Posted inPersonal/Stories

After prostate surgery, I try to get some philosophical implications from the experience

Last Monday I got the TURP surgery done on my prostate by a doctor from Eugene's Oregon Urology Institute. I learned on October 31 of last year that the procedure could benefit me, though this isn't completely assured. If you're crazy enough to want to know the details, they're in a HinesSight blog post. I figure that I might as well try to glean some philosophical implications about life from my surgical experience. So here goes... In the three months between when I got the go-ahead for the surgery, and the actual surgery, I thought about all the things that…
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Posted inUncategorized

Some guidance for how to undertake a RSSB “diet” (not of food, but of dogma)

This is Part 3 of a three-part series of guest blog posts from “Anon,” an ex-RSSB initiate. Part 1 is “RSSB trauma is an example of spiritual abuse.” Part 2 is "Here's thirty-five RSSB trauma issues." RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a religious organization based in India and headed up by a guru that I belonged to for over three decades. I found a similar list a long time ago by ex Christians who struggled with their faith and left. Some of the struggles were relevant, as spiritual/religious trauma has some similar themes. The RSSB list is a…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Here’s thirty-five RSSB trauma issues

This is Part 2 of a three-part series of guest blog posts from "Anon," an ex-RSSB initiate. Part 1 is "RSSB trauma is an example of spiritual abuse." RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a religious organization based in India and headed up by a guru. I belonged to RSSB for 35 years, so I can testify to the validity of the trauma issues shown below. At the time I didn't think of those issues as being in the realm of trauma. They were just part of what came with belonging to RSSB. But now that I can look…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB trauma is an example of spiritual abuse

Here's another guest blog post from "Anon," an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a religious organization based in India and headed up by a guru. I belonged to RSSB for 35 years before seeing the light of spiritual independence, so I enjoy sharing messages from other critics of the organization. After the post I'll share excerpts from a web page about spiritual abuse to show that religious trauma is a real thing. This is the first of three messages I got about RSSB trauma. I'll share the other two messages in future blog posts. RSSB trauma…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Plotinus

Stuck at Lake Partway — I revisit my Plotinus analogy through atheist eyes

Today I came across a passage in Robert Saltzman's book, Depending on no-thing, that reminded me of how I ended my book about the teachings of Plotinus, a 3rd century mystic Greek philosopher, Return to the One. Saltzman wrote in reply to a question from someone: You seem to imagine that suggestion as "negative." I don't see it that way, although it is related to the so-called via negativa, the traditional process of neti neti [not this, not that]. If someone actually wants to awake -- many more say they do than actually mean it -- that begins, in my…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Reality

Why believe a guru can do supernatural bad if the guru can’t do supernatural good?

We humans aren't purely rational beings. Sure, we have our moments of rationality. We also have our moments of irrationality. Both are part of being human. Emotions are a large part of our humanity, but in no way are love, hate, anger, sorrow, and such rational. Nor would we want them to be. Still.... Sometimes it amazes me when a person makes what seems to be a blatant failure of reason, or critical thinking. Understand: I've been that person myself, so I have direct experience of this. I also have indirect experience. Here's a recent example. During the 21 years…
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Posted inFree will Neuroscience

Claude, my new AI friend, just wrote a guest blog post about intentions, regret, and free will

Showing my age, through all those years I still distinctly remember a central lyric from the 1965 Animals song, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." I'm just a soul whose intentions are good, oh lord, please don't let me be misunderstood Maybe that's because as a junior in high school, I often felt that I was being misunderstood. By friends, my mother, by teachers. That's part of teenage angst. The lyrics hold up well, as regret is a feeling that is timeless. Baby, you understand me now?If sometimes you see that I'm madDon'tcha know that no one alive can always be…
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Posted inMindfulness

Worrying about the future distracts us from enjoying the present moment

In my previous post, "Not-knowing is wise, because we know so much less than what we think we know," I said: But it seems to me that a major source of my customary feeling of knowing what’s going on in my life comes from self-talk derived from a basic assumption that what I think will happen, actually will happen. Meaning, I wake up, envision what is on the day’s to-do list, and have a comforting feeling that I know how things are going to happen today. Problem is, that rarely happens. There’s always surprises. Something else comes up. I change…
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Posted inMindfulness Reality

Not-knowing is wise, because we know so much less than we think we know

Way back when, Garrison Keillor said about his fictional locale, Lake Woebegone, "all the children are above average." This reflects the neuroscientific fact that most people consider themselves to be better drivers than average, more loving and compassionate than average, and in general, above average in lots of areas. Which is mathematically impossible, of course. For every person above average, there has to be another person below average. This seems to also apply to the general notion of how much we know. Most of us, me certainly included, like to believe that we know a great deal about many things.…
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Posted inBuddhism Mystics Religions

Splitting is the biggest danger in religiosity and mysticism

There are lots of good reasons to be wary of religiosity and mysticism. Splitting is one of the most important. It comes in various forms. Most obviously, religiosity and mysticism split us from other people. It is easy, almost compulsory, really, for a believer to consider that they are on a path that makes them special. Perhaps they are saved, while others are condemned. Perhaps they are God's chosen, while others are ignored by God. Perhaps they possess some special revelation, while others wallow in ignorance. But there's another way of looking at splitting that seems to be the foundation…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Uncategorized

Here’s a description of RSSB’s “soul contract.” It sounds decidedly creepy.

