Posted inReligions

Believers in God, others believe like you do. Just not in God.

Everybody has that wonderful feeling of "I'm certain this is true." Everybody. I blogged about this neuroscientific fact in I know I'm right about uncertainty. I included an Amazon summary of "On Being Certain: Believing You are Right Even When You're Not." You recognize when you know something for certain, right? You "know" the sky is blue, or that the traffic light had turned green, or where you were on the morning of September 11, 2001--you know these things, well, because you just do. In On Being Certain, neurologist Robert Burton challenges the notions of how we think about what we…
1
Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Here’s something to be afraid of: fear

Fear is good. In certain situations. Like if you come upon a poisonous snake, coiled and ready to strike. Fear makes you jump back in a flash, much quicker than the reasonable, rational, thoughtful side of your brain would. But most people today aren't faced with frequent fearful physical threats. Yet we're still afraid. Of making mistakes. Being made fun of. Of failing. Of something bad happening to us in the future. Of saying or doing something outside the acceptable norm.  Religions make use of our propensity to fear what isn't actually there, yet can be imagined. Hellfire. Damnation. Bad…
3
Posted inMiscellaneous Spiritual practice/meditation

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” — what the movie means to me

Watching the last scenes of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" last night via a rented DVD, I was almost moved to tears. When the closing credits came on I turned to my wife and said, "Wow. That was one of the best movies I've ever seen. So inspiring. So meaningful." She replied, "I didn't like it very much. Depressing. A downer." Each to his or her own. Me, I'm recommending the movie highly. See it. Decide for yourself how this amazing tale of a wise six year old, Hushpuppy, in a bayou town called The Bathtub speaks to you. Here's…
2
Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Charan Singh was a loyal guru

It's a reasonable theory: that a guru who supposedly is "god in human form" isn't a liar, lunatic, the Lord, or a legend. He or she is a loyalist, someone who carries out the role of a divine person because he or she is loyal to the person/organization who elevated them to their gurudom. This was what I argued in "Who is the guru?" Is there another L-word that better fills the bill? One springs to mind: loyalist. Perhaps when a successor is appointed to fill the shoes of a highly-regarded guru, loyalty both to his predecessor and to the…
75
Posted inReality Science

Cosmos could be beyond human knowing

Listening to a Philosophy Talk podcast on "Has Science Replaced Philosophy?" while exercising today, I heard a discussion of how science seeks empirical knowledge while philosophy is after logical knowledge. Or something like that. I've got the basic notion correct, if not the precise philosophy talk language.  Anyway, it's an interesting idea. Often religious people disparage science, and scientists, arguing that the mysteries of the universe can't be fully understood by reason and logic. True enough. However, science isn't always reasonable or logical. Quantum theory, for example. At the quantum level of reality (which some say is all of reality),…
No Comments
Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Mindfulness is meditation on reality, not supernatural illusion

After more than forty years of daily meditation I've realized that mindfulness is the way I want to meditate. I'm no longer interested in withdrawing from the world via repeating a mantra, or focusing on some spiritual "eye center" that supposedly is the gateway to supernatural realms of reality. That used to appeal to me. No longer. Because reality is a horrible thing to waste. Sure, what's inside my head, my brain, that's real. But mental cognizing, no matter how refined or ethereal, is a different order of reality from what mindfulness focuses on. What is present, right here, right…
6
Posted inReligions Science

Science progresses. Religion doesn’t.

Science knows a lot about reality. Even more impressive, science steadily knows more and more about reality. I subscribe to several science magazines, New Scientist and Scientific American. In every issue I learn about advances in the scientific understanding of the cosmos. But when was the last time religions told us something factually new about how the world works? In fact, so far as I know there hasn't been a first time. Or an anytime. Meaning, even though prophets, mystics, sages, gurus, enlightened masters, and such supposedly have had access to beyond-normal ways of knowing, none of them ever have…
5
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Reality

Reality is more than the human mind

Roger asked some good questions in his comment on a recent blog post. He started off by agreeing with my oh-so-agreeable statement about the ineffable can't-know'ness of someone else's subjective experiences. Correct, "Everybody has their own subjective experiences. It isn't possible to know what those subjective experiences are like, unless you're the person having the experiences." ---However, what is a RSSB [Radha Soami Satsang Beas] meditation experience? Why is there a need for RSSB initation into a meditation process? Is the RSSB meditations nothing more than one's subjective personal experiences? ---So, these RSSB meditation experiences of the various astral planes or regions are…
9
Posted inMiscellaneous

Manti Te’o hoax: a deep desire to believe

Worth reading, even if you don't follow American football: "Behind Manti Te'o hoax about girlfriend lies a deep desire to believe." Quite a few parallels to religiosity here. At its root, this was a story about the deep need to believe. What complicates that is that it’s not clear whether Manti Te’o wanted to believe in a beautiful, fake girlfriend or whether we wanted to believe in him. The impulse obviously isn’t unique to the Internet — the rundown of never-was frauds sweeps back decades, including “Tony Godby Johnson,” whose middle-aged creator hoodwinked legions into believing she was an AIDS-stricken little boy. But…
No Comments
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Why be reluctant to share spiritual experiences?

