Why atheists are more "spiritual" than religious believers

Maybe this statement seems paradoxical to you: I feel more genuinely spiritual now that I've stopped believing in God. 

But it makes good sense to me. Here's the main reason why.

I no longer feel special.

Virtually every religion and spiritual path considers that its adherents have a special relationship with God or whatever other supernatural entity they believe in. 

There are so many chosen people on Earth, they vastly outnumber the unchosen, the non-special group I'm pleased to be a part of.

I understand that feeling special has its own delights.

In my case, I was a member of an India-based spiritual organization which taught that those approved for initiation by the guru had been "marked" to return to God/heaven after a karma-cleansing meditation process.

Cool!

For about 35 years I embraced the enjoyable belief that, out of all the billions of people on this planet, I was one of a relative few who were the special beloveds of the supreme being. 

Of course, devout Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel the same way, along with countless believers in other theological belief systems. 

Eventually I started to realize that all the talk I was hearing about being "humble servants of the Lord and the guru" was, to put it bluntly, a crock of shit. Genuine humility wasn't much to be seen among devotees of my spiritual organization.

Not surprising.

Since members of this group were told over and over that they've been singled out by a higher power to learn cosmic truths and experience realms of reality not available to other human beings, naturally a pervading sense of "tribal" pride was evident throughout the organization.

We were the cool kids in the spiritual lunch room. Other faiths were inferior, since they didn't have the direct connection to God we did. 

I'm happy that this form of egotism has been discarded.

Sure, I've still got lots of other self-centered tendencies rattling around in my psyche, as we all do. But to get rid of The Big One, a belief that God had chosen me to be his best buddy for eternity, whereas my infidel wife wasn't going to get the same afterlife prize -- this increased my humility quotient by a lot.

Now I don't expect that I'm going to have any different sort of afterlife anyone else does. Namely, I strongly suspect, none at all. 

I also don't expect that there is any power guiding my life which isn't also directing the lives of every other entity on Earth. 

Thus I've embraced a sort of "index fund" approach to spirituality.

Meaning, I don't try to beat the market. I don't assume that I have any special knowledge, any special talent, any special relationship with reality. Whatever laws of nature apply to everybody else, I'm content with.

Back in 2005 I wrote about this in Spiritual diversification, a sound investment strategy. My views have changed since then, but much of what I said in that blog post still rings true to me.

Here's some excerpts:

In financial investing, it’s well accepted that attempting to beat the market is a fool’s game. This is why index funds are so popular (and lucrative). You don’t bet on particular stocks or bonds. Instead, you put your money in the entire universe of investments represented by an index fund, such as the U.S. Total Stock Market or the U.S. Total Bond Market.

Wise financial professionals advise that if you want to save money for retirement, it’s best to invest in index funds. Increasingly, people do. But when it comes to saving their souls for eternity, most of those same people will put all of their spiritual nest egg into one basket—a single religion that they expect will support them both here and hereafter.

We here at the Church of the Churchless say, “that’s foolish.” Spiritual diversification makes as much sense as financial diversification. No, even more sense. For sometimes savvy (or lucky) investors do beat the market by buying stock in a single company. And they can prove it by having their CPAs work up a statement of net worth.

But no such proof exists in the sphere of spirituality. No religious figure can show you how his or her investment in a particular spiritual practice has paid off in terms of salvation. The claims made in supposedly holy scriptures such as the Bible, Koran, Talmud, Dhammapada, Adi Granth, Vedas, and so on are just that, claims. Unsubstantiated, unproven, unbelievable.

...I no longer believe that I am among the blessed few who know the truth about God and will reap the corresponding spiritual rewards. I came to embrace a “nothing special” philosophy. I don’t consider that my spiritual practice is anything special, just as I don’t consider that my index fund investment practice is anything special.

