Posted inGod Religions

Arguments for God aren’t convincing. So is “I feel Him.”

Resurrected! Glory be!  That's how my churchless self reacted when I opened a drawer full of forgotten books and re-discovered "Irreligion" by John Allen Paulos. I'd read this short book before, as evidenced by my highlighting, but decided to read it again after flipping through a few pages and thinking Oh, my God! So true! Paulos, a mathematics professor, demolishes the most common arguments for God. His logic is impeccable, so far as I can tell. And his writing is entertaining, often simultaneously amusing and thought-provoking. For example: To the question "What will any of my concerns matter in one…
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Posted inPolitics Religions

Linking religious faith and Romney’s tax returns

Ever since I started following the controversy over Harry Reid's claim that Mitt Romney didn't pay any taxes for ten years, I've had a feeling that deep philosophical issues relating to the validity of religious faith are involved. Here's my attempt to explain why.  It's fascinating, really. Reid and Romney are both Mormons, which is a weird variety of Christianity. Or to some, Mormonism is an independently weird religion. Regardless, Christians and Mormons believe in the Bible. The New Testament gospels were written by guys -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John -- with no direct knowledge of Jesus. So what they said about Jesus' life…
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Posted inReality Religions

Respect reality, not religion, if you love the Ultimate

I'm no longer religious. But I still embrace the notion of Ultimate Reality. I love those words, "ultimate reality." They point toward... something. Or perhaps... someone. (I think it's much more likely that something rather than someone resides at the root of reality, but since I wrote a book called Return to the One, and continue to believe in much of Plotinus' philosophy, I'm very much open to the possibility of some sort of universal impersonal consciousness that could be called One.) Ultimate doesn't mean far off, even though religions, spiritual teachings, and mystical practices often assume that Really Real Reality is…
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Posted inBuddhism Personal/Stories

Extreme is good. Be spacious in your extremeness.

Often we're advised to embrace moderation. Don't be extreme. Stick to the safe middle ground. Edges are dangerous; cliffs await.  Most religions, forms of spirituality, mystic practices -- they like boxiness. Commandments keep devotees' actions within certain bounds. Rituals are well-defined and repetititve. Prayers, meditative practices, worship... stay in control, sit in your seats, listen and don't talk back. For God's sake, don't yell, scream, object, or in any other way do your own unfettered thing. Here's some countervailing thoughts about going to extremes. Two personal stories, one link to a Tantra-related blog post. I'd almost forgotten about the Groupon…
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Posted inBuddhism Universe

There’s no answer to “Why does the world exist?”

Here's the sort of spoiler alert that irritates me when it pops up in a movie review -- a warning about a giving away of the key plot element that's so close to the spoiler itself, I can't help but see what I'm not supposed to see if I want to keep the movie's meaning a surprise. Ha-ha! If you read the title of this blog post, it's too late. You know. There's no answer to "Why does the world exist?" Hope this doesn't ruin your day. Probably it will, if you're a religious devotee, because likely you think that…
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Posted inReality Science

David Lane on “Why Science Works”

Check out David Lane's response to Don Salmon, who disagreed with some central points Lane and his wife made in their essay, "Mysticism's Version of Intelligent Design: A Critique of John Davidson's Projective Creationism." I liked the essay a lot. Praised it in a blog post, "Devastating Critique of Radha Soami Satsang Beas lies." After Don Salmon left a comment on my post, I responded in my own fashion.  Don Salmon: I think David wrote a very interesting article, which quite accurately (though unintentionally) reveals most of modern "science" to be a thoroughly metaphysical belief system. This is most clearly stated…
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Posted inHumor

Snoop Dogg (now Lion) finds his true inner self

Congratulations to the former Snoop Dogg, who now raps as Snoop Lion. He has found his true inner Rastafarian self.  Details are lacking as to whether his true self was discovered in a psycho-active smoky haze. Snoop Lion has not only found himself, he's discovered that he's the reincarnation of Bob Marley. Finally, a religious awakening that has a ring of truth to it. 
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Posted inBuddhism

Anxiety stretches between real and unreal

This morning I came across some great passages in Charlotte Joko Beck's "Nothing Special -- Living Zen." Anxiety is always a gap between the way things are and the way we think they ought to be. Anxiety is something that stretches between the real and unreal. Our human desire is to avoid what's real and instead to be with our ideas about the world:  "I'm terrible." "You're terrible." "You're wonderful." The idea is separated from reality and anxiety is the gap between the idea and the reality that things are just as they are. When we cease to believe in…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Radha Soami Satsang Beas men reportedly attack journalists

Interesting story in the Global Sikh News: Beas Dera Radha Swami men attacks journalists -- no action as yet. (Thanks for the links, Robert.) Senior Journalist H. S. Bawa, editor of YesPunjab.Com has release a news report providing extensive information regarding attack on Sangat TV (UK) crew members by Radha Swami Dera men. The men of Radha Soami Dera at Beas, which preaches non-violence, attacked the crew of Sangat TV at village Jodhe near Beas in the district of Amritsar. However, both the members of the crew were lucky enough to escape the attack. The crew members – Baljeet Singh,…
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Posted inScience Spiritual practice/meditation

Make the mind cat-like (and win a gold medal)

I don't really believe in sychronicity or the universe has a message for me, but in the past 24 hours three pieces of information have combined to produce a feeling of, well, synchronous messaging going on. Last night I was reading TIME's summer olympics special issue. Lolo Jones, the American hurdler, describes what happened during her disastrous run for a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics. In the midst of the race... And then there was a point after that where I was like, Wow, these hurdles are coming up really, really fast. You have to make sure you don't…
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Posted inMiscellaneous

Kumare: a true movie about a fake guru (but aren’t they all?)

