Thanks to NSS for this information about the increasing number of Britons who see religion as irrelevant…
New research from the National Centre for Social Research shows that:
- over the last 2 decades the number of people describing themselves as atheist or agnostic has risen to 37%, while those identifying themselves as Christian has dropped from 66% to 50%. (but there has been an increase from 2% to 7% in non-Christian religious affiliation due to immigration and population growth amongst ethnic minorities. )
- in 1983, 40% of people described themselves as Anglicans, now only 23% do so; (among these, not even a fifth attend church as much as once a month, and half never go at all.)
- 43% of people do not feel they belong to any particular religion, up from 31% in 1983.
- 62% of people in Britain never attend religious services;
- 67% think religious leaders should not try to influence Government decision-making;
- 73% think people with strong religious beliefs are often too intolerant of others.
What’s REALLY scary, though, is this:
- 17% of Britons are completely without doubt about the existence of God (17% too many, but OK …)
- BUT in the USA, a MASSIVE 61% of people say they have no doubt that God exists.
Two thirds of people have no doubts, at all? … what are they ON?
Meantime, over at Yahoo Answers, they’ve been pondering this question from Sam:
Are we just super-evolved monkeys clinging to a rock that at this moment is heading pretty much… nowhere?
Here’s a selection of the answers I liked:
You could say we are super-evolved from a primate branch that includes chimpanzees. …Yeah, the rock is headed pretty much no where, but why does it have to? You are not expecting it to take you anywhere, but simply to provide you a place on which to exist. Where it goes doesn’t matter. Where you go on your personal journey does matter.Which brings me to the part I disagree with: “clinging”. If you put your life to a purpose that suits you, that provides you with the ability to pursue happiness, then you cannot be said to be “clinging.”
Instead, you could be said to be “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.”
(from MetaNaturalist)
As intelligent as we are, the existence of our species is only a small blip in the grand scheme of the planet, and even if humans continue to exist for another million years we will *still* be just a blip.You see, contemplations of the value or meaning of life are simply human creations. When we think about life, death and the meaning of it all, we’re really just thinking inside a box that we ourselves created. We are the only species capable of such thought, and thus we are prone to do it, however I don’t think any of that philisophising matters.
The Earth will continue to spin orbit in circles for all time, long after we are gone, or at least until the sun supernovas.
(from Canadian Bacon)
Yep, you pretty much have it figured out. Why is that not good enough? Why aren’t you comfortable with the idea? Why must there be more?There is no need to justify your existence. There is no reason for life. But at the same time, recognize that life is precious and life is brief. Choose your actions carefully to do that which you determine to be most important at this instant.
Good luck.
God’s a human construct.
Just like a wikipedia entry, we keep discussing, adding to and updating our understanding of ‘God’: redefining what we mean by ‘God’ so it fits our changing perception of reality, so it fits with the understanding of as many interested people as possible.
And, just like an encyclopedia entry, the problems only really come when a group of self-appointed men (they’re usually men) stop the interactive updating process, deny open access to the wiki and decide that :
- what they have written is the absolute, unchangeable truth;
- those whose understanding of reality is different from this are to be shunned, outlawed, or even killed.
We need to get back to a more wiki understanding of ‘God’.
“Each of us is responsible for one particular point in space and time in which our body and mind forms a link within the total network of existence.
“Whether our present consciousness of individuality is preserved in some dimension of existence after death or disappears completely, the unalterable fact is that our being will forever remain part of the warp and woof of what is. The more psychic energy I invest in the future of life, the more I become a part of it.
“Hell is the separation of the individual from the flow of life. It is clinging to the past, to the self, to the safety of inertia. What is diabolical is to weaken the emerging complexity by withdrawing one’s psychic energy from it.”
Mihail Csikszentmihalyi, ‘Flow’
We are not so much
thinking creatures that feel,
as feeling creature that think.
Jill Bolte Taylor – ‘My stroke of insight’
The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.
ALFRED ADLER (1870-1937)
Isn’t it weird that the word ‘Mystic’ can mean so many different, often opposing, things?
Differing religious traditions describe mystical experience variously on continua ranging
From: union with God (Henosis in Neoplatonism and Theosis in Christianity, Brahma-Prapti or Brahma-Nirvana in Hinduism) [possibly through Nullification and absorption within God's Infinite Light (Chassidic schools of Judaism)]
To: experience of one’s own true blissful nature (Samadhi or Svarupa-Avirbhava in Hinduism).
Or from: complete detachment from the world (Kaivalya in some schools of Hinduism, including Sankhya and Yoga; Jhana in Buddhism) through
To: deep intrinsic connection to the world (Satori in Mahayana Buddhism, Te in Taoism)
Via: Innate Knowledge (Irfan and fitra in Islam),
and: liberation from the cycles of Karma (Moksha in Jainism and Hinduism, Nirvana in Buddhism).