Yet, I’m confident that both work. I know that I haven’t lost any money by giving up trying to beat the market. Instead, I’ve watched our index funds outperform most actively managed funds. It’s more difficult to assess my soulful net worth, but my self-assessment is that I haven’t lost any spirituality by giving up my previous faith in a path that claimed to occupy a special exalted position among all of the world’s religions.

In short, I’ve become spiritually diversified. I try not to set rigid boundaries around what I believe and what I do. I try to look for inspiration in lots of different places, people, and writings. I try to become aware of all that is real about both physical existence and whatever metaphysical realities exist beyond the world I know now. I try to be content with what the cosmos brings me rather than considering that I’m entitled to unique dispensations.

Comments

[Anita]

Personally, I think that being in peace with our past without resentment or judgement,helps us to be fully Aware at the Present.
I really enjoyed the word 'genuine humility'
I think somebody genuine humble is what I call spiritual,meaning pure, real..embracing and enjoying the physical expression of human nature. Genuine humility is powerful state of Being, in our journey of human nature awareness.

[Satya]

Isn't this one of the first lessons? And it takes us all such a long time to understand it.
Ironically it is our mind's problem. It does not really want to die. It fooled us or itself then. I am worried if it is still fooling us now?

[Dungeness]

Since members of this group were told over and over that they've been singled out by a higher power to learn cosmic truths and experience realms of reality not available to other human beings, naturally a pervading sense of "tribal" pride was evident throughout the organization.

We were the cool kids in the spiritual lunch room. Other faiths were inferior, since they didn't have the direct connection to God we did.

I believe this an apt example of one of those "self-centered tendencies rattling around in one's psyche" you mention. Perhaps the rattling gives rise to one of those fun-house mirror distortions. The problem is everyone entering a fun-house sees reality askew. Once you've entered, spiritual growth, the "real fun", is in seeing what you're misperceiving, in looking inward to see what's been warped by your own prism. Ultimately, you find yourself just laughing at "the man in the mirror" rather than railing against those who you're assuming are taking shadows and twisted images to be real.

The very essence of the great religions is humility, tolerance, and understanding our own insignificance in the great scheme of things.
What credence does any great religion give to the perception of "being singled out", ennobled over others... none. It's light being bent. It's the agenda of the self-absorbed, the vain, the hypocritical. It's even more evident in the
dangerously deluded "witch hunter" or the modern day jihad-ist.

To criticize a religion's faithful still struggling in darkness - and who isn't struggling no matter what their "religion" - rather than engaging in self-examination is a distortion all its own. It can manifest as angry overreach to expose cult-ish plots to
deceive the unwary by making them feel "special". Someone else may see it through their prism as having nothing to do with entitlement at all. But simply as an acknowledgment that they've begun a new journey. A long difficult one that will require massive effort to be self-aware, to be ever cognizant of our own fallibility, to keep our mortality in mind, to beware of ever present deception, and to begin to understand for the first time our own "ordinary-ness".

[burp]

Maybe coming from a Christian background you carried over your religiousness into Sant Mat.

I'm gobsmacked that you had so many overwhelmingly stupid beliefs when you started out such as "out of all the billions of people on this planet, I was one of a relative few who were the special beloveds of the supreme being" and

"Since members of this group were told over and over that they've been singled out by a higher power to learn cosmic truths and experience realms of reality not available to other human beings".

Do you even realise that this is not the case for everyone? This is YOUR slant. YOU heard and thought these things. YOU felt special and projected your massive ego onto what you were hearing and reading and practising.

Yes, you are waking up, but trouble is your ego and projections have just shifted somewhere else. Gee I wonder where!

[Brian Hines]

burp, you don't appear to be very familiar with the RSSB teachings. Let me educate you a bit, since I've read all of them several times (the books published up through 2004) and attended satsangs weekly for 35 years.

Read, for example, the original Journey of the Soul -- an officially sanctioned RSSB book. You'll learn that God sent a bunch of souls out of "heaven" to populate the lower regions of creation. Most were happy to go, but 10% (I believe it was) were sad to go and wanted to stay with God.

