Spirituality as an atheist?

[DespondentFishdeathMasochismo]

The question of what it means to be spiritual as an atheist is never really something I gave much thought. I was wondering today what spirituality could mean if not worshiping something supernatural. I discovered that it is simply the search for meaning in life and a connection to the world around you. My futurist friend who believes that spirituality is the merging of human and machine in the coming decades describes spirituality as " To me spirituality is simply discovering yourself in relation to the universe and existence". 


That puts spirituality into a unique perspective, one that I feel gives an unlikely name to something I've been searching for. To me, spirituality could be walking around outside and listening to a really good album, like Tim Hecker's Virgins, or Silent Hill 2 OST, or any album by Coil, feeling at peace with the world around you, feeling as though you have acceptance and ease and calm with the world. I know there's some Budhist Monks who train their whole life to achieve "enlightenment". I've never written off enlightenment, to me it's always represented a higher state of consciousness. 

What can atheists do to discover their own spirituality? Bring themselves closer to acceptance of existence on the planet earth? I'd dare say that being at peace with the world around me is "virtuous".

[Cyberman]

I cry at a lot of things. Despite being Cyberman, I admit to having human feelings. If that's not spiritual, I would happily accede to an upgrade to my vocabulary algorithm.

[Reflex]

Your notion of 'spirituality' seems to be a vacuous feeling rather than an intelligible approach to the Absolute, viz. that what transcends us, encompasses us and redeems us (that is, guides us toward having a more abundant life) and reveals to us our true purpose. It "shows itself as so impoverished that, like a wanderer in the desert craving for a mere mouthful of water, it seems to crave for its refreshment only the bare feeling of the divine in general. By the little which now satisfies Spirit, we can measure the extent of its loss."

[Joods]

Perhaps spirituality can mean whatever you want it to mean. It could mean finding peace outside and the feeling of being one with nature.

I don't know, but it's definitely something worth looking into since I don't know much about it.

[Cyberman]

Actually, let me expand on my previous comment. I cry at everything. I am a shit Cyberman.

[DespondentFishdeathMasochismo]

Your notion of 'spirituality' seems to be a vacuous feeling rather than an intelligible approach to the Absolute, viz. that what transcends us, encompasses us and redeems us (that is, guides us toward having a more abundant life) and reveals to us our true purpose. It "shows itself as so impoverished that, like a wanderer in the desert craving for a mere mouthful of water, it seems to crave for its refreshment only the bare feeling of the divine in general. By the little which now satisfies Spirit, we can measure the extent of its loss."

Vacuous feeling? What is the point of anything if you're not comfortable with the life your living? I want answers to philosophical questions to give myself peace of mind. Okay, so you want to understand what transcends us and gives us really diagnostic answers to the human condition? Sweet, I don't see how coming to a higher state of consciousness can't conflate with that.

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Plus, consciousness itself is really just a state of mind. Everything we think shapes the reality around us. Getting into a state of mind where you feel you can no longer take everything for granted, I imagine it would feel like a sense of calm, a sense of modesty and confidence. How the hell can we even theorize what that would be like? I remember being in a science museum in Chicago, there was an exhibit about the human mind. There was a portion of the mind exhibit that said monks can regulate their emotions within seconds. That to me seems like higher spiritual states of mind, which conflates with literal provable scientific theory.

[CapnAwesome]

I really don't know what people mean when they say spiritual. I've read everything Sam Harris has said about it, and it still sounds like mumbo jumbo to me.

[Amine]

The most valuable thing Harris talked about in that book, IMO, was psychedelics. That is the atheist's gateway to spirituality. The mind is a frontier more vast than space. If you haven't explored it, you're really lacking experience in one of life's greatest wonders. To have treated psychedelics (in particular) like we have would be equivalent to looking at the night sky once and banning telescopes. There is an entire realm we have declared off limits for investigation. It is, indeed, the spiritual realm. Spiritual in no supernatural sense, of course.

The way forward isn't for everyone to immediately start doing drugs, necessarily. I kinda think everyone should at least give them a try, to miss out would be kind of like to miss out on ever having sex, but whatever I guess. I am less concerned with actually taking them myself these days, but helping bring society to a place of understanding and intelligence about them, so finally they can be experienced like they should be. To do it now is to be alone, and in unfavorable conditions which could lead to bad experiences. We need a future where that isn't the case, where we can all explore the mind in safety and support. I see things being pretty different one day.

[Reflex]

Spirituality it is not dumb and passive, but a dynamic and positive attitude towards the whole of reality and the risk of error and vulnerability are intrinsic. It implies struggle and conflict, not a vacuous peace of mind.

Ecstasy is not spirituality, and if all you want is 'peace of mind,' then I suggest a lobotomy.

[SofaKingHigh]

Spirituality.....I just don't understand what it means, it's a nothing word for me. The closest I've ever felt to feeling "spiritual" is whenever the wife is finishing me off.