i suspect that the popular concept that god or divinity is somehow in us and we are all tied together is simply a stepping stone to the currently too-uncomfortable-to-consider truth that there is no divinity at all. is it so difficult to realize that we could be here for no lofty purpose at all? if we look behind us we see the bearers of new concepts being burned and crucified along the way. is it not even so now? but over time….the unthinkable becomes something to consider (in a society that promotes free thought)…and man is liberated to consider the truth and they methods by which truth can be found.

I am pretty sure that our universe is just one of those things that happen from time to time. Post-Modern Spirituality does have a good thing going for it, in that it is much better at accepting objective evidence than traditional religion.

I’d be perfectly content if it turned out that there is no divinity what-so-ever… Until I get evidence either way, though, I’m going to continue to philosophize, change my mind a thousand times, and apply what seems the most correct for the situation.

i like what you said about changing your mind a thousand times. isn’t that an indicator of a healthy, inquiring mind? i have one idea that i’d like to run by you. i am aware of something inside of myself..and certain others….that i have heard referred to as a “god shaped void”…or a hole inside of us that is supposedly filled at the end of some kind of spiritual quest. i had myself believed this at one time. it could be simply described as the feeling that something is missing in our lives…and is most curiously obvious at times when we seem to have everything we need, and therefore wonder while we feel this way. but recently i have been thinking that maybe the void is what keeps us moving forward. evolving, searching, and most importantly…adapting and surviving. i don’t think the hole (i’m not referring to the intense psychological pain that some suffer from abandonment etc.) is meant to be filled by a belief or god or perfect love etc… the hole is not meant to be filled. the search to fill the hole inside of us leads us to be doctors and scientists and parents and philanthropists. it keeps us alive. it can benefit many. people search for deep inner peace….but is this really a good goal? isn’t some resident anxiety and unfulfillment necessary? I think it is. But………then again…maybe i’m just seeking to justify my own condition??? your opinion please.

brian

Probably one of the greatest joys I feel is when I push myself to my limits… Especially when I find that my limit is further than I expected.

The problem is that I can never feel this intense joy from doing the same thing over again. My joy diminishes, because in reaching my limit, my limit is pushed further away. I have to continue to work harder and harder to reach that limit.

This is probably most noticeable for me when I’m programming… If I tackle a new problem, I feel great. If I have to face that same problem again, it really isn’t a challenge any more, so I don’t feel quite the sense of accomplishment. After solving the same problem several times, it becomes monotonous, so I have to remind myself that I’ve pushed myself to a different limit; I’ve survived more self-inflicted boredom and have gotten more accomplished than I expected.

While I’m in the middle of those ‘dry’ periods, where I’m not facing any new challenges, I feel empty, like something is missing in my programming. In fact, it feels the same way as I used to feel about religion.

When I was actively church hopping, on my quest for something that fit me personally, I would often feel swings of tremendous highs that just evaporated as time went on, leaving an emptiness behind. Looking back, I can see exactly what was happening: I was learning a new philosophy, which pushed the limits of my view of the world in different directions. As I became more familiar with the philosophies of the different religions, the feeling of emptiness returned, which was my cue to find something different.

To me, that longing for something more is just a different type of boredom, tied to our joy rather than our pleasure. (I don’t remember the link to the post where I explain the difference between joy and pleasure… In case you haven’t run into it yet, joy is the deep emotional happiness that comes from a job well done, while pleasure is the temporary physical happiness that comes from playing, relaxing, or doing drugs. Neither are bad… in fact, both are necessary to being truly happy.)

The boredom that comes from a lack of pleasure is usually easy enough to fix… Simply go out and play. The boredom that comes from a lack of joy, however, requires that we try to find our limits. Even if we don’t actually reach our limit, just seeking it helps tremendously… Just as we don’t have to win a game in order to have fun playing it.

Religion, if used responsibly, can provide a tremendous amount of joy. If used irresponsibly, it can satisfy the ego tremendously, to the point where we wouldn’t be able to admit to ourselves that we’re missing something… So, for the people who fall into those extremes of religion, it can most certainly fill our need to push our limits.

For a person who doesn’t feel either joy or pride from religion, though, I very seriously doubt that religion can fill that “god shaped void.”