I'd seen a Stephen Colbert interview with the director and star of Kumare, Vikram Ghandi, a movie about an Indian guy who pretends to be a guru. Not surprisingly, he fools a bunch of Americans. But I hadn't watched the intriguing two-minute trailer, until someone emailed me a link. (Thanks, Tej.) Have a look.   Kumare is on my Netflix list. Or maybe it'll come to our local independent movie house. I loved the Borat movies, but now Sasha Baron Cohen is too well-known to be able to pull off his impersonation stuff.  Vikram Ghandi, though, succeeded. Heck, I bet…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

How is eating fast food chicken godly?

Having been a vegetarian for over forty years, and being familiar with how many (most?) Buddhists and Hindus consider killing animals for food to be sinfully bad karma, I'm struck by the bizarreness of Christian Mike Huckabee saying that the godly thing to do on August 1 is head to Chick-fil-A, a fast food chain, and eat a bunch of chicken. Dana Milbank explains.  “The goal is simple,” he announced this week, calling on Americans to help those who honor “the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, August 1.” As of lunchtime…
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Posted inScience Universe

More thoughts on Jim Holt’s “Why Does the World Exist?”

Via an email (thanks, Nick) I learned about a Slate article that's based on a chapter in "Why Does the World Exist?" by Jim Holt, a book I blogged about recently. Updike on the Universe describes Holt's interview from John Updike, a noted novelist who has mused about the mystery of existence in his writing. It's worth a read. Here's a sample: “When you think about it,” he continued, “we rationalists—and we’re all, to an extent, rationalist—we accept propositions about the early universe which boggle the mind more than any of the biblical miracles do. Your mind can intuitively grasp the…
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Posted inReligions

Unreligious “Nones” are growing fast in United States

Great news. The Nones are on the march in the United States. Don't be scared. They aren't zombies, or soulless creatures from the underground (though religious believers might think so).  Unbelief is on the uptick. People who check "None" for their religious affiliation are now nearly one in five Americans (19%), the highest ever documented, according to the Pew Center for the People and the Press. The rapid rise of Nones — including atheists, agnostics and those who say they believe "nothing in particular" — defies the usually glacial rate of change in spiritual identity. Barry Kosmin, co-author of three American Religious…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation Universe

Mystery of existence is near and far — not in between

Why is there something rather than nothing? Or more positively (my preference): There is something rather than nothing! A great question. And a great exclamation. I hugely enjoy pondering both, especially the latter. But the mystery of existence is much more than a pondering to me. It's an immediate, um, existential experience that always is lurking not far from the surface of my consciousness. I'm easily drawn into the depths of WOW! by ducking my everyday conscious mind just a little ways below the surface of the perceptions, thoughts, sensations, emotions and what-not which normally are the focus of my attention.…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another inspiring RSSB “why I left” story

I love religious deconversion stories. They're more inspiring to me than conversion stories, because I've come to realize that a meaningful life is far distant from religiosity.  So someone is making progress when he or she is able to get further away from rigid dogmas. Below is a story from one such "someone." After sending me an email, I encouraged this person to write a blog-sharable version of why a decision was made to leave the formalities of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based spiritual group organized around the teachings of a line of gurus who are considered to be God…
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Posted inGod

Why have faith in a God who fucks things up?

Today a gunman killed at least 12 people and wounded 59 in a Colorado movie theatre. My wife watched news coverage of the disaster this evening. She told me that a man was interviewed who praised God for saving his life. Maybe it was this guy, Zach Golditch, a football player in an adjoining theatre who was shot when a bullet went through a wall. And then at 8:57 a.m., he tweeted, "Thank you God for the gift of life! i promise it will not go to waste." Don't take this too personally, Zach, but I think you're an idiot.…
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Posted inFundamentalism Religions

Irritating putdowns of pseudo-spiritual wannabes

Even when I was a religious true believer, Eastern mysticism variety, I tried to avoid being irritatingly sanctimonious. People who consider themselves holier-than-thou are difficult to be around. And I necessarily associated with quite a few people who didn't believe in what I did. Such as my first wife, who early on deconverted from the India-based Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) faith that I held on to for about thirty-five years. And my second wife, who always has been an "infidel" from the standpoint of RSSB. When I gave talks at RSSB meetings, I often used her as an example,…
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