Below is another interesting message from the anonymous person who reaches me via the Contact form of this blog. As with the previous messages, this person shares their skeptical view of Radha Soami  Satsang Beas (RSSB), the India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. I also got a a short message from this person about why they won't be sending me additional thoughts about RSSB. It bothers me that they feel this way. This isn't the first time that I've heard from anonymous critics of RSSB and/or the guru who are afraid…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

The RSSB cult says “We are not a cult”

I'm on a roll with guest blog posts from an anonymous person who sends me messages via this blog's Contact form about Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), the India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. This is the third such blog post in a row. I found this one especially moving because it mentions me. I read that part aloud to my wife. I choked up a bit as I did so, almost feeling like crying. This doesn't happen often to me. It happens when something has been bottled up in me,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Seems that Gurinder Singh Dhillon feels trapped in his role as RSSB guru

Following up on my previous guest blog post by an anonymous person who periodically sends me messages through my contact form, below is a message I received today from them which contains interesting information about their experience with Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) and the guru who heads up this India-based religious organization, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD). It bothers me whenever someone writes me about how they became disillusioned with some aspect of RSSB, and says that I can't share their name, just their message, because they're afraid of what zealous RSSB disciples might do to them if their identity…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

With Radha Soami Satsang Beas, question the answers after you ask a question

Below is another great message from an anonymous person who periodically sends me a communication regarding how they feel about some aspect of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) -- an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years. Enjoy. I'll share some observations after the message. RSSB translations: You have the right to think what you like. This is a fundamental human right. This is "freedom of thought." Can you genuinely ask questions at RSSB? Many faiths will let you question, and leaders will do their best to answer, encourage it, accept where…
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Posted inComments Personal/Stories

Thanks for another good churchless blog year, whether or not you are an unbeliever like me

With less than three hours to go before 2025 draws to a close here in Oregon, the main thing I want to say in this final blog post of the year is... I deeply appreciate each and every person who visited the Church of the Churchless this year. It was a difficult period for me a few months ago, after I learned that Typepad, my blogging service for 22 years, was shutting down for good on September 30. I'd thought that this could happen at some point. Still, it was a shock. Fortunately, with the expert assistance of Glory Webs,…
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Posted inHappiness

Be as small as possible. Good happiness advice.

"Be all you can be" used to be a long-time recruiting slogan for the United States army. That implied you could be more than you are now, not less, if you enlisted. But there's another way of looking at this. What if being all you can be pointed toward being smaller and less significant than you are now? Before I share some perspectives about this, here's an addendum to my previous blog post, "If God created the universe, why is it so goddamn HUGE?" -- which was a good introduction for the theme of this post. This post by The…
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Posted inScience Universe

If God created the universe, why is it so goddamn HUGE?

Since I don't believe in God, I'm addressing the question that's the title of this blog post to those who do. If God created the universe, why is it so goddamn HUGE? Of course, God believers don't really have the answer to this, even if God exists. I'm just interested in what hypotheses are in the minds of the religious. Because theologically speaking, the Christians in medieval times had a more satisfying perspective on creation. The Earth is the center of the universe. The sun, stars, and moon circle the Earth. God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, to incarnate on…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories

Merry Christmas from now not-so-rainy Oregon

I have no problem saying "Merry Christmas" even though the Christ part of Christmas means absolutely nothing to me. It's just a way of expressing a hope that whoever hears those words will have a pleasant holiday season if they're in a part of the world that celebrates Christmas. Every December I write a Christmas Letter, even though my wife and I title it Holiday Greetings. Here's a link to this year's letter. Last night, Christmas Eve, Laurel and I hosted a small dinner for three friends who live in our neighborhood. It was a partial potluck. We provided muffins,…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Sometimes it seems strange to have given up on spiritual projects

Change, even when it feels welcome, often has a way of seeming strange just because the old way of doing things had become so familiar. This is why my giving up on spiritual projects sometimes strikes me as such a departure from my previous approach to spirituality. Here's what I mean by a spiritual "project." Not so much a definition as examples that point to what I'm talking about. For most of the 35 years I was a member of an Eastern religion, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, I'd regularly go to a bhandara (spiritual gathering) of the organization where I…
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Posted inFree will

A British attorney denies free will in saying no to “Could he have done otherwise?”

Sometimes it helps to understand a subtle topic by reading what several different people have to say about it, since all of us resonate differently to the voices of a particular writer. So I'm going to take a repeat leap into the rather murky waters of free will after sharing my previous post, "Giving up blame and shame is a big benefit of not believing in free will." Below is a short chapter from Richard Oerton's book, The Nonsense of Free Will. I've written several previous posts about the book. Oerton is a British attorney, so he often looks at…
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