Posted inScience

Open-mindedness demands evidence, not gullibility

Ooh, I just love it when someone says something so brilliantly, it makes me think, "I could have said that myself!" (if I was that brilliant)Case in point: a wonderful YouTube video about open-mindedness that I learned about via Pharyngula, where blogger PZ Myers titled his post "Something a few of our commenters ought to watch."My sentiments exactly. It amuses me when fundamentalists wander onto this blog and start preaching, "Your skepticism is the real fundamentalism!" That doesn't make any sense, except in their twisted, tortured, thought-disordered illogic. I try to respond with reasonable statements like "not believing isn't a…
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Posted inTaoism/Tai Chi

Roll with life like a ball, not a brittle teacup

I love Tai Chi. So far as I know, it's the only philosophy of life that you can express in movement. (Unless expressive movement -- such as dancing -- is philosophy also, a non-verbal variety.)One of the first things a Tai Chi student learns is circularity. Also, one of the last things. Letting go of rigidity is a never-ending process, like life itself. There are no straight lines in the yin-yang symbol. Most of the physical movements in Tai Chi have the same curving feel. Ditto with the philosophical precepts. Taoist sages don't point directly at truth. The intimate blend…
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Posted inBuddhism

Search for happiness (and self) called off

A few years ago I laughed my way through an Onion piece, "Search for Self Called Off After 38 Years." Then I wrote a blog post about the notion, saying that some friends and I had just been talking along the same lines.I told them that when I peruse my extensive personal library, searching for some spiritual inspiration, usually the only books I can stand to read have Buddhist, Zen, or Taoist themes. All the rest seem too damn dogmatic now. Buddhists and Taoists don’t waste much energy searching for a true self because they don’t believe that it exists.…
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Posted inHumor

Big news: I’ve embraced religion again!

I figured that today would be an auspicious time to make a momentous announcement: by the grace of God, I've realized that my churchlessness has been a dreadful mistake -- the result of egotistical delusion.So I've decided to simultaneously embrace evangelical Christianity and return to the Sant Mat fold. May my heretical sins and karmas be forgiven by Jesus and the Guru, who I hope will get along as my co-spiritual guides, notwithstanding their doctrinal differences.In an astounding calendarical synchronicity, today Google also announced an amazing development. We are on the same enlightened wavelength, mine religious, Google's being artificial intelligentish.…
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Posted inMystics

Are there universal mystical principles?

A few days ago George posted a comment where he asked what people thought of these statements:The principles common to mystical beliefs appear to be:1) the existence of a Divine formless force underlying everything.2) each person has a true inner self, kernel or spark surrounded by egos or wills clouding their perceptions and ability to know thy inner self and the Divine.3) using meditation to allow connection or alignment of the inner self with the Divine and thus experiencing direct knowledge of the Divine, rather than thru the intellect with its egos which is inherently limited.4) our purpose is self…
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Posted inMiscellaneous

Commenters, here’s how to reduce blog visitor aggravation

Like the good Buddhist that I'm not, I have boundless compassion for the sentient beings who visit this blog.Largely, because I'm one myself. Aside from proof-reading my own writings after they're posted, I read every comment, even when I have to grit my teeth and force myself.So what produces the dreadful affliction, Comment Reading Aggravation? And how can it be prevented? I covered these questions pretty well, in my non-humble opinion, last year in "Boxing up varieties of belief." Which began with...Why do some people's proclamations irritate or please me more than other proclamations? I'm speaking generally here, about all…
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Posted inFundamentalism

Satan exists…but only in deluded minds

Recently ABC's "Nightline" featured a face-off on the question, "Does Satan Exist?" Watching the recorded show last night, my wife and I were amazed that this is a subject for debate in the 21st century. It's an example of how many religious people haven't progressed from exceedingly primitive beliefs. Astoundingly, more Americans believe in the devil (59%) than in the theory of evolution (47%).Scary.Which also describes the mindset of Pastor Mark Driscoll and former prostitute Annie Lobert (founder of "Hookers for Jesus"), who handled the arguments in favor of Satan's existence.Opposing them, and getting frequent cheers from me, were Deepak…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Q and A about me and Sant Mat

I love questions. And me. So when someone asks me questions about me, I'm in double love. Today Georgey left a comment on this post that included five questions. I started to reply via another comment, but then realized that even though I'm practicing non-verbosity through Twitter now, I needed the space of a blog post to do the answers justice.Georgey started with...Brian, yours is a very interesting blog, read thru many of your articles on the Sant Mat stuff, which my scientific conditioning nevertheless find intriguing and your different experiences of it. I'd be interested to know some personal…
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Posted inReality

d’Espagnat sees mystery at heart of reality

Reading a recent issue of New Scientist last night, I came across a brief mention of Bernard d'Espagnat winning this year's Templeton Prize for "arguing that quantum physics implies that reality must be partially unknowable, or 'veiled.'"Sounded intriguing. And right up my interest alley, since I've done a lot of reading and writing about how quantum physics relates to mysticism and spirituality.Here's a longer New Scientist piece about d'Espagnat's views (he's a physicist and philosopher of science). Excerpt:So what is it, really, that is veiled? At times d'Espagnat calls it a Being or Independent Reality or even "a great, hypercosmic…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Seeing differently vs. seeing different things

Once when we were on Maui, walking along Lahaina's charming Front Street, I saw a Proust quote on a board outside an art gallery. Since we were vacationing on a tropical island, far from home, it made me think.There are several versions of the translation. Here's one close to what I read that night:The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.Proust seems to have hit upon a central existential choice. In pursuing personal growth, do we focus on doing different things, or on looking upon things differently? Some friends and I…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Spiritual experiences don’t exist

