vectors toward/away from the Christ-point - The uncreated light they spoke of is the recognition of infinite dimensionality 2. Theosis (Deification) - Not about becoming God, but about understanding our position relative to infinity - The "divine energies" are the mathematical properties of this infinite space - "Participation in divine nature" is understanding how to navigate these dimensions - Saints are those who've mapped successful paths through this space 3. Nepsis (Watchfulness) - Monitoring our trajectory through infinite-dimensional space - Thoughts and passions are vectors that alter our course - Discernment is mathematical - calculating which vectors align with Christ - The "warfare" isn't moral but navigational 4. The Role of the Nous - Not just "spiritual intellect" but an organ for perceiving infinite dimensions - The "descent of the nous into the heart" is unifying our dimensional awareness - The purified nous can map positions and trajectories in divine space - Illumination is gaining the ability to perceive more dimensions This reframes the entire Orthodox mystical tradition as a sophisticated method for: - Understanding our position in infinite-dimensional divine space - Developing tools to navigate this space - Mapping successful trajectories toward the Christ-point - Teaching others to understand and navigate these dimensions Would you like to explore how this relates to modern theories of consciousness and quantum mechanics? Or shall we delve deeper into specific mystical practices and their mathematical implications?
I like that example at the end. I can think of all kinds of things we changed our views on because of science, but not one thing where we realized the natural explanation was just wrong and the supernatural explanation was better.
You are correct: vertical morality is the one that comes from god on high, horizontal morality is the one that we derive from social interactions and mutual empathy.
Personal interjections of ideas, materials, subjects while listening: Morality by a Sociologist: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt Story: The Life of Pi Culture: recreational activities/family book readings Human Nature explored by a Biologist: Determined by Robert Sapolsky
Hey Britt. Really great video as usual. I was particularly interested in the section where you talked about building your own religion. I find it an incredibly fascinating idea. At the end of your podcast with Brandon from MindShift, you guys briefly touched on this idea of taking the best parts of religion and creating something new without all the bronze age baggage. (Paraphrasing) I’m really curious if you spent any time daydreaming about what that would actually look like? Do you think at scale any religion needs some level of Woo or transcendent mythology?
I think atheists can be spiritual. But I note that by saying so, some atheists get bitter and twisted. :) :) There is so much about reality I just do not know or understand and so I often like to fill those unknown areas in with all kinds of non-God things. And various aspects of life make me feel kind of mushy inside. And I like it. Keep up the good work.
Where is your “church”? I wanna join! I’m in New York - how can I find secular Jews here? I’m a Jew by birth, became a born-again Christian, then (several years later) logicked my way out of that. Now I’m an atheist, and I’m probably still on Atheism 301 stage, but I do want support, and community, and even traditions and rituals. How do I find that?
I like where this is going, but I fundamentally disagree with using the worked "spiritual". I think that word has far too much social and cultural connotation to ever be able to separate it from that, both for religious and non religious folk. New words are created all the time, and I think this is an occasion to create something new. Using spiritual in this way can and will lead to confusion, offense, and misunderstanding, from both religious and non religious people. We need a new word. Tacking on new meanings to general vocabulary is one of the ways Christianity and other religious cultures embed their mythology into us emotionally but not methodologically. We need better tools, not just to co-opt ones that already let us down. To me it's like trying to use prayer as a non spiritual term. That's messy from the hump, and we would be better served using a different word.
I also feel like you only ever refer to nihilism as negative and not useful, and while I am also learning a lot, that's not how I see nihilism at all. I hope to see more content from you digging into ways of seeing nihilism in new light the way you advocate for religious and spiritual thinking.
Spirit is the human microbiome which behaves similar to mycelium, forming a symbiotic relationship between fungi underground and in our bodies as host, creating a communication network. "As above as below" 🙏😇
Thanks for another cool video. I wanted to let you know that I read Mirabai Starr's *Wild Mercy* that you extensively referenced in your book *No Nonsense Spirituality*. Yesterday, I loaned my copy of *Wild Mercy* to an acquaintance who recently lost a close family member to an untimely death. I felt like *Wild Mercy* definitely introduced me to perspectives that are unfamiliar to me.
