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Originally Posted by Starman
Having worked in a hospice with people who were near death; most found great comfort in believing that there was a greater reality beyond this physical world, and most wanted to also try an codify that reality.
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And what's happening in religion and Spirituality? Just that, people trying to codify a reality they perceive beyond themselves. I was a medium for a while and the common theme was people trying to contact Loved Ones that had passed over, and one of the maxims was 'proof of survival' - that there was an existence after death. The search for meaning has gone back many thousands of years, 12,000 years at least since the building of Gobekli Tepe. It was built when man was a hunter/gatherer, which is remarkable in itself because at a time when survival was paramount people took time out to built such a monument. In context it's amazing in so many ways. And here we are today, are we any closer to an ultimate reality, or are we simply more sophisticated at doing the same thing - seeking something outside ourselves because we haven't discovered what's inside?
I've been watching some documentaries of late about Christianity and the Life and times of Jesus. That's been an eye opener. Apparently Jesus' religious trail goes back to the Gnostics of ancient Egypt and this Gnosticism comes through in his own words. Constantine usurped Christianity for his own political agenda and that 'theme' is perpetuated by some to this day. Prior to this two schools of religion existed side-by-side - Christianity and Gnosticism. Basically, Christianity preached 'God without' - an external higher power while the Gnostics believed that the spark of God was in all of us. The two weren't the best of friends but Gnosticism was systematically wiped out post-Council of Nycea, Christianity won because of their political agenda. Constantine was a Pagan.
It's been said that if you don't know where you're coming from you don't know where you're going.
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Originally Posted by Starman
Religious and spiritually oriented folks often wonder where do atheists get their values and standards for living because they, that is most religious and spiritual folks, attempt to emulate some cosmic principles or what they perceive to be a spiritual experience, which they might refer to as a “higher calling.”
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I'm an atheist, does that make me a lesser mortal? Most religious or Spiritually-orientated folks don't even ask what atheists think, form what I've seen on these forums those folks are happy to stereotype atheists because of their own ignorant misconceptions. Even an atheist like me can adopt Jesus' treat others as your brother.
Throughout history the same themes are repeated over and over, 12,000-plus years later.
In discussions about 'The Dark' on these forums I've noticed one thing, that people are still scared of it and cling to their misconceptions about The Light rather than make the dark conscious. Jung might call that an archetype of the collective unconsciousness hailing back to the days when hominids were prey animals for lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Is it in our genes and we don't even know it? Running away from the dark is perhaps still a survival technique used today by Spiritual people.
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Originally Posted by Starman
most found great comfort in believing that there was a greater reality beyond this physical world, and most wanted to also try an codify that reality.
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Around Gobekli Tepe people would bury their dead with reverence and leave them in the ground for a while. Later they would dig them up again and very carefully remove the heads, and take the heads into the household. That was most likely to maintain the links, but it showed that even in those days there was at least a hope or belief of some kind of connection to something beyond physical existence.
I don't know who is Spiritual and who isn't, even across history.