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Definition And Explanations


David Henson

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What do you think spirituality is? To me it is the exploration of the spiritual, spirit being the unseen forces in our lives. For example, the Greek word spirit, pneuma is where the English words pneumatic and pneumonia come from. The Hebrew word for the same is also translated as breath, or wind. An invisible active force that produces results. Does skepticism really only imply unbeliever or doubtful? Do you think that knowledge of the unseen, or spiritual, is impossible as skepticism seems to imply?

 

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55 minutes ago, David Henson said:

What do you think spirituality is? To me it is the exploration of the spiritual, spirit being the unseen forces in our lives. For example, the Greek word spirit, pneuma is where the English words pneumatic and pneumonia come from. The Hebrew word for the same is also translated as breath, or wind. An invisible active force that produces results. Does skepticism really only imply unbeliever or doubtful? Do you think that knowledge of the unseen, or spiritual, is impossible as skepticism seems to imply?

 

Well like Jesus had said life`s spirituality is like the wind, you never know when it will come or when it will go.And I guess we all know that  and it up to each to believe if it will go on.

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45 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Spirituality is just a product of the imagination. People making emotional connections to imaginary things. 

< thinks > .... yeah .....   ' unseen forces '   ....   imagination fits in with that. 

I see spirit as ;  '   temper or disposition of mind or outlook  '     , an 'inbuilt'    inclination, impulse, or tendency of a specified kind  that makes one an individual, regardless of  environment and upbringing ( it may well within  the genetic code  and come out like other traits ) which can result in  ' a special attitude or frame of mind '. The '   prevailing tone or tendency '  of a person , resulting in their '    general intent or real meaning' maybe even 'purpose'  or 'mission in life'  .     (Definitions from  Merriam Webster ) 

 

For me    skepticism does not  only imply unbeliever or doubtful, it means I want to examine it closely and not just believe it at face value  or another person's view of it .  I  do not think that knowledge of the unseen, or 'spiritual' , is impossible  as we have much knowledge of many things unseen  and I dont think being  skepticism implies such things ..... to me . 

Some religious people are skeptical of science and evolution .... but that is okay , apparently     :)  

 

 

 

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47 minutes ago, docyabut2 said:

Well like Jesus had said life`s spirituality is like the wind, you never know when it will come or when it will go.And I guess we all know that  and it up to each to believe if it will go on.

Happy Giftmas Docy . 

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3 minutes ago, back to earth said:

I see spirit as ;  '   temper or disposition of mind or outlook  '

6-evil-spirits-vodka.jpg

Sure you do.;)

Merry Giftmas BTE and a Happy New Beer.:lol:

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58 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

Spirituality is just a product of the imagination. People making emotional connections to imaginary things. 

That raises a lot of questions. Is skepticism a lack of imagination? I don't think so. Is science fiction spiritual? I definitely think so. Is racism spiritual? I think so, due to it's proximity to the cultural and traditional. Is xenophobia imaginative? I think so. And so emotional connections to imaginary things would be detrimental to spirituality, but spirituality nonetheless. Religion is spiritual in that respect, but spirituality isn't necessarily religiosity. 

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52 minutes ago, docyabut2 said:

Well like Jesus had said life`s spirituality is like the wind, you never know when it will come or when it will go.And I guess we all know that  and it up to each to believe if it will go on.

The spirit goes out from us, Solomon said, and returns to God. Of course - as I mentioned in the OP, there are various meanings to the word. 

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The father lives in the  son    ....   genetically.   Thats where the 'spirit' goes out to ..... or to some other descendant .  

Here , they keep them in the big waterhole.  A  man takes one out then gives it to his wife. Maybe he is great grandfather come back or some grand uncle ?    When we die we go 'back to earth'  so does spirit . 

All of nature is renewed by fire . 

 

Image result for all of nature is renewed by fire

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12 minutes ago, back to earth said:

< thinks > .... yeah .....   ' unseen forces '   ....   imagination fits in with that. 

I see spirit as ;  '   temper or disposition of mind or outlook  '     , an 'inbuilt'    inclination, impulse, or tendency of a specified kind  that makes one an individual, regardless of  environment and upbringing ( it may well within  the genetic code  and come out like other traits ) which can result in  ' a special attitude or frame of mind '. The '   prevailing tone or tendency '  of a person , resulting in their '    general intent or real meaning' maybe even 'purpose'  or 'mission in life'  .     (Definitions from  Merriam Webster ) 

 

For me    skepticism does not  only imply unbeliever or doubtful, it means I want to examine it closely and not just believe it at face value  or another person's view of it .  I  do not think that knowledge of the unseen, or 'spiritual' , is impossible  as we have much knowledge of many things unseen  and I dont think being  skepticism implies such things ..... to me . 

