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Spiritual practices. (For Atheists)

Started by ForTheLoveOfAll, February 28, 2011, 02:26:07 PM

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Whitney

Quote from: "DirtyLeo"That's why Ashtanga or Power Yoga is the best :). It's a great workout and not a stretching routine.

we were actually talking about meditation being boring....but ya, hatha yoga can be boring too (I turn off the sound and listen to a podcast).

For more active workouts I prefer pilates if using a video otherwise I'd rather walk/run.

ForTheLoveOfAll

Quote from: "Whitney"
Quote from: "DirtyLeo"That's why Ashtanga or Power Yoga is the best :). It's a great workout and not a stretching routine.

we were actually talking about meditation being boring....but ya, hatha yoga can be boring too (I turn off the sound and listen to a podcast).

For more active workouts I prefer pilates if using a video otherwise I'd rather walk/run.
Anything beats Tai-Chi, though.
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
-Carl Sagan

I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.
- Bill Hicks

The Magic Pudding

I did a Wordweb check on "spiritual" and I couldn't find a usable usage.
So I'm left with sensual which isn't so bad.

AnimatedDirt

Quote from: "The Magic Pudding"I did a Wordweb check on "spiritual" and I couldn't find a usable usage.
So I'm left with sensual which isn't so bad.
Can you be more specific?  Why can't you use "spiritual" and so are left with "sensual"?

ForTheLoveOfAll

Quote from: "AnimatedDirt"
Quote from: "The Magic Pudding"I did a Wordweb check on "spiritual" and I couldn't find a usable usage.
So I'm left with sensual which isn't so bad.
Can you be more specific?  Why can't you use "spiritual" and so are left with "sensual"?
Sensual spirituality... Kama Sutra, anyone?
A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.
-Carl Sagan

I loved when Bush came out and said, "We are losing the war against drugs." You know what that implies? There's a war being fought, and the people on drugs are winning it.
- Bill Hicks

Asmodean

Quote from: "ForTheLoveOfAll"Sensual spirituality... Kama Sutra, anyone?
Crappy drawings, but... Somewhat inspiring  :D
Quote from: Ecurb Noselrub on July 25, 2013, 08:18:52 PM
In Asmo's grey lump,
wrath and dark clouds gather force.
Luxembourg trembles.

Ihateyoumike

Sex is the closest thing to a spiritual practice for me.
Prayers that need no answer now, cause I'm tired of who I am
You were my greatest mistake, I fell in love with your sin
Your littlest sin.

Will37

Quote from: ForTheLoveOfAll on February 28, 2011, 02:26:07 PM
While religion above all else has been a shackle to progress and a cause of untold suffering in humanities history, there are some things that have arisen from it that the Atheist can find useful.

I'm talking about things like meditation, yoga, certain philosophies, etc. Things that, while they may have originally been intended as a spiritual practice, they can be useful to us for their physical or mental value.

I even pray from time to time, but it's to Robin Williams.

Anything you guys take part in despite being fellow heathens?

Yeah.  I used to be a very devout Catholic.  So just running through my rosary makes my mind much calmer, more focused, and more contemplative. 
'Out of a great number of suppositions, shrewd in their own way, one in particular emerged at last (one feels strange even mentioning it): whether Chichikov were not Napoleon in disguise'
Nikolai Gogol--> Dead Souls

'Коба, зачем тебе нужна моя смерть?'
Николай Иванович Бухарин-->Letter to Stalin

'Death is not an event in life: we do not live to exp

fester30

I practice superstition in sports.  In my bowling league, I forgot socks one night and wound up bowling a 635 series.  The next week I intentionally did not wear socks.

original_gender

Quote from: Stevil on March 01, 2011, 07:29:59 AM
The closest I get is when playing my guitar. It takes lots and lots of patience and concentration. Never ending things to learn and you have to pace yourself. It frees the mind, sooths the soul, allows one to express their emotions or even experience emotions that are foriegn to them. I certainly think hobbies like this are well worth it, intellectually and emotionally and in the long run you pick up a neat skill that others can also enjoy.

It's true. When you put aside all of the horror that has been done to the image of the instrument by popular culture (e.g. soft rock, nu metal, "singer-songwriters"), it really is a great way to hear yourself think without intellectualizing your thoughts. A few jazz chords in the dark makes for a brand of introspection that is comparable to being talked down by a close friend – which is especially useful when all of your friends become acquaintances during the transition into adulthood.

Quote from: Ihateyoumike on March 04, 2011, 06:56:55 PM
Sex is the closest thing to a spiritual practice for me.

I envy you. To me, sex is usually just theatrical cardio tethered to an orgy of social obligations – albeit, I've had some experiences that I thought were incredible at the time, in retrospect I have fonder memories of loitering, lol.

Quote from: Squid on March 02, 2011, 02:40:51 AM
I focus my Chi every time I sit on the toilet...

I know it is just your monicker, but I couldn't help envisioning a squid expressing these sentiments in a New Jersey accent.

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: original_gender on May 27, 2011, 05:18:25 AM
Quote from: Squid on March 02, 2011, 02:40:51 AM
I focus my Chi every time I sit on the toilet...

I know it is just your monicker, but I couldn't help envisioning a squid expressing these sentiments in a New Jersey accent.


Squid has forever tainted Chi for me...
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Gawen

Quote from: ForTheLoveOfAll on February 28, 2011, 02:26:07 PMI'm talking about things like meditation, yoga, certain philosophies, etc. Things that, while they may have originally been intended as a spiritual practice, they can be useful to us for their physical or mental value.
Honestly, I find that a hobby takes care of all that.
The essence of the mind is not in what it thinks, but how it thinks. Faith is the surrender of our mind; of reason and our skepticism to put all our trust or faith in someone or something that has no good evidence of itself. That is a sinister thing to me. Of all the supposed virtues, faith is not.
"When you fall, I will be there" - Floor

Willow

Quote from: Gawen on June 03, 2011, 03:00:58 PMHonestly, I find that a hobby takes care of all that.
Absolutely.
I might shout "Odin" with my pals as we clambour down the cliffside with our flaming torches, but make no mistake, I'm worshipping society, specifically the viking re-enactment society.
http://www.amlwchhistory.co.uk/angleseywalker/anglesey7.htm

Crow

I do ashtanga yoga for about two hours every other morning, wouldn't really consider it to be spiritual though (don't do any of the mantras) as I do it purely for exercise and to offset the amount of time I spend sitting at a computer, every now and then I will do bikram yoga.
Retired member.

DeterminedJuliet

#29
I talk about "energy" a lot, which I guess could be interpreted as sort of spiritual. I don't literally believe that I have twirling disks of coloured light in my body, or that, if I'm feeling ill, I have a chi blockage, but I find using the term "energy" is useful for describing some intangible elements about people/places/experiences. Sometimes I can't quite put my finger on what I like or dislike about something, so I'll just say something about its "energy" (yeah, I'm a bit of a hippie sometimes).

Plus, in a literal quantum sense everything does have energy, so it's a kind of "big picture" descriptor that I feel a bit more comfortable with.
"We've thought of life by analogy with a journey, with pilgrimage which had a serious purpose at the end, and the THING was to get to that end; success, or whatever it is, or maybe heaven after you're dead. But, we missed the point the whole way along; It was a musical thing and you were supposed to sing, or dance, while the music was being played.