Posted by Bob on December 5, 1999, at 10:09:50
In reply to Re: Spirituality, posted by bigbertha on December 5, 1999, at 0:37:22
> ... although some of it took on
> the appearance of a slug-fest.Hey! I do not look like a slug. The Michelin Man, maybe, but not a slug! =^P ;^)
I do think spirituality is critical. I also think spirituality *can* (not must, not just in respect to the beliefs of others but as a "truth") have absolutely nothing to organized religion. I do object strenuously to the sort of fatalism people fall back upon, as if some GOD out there created us so that we could suffer, and that this suffering is unimportant when compared the GRAND SCHEME or, worse, that our suffering is *necessary* to the SCHEME. Give me free will and personal responsibility, but with biological constraints, anyday.
The spirituality I have gravitated towards, having arrived at it even before I had any idea anyone else believed the same, is based on that kernel of divinity within each of us. The Inner Voice. How Sri Chinmoy talks about aspiration -- a simultaneous expansion towards the highest height and the deepest fullness within.
... and when all that fails me, I take the first homeless person who asks for change to a deli and buy him or her a good meal.
Sometimes a simple act of charity is far better therapy than any spiritual epiphany.
Bob
poster:Bob
thread:16144
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991123/msgs/16222.html