Some religious people are skeptical of science and evolution .... but that is okay , apparently     :)  

 

 

 

It's okay with me, that's for sure. To be expected. Who would a believer most likely doubt, the Creator or imperfect man's theoretical musings? It's a no brainer for me. I like the way you incorporated the dictionary definitions in your response. They reminded me of practical applications I often use in examples of the word spirit. Like, "He was a mean spirited old man," or "The spirit of the horse was broken."  Your comparison of skepticism to science was interesting as well, the theoretical requires imagination I would think. and although it is generally thought that science can't test the supernatural, the Bible says to test every inspired scripture. The spiritual aspect of the supernatural when compared to science has always fascinated me. The skeptical will dismiss the spiritual out of hand, even ignorance, as I certainly did for half of my life as atheist, but if you were to discuss the possible existence of higher intelligent being capable of doing things beyond our own, even the possible evolution of humanity towards a proclivity similarly, they are not so likely to dismiss those possibilities out of hand.   

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6 minutes ago, back to earth said:

The father lives in the  son    ....   genetically.   Thats where the 'spirit' goes out to ..... or to some other descendant .  

Here , they keep them in the big waterhole.  A  man takes one out then gives it to his wife. Maybe he is great grandfather come back or some grand uncle ?    When we die we go 'back to earth'  so does spirit . 

All of nature is renewed by fire . 

I don't know you well enough to distinguish whether or not you were being serious or not. I always took the return of the spirit to be, in some sense, breath, and more so, the spark of life our creator gave us. It only returns to God in the sense that we are not using it anymore. 

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To me being spiritual is giving your Dopamine Reward System more credit than it's due. 

I can hike the top of the mountain by me, look around, and get chills. Others take it as a supernatural event believing religious fiction. While others do drugs to get the same effect.

We are pleasure seeking evolved mutated crazy Apes, and need to balance the old part of the brain with the new.

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1 hour ago, David Henson said:

I don't know you well enough to distinguish whether or not you were being serious or not.

You don't know any of us well enough but you come out with the talons pretty quick.

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52 minutes ago, XenoFish said:

You don't know any of us well enough but you come out with the talons pretty quick.

I should have got to know you better before whipping out the talons? We have locked shields, not swords. 

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57 minutes ago, davros of skaro said:

To me being spiritual is giving your Dopamine Reward System more credit than it's due. 

I can hike the top of the mountain by me, look around, and get chills. Others take it as a supernatural event believing religious fiction. While others do drugs to get the same effect.

We are pleasure seeking evolved mutated crazy Apes, and need to balance the old part of the brain with the new.

i don't know about the rest of it, but your drug reference is right on. Spiritism, in the common Greek is pharmakia, for example, at Galatians 5:20.  Primitive people even today use drugs to gain access to the "spirit world."

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (1981, Vol. 4, pp. 51, 52) says of the word: “(Eng., pharmacy etc.) primarily signified the use of medicine, drugs, spells; then, poisoning; then, sorcery, Gal. 5:20, R.V., ‘sorcery’ (A.V., ‘witchcraft’), mentioned as one of ‘the works of the flesh.’ See also Rev. 9:21; 18:23. In the Sept[uagint], Ex. 7:11, 22; 8:7, 18; Isa. 47:9, 12. In sorcery, the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulets, etc., professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.”
 

 

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34 minutes ago, David Henson said:

i don't know about the rest of it, but your drug reference is right on. Spiritism, in the common Greek is pharmakia, for example, at Galatians 5:20.  Primitive people even today use drugs to gain access to the "spirit world."

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (1981, Vol. 4, pp. 51, 52) says of the word: “(Eng., pharmacy etc.) primarily signified the use of medicine, drugs, spells; then, poisoning; then, sorcery, Gal. 5:20, R.V., ‘sorcery’ (A.V., ‘witchcraft’), mentioned as one of ‘the works of the flesh.’ See also Rev. 9:21; 18:23. In the Sept[uagint], Ex. 7:11, 22; 8:7, 18; Isa. 47:9, 12. In sorcery, the use of drugs, whether simple or potent, was generally accompanied by incantations and appeals to occult powers, with the provision of various charms, amulets, etc., professedly designed to keep the applicant or patient from the attention and power of demons, but actually to impress the applicant with the mysterious resources and powers of the sorcerer.”
 

 

The Jewish Temple priests (according to Josephus) had a psychedelic flower adorn certain robes. Roman priests would have psychedelics in their sacramental bowls.

It's just playing with the mind, and not respecting it's power (power to fool oneself).

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2 hours ago, David Henson said:

I don't know you well enough to distinguish whether or not you were being serious or not.

On this I am being serious , I have been involved with Australian indigenous shamanism for a few years now .  