One of the (few) things I like about Christianity is how open Christians are to talking about their visions of Jesus, heaven, angels, and other aspects of the divine. If a Christian has a spiritual experience, he or she usually feels that this is something to be shared, not kept secret. By contrast, there's a rather cult'ish tendency in Eastern religions, meditative practices, and mystical paths to -- shush! -- keep quiet about "inner" supposed supernatural experiences. I've always been suspicious of this, because it strikes me as a means of control. For example, I'm quite familiar with the injunction…
8
Posted inReligions

Atheism: natural, moral, open-minded

I suppose I'm an atheist. After all, I don't believe in God. There's no demonstrable evidence of God. I want to spend what likely is my one and only life as close to reality as possible. Imagination is fine and fun, but it should be a supplement to living, not the main course. I used to shy away from the term, "atheist." It's got a negative vibe in the United States' highly religious culture. Reading Julian Baggini's wonderful little book, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, has made me more comfortable with saying, yeah, I'm an atheist.  Here's some reasons I've…
19
Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Weird religious stuff I’ve believed or done

A couple of weeks into the New Year, I still haven't completely broken a half-hearted resolution: be more understanding and less in-your-face toward people I disagree with.  Such as on matters of religion or politics. Which are the main areas in life where I can get frothy at the mouth with indignation at how incredibly stupid some people can be who aren't like wise me. I've been trying to remember that over my 64 years of living, my own religious and political views have changed a lot. I've believed and done things in the past that my present self would…
36
Posted inPersonal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

Andrew Cohen is a tyrant, not a guru

It's always a pleasure to get an email message from someone who is thoughtful, churchless, a good writer, skeptical of gurus, and honestly blunt. In short, someone who reminds me of me!  Here's what Scott Little had to say about his conversion to reality from religion. It's nicely said. HIs observations about the tyranny of Andrew Cohen apply to other supposed "gurus" who manipulate devotees through emotional charisma. Thanks for letting me share your thoughts on this blog, Scott. Hello Brian, I found your Church of the Churchless blog today.  Thank you for your work there. I am a former Christian…
3
Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Meaning and happiness. Are they really so different?

Thanks to a regular Church of the Churchless visitor, "cc," for letting me know about an interesting article in the Atlantic: There's More to Life Than Being Happy. For sure. Maybe. Who can say? Those are some of my reactions to the article, which focuses on Viktor Frankl and his well-known book, "Man's Search for Meaning." In September 1942, Viktor Frankl, a prominent Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist in Vienna, was arrested and transported to a Nazi concentration camp with his wife and parents. Three years later, when his camp was liberated, most of his family, including his pregnant wife, had…
5
Posted inChristianity/Jesus Science

People in United States are embarrassingly ignorant of evolution

Way to go, citizens of the United States! We're almost #1 in... Percentage of people who don't accept the reality that humans evolved from earlier species of animals. If we can just get more people in Turkey educated in modern science, and/or divorced from fundamentalist religion, the United States has a good chance of being #1: the most ignorant of 34 countries about a central fact of modern science. Pathetic. Embarassing.  It's no wonder the United States is falling behind the rest of the world in so many areas. Our citizens are astoundingly clueless about basic facts every person should…
1
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

David Lane’s honest view of Sant Mat

There's a lot to like in a recent posting by David Lane on his Radhasoami Studies discussion group. "What I Believe? -- a position paper of sorts by David Lane" describes how Lane feels about the Indian philosophy of Sant Mat, Radha Soami Satsang Beas version (Sant Mat comes in various guises, much as Christianity has many competing theologies). One of the things I liked the most in this mini-essay was praise of me -- the person I'm closest to -- at the end. And I wasn't even expecting it! Meaning, I didn't search out the posting because of the me-mention.…
49
Posted inMorality Reality

Meaning of life is whatever you find meaningful

What is the meaning of life? I used to think this was an important question. Heck, maybe the only question worth seriously pursuing an answer to. Why? Because once the question was answered, I'd know what were the most important things to do in life. (Which, though I didn't ponder this at the time, had damn well better include "search for the meaning of life," or I was seriously screwed.) Now I'm not nearly as interested in thinking about the meaning of life. I'm actually living a meaningful life -- much preferable to wondering what one might consist of. A few…
8
Posted inMiscellaneous Personal/Stories

Skateboard wisdom: loosen your trucks to live freely

I like preaching un-sermons here in the Church of the Churchless. My inspiration can come from any source, so long as it isn't -- ugh! -- a holy book or holy person.  Today I want to praise the glory of loose trucks.  Now, some of you reading this won't understand what the hell "loose trucks" means, especially if you're over thirty. Others, including ancient 64 year old me, will, because we've embraced the marvelous spirituality of skateboarding/longboarding. Trucks are thingies that connect the wooden board to the wheels. They're what make it possible to turn the skateboard by shifting weight…
No Comments
Posted inDeath/Rebirth Science

Self/Soul is evolution’s trick to make us think “I’m important!”

Why do humans feel that we have (or are) a Self/Soul that's distinct from the body/brain? Buddhism and neuroscience agree: there's no such thing, no self, no soul. Yet it sure seems like there is. We look at the world with a consciousness that screams, "I'm floating above my mind and body! I'm in control of my physicality, not just material brain meat doing its thing." A few weeks ago I blogged about Nicholas Humphrey's fascinating short book, "Seeing Red: A Study in Consciousness." The passages I shared in that post showed how Humphrey starts with a description of seeing…
5