“You will say,
‘Christ saith this, and the apostles say this;’
but what canst thou say?
Art thou a child of the Light,
and hast thou walked in the Light,
and what thou speakest,
is it inwardly from God? “
–George Fox, 1652.
No matter what your ‘Good Book’ says, only your lived experience can be your guide in life.
“What is this plague, this germ which, like the tubercle bacillus, lurks within, waiting for the victim’s strength to sink below a certain level so that it may strike?
It is not a new organism. Its ravages were predicted by certain seers of the nineteenth century.
Melville and Hawthorne, Nietzsche and Marx, Dostoyevsky and Kafka all saw it coming in one form or another.
Its actual appearances have been described in some detail by contemporary poets and painters, playwrights and novelists.
There were and are a few theologians at work on the bacterium, but for the most part of examination and analysis are taking place in the secular laboratories.
The germ has a very simple name: meaninglessness.
And the conditions under which is strikes are well known: when one raises or is confronted by the ultimate questions about live, about the purpose and meaning of existence, and discovers that there are no answers; no answers, that is, that can be believed.
Life seems pointless and empty, rather cruel and even a little mad.”
William Graham Cole. The Restless Quest of Modern Man
“Everything can be taken from a man but–the last of the human freedoms–to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.”
Dr. Victor Frankl
Some wise counsel, from the works of Louise Hay:
- Stop all criticism:
Refuse to criticize yourself. Accept yourself exactly as you are. Everybody changes. When you criticize yourself, your changes are negative. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive. - Don’t scare yourself:
Stop terrorizing yourself with your thoughts. Find a mental image that gives you pleasure, and immediately switch your scary thought to a pleasure thought. - Be gentle and kind and patient:
Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really loved. - Be kind to your mind:
Don’t hate yourself for having these thoughts. Gently change the thoughts. - Praise yourself:
Criticism breaks the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing. - Support yourself:
Reach out to friends, and allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it. - Be loving to your negatives:
Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need. Now you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs. So, lovingly release the old negative patterns. - Take care of your body:
Learn about nutrition. What kind of fuel does your body need to have optimum energy and vitality? Learn about exercise. What kind of exercise can you enjoy? Cherish and revere the temple you live in. - Mirror work:
Look into your own eyes often. Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself. Forgive yourself looking into the mirror. At least once a day, say: “I love you, I really love you!” - LOVE YOURSELF – NOW
Don’t wait until you get well or lose the weight, or get the new job, or find the new relationship. Begin NOW – do the best you can.
Well, you didn’t wake up this morning because you didn’t go to bed
You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red
The calendar on your wall is ticking the days off
You’ve been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you’ve changed
All the money in the world couldn’t buy back those daysYou pull back your curtains
And the sun burns into your eyes
You watch a plane flying
Across a clear blue sky
This is the day
Your life will surely change
This is the day
When things fall into placeYou could’ve done anything If you’d wanted
And all your friends and family think that you’re lucky
But the side of you they’ll never see
Is when you’re left alone with the memories
That hold your life together … like glueYou pull back your curtains
And the sun burns into your eyes
You watch a plane flying
Across a clear blue sky
This is the day
Your life will surely change
This is the day
When things fall into placeThis is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day your life will surely change
‘This is the day’, TheThe
Matt Johnson, (c) Universal Musi Publisher Group
1. upbringing; you were brought up that everyone should have a religion, and haven’t questioned that
2. culture: in your country / region, religion and culture are closely intertwined: most everybody is a member of that group;
3. hero; you admire the founder of the group and want to show that you identify with him / her
4. local heroes; you admire other members of the group and the way they act/ talk/ … and want to be like them
5. loneliness; membership brings you human contact, even friendship
6. you’re looking for answers and they seem to offer some
7. you feel uncomfortable with the uncertainties of life, and religion persuades you there are some certainties
8. you want to live life according to a moral code and think that morality only stems from religious beliefs
9. being a member of the group brings you privileges in society,
10. being a member of this group gives you power over others
11. separateness; group membership lets you feel that you’re ‘better’ than some / all other humans
12. you like ritual
13. your partner is already a member of it and you want to fit in
14. guidance: you like being told what to do
15. you are seeking meaning in life and think a religion might point you to it
16. you feel uncomfortable with the values of (western) consumer society and are looking for something more
17. curiosity: you just wanna know what this religious stuff is all about
18. you yearn to be accepted into a group
19. order: you believe that religion is a force for good in society
20. you feel guilt and want your sins to be washed away
21. you seek tranquility in your busy life
22. you’re afraid of your own death, or what comes after, and religion might let you believe you’re eternal.
On a lighter note, I am Batman…
Your results:
You are Batman
|
You are dark, love gadgets and have vowed to help the innocent not suffer the pain you have endured.  |
This page by Robert Gerzon really grabbed my attention:
Because we human beings are individual organisms, conscious of our separateness from one another and from the universe, we are simultaneously confronted with life anxiety and death anxiety.