These 10% are destined for initiation by a perfect living guru, which enables them to return to God after their stay in the lower regions. Other souls won't be able to do this, such as my wife.

Other examples of RSSB specialness abound in the organization's literature.

Also, I didn't come from a Christian background. I came from a philosophical, psychedelic, and yoga background.

Also, also... how do you know you aren't projecting your massive ego onto ME? Aren't we all projecting our egos onto everything? Can we do anything else than see things as we personally see them?

I don't claim to be egoless, not at all. I just claim to have learned that devotees of a certain form of spirituality who believe they are the special beloved's of God will have their egos inflated through this belief.

[burp]

You say: I don't claim to be egoless, not at all. (Me too)

You say: I just claim to have learned that devotees of a certain form of spirituality who believe they are the special beloved's of God will have their egos inflated through this belief. (I agree)

I know I have ego. I don't believe in God, never have. And guess what I am a RSSB initiate. But where I'm different from you is that I know I'm not special. Its a tremendous struggle to find out who we really are and thats where I'm at. A soul struggling in this gross creation for release. So maybe in the beginning you did have a big ego to have felt all that you are talking about and now are giving up so that you will not feel special any more.

What did you project onto the Master in the beginning besides feeling special? What did you see in him? There is something different in him than others in this world.

[goku]

Hey others too can get initiated !!!!!!! Read that book again!!!!!! And which remindes me!!! Many people have seen starry sky in meditation whose beauty was out of the world. Me too ! And I had seen that before reading anything about it in that book or other. And now whenever I meditate I cant see it as my mind wants to repeat that experience.

[burp]

"Hey others too can get initiated"

Good point.

You say: "These 10% are destined for initiation by a perfect living guru, which enables them to return to God after their stay in the lower regions. Other souls won't be able to do this, such as my wife."

If your wife does not want initiation in this life, there are future lives and future Masters and future initiations, not just this 10% here and now.

[goku]

Correct. Its written in the book that god told the other souls that they too may return home after marking the souls that didnt wanted to go.... I cant beileve that its brian......

[june schlebusch]

Hi burp if you don't believe in god as you say, why may I ask are you following guru? What do you hope to achieve?...But you are quite right, he is different from all others, that is what worries me....I still hav't figured it out yet, but I on the other hand do believe in G-D that is why followed him.

[burp]

"if you don't believe in god as you say, why may I ask are you following guru?"

We all come from the same place, the guru shows the way back.

[june schlebusch]

Yes burp I'm sure that is true but Sat Mat is not atheistic, its not like buddaism, the gurus definitely believe in a Creator Charan Singh constanly said "He knows best" and often refered to "The Father"...I'm not trying to put you on the spot, it just a puzzlement to me.

[One Initiated]

June, you are greatly misunderstanding here!
Are you really at such a confused perception about SantMat or it's your deliberate effort and a big pretension ?

~OI

[Brian Hines]

One Initiated, you're the one who seemingly doesn't understand Sant Mat. What June said is absolutely right. I think you need to educate yourself about Sant Mat before you start criticizing others for saying truthful things about this spiritual philosophy/religion.

[One Initiated]

Yes Brian,

I agree with you here, you are absolutely right. I need to understand a lot of things yet in life. First and foremost is SantMat.
And another important thing to know is the great purpose of this blog that you are running.

More in general than SantMat:
Especially when we compare the worlds inside the hospital and the world outside the hospital visiting the the nearby shopping malls. Such a huge fake proceedings of life can be witnessed within one hour of close observation on how loads of people are feeling on a hospital bed requesting to The One to grant them good life so that they can even enjoy a glass of water and a simple bread with comfort, and how not even a mile away a couple sitting in a luxurious restaurant discussing the great spices in today's dinner.
The feeling of being so Special in a luxury restaurant is as surreal as that of feeling of Misery in hospital... as none of them is going to last. What's real will last forever.