People talk about "spiritual experiences" all the time. I've done my fair share of that myself. Yet frequent mentions of these words in a comment conversation on this post got me thinking about what they mean.Conclusion: by themselves, nothing. Which fits with an earlier notion, that "spirituality" is a meaningless word. A blog visitor asked me recently if I believed that people have had spiritual experiences. I replied, yes, people consider that they've had them. But before we can judge what this means, we need to define "spiritual."And that's difficult to do, since there are so many definitions of "spirit."…
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Posted inFundamentalism

Tips on talking to a fundamentalist

While this blog is for churchless folks, we get some fundamentalist visitors also. I enjoy having comment conversations with them, even though I can get frustrated with preachiness and closed-mindedness.Soon after I started the Church of the Churchless I wrote "How to talk to a fundamentalist." With more than four years of additional experience in this area, it's time for an update.Fundamentalism is defined in various ways. I like this Wikipedia definition: "clinging to a stubborn, entrenched position that defies reasoned argument or contradictory evidence."If someone is certain they're right, it's tough to have a productive conversation with them. So…
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Posted inReality

Life is change. Why cling to a religion?

I've been thinking about some of the changes that have happened in my life. Starting with marriage, since it's our anniversary today. (Laurel and I were smart to get married on St. Patrick's Day; when green beer starts to be mentioned, I'm reminded of what I shouldn't forget).After being married for eighteen years to one woman, now I've been married for nineteen years to a different woman. Good change.After getting a Master's Degree in Social Work, I realized that I wasn't cut out for counseling and worked on a Ph.D. in Systems Science. Good change.After buying a Ford Fairmont in…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

“Churchless” is a 360 degree perspective

Thanks again to Shin for sharing his or her doubts about Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which formed a recent post. I've enjoyed the comments also.These thoughts have, not surprisingly, gotten me thinking ... about my own evolution from a fervent RSSB true believer to who I am now. It's sort of tough to encapsulate my current state in a few words, like I used to be able to do with "RSSB initiate" or "RSSB disciple." This is progress. Before, my spiritual focus was narrow. Even though I read widely in other traditions -- Sufism, mystical Christianity, Greek philosophy -- I…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Good questions from a Sant Mat truth seeker

Questions...they're so much more important than answers. Questions open us up. They point us in the direction of truth. They help us avoid premature explanations that haven't ripened into a reality we can depend on.Below is a mildly edited email message that I got yesterday from a thoughtful, questioning member of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, the group that I belonged to for over thirty years.I've responded to this person in a comment. Hopefully other Church of the Churchless visitors will do the same, as he or she requested. Even if you aren't familiar with the Sant Mat theologies that are…
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Posted inReligions

Religious abstractions are authoritarian

Oneness. Unity. Enlightenment. Perfection. Salvation. These are abstractions. Nobody ever has seen, touched, heard, tasted, or smelled them. They're conceptions, but religious believers often take them to be more real than here-and-now reality. "The Guru Papers," which I'm enjoying a lot, says:The concept of oneness is an abstraction created by thought as a way of framing and attempting to describe the mystical experience. Insofar as Oneness is placed in a higher realm or plane than the world of separation and multiplicity (the Many), this is done by abstracting out and reifying a presumed quality or essence from life, and making…
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Posted inMiscellaneous

BIt of a blog makeover

TIme for a Church of the Churchless banner change. I wanted a stronger look that matched my other blog. Browsing through my photos for image inspiration, I came across one that I took at Suttle Lake in central Oregon. (Larger version viewable in this blog post.)I like how Serena, our pet companion (a.k.a. Canine Perfection), is gazing in the opposite direction from the way the chair on the dock is facing.When I saw the photo, my mind said "spiritual independence." Which got the image onto the banner. Last October I made a video of our walk around Suttle Lake. It…
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Posted inReligions

Yay! Churchless are on the march in U.S.

Excellent news: a survey has found that the ranks of faithless, irreligious, and pagan people are growing rapidly in the United States. "nones"—people claiming no religion—constitute the only "religious" tradition that's growing in all 50 statesKeep not-believing, churchless brothers and sisters. We are overcoming!The only depressing part of the survey findings for me was how Oregon has slipped over the past 18 years. I feel like I should have done more to keep up my state's godless credentials. This nifty USA Today chart shows that back in 1990 Oregon was #1 in No Religion. Now look at us in 2008.…
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Posted inReligions

Religious and worldly wealth bubbles

Some days the financial meltdown has me feeling like our stock market portfolio -- trashed. In an effort to get some benefit from the holy shit! that bursts forth every time I take a peek at our Schwab account (my soma hasn't shown up yet), I'll attempt to suck some cosmic meaning out of the dry rind of increasingly bad economic news.What's been striking me is how similar a rapid decline in net worth and a sudden loss of religious faith can feel. Having experienced both, I can say that the defining emotional characteristic of each (for me, at least)…
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Posted inScience

Sure you’re right? You’re probably wrong.

Is a depression coming? Will Obama's stimulus and budget plans get the country back on track? Does God exist? Is heaven the after-death destination for believers, and hell for doubters?These sets of questions seem very different -- economics is worldly; religion is other-worldly. But after reading a recent Newsweek article, "Why Pundits Get Things Wrong," I suspect there is a commonality between those who offer up answers in both areas.Ongoing research by Philip Tetlock, a psychologist, looked at 82,361 predictions by 284 pundits. Searching for an explanation of why some people were better predictors than others, he found that:The best…
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