Posted inMorality Religions

Morality has nothing to do with religion

Here's another atheist-themed letter to the editor that my wife, Laurel, has been sending in monthly to our local newspaper, the Salem Statesman Journal.  She makes some great points. Laurel's letters usually generate quite a few comments. This one has 18 so far. Such as: "Thank you Laurel. Pompous, so-called 'Christians' make judgements that are not backed by facts. Their faith does not equal truth. Life is not black and white. We are a diverse world, so get over yourselves." Absolutely! Read on for the letter. Not all moral advances in society come from the religious In a letter by…
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Posted inBooks Buddhism

Two books about whether there’s a science of Buddhism

I don't read every article in The New Yorker. But when I got near the end of the latest issue and saw this image, along with "American Nirvana: Is there a science of Buddhism?" by Adam Gopnik, I knew I'd peruse every word.  (The online version has a different title.) Gopnik's piece was a review of two recent books: "Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Enlightenment" by Robert Wright, and "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age" by Stephen Bachelor. Naturally I've ordered both books from Amazon. I say "naturally," because I'm a big fan…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

My current atheist view of a previous religious revelation

For over 30 years I was a devoted initiate of an Indian guru, Charan Singh. He was the leader of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a spiritual/religious organization headquartered in Beas, India.  The only time I saw Charan Singh in person was during two weeks in 1977.  I'd just begun a new job in state government in Salem, Oregon. I had a five year old daughter who was going to get her first bicycle from "Santa." My wife dearly wanted me to be home for Christmas.  I did too. However, I was even more desperate to see the guru in…
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Posted inReality Science

My atheist sources of awe: existence, evolution, consciousnessI

In my previous Church of the Churchless post I talked about how much I liked "The Way of Wonder" by Jack Haas. Wonder, awe, even reverence -- these aren't feelings that only religious believers have.  Hey, us atheists are equally wonder-filled, awestruck, reverent before something much greater than us. We just are in awe of what really exists, not what is imagined to exist.  (Like God, heaven, soul, spirit.) On a dog walk this afternoon I got to thinking about what I find most atheistically awesome about reality. Here's my top three, in order of awesomeness.  Naturally I've included links…
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Posted inBooks Spiritual practice/meditation

Check out “The Way of Wonder” by Jack Haas. It’s, well, wonderful!

So, what do you read if you're not religious, but you're still filled with a sense of wonder about the marvelous mystery of the cosmos? How do you inspire yourself "spiritually" if you don't believe in God or any other theological fantasy, yet still want to feel an energetic boost that impels you more strongly to know the unknowable insofar as it can be known? My top answer is Jack Haas' book, The Way of Wonder.  I bought it nine years ago, in 2008. Somehow it took me until 2013 to leave an Amazon review. Which is still the only…
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Posted inWu Project

“Wu chi” and “don’t know” go nicely together

It's funny (I mean, interesting) when you read a book and only one sentence sticks with you. I figure that if I remember it after many years, that sentence must have a significant meaning for me. A meaningful sentence I recall from one of Huston Smith's books came from a Zen practitioner: "I have a new koan: I could be wrong."  Beautiful!  I'm wrong all the time. So I can totally identify with this sentiment.  Lately I've been enjoying using a similar idea as a sort of mantra when I'm going to sleep at night and find that my mind…
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Posted inTaoism/Tai Chi

“Trying Not to Try” is a great book about wu-wei, spontaneous action

Has this ever happened to you? You're going to bed a bit early because you have an important meeting in the morning and need to be well rested. Reclining your head on the pillow, you say to yourself "I need to get to sleep, so I'll make sure I'm relaxed."  An hour later, you're still awake, even though usually you fall asleep in just a few minutes. It's dawning on you that trying to sleep is keeping you from sleeping.  So now you try not to try to fall asleep. Which, of course, is still trying. That doesn't work either.…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Roadside cross in Salem unconstitutional, says Freedom From Religion Foundation

There's a roadside memorial in the town where I live (Salem, Oregon) that features a four-foot cross. I have no problem with temporary displays of grief after someone has been killed in a traffic accident, but this memorial has been on Kuebler Boulevard for at least ten years. That's way too long. It needs to go. So says the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has written Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett, citing legal decisions that a cross on public property is unconstitutional.  Download FFRF letter to Mayor Bennett Joe Douglass, a reporter for Portland's KATU television station, filed a story about…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

“Jesus Loves Strippers” sign removal gets lots of attention

Proving that I'm used my retirement time wisely, here's a video I captured from my TV of a KATU (Portland, Oregon) news story about the controversy over a "Jesus Loves Strippers" sign that was placed illegally in the public right of way in Salem, my home town. I was interviewed for the story! In my remarks I'm representing Salem Community Vision, a group I'm a member of that seeks to improve the vitality, vibrancy, and overall coolness of semi-sleepy Salem. A Salem Community Vision colleague has been keeping track of where the KATU story has spread since July 3. Here's the…
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Posted inTaoism/Tai Chi

Tai Chi has taught me that flowing is way better than forcing

I've been learning Tai Chi for about thirteen years. That makes me a near-beginner in this oh-so-subtle "soft style" martial art. Before taking up Tai Chi I studied "hard style" martial arts for about the same length of time. So I guess I've reached sort of a balance point. My previous Tai Chi-related posts are here, on my other blog. For some reason I haven't written about Tai Chi for five years. This hasn't been from a lack of interest. It must be because Tai Chi is something I do and experience much more than I think about it.  Well,…
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Posted inReligions Taoism/Tai Chi Vedanta/Advaita

Indian and Greek thought are both dualistic. Chinese thought isn’t.