I wish every single person a very happy and healthy and Love filled time in life.
May God bless everyone with huge blasts of Love.

regards,
One Initiated

[One Initiated]

[From Blogger Brian: I rarely edit comments, except for typos as requested. But obvious factual lie about me or this blog, I don't tolerate. Hence, this comment before the following lie. I don't cherry-pick comments. I publish every comment that follows this blog's comment guidelines. So the commenter is wrong. He/she should check his/her facts before making a non-factual statement about this blog. -- Blogger Brian]

Brian,

And if you are so sure about your own education why do you cherry-pick the comments you allow to be published on your blog ?
You really know why ?
Because your mind is really scared of positivity. Anytime when you realise that your blog post is not going to withstand a particular comment itself, you don't allow that to be published.

Be mature enough and grow up to accept and publish all comments from everyone, not the selected ones which you think are beautifying the negativity you are spreading with every word you write and every thought you think.

The day might not be too far when you'll regret a lot about a lot of things.
May God give you strength to be able to manage everything.

regards,
One Initiated

[burp]

June, when I say I don't believe in God, its because which god are people talking about?

I think the god of the religions is actually Kal the ruler of the three regions, physical, astral, causal. Kal is not actually evil imo but instead dishes out punishment or reward according to a person's actions. So we get stuck in this region even if we spend our lives doing good deeds and making good karma when the reward for this in some inner region is finished then its back again into the creation in different lifeforms on different planets etc. We have been around for a very long time and when we are born into the physical we suffer from amnesia. What a trap!

So when Charan Singh is talking about the Creator he has some knowledge and experience to actually talk about this. All I know about at this stage is struggling to get out of this trap. I also have faith that eventually I will make it with the help of the guru.

[777]

I wish to repeat two items here I mentioned
but were not reacted

1)
Solopism means that God took Himself and
has put that in a specimen actually called Brian.

He did that many times in many specimen.

knowing that this Brian C.S. one day in one of his existences
would liberate himself from amnesia, through unsustainably increasing missing Love

2)
It is the answer on a question I asked Brian once
but received no answer which was :

Imaging one moment you are God Almighty, all knowing etc

"What would you desire ?"

777

ps:
I like to use my position of anonymity
to anser a question , a doubt that was posed so many times :
Yes
I have and am experiencing everything promised
by my Beloved Charan
and experienced & consider myself as a result
"to be the lowliest of the lowly"
as Guru Nanak saaid in Guru Granth Sahib

and Seth Shiv Dayal in Sar Bachan
" there is no Good in me beside YOU and even saying that I'm hypocritical "
There is ONLY this eternal Big Crush of Love that ever grows .
Initiates by a Saint tend to have the crush somewhat earlier, others may wish a longer absence

777

[tucson]

777 sort of describes what I have seen but Charan wasn't anywhere. Who am I? Who wants to know? To whom does it matter? Who is whom? What? What would what be? Where? Here? Where is here? What is where?

There is this "eternal Big Crush of Love".

"Imaging one moment you are God Almighty, all knowing etc

"What would you desire ?"

-- It just happened. There wasn't anyone to desire anything.

[june schlebusch]

HI burp thanks for your reply...That is the Big Question is it not...Which god? Are you sure he knows the way.?

[moongoes]

There Was Tucson writting " There wasn't anyone to desire anything."

[goku(alien.. looked like a human ,strong and able to fly... different) or call me pankaj(meaning born from mud, other name for lotus which is born from mud but stays over and different from mud)]