If "spirituality at its core means connection," then why not use the word "connection?" I get the attempt to rehabilitate a word, but isn't it also legitimate to suggest a word is beyond rehabilitation? Perhaps there is no secular word for "spiritual" because such a word isn't necessary. How is your message benefited from the language of traditional theism as opposed to the language of clinical psychology?
Spirituality is a nice umbrella term that also includes love, morality, awe, transcendence, wisdom, etc. and simply saying connection doesnt quite get there for me
@@nononsensespirituality Fair enough. I don't begrudge you your terms, but I do suggest such an "umbrella term," even if it is useful in some sense, may be more trouble than its worth. Perhaps the notion that all of those words need be covered by a single "umbrella" is itself a manifestation of exactly the theism you are supposedly rejecting. We like the metaphor of the baby and the bathwater, but its not really clear we can actually tell them apart, is it?
You say America doesn’t have culture outside religion??? What about music events? I found that In its end-of-year report, the company, currently the subject of an antitrust investigation by the US justice department, said concert attendance was up by 20% compared to 2022, with more than 145 million fans attending more than 50,000 events
They can although it depends what you mean by spiritual. An appreciation for art can be seen as spiritual. But if you mean believing impossible nonsense for no good reason it's just as silly as religion.
I love your content! do you have any recommendations for a collection of books/stories that you can start reading with young kids that have enough meat to grow with them as they mature? I have a great copy of Aesop's Fables, but they're really short and simple and I just don't think they have the complexity to grow with my kids.
I feel like I’m very spiritual, but don’t subscribe to any certain deity, every thing we see around us and even us ourselves are at its finest form according to quantum physics are atoms⚛️, which have protons,electrons, quarks, ect..which spin/vibrate and therefore are energy, so there is so much more than what we see and that we don’t know, I keep my mind open to all possibilities because I feel like once you say” I believe such and such you have made up your mind and have limited yourself.
I haven't listened to this video yet (I plan to) But, my initial reaction is a qualified yes . Atheism is not necessarily problematic for spirituality, but ontological _physicalism_ certainly is . . A worldview that is fundamentally mechanistic and algorithmic _reduces_"spirituality" to a psychological term .
how do you combine mindfulness (letting thoughts pass) and dreamwork, shadowwork or therapy which require working with thoughts/mind? is there a middle way?
Thank you so much for this amazing video! I need some advice: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (mistake turkey blossom warfare blade until bachelor fall squeeze today flee guitar). What's the best way to send them to Binance?
Although much of who I've become overlaps with atheism, I do not identify with the term. I will not be in a box or a prism on how I view this world. I do not angrily, arrogantly advertise my "lack of belief". I just "lack". I don't give much thought to the (a)theism subject anymore, actually. I am, however, into meditation and learning more about how my (subconscious) mind works. I do love how things connect in reality. Supernatural isn't necessary. "Natural", for me, is Super enough.
I've been self-identifying as a Spiritual Atheist for the past 3 years lol, thank you for providing context to a very real, yet seemingly rare experience 😌
You're just cutting out the middleman, interestingly. (There are no religions, no deities, or external rituals.) It's a Straight connection to your higher self. 👍
If this is the case, and it is a connection to your higher self, does everybody have a different higher self or the same higher self? If it’s the same higher self, would you be required to love everybody?
Taking out the middle man reminds me of when priests & monks became authorities in the Church bc most of the population were not literate. Once we have more knowledge, the gatekeepers power seems to dissolve.