Oneness has a lot of appeal. It's simple. Nothing is simpler than one. (Well, maybe nothing is simpler, but since there is no way to know what nothing is like, since it doesn't exist, who knows?) Also, oneness has a lot in common with love. Love brings us together, which is a big step toward being one. Duality, on the other hand (a good phrase to use when talking about duality), posits two things that are inherently different. Like most people, I've had the idea that Eastern forms of spirituality are more into oneness that Western forms are. The cartoon…
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Posted inPolitics Spiritual practice/meditation

How this atheist feels about prayers after another mass shooting

Another day in America, another mass shooting. A lone gunman shot Rep. Steve Scalise and four other people at a park where Scalise was practicing for a benefit Congressional baseball game.  This is a tragedy. So are the tens of thousands of other gun deaths that happen every year in this country.  But after dramatic shootings like this one, there's a familiar ritual: "thoughts and prayers" are directed to the victims and their families.  I wrote about this in 2015 after the San Bernardino shootings. Here's an excerpt from "Another mass shooting. No more 'thoughts and prayers.' Gun control ACTION!"…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Good criticisms of Guru Gurinder Singh and his spiritual organization

I enjoyed this blog post comment from "reet" so much, I've made it into a post. These are some great criticisms of how the Indian spiritual organization Radha Soami Satsang Beas operates, and the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh, and his relatives. The RSSB guru travels in private airplanes and in high end cars with high level security, his son is the CEO of a multimillion dollar company, his wife has million dollar stocks to her name, his relatives are rich billionaires. It's totally fine if you're a businessman and doing all this with your "earned"…
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Posted inReality Science

It isn’t all about us. Humans aren’t special.

We have no option but to use our human ways of knowing to understand the universe. However, this doesn't mean that us Homo sapiens possess the capability of accurately answering all the questions about the cosmos that come to mind.  Or even being sure that we're able to ask the proper questions.  More and more, I'm embracing the conclusion that human consciousness likely isn't capable of grasping the Great Big Questions (notably including why the universe exists at all), much less the answers to them. Here's a letter from the June 2017 issue of Scientific American on this subject. I've…
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Posted inGod Reality

Believers, be clear about what sort of belief you want others to accept

Someone recently emailed me, asking if I read the many comments (223, currently) on a recent Church of the Churchless post. Here's part of my reply. I admit that I haven’t read the many comments on this post in much detail. In my current irreligious frame of mind it just strikes me as mostly meaningless to discuss/argue about subjective experiences as if they reflect some objective reality. There’s no way to tell whether someone’s supposed “mystical” experience is anything other than a projection of their own mind absent some sort of convincing demonstrable evidence.   Logical or reasonable arguments can…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Why we can’t rely on the Bible for social and moral progress

My avid-atheist wife just had her monthly anti-religion letter to the editor published in our local newspaper, the Salem (Oregon) Statesman Journal.  Actually, her letter was published twice on the opinion page in the print edition -- yesterday and today. I'm tempted to call that a miracle, a sign from God tbat She is pleased with Laurel's message. (But for obvious reasons I'll resist that temptation.) Here's what Laurel said. The paper titled her letter, "Why community must not rely on the Bible for social and moral progress." Most social and moral progress in Western civilization has been brought about…
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Posted inFundamentalism

In Saudi Arabia, atheists are considered terrorists

Kind of jarring news, given that President Trump (geez, I hate to write those two words) just returned from his visit to Saudi Arabia, all enthused about how great his talks with Saudi officials/royalty were. So today I come across a 2014 story in the Independent, "Saudi Arabia declares all atheists are terrorists in new law to crack down on political dissidents."  In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could "harm public order".…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation Taoism/Tai Chi

The spiritual implications of drink when thirsty, eat when hungry

I'm a firm believer in living naturally. Not unnaturally naturally. Just naturally naturally.  Meaning, do what is natural. But don't make a fetish out of this, don't strive to do it, because trying too hard to be natural leads to artificiality.  When it comes to drinking and eating, here's some good advice: Drink when thirsty. Eat when hungry.  This sounds very Zen. And it is. But it also makes a lot of scientific sense. For example, check out "Just drink water when you're thirsty like a normal person, study finds." After much deliberation, a 17-member expert panel representing four countries…
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Posted inGod Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh: the One is the goal, God without attributes

I no longer believe in God. Meaning, a God who is this or that, a God who can be described, who can be known, who can be experienced. But I'm very much open to the notion that One is at the heart of reality. Heck, I wrote a book called "Return to the One" about the teachings of Plotinus, a Neoplatonist Greek philosopher.  After all, something has to have always existed, or existence wouldn't exist. So why not call this the "One"? Just don't ascribe any attributes to the One, because the One couldn't have any attributes, being, obviously, One. …
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Posted inFree will Science Spiritual practice/meditation

Experience of conscious will is an illusion

I don't believe in free will. But like most people, I have a feeling that my intention to do something is what causes that thing to happen.  So we have two things going on: (1) A scientific world view doesn't support a belief in free will. As I've written about a lot on this blog (type "free will" into the Google search box in the right sidebar to find the many posts), there is no evidence of an immaterial self/soul that somehow floats free of the material/physical goings-on in the human mind. So there's no entity within us which can…
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