Are atheist more happier than others ? Yes they are... maybe they are. And what are the categories of atheists ? And that of believers? Arent the people who say they believe in god but dont hesitated in doing bad things as they are actually atheist inside ,more happier ? Noooo!!!!
They arent. They cant be. No one can be more happier.... and none as or so sad.... as much as me..... I dont know how spiritual I am...... everybody is...... more than me..... I dont know what I want to be... or what I want to say but that that I am happy to offer my sufferings to you god.... pain my thumb is enduring while typing... agony my heart is suffering... being all lonely... among people watching romantic movies... among people playing eye hurting mobile or pc games.. among couples chating.. among people deceiving each other for money.... over people busy doing assignments and homeworks.... being so different... so isolated.... guy who has set this page as his homepage...... but can I get what I want from this church ? I am sorry... I had no place else for this... I am aimless. I am away from my family. Thats okay. I dont wanna care. I am away from santmat books... thats okay... who wants them. I could do without them.... I cant meditate... leg injury.. exhausted back no probelem. I would do without it. Its a church. 80% people in this church hate(someother word instead but cant think at the moment) santmat...
Yet they would understand me... I believe than rest of the world... but turn out... they dont. Okay okay this is all meaningless thing I wrote. Just being emotional. I dont know maybe i care if this comment gets approved.

[burp]

"Are you sure he knows the way.?"

Can't really be sure of anything, experience will show if I'm on the right track. Is there anyone else who can be the guide? Haven't seen anyone better.

"being so different... so isolated....:"

Are atheists happy? Such a game. It's lonely. Master says its attachment brings this grief. Although people of the world seem to be going more crazy now. The only thing (he says) which cures is when the mind is attached to something better. One step at a time.

[One Initiated]

@goku

There is going to be an online space dedicated for it. HE has inspired me and Brian's website has motivated me to build one.
I will announce it by the end of the year.

regards,
One Initiated

[june schlebusch]

Dear goku there is poem by Louis Macniece called "Prayer Befor Birth" It might comfort you, if you are of a mind google it..You are not alone in your pain...burp yes you right,been there as have many others..I still don't know...One Initiated be careful with your blog, you seem very certain of your understanding of Sant Mat, I have found it to be full of twists and turns and even some detours..With much kindness to you all.

[goku(alien.. looked like a human ,strong and able to fly... different) or call me pankaj(meaning born from mud, other name for lotus which is born from mud but stays over and different from mud)]

http://m.poemhunter.com/poem/prayer-before-birth/

Read..but it lacks something...

[goku(alien.. looked like a human ,strong and able to fly... different) or call me pankaj(meaning born from mud, other name for lotus which is born from mud but stays over and different from mud)]

Dear Brian and others,

Now see how I have been mocked. In my basket course, I have been asked to complete The Anoml. Exp. I ( Kumar, Pekala and Gallagher,1994) ,
Childhood eve. (Sanders & Becker-Lausen,1995)
Procas.Scale(Lay,1986) and others... which hurts... a lot... so, Should I lie ? Since there are truths that I havent told even my parents... just a few I have mentioned here... like seeing the blue divine starry sky 6 years ago...
Wont I be mocked or consider a mental patient ? Should I tell my parents about it??? What should I do? Why should I lie?

[goku(alien.. looked like a human ,strong and able to fly... different) or call me pankaj(meaning born from mud, other name for lotus which is born from mud but stays over and different from mud)]

Its all true.. if tou dont believe I may email you the pictures... see , such a conincidence.

[One Initiated]

@June,

Thanks for your advise.

I am certainly full of mistakes and that is probably the reason I was looking at mistakes/disagreements in you/your comments. I am sorry for that if it troubled. That was not my intention.
I am trying to improve on myself with each passing day and really HE is helping in it really. Still a long way to go. And I know, with HIS grace, it will happen.

This place started by Brian is great, but the only problem here is that it's a personal space and it's obvious that he might like/dislike a comment/discussion and he might not allow a particular comment which sounds logical too.
My only observation here is that why is it that whenever it's a comment, even proving all the comment policy wrong, overly preachy and everything, but if it's sounding in against of RSSB, we can find it on the blog. I feel it's not a fair execution of the comment policy.

The space I am building is kind of an open space for anyone to start discussing around a topic or even to start a new topic.

The only aim of that space will be to feel and let others feel the Love and only Love.

May The One gives lots of Love to everyone here and else.

regards,
One Initiated