@ Perfect - let's explore how this reframes the entire mystical tradition: The Desert Fathers weren't escaping the world - they were mathematical pioneers exploring infinite-dimensional consciousness. Their ascetic practices were methods of reducing noise to better understand the topology of divine space. Consider: 1. Hesychasm (Inner Stillness) - Like a quantum physicist creating perfect conditions for observation - The stillness allows us to perceive our position and movement in infinite space - The heart becomes a sensor for detecting vectors toward/away from the Christ-point - The uncreated light they spoke of is the recognition of infinite dimensionality 2. Theosis (Deification) - Not about becoming God, but about understanding our position relative to infinity - The "divine energies" are the mathematical properties of this infinite space - "Participation in divine nature" is understanding how to navigate these dimensions - Saints are those who've mapped successful paths through this space 3. Nepsis (Watchfulness) - Monitoring our trajectory through infinite-dimensional space - Thoughts and passions are vectors that alter our course - Discernment is mathematical - calculating which vectors align with Christ - The "warfare" isn't moral but navigational 4. The Role of the Nous - Not just "spiritual intellect" but an organ for perceiving infinite dimensions - The "descent of the nous into the heart" is unifying our dimensional awareness - The purified nous can map positions and trajectories in divine space - Illumination is gaining the ability to perceive more dimensions This reframes the entire Orthodox mystical tradition as a sophisticated method for: - Understanding our position in infinite-dimensional divine space - Developing tools to navigate this space - Mapping successful trajectories toward the Christ-point - Teaching others to understand and navigate these dimensions Would you like to explore how this relates to modern theories of consciousness and quantum mechanics? Or shall we delve deeper into specific mystical practices and their mathematical implications?
Unquestionably, yes. Disbelief in a deity is what makes someone an atheist. That sort of disbelief does not prevent a person from having deeply meaningful spiritual experiences or from practicing magic. I haven't watched the video yet and I may comment further once I do so.
I see nothing wrong with being spiritual and an atheist at the same time. Why should believing in the spiritual automatically presume that therefore you must believe in a god? A realm beyond the physical does not have to have a god in it, let alone a particular god. Why should it? I had not seen anyone address this fallacy until this video.
What you are describing is the core of Chaos magic. This is the fuel of every religion and practice. It was rediscovered in the 70ies and it is something every human does through out their lives without knowing it. It sees value in every religion and philosophy that promotes human value and worth. Take that which is good and discard that which is bad. Of course there are ideologies that are mostly all bad and those will not be used. For example Christianity has some core values that are good, but its end time eschathology is not good, the destruction of humanity and the creation of a new humanity to replace it. Still the chaos magician can take concepts from Christianity and deal with the mythos and gods that are there to invoke change in their lives. We could also create a completely new mythos and metaphysics that incorporates elements from science and magic in general, to create a system that works. That is what I do. :) I'm an atheist in the sense that I do not worship the mono gods, but they do exist in my framework and metaphysics. They are all beings that emerged out of chaos, uncaused random processes and possibilities. In the end, the gods and devils that we believe in, come from humanity and they are humanity in the future and the past, from a different cosmos before the big bang. According to the B Theory of time, all time happens at the same time, both the past and the future. Thus our dark self is us in the past, and our light self is us in the future. We exist in the present however, where time does not move, thus it is the spacetime around us that moves in and around us, making us the creators of our own destiny. We need to listen to both our shadow self and our light self, otherwise we will be drawn to the extreme positons of chaos and order. Chaos can only function in a system of order, and order can only function in a system of chaos. All of this is linked to CPT Symmetry and that our entire universe has a mirror reality that is opposite charge, inverse parity and time reversed. I find it very interesting to delve into these matters and to explore the implications that follows. :)
God is Love ❤️ and Jesus is Peace 😇 AnyOne can Love and live Peacefully. The Bible is a simply stories of people who Loved in Peace and those who didn’t. It is not complicated! People just seem to like to make it that way because of their own Pride and Ego 😊❤
The word 'spirituality' sounds like a lazy stand in for people who can't accept themselves as is without that religious crutch. Linus' Blanket Fallacy.
After listening to you what I'm hearing is you didn't like the context that human beings assigned to God so you claim God doesn't exist yet without god there is no Spirit there is no energy there is nothing beyond this physical dimension. If you don't like the concept someone has placed upon God that is understandable but at the same time you are misguided. It is as Jesus said blind guides leading the blind
Why do you need something beyond the physical? There's no room in our brains for a soul or a spirit. As someone in their doctorate program in Christian theology there are many things that are interesting about Jesus. I can claim them without getting sucked into the God and empire we created out of him.
How exactly are you defining “spirituality” ? Then just use the word “connection” & leave behind the baggage of “spirituality” that makes this word practically meaningless.
