Atheism not needed for a life of greater value/pleasure

[Confused Ape]

I'm an atheist with the mentality of a religious person who seeks self-enlightenment

How are you defining self-enlightenment?

As I stated before that there are in fact things in life that recognizing the reality of the situation is either pointless or actually does much more harm than good, I am proof of this because I would have, in fact, lived a life of greater pleasure and stress coping if I still believed in religion and me being an atheist has brought me no such things. As for the concept that anyone can change and that I can change my attitude, you cannot always completely change your attitude (for many they can only change their attitude up to a certain degree while still living their lives filled with negativity). I feel that I could definitely be one of these people because if your mind has been wired a certain way your entire life (which would be my case as I have lived a positive life through my perception of fantasy and believing in religion), then completely rewiring your brain to live a positive life through atheism just might be an impossible goal. Therefore, you would of been better off believing religion in this case.

This sounds like you've got a brain like mine. If so, you can have the best of both worlds. You can tune into the positive subjective experiences which religious people think can only be found through religious belief but you don't have to believe in dogma or some supernatural being. The positive experiences include inner peace, a sense of the sacred and feeling at one with everything.

I find Eckhart Tolle's technique very useful. The mystical elements don't have to be taken literally because they can be interpreted in a symbolic way.

Exceprts From The Power Of Now By Eckhart Tolle

Being is the eternal, ever-present One Life beyond the myriad forms of life that are subject to birth and death. However, Being is not only beyond but also deep within every form as its innermost invisible and indestructible essence. This means that it is accessible to you now as your own deepest self, your true nature. But don't seek to grasp it with your mind. Don't try to understand it. You can know it only when the mind is still. When you are present, when your attention is fully and intensely in the Now, Being can be felt, but it can never be understood mentally. To regain awareness of Being and to abide in that state of "feeling-realization" is enlightenment.

You aren't obliged to believe that Being is beyond the myriad forms of life but life as a biological process is the same for all living things whether they're plants or animals. Tuning into this can bring an experience of feeling at one with Nature.

What is the greatest obstacle to experiencing this reality?

Identification with your mind, which causes thought to become compulsive. Not to be able to stop thinking is a dreadful affliction, but we don't realize this because almost everybody is suffering from it, so it is considered normal. This incessant mental noise prevents you from finding that realm of inner stillness that is inseparable from Being. It also creates a false mind-made self that casts a shadow of fear and suffering.

Eckhart Tolle's technique can be used anywhere or any when because it's purpose is to stop the kind of thoughts we indulge in to bring stress upon ourselves. "I've got a dental appointment tomorrow. I hate dental treatment. It's going to be awful. How am I going to cope?" If someone spends hours worrying about it they're going to end up very stressed and maybe even lying awake half the night because they can't stop thinking about it.

Religion grew out of what our distant ancestors believed these subjective experiences to be. We can't call them stupid because they had no knowledge of neuroscience. This wouldn't have been a big disaster if different groups of people hadn't come up with different beliefs and started fighting over them - "What I believe is THE TRUTH and your beliefs are wrong. Join our religion or die."

In conclusion, this universe might portray the message to atheists that we are nothing special and have no grand special purpose, but we are the ones who are special and this universe is what's not special only in the sense that it has given us no grand special purpose for us.

I'll leave you with a quote from Carl Sagan.

We are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self awareness. We have begun to contemplate our origins: starstuff pondering the stars; organized assemblages of ten billion billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose. Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for Earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we spring.

I find this inspiring and it's also a scientific fact.