Our life anxiety is our fear of fully experiencing our aliveness, our creative power and our existential isolation.
Our death anxiety is about the dreaded annihilation of the self: losing power, being absorbed back into the universe and ceasing to exist as an independent individual.
Fortunately we can avoid becoming paralyzed and panicked by the polarities of life and death. By choosing to “sit with anxiety,” we avoid the twin traps of fighting anxiety or trying to run from it. Instead of letting the two existential poles of anxiety paralyze us, we embrace them and transform them into sources of power and inner peace.
Death is the great mystery of life. The big question, the most unfathomable one for all people, is “What happens when I die?” There is a part of me that can’t wait to find out how the story ends- what happens after death? The meaning we give life is inseparable from the meaning we give death. A universal essence within me knows that, when the body and brain cease functioning, the adventure of consciousness continues in some other form. Even our daily need to visit the dark realm of sleep reminds us of the presence of death -the “big sleep”- in the midst of life. Our desire for relaxation is evidence of our need to “die” regularly, and of death’s rejuvenating powers.
Our anxiety about death keeps us from recognizing our own true and healthy love of death. When we accept the reality and the mystery of death we can begin to love death in a positive way, as a part of the perpetually renewing cycle of life, as liberation and reunion with our Source. Far from signifying any morbid desire to die, loving death simply means accepting death as a natural and sacred part of life.
When we deny or ignore both our death anxiety and our death love, the death urge turns toxic and we are doomed to act it out destructively as self-sabotage or as injurious behavior toward others. Freud called this repressed attraction to death thanatos, and described how it turned into aggression and self-destruction. But if we embrace the “grim reaper,” we find that its terrifying appearance is nothing but the embodiment of our own fears. Once accepted, it is transformed into the joyful Angel who guides us on our eternal journey. Our death anxiety dies and is reborn as a sacred love of death.
Wise men and women throughout the ages spent their lives preparing for and becoming friends with death, so that when it came it neither took them by surprise nor made them anxious. We can cultivate a healthy appreciation of death by meditating upon it.
When I begin a death meditation, I start by choosing to “die” for a little while. I simply imagine being dead–and instantly all worries, responsibilities and time pressures dissolve. I experience the peace and freedom that accompany the death of my self. I allow my consciousness to expand into the all-embracing oneness. In dying I lose my self but gain the universe. I have found that enjoying this temporary “death of the self” for fifteen or twenty minutes can be marvelously relaxing and refreshing. Death meditation is a way to practice the art of letting go, to see daily events from a larger perspective, and to cultivate a relationship with the timeless.
Just as embracing death anxiety allows us to experience a healthy love and acceptance of death, choosing to face the life anxiety of selfhood will usher us into the sacred realm of abundant and eternal life. Then we can finally allow life energy (what Freud callederos) to course through us, free and unfettered. Our life anxiety becomes a sacred love of life that experiences the miracle of aliveness with wonder and gratitude. When we love both life and death there is nothing left to fear–and we can experience the “peace that passes understanding.”
You can read more at:
http://www.beyondindigo.com/articles/article.php/artID/200031
Reasons for being a member of a religious group:
- upbringing; you were brought up that everyone should have a religion, and haven’t questioned that
- culture: in your country / region, religion and culture are closely intertwined: most everybody is a member of that group;
- hero; you admire the founder of the group and want to show that you identify with him / her
- heros; you admire other members of the group and the way they act/ talk/ … and want to be like them
- loneliness; membership brings you human contact, even friendship
- you’re looking for answers and they seem to offer some
- you feel uncomfortable with the uncertainties of life, and religion persuades you there are some certainties
- you want to live life according to a moral code and think that morality only stems from religious beliefs
- being a member of the group brings you priveleges in society,
- being a member of this group gives you power over others
- separateness; group membership lets you feel that you’re ‘better’ than some / all other humans
- …
- …
Can we find meaning in our daily work?
Lucy Kellaway thinks so: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7417359.stm.
Eric Berne (founder of Transactional Analysis) noted four forces which act on the little person: the encouraging and the limiting influences from parents and parent figures, Fate, and ‘physis’.
Physis is the urge to life and growth, which enables us to overcome adversity and say “This is what I want to do, and I’d rather do it my own way” (Berne, 1972).
This positive force derives from the energy of the Child egostate, the source of spontaneity, creativity and joy. This liberating concept sees creativity and self-fulfilment as normal processes.
(from http://www.taresources.co.uk/Microsoft_Word__Developing_Creativity_for_Olga.pdf)
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.
You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”
— Albert Camus
“The primitive dread of death resides in the unconscious -
a dread that is part of the fabric of being,
that is formed early in life
before the development of precise, conceptual formulation,
a dread that is chilling, uncanny, and inchoate,
a dread that exists prior to and outside of language and image.”Irvin Yalom, “Existential Psychotherapy”