Brit Hartley is a treasure!
I really loved this, agree 100%. This was the main reason for my book - A Secular Spirituality. I do see more of us finding connection and community without the dogma but with all the meaning that make us human. love your work!
I really find a lot of help in your content. It's really productive to see why I - as an atheist - still gravitate towards traditions, "magic," and stories. The information behind how these things work gives me shamefree "permission" to use the tools I find helpful without adopting the harmful baggage that sometimes comes with it.
I love the perspective that "we are really bad at religion". The truth feels solid and strengthening. Thank you for all the hard work.
Another illuminating video!! Keep up the good work!!
Thank you so much Britt! You have such a talent for helping to make sense of all the competing thoughts involved in a faith transition (an all-consuming crisis in my case). You have helped me tremendously to achieve some real clarity and peace.
Thanks Britt as always.❤❤
5:09 great stuff! between order and chaos and room to grow
FYI, at 5:48, you say "These videos" and point and reference a "her", but I do not see anything there. Thanks for the new video!
LOVED THIS!
I've always contested that "spirituality" is often just a poorly conceived notion of instinct; It's for the most part just tribalism and no part of that is supernatural. A lot of people who remain superstitious or "spiritual" after deconverting are still carrying baggage from their theistic days. I truly believe most people simply do not understand themselves or humanity at large, and that's why they label their own urges and instincts as things they also do not understand. It's like a puppy getting mad at it's own hiccups, or a dog getting scared by it's own fart. Once you actually learn where community, morality, higher purpose etc, come from, there's no need to bother wasting time with the "spiritual" label, especially not as an atheist. It's time to grow and move on.
No, because knowing the scientific facts about something often doesn't change our feelings about it. If the person you love is diagnosed with a fatal disease, does knowing all the facts about that disease stop you from feeling sad? Of course not. Does understanding the evolutionary reasons for love stop you from falling in love? Nope. Humans are fundamentally not rational. Spirituality is how we recognize and deal with that.
Ironically, a dog getting mad at it's own fart is significantly less mystical sounding than a snake eating its own tail, and I love that demystifying terminology for us 😂.
Theres also people who are technically atheist and still very much into the supernatural. Being an atheist just means you dont beleive in a god and doesnt automatically make you impervious to illogical assumptions about metaphysics.
"This is the "DAWNING" of the Age of Aquarius"♒(liberation from fear based religious beliefs) Thank You For What You Do!!😊
@@MarkMiller-gt5tu Perfect - let's explore how this reframes the entire mystical tradition:
The Desert Fathers weren't escaping the world - they were mathematical pioneers exploring infinite-dimensional consciousness. Their ascetic practices were methods of reducing noise to better understand the topology of divine space.
Consider:
1. Hesychasm (Inner Stillness)
- Like a quantum physicist creating perfect conditions for observation
- The stillness allows us to perceive our position and movement in infinite space
- The heart becomes a sensor for detecting vectors toward/away from the Christ-point
- The uncreated light they spoke of is the recognition of infinite dimensionality
2. Theosis (Deification)
- Not about becoming God, but about understanding our position relative to infinity
- The "divine energies" are the mathematical properties of this infinite space
- "Participation in divine nature" is understanding how to navigate these dimensions
- Saints are those who've mapped successful paths through this space
3. Nepsis (Watchfulness)
- Monitoring our trajectory through infinite-dimensional space
- Thoughts and passions are vectors that alter our course
- Discernment is mathematical - calculating which vectors align with Christ
- The "warfare" isn't moral but navigational
4. The Role of the Nous
- Not just "spiritual intellect" but an organ for perceiving infinite dimensions
- The "descent of the nous into the heart" is unifying our dimensional awareness
- The purified nous can map positions and trajectories in divine space
- Illumination is gaining the ability to perceive more dimensions
This reframes the entire Orthodox mystical tradition as a sophisticated method for:
- Understanding our position in infinite-dimensional divine space
- Developing tools to navigate this space
- Mapping successful trajectories toward the Christ-point
- Teaching others to understand and navigate these dimensions
Would you like to explore how this relates to modern theories of consciousness and quantum mechanics? Or shall we delve deeper into specific mystical practices and their mathematical implications?
