Comments on Why do gods and spirits matter?TypePad2018-05-12T05:22:07ZBrian Hineshttps://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2018/05/why-do-gods-and-spirits-matter/comments/atom.xml/Sita commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e039deee200d2018-05-15T12:06:15Z2018-05-15T19:55:21ZSitaPlease love again? What says there is no love? 777 I don't understand..<p>Please love again?</p>
<p>What says there is no love?</p>
<p>777<br />
I don't understand..</p> 777 commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e039859d200d2018-05-14T05:41:20Z2018-05-15T02:38:00Z 777We loved @first Sita, Only Love can do ! Please love again and Rumi's Falcon will land on your shoulder...<p>We loved @first Sita, <br />
Only Love can do !</p>
<p>Please love again </p>
<p>and Rumi's Falcon will land on your shoulder ( while "living" )</p>
<p>I'm seduced to declare :<br />
If you feel no Love, . . don't sit , don't meditate</p>
<p>But that is a giant under_estimation of those rssb 5 words<br />
The words can easily recreate C.Q. delete All that is, all that ever was, next re-create<br />
and it happens all the time, per second<br />
Such is their Power<br />
So, . . Simran gives what we need: Love, . . <br />
at any time<br />
at any place</p>
<p>777</p>Sita commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e0396c95200d2018-05-13T19:35:26Z2018-05-14T03:08:15ZSitaGood post Dungeness.<p>Good post Dungeness.</p>Dungeness commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e039436f200d2018-05-12T23:08:16Z2018-05-12T23:08:16ZDungenesshttp://profile.typepad.com/6p0120a532f07a970bFor example, we humans are highly social animals. We're always wondering what other people are saying about us, how much...<p> For example, we humans are highly social animals. We're always wondering what other people are saying about us, how much they know about us, and such. So it is an easy leap to imagine that a supernatural being is doing the same, as in the familiar Santa Claus song </p>
<p>Ah, Santa's "List". I think that's an accurate picture of our entire<br />
life. The "List" overhangs because we're afraid most of the time.<br />
Angst never lets up . What if a friend betrays me? How many<br />
"Likes" am I getting? Do I look/sound too weird? What if the roof<br />
leaks again? When am I gonna die?</p>
<p>All of us become "religious" at some point to try to cope. We<br />
do good deeds hoping it'll protect us from "bad" things coming<br />
our way, we hang on to "step on a crack, break your Mother's<br />
back" kind of superstitions, ... or we distract ourselves toys, or relish<br />
various rituals and "dog whistles" - both the church/unchurched.<br />
But mostly we hide from ourselves. We look outside for answers.</p>
<p>The mystic doesn't want that monkey on his back. So, he searches<br />
inside himself to confront his fear, to understand it, to subdue it.<br />
Most importantly, he doesn't chatter about it as I'm doing. He/she<br />
begins searching and keeps on. He's headed the right way..<br />
</p>Dungeness commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20223c84aa852200c2018-05-12T23:08:16Z2018-05-12T23:08:19ZDungenesshttp://profile.typepad.com/6p0120a532f07a970bFor example, we humans are highly social animals. We're always wondering what other people are saying about us, how much...<p> For example, we humans are highly social animals. We're always wondering what other people are saying about us, how much they know about us, and such. So it is an easy leap to imagine that a supernatural being is doing the same, as in the familiar Santa Claus song </p>
<p>Ah, Santa's "List". I think that's an accurate picture of our entire<br />
life. The "List" overhangs because we're afraid most of the time.<br />
Angst never lets up . What if a friend betrays me? How many<br />
"Likes" am I getting? Do I look/sound too weird? What if the roof<br />
leaks again? When am I gonna die?</p>
<p>All of us become "religious" at some point to try to cope. We<br />
do good deeds hoping it'll protect us from "bad" things coming<br />
our way, we hang on to "step on a crack, break your Mother's<br />
back" kind of superstitions, ... or we distract ourselves toys, or relish<br />
various rituals and "dog whistles" - both the church/unchurched.<br />
But mostly we hide from ourselves. We look outside for answers.</p>
<p>The mystic doesn't want that monkey on his back. So, he searches<br />
inside himself to confront his fear, to understand it, to subdue it.<br />
Most importantly, he doesn't chatter about it as I'm doing. He/she<br />
begins searching and keeps on. He's headed the right way..<br />
</p>Spencer Tepper commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224df3247b5200b2018-05-12T15:16:42Z2018-05-13T05:29:47ZSpencer TepperTo explain what happened in the past can only be a means to calmly understand the dynamics of what is...<p>To explain what happened in the past can only be a means to calmly understand the dynamics of what is very much part of the human construction today, within each of us. And what human beings, lesser or greater, have done with that. And therefore the past can only be a mirror of things to come. The past is prologue so long as human beings are so constructed. </p>Spencer Tepper commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e03931ea200d2018-05-12T15:12:39Z2018-05-13T05:29:47ZSpencer TepperReligion reflects the internal experience, whether consciously understood or unconsciously affecting our feelings, reactions, sentiments and behavior. We call it...<p>Religion reflects the internal experience, whether consciously understood or unconsciously affecting our feelings, reactions, sentiments and behavior.</p>
<p>We call it divine generally because when we witness that part of ourselves often we cannot scope its circumference. </p>
<p>Just as daily life can seem overwhelming and negative, prayer can bring us to an equally powerful love, an equally overwhelming experience of something so much greater than ourselves, so powerful, that we can trust there is a greater benevolence at work.</p>
<p>Because this feeling is accessible through focus, concentration, of which prayer and devotion are simply two methods to achieve it, human beings try as best they can to understand and state in objective terms that experience. Hence internal experience becomes "spiritual" experience, and in its lesser forms, spiritual experience becomes the rules and rituals of religion. </p>
<p>Out of fear early humanity prayed. But out of prayer they witnessed a love within that had no reason to be, except that it was larger than reason. And that faith grew, and that power of love became theology. </p>
<p>Without this experience, witnessed directly or indirectly; understood or merely felt; or not even consciously perceived but only working unconsciously and thought of only as a distant remote possibility, no consideration of God could persist. </p>
<p>That power is built into our physiology, and therefore is inescapably and irrevocably part of our psychology, however much we decry the exploitations of lesser minds. <br />
</p>pooh bear commented on 'Why do gods and spirits matter?'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d83451c0aa69e20224e0392257200d2018-05-12T06:06:37Z2018-05-13T05:29:47Zpooh bearQuoting Brian quoting Pascal Boyer: 'Religion does not really support morality, it is people's moral intuitions that make religion plausible'...<p>Quoting Brian quoting Pascal Boyer: 'Religion does not really support morality, it is people's moral intuitions that make religion plausible'</p>
<p>It would be wonderful if the entire populace had moral intuitions, but unfortunately they don't. Some possess them innately, some learn them, and others are not receptive to much more than base instinct.</p>
<p>Think of William Golding's exploration of children in 'Lord of the Flies'. The fundamental conceit is that youngsters require guidance, otherwise they are likely to turn feral.</p>
<p>As for adults, history shows us plenty of examples of extreme savagery and barbarism when base instinct takes power over moral intuition. <br />
I think therefore that the guidance of children and adults is necessary, even if it has to be in the hands of religious institutions. <br />
The alternative is of course for educational institutions to fulfil this role. I'm not holding my breath on this one.<br />
</p>