"When I die, I go back to earth "  

  

 

Traditionally (before white Euro )  disruption , there was no idea of duality , this is the spiritual world, we live in it  immortally, sometimes we are people,  then we go back to earth and come back out of the earth .   There is no Earth / Heaven duality .... this is heaven and everything can be ( used to be ) supplied that was needed , enough for need but not greed, and  the Law preserved 'The Garden'   for over 60,000 years . 

Modern people are very hung up about their 'individuality' and survival of 'ego ' after  death . 

I was also deeply involved with the western mystery tradition for  many years .  The initiation cycles ,  the life birth death cycles , culminate in the final resurrection of the candidate, with the acclaim ; "He lives in the Son" .  For many this is misunderstood as 'he lives in the Sun'  and suggests the personal ego will be resurrected  . No, in modern speak, the 'self' survives in the genetic code. 

In all of this - the shamanism, a clear understanding of western mystery tradition and  for many materialists .... there is no contention between these things .    

And they would all affirm  the hermetic maxim ' All of nature is renewed by fire. " ... 'even  Old Bill affirms that   !   

"Tree the same as me. When he old, he'll die. he'll be dead and burn. He'll leave his ashes behind. Tree become Earth. We will be dead .  W will become earth. 

Bill and Felix ;

Related image

 

 :)  

 

 

2 hours ago, David Henson said:

I always took the return of the spirit to be, in some sense, breath,

Yes, you explained elsewhere about the 'pneuma' connection.   I see it a bit different , as the ancients saw 'invisible agents' as 'spirits'  that moved things like the invisible air.  That's how I see the pneuma connection . 

Also, air ....sort of  ...  has to have an elemental primacy (in the old way of thinking )    as fire and water are obvious opposites and must be generated  from one thing ; air  .  

2 hours ago, David Henson said:

and more so, the spark of life our creator gave us. It only returns to God in the sense that we are not using it anymore. 

or the 'waterhole ' , the 'gateway out of earth' and source of life .       ;)    

 

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55 minutes ago, David Henson said:

I should have got to know you better before whipping out the talons? We have locked shields, not swords. 

Do you like locking swords ?     I do !         Usually twice week ! 

Go Kobudo ! 

Image result for bokken spar

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....... put a guard on that !    ^   or I will    'meet and slide' 

 

......  and  'cut' your fingers and hands !  

 

Related image                Related image

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davros

Quote

To me being spiritual is giving your Dopamine Reward System more credit than it's due.

There's a surprise :) . Merry Christmas, D.


OP

I don't interpret the "versus" in the title of the subforum as a commitment by Saru that spirituality and skepticism must conflict. He did observe, however, that they do in fact sometimes conflict. Once upon a time, there was only one "religious" subforum here at UM, and many conversations got shut down early because skeptics would open fire on the premises of a topic (whether angels exist, say) rather than whatever the topic was actually about (whether angels have free will). Now there's both the sheltered workshop and also the adult swim, the "versus" board.

As to definitions, spirituality is very broad, I think almost anything that interrupts anybody's workaday thinking and causes them to think that maybe they're missing something that they should be paying attention to can be called "spiritual." Skepticism is pretty broad, too. I think it is the willingness to take seriously that there are people who will whizz on your leg and tell you it's raining, AND that once in a while, the whizzer might be your very own self.

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5 hours ago, David Henson said:

I should have got to know you better before whipping out the talons? We have locked shields, not swords. 

If you want to understand me better. Read the link in my signature.

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13 hours ago, David Henson said:

It's okay with me, that's for sure. To be expected. Who would a believer most likely doubt, the Creator or imperfect man's theoretical musings? It's a no brainer for me. 

Sure, and 'imperfect man' pretty much sums up the foundational axiom at the heart of skepticism.  Given that, the believer above hasn't really defined the dichotomy accurately; it should be who would a believer most likely doubt, imperfect man's musings about the Creator or imperfect man's other theoretical musings (leaving aside that obviously things like science/evolution are not mere theoretical musings).  "Imperfect man" applies to everything, there is no information about or from the Creator that isn't going through that imperfect filter also.

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23 hours ago, David Henson said:

Does skepticism really only imply unbeliever or doubtful? Do you think that knowledge of the unseen, or spiritual, is impossible as skepticism seems to imply?

 

Skepticism and spirituality can be consistent. I am an open-minded skeptic and a spiritualist from the evidence (paranormal) skeptically analyzed. It is unfortunate today that in many people's minds the word 'skeptic' and 'atheist-materialist' are practically synonymous. The popular skeptics of today are really just closed-minded atheists-materialists masquerading as skeptics. A true skeptic or scientist is open-minded but does not accept claims without sufficient evidence. The word 'skeptic' today has been hijacked by no-holds-barred supporters of atheistic-materialism looking for a term that makes them sound more intellectual.

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