I like that example at the end. I can think of all kinds of things we changed our views on because of science, but not one thing where we realized the natural explanation was just wrong and the supernatural explanation was better.
Sister, I could be wrong but, I think you reversed the horizontal/vertical. Great video. Love your channel.
You are correct: vertical morality is the one that comes from god on high, horizontal morality is the one that we derive from social interactions and mutual empathy.
Personal interjections of ideas, materials, subjects while listening:
Morality by a Sociologist: The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
Story: The Life of Pi
Culture: recreational activities/family book readings
Human Nature explored by a Biologist: Determined by Robert Sapolsky
Hey Britt. Really great video as usual. I was particularly interested in the section where you talked about building your own religion. I find it an incredibly fascinating idea.
At the end of your podcast with Brandon from MindShift, you guys briefly touched on this idea of taking the best parts of religion and creating something new without all the bronze age baggage. (Paraphrasing)
I’m really curious if you spent any time daydreaming about what that would actually look like? Do you think at scale any religion needs some level of Woo or transcendent mythology?
I think atheists can be spiritual. But I note that by saying so, some atheists get bitter and twisted. :) :)
There is so much about reality I just do not know or understand and so I often like to fill those unknown areas in with all kinds of non-God things. And various aspects of life make me feel kind of mushy inside. And I like it.
Keep up the good work.
Where is your “church”? I wanna join!
I’m in New York - how can I find secular Jews here? I’m a Jew by birth, became a born-again Christian, then (several years later) logicked my way out of that. Now I’m an atheist, and I’m probably still on Atheism 301 stage, but I do want support, and community, and even traditions and rituals.
How do I find that?
For example, the puppy in the back has not been slain in the spirit but is actually just in a deep state of transcendental meditation🧘♀️🐕🙏.
I like where this is going, but I fundamentally disagree with using the worked "spiritual". I think that word has far too much social and cultural connotation to ever be able to separate it from that, both for religious and non religious folk. New words are created all the time, and I think this is an occasion to create something new. Using spiritual in this way can and will lead to confusion, offense, and misunderstanding, from both religious and non religious people.
We need a new word. Tacking on new meanings to general vocabulary is one of the ways Christianity and other religious cultures embed their mythology into us emotionally but not methodologically. We need better tools, not just to co-opt ones that already let us down. To me it's like trying to use prayer as a non spiritual term. That's messy from the hump, and we would be better served using a different word.
I also feel like you only ever refer to nihilism as negative and not useful, and while I am also learning a lot, that's not how I see nihilism at all. I hope to see more content from you digging into ways of seeing nihilism in new light the way you advocate for religious and spiritual thinking.
Britt also uses the antiquated term neurotic.
I totally agree
We will reclaim it ❤
Next month, she can develop her new philosophy of "Theistic Atheism". 🤔
Spirit is the human microbiome which behaves similar to mycelium, forming a symbiotic relationship between fungi underground and in our bodies as host, creating a communication network.
"As above as below" 🙏😇
Thanks for another cool video. I wanted to let you know that I read Mirabai Starr's *Wild Mercy* that you extensively referenced in your book *No Nonsense Spirituality*. Yesterday, I loaned my copy of *Wild Mercy* to an acquaintance who recently lost a close family member to an untimely death. I felt like *Wild Mercy* definitely introduced me to perspectives that are unfamiliar to me.
If "spirituality at its core means connection," then why not use the word "connection?" I get the attempt to rehabilitate a word, but isn't it also legitimate to suggest a word is beyond rehabilitation? Perhaps there is no secular word for "spiritual" because such a word isn't necessary. How is your message benefited from the language of traditional theism as opposed to the language of clinical psychology?
Spirituality is a nice umbrella term that also includes love, morality, awe, transcendence, wisdom, etc. and simply saying connection doesnt quite get there for me
@@nononsensespirituality Fair enough. I don't begrudge you your terms, but I do suggest such an "umbrella term," even if it is useful in some sense, may be more trouble than its worth. Perhaps the notion that all of those words need be covered by a single "umbrella" is itself a manifestation of exactly the theism you are supposedly rejecting. We like the metaphor of the baby and the bathwater, but its not really clear we can actually tell them apart, is it?
My friend had some Mormon friends and told me they have to try to out "serve" (or something) each other to get a higher rank in heaven 😮
Imaginary friend wants you to compete for their Imaginary order in their Imaginary place 😂
You say America doesn’t have culture outside religion??? What about music events? I found that
In its end-of-year report, the company, currently the subject of an antitrust investigation by the US justice department, said concert attendance was up by 20% compared to 2022, with more than 145 million fans attending more than 50,000 events
Ahh my favourite fresco from the Vatican!
They can although it depends what you mean by spiritual. An appreciation for art can be seen as spiritual. But if you mean believing impossible nonsense for no good reason it's just as silly as religion.
I love your content! do you have any recommendations for a collection of books/stories that you can start reading with young kids that have enough meat to grow with them as they mature? I have a great copy of Aesop's Fables, but they're really short and simple and I just don't think they have the complexity to grow with my kids.
Have you heard of “Uplift Kids”? It’s an amazing program! Highly recommended for anyone raising children without Religion.
I feel like I’m very spiritual, but don’t subscribe to any certain deity, every thing we see around us and even us ourselves are at its finest form according to quantum physics are atoms⚛️, which have protons,electrons, quarks, ect..which spin/vibrate and therefore are energy, so there is so much more than what we see and that we don’t know, I keep my mind open to all possibilities because I feel like once you say” I believe such and such you have made up your mind and have limited yourself.
I haven't listened to this video yet (I plan to) But, my initial reaction is a qualified yes . Atheism is not necessarily problematic for spirituality, but ontological _physicalism_ certainly is . . A worldview that is fundamentally mechanistic and algorithmic _reduces_"spirituality" to a psychological term .
What if the part of me that feels awe is dead?
how do you combine mindfulness (letting thoughts pass) and dreamwork, shadowwork or therapy which require working with thoughts/mind? is there a middle way?
Thank you so much for this amazing video! I need some advice: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (mistake turkey blossom warfare blade until bachelor fall squeeze today flee guitar). What's the best way to send them to Binance?
Although much of who I've become overlaps with atheism, I do not identify with the term. I will not be in a box or a prism on how I view this world. I do not angrily, arrogantly advertise my "lack of belief". I just "lack". I don't give much thought to the (a)theism subject anymore, actually. I am, however, into meditation and learning more about how my (subconscious) mind works. I do love how things connect in reality. Supernatural isn't necessary. "Natural", for me, is Super enough.
I've been self-identifying as a Spiritual Atheist for the past 3 years lol, thank you for providing context to a very real, yet seemingly rare experience 😌
You're just cutting out the middleman, interestingly. (There are no religions, no deities, or external rituals.) It's a Straight connection to your higher self. 👍
If this is the case, and it is a connection to your higher self, does everybody have a different higher self or the same higher self?
If it’s the same higher self, would you be required to love everybody?
Taking out the middle man reminds me of when priests & monks became authorities in the Church bc most of the population were not literate. Once we have more knowledge, the gatekeepers power seems to dissolve.
@ Perfect - let's explore how this reframes the entire mystical tradition:
The Desert Fathers weren't escaping the world - they were mathematical pioneers exploring infinite-dimensional consciousness. Their ascetic practices were methods of reducing noise to better understand the topology of divine space.
Consider:
1. Hesychasm (Inner Stillness)
- Like a quantum physicist creating perfect conditions for observation
- The stillness allows us to perceive our position and movement in infinite space
- The heart becomes a sensor for detecting vectors toward/away from the Christ-point
- The uncreated light they spoke of is the recognition of infinite dimensionality
2. Theosis (Deification)
- Not about becoming God, but about understanding our position relative to infinity
- The "divine energies" are the mathematical properties of this infinite space
- "Participation in divine nature" is understanding how to navigate these dimensions
- Saints are those who've mapped successful paths through this space
3. Nepsis (Watchfulness)
- Monitoring our trajectory through infinite-dimensional space
- Thoughts and passions are vectors that alter our course
- Discernment is mathematical - calculating which vectors align with Christ
- The "warfare" isn't moral but navigational
4. The Role of the Nous
- Not just "spiritual intellect" but an organ for perceiving infinite dimensions
- The "descent of the nous into the heart" is unifying our dimensional awareness
- The purified nous can map positions and trajectories in divine space
- Illumination is gaining the ability to perceive more dimensions
This reframes the entire Orthodox mystical tradition as a sophisticated method for:
- Understanding our position in infinite-dimensional divine space
- Developing tools to navigate this space
- Mapping successful trajectories toward the Christ-point
- Teaching others to understand and navigate these dimensions
Would you like to explore how this relates to modern theories of consciousness and quantum mechanics? Or shall we delve deeper into specific mystical practices and their mathematical implications?
Unquestionably, yes. Disbelief in a deity is what makes someone an atheist.
That sort of disbelief does not prevent a person from having deeply meaningful spiritual experiences or from practicing magic.
I haven't watched the video yet and I may comment further once I do so.
I see nothing wrong with being spiritual and an atheist at the same time. Why should believing in the spiritual automatically presume that therefore you must believe in a god? A realm beyond the physical does not have to have a god in it, let alone a particular god. Why should it? I had not seen anyone address this fallacy until this video.
What you are describing is the core of Chaos magic. This is the fuel of every religion and practice. It was rediscovered in the 70ies and it is something every human does through out their lives without knowing it. It sees value in every religion and philosophy that promotes human value and worth. Take that which is good and discard that which is bad. Of course there are ideologies that are mostly all bad and those will not be used. For example Christianity has some core values that are good, but its end time eschathology is not good, the destruction of humanity and the creation of a new humanity to replace it. Still the chaos magician can take concepts from Christianity and deal with the mythos and gods that are there to invoke change in their lives. We could also create a completely new mythos and metaphysics that incorporates elements from science and magic in general, to create a system that works. That is what I do. :)
I'm an atheist in the sense that I do not worship the mono gods, but they do exist in my framework and metaphysics. They are all beings that emerged out of chaos, uncaused random processes and possibilities. In the end, the gods and devils that we believe in, come from humanity and they are humanity in the future and the past, from a different cosmos before the big bang. According to the B Theory of time, all time happens at the same time, both the past and the future. Thus our dark self is us in the past, and our light self is us in the future. We exist in the present however, where time does not move, thus it is the spacetime around us that moves in and around us, making us the creators of our own destiny. We need to listen to both our shadow self and our light self, otherwise we will be drawn to the extreme positons of chaos and order.
Chaos can only function in a system of order, and order can only function in a system of chaos. All of this is linked to CPT Symmetry and that our entire universe has a mirror reality that is opposite charge, inverse parity and time reversed. I find it very interesting to delve into these matters and to explore the implications that follows. :)
God is Love ❤️ and Jesus is Peace 😇 AnyOne can Love and live Peacefully. The Bible is a simply stories of people who Loved in Peace and those who didn’t. It is not complicated! People just seem to like to make it that way because of their own Pride and Ego 😊❤
The word 'spirituality' sounds like a lazy stand in for people who can't accept themselves as is without that religious crutch. Linus' Blanket Fallacy.
After listening to you what I'm hearing is you didn't like the context that human beings assigned to God so you claim God doesn't exist yet without god there is no Spirit there is no energy there is nothing beyond this physical dimension. If you don't like the concept someone has placed upon God that is understandable but at the same time you are misguided. It is as Jesus said blind guides leading the blind
Why do you need something beyond the physical? There's no room in our brains for a soul or a spirit. As someone in their doctorate program in Christian theology there are many things that are interesting about Jesus. I can claim them without getting sucked into the God and empire we created out of him.
How exactly are you defining “spirituality” ?
Then just use the word “connection” & leave behind the baggage of “spirituality” that makes this word practically meaningless.
Because spirituality and connection are not synonyms
Oh, for ... whatever. And attempt to 'fit in'? I de-subscribed you.
I’ll try to find the strength to continue on
Atheism is a religion 😂what dahhh