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Tue 24 May, 2016 09:37 am
What is the best way to have a religious experience?
Religious experience is defined as that which is outside the ego, outside the field of time, the eternal.
For young people this is important, because most have grown up without a myth, without a way to connect with the universe, and, therefore, seek hedonism, material gain, status or power, ways to make the ego comfortable, ie., the "wasteland", or are left on their own to seek their own myth. Modern religious myths, that is Christian, Judaic, and Islamic have all been busted by science, leastways as interpreted literally. The inside of churches are filled with islands of gray hair. Essentially, Joseph Campbell says that we are now without a myth and nobody knows what the next one will be, so we're, each one of us left to our own devices or seeking.
So, what do we do?
@coluber2001,
I'd recommend Finding a good pub, Seems to be a good hunting ground for those seeking a religious experience, you will find all sorts of spirits within, not yet "busted by science"
@coluber2001,
Uber, express your opinion on a2k. But if you're familiar with the process, find something pertinent in the Religion sec of your Sunday Gazette, and counter it with a Letter to the Editor
@coluber2001,
coluber2001 wrote:
What is the best way to have a religious experience?
Religious experience is defined as that which is outside the ego, outside the field of time, the eternal.
That's a rather narrow and limited definition of "religious experience."
coluber2001 wrote:
For young people this is important, because most have grown up without a myth, without a way to connect with the universe, and, therefore, seek hedonism, material gain, status or power, ways to make the ego comfortable, ie., the "wasteland", or are left on their own to seek their own myth. Modern religious myths, that is Christian, Judaic, and Islamic have all been busted by science, leastways as interpreted literally. The inside of churches are filled with islands of gray hair. Essentially, Joseph Campbell says that we are now without a myth and nobody knows what the next one will be, so we're, each one of us left to our own devices or seeking.
So, what do we do?
No myth? The world is swarming with Christians who hold to the Jesus hero myth. Secondarily, there's the God's prophet myth of Islam. There's more than a billion people who subscribe to the various Hindu myths. Joseph Campbell needed to look out of his ivory tower and examine the world, not just its Western literary texts.
@InfraBlue,
Amen, Blue. It ignores the rule, nothing is entirely anything while everything is partly something else
I'm not talking about those with faith, those gray heads in the church, I'm talking about the rest, the young people, those wondering what it's all about.
Many of us had questions when we were young. We had open minds, and then we formed defenses.
I'm not talking about, "My defense mechanism is better than yours."
@coluber2001,
I think the only way to have a religious experience is to experience religion.
But if you want an awe inspiring experience then I think the best way is to actually try to understand the natural world. And the best functional way to do that is through science.
The world is still full of mysteries and amazing experiences even if we don't have a Deific mythology. So I'm not sure what you are proposing that young people are missing out on.
@coluber2001,
So far the consensus seems to be what do you mean by "religious experience".
Do you mean the sensation of awe, as when we view the Grand Canyon, the complexity of the living cell, or some other natural (or creative) wonder?
Or are you referring to some explanation for the human condition or guide for living?
@coluber2001,
coluber2001 wrote:
I'm not talking about those with faith, those gray heads in the church, I'm talking about the rest, the young people, those wondering what it's all about.
Many of us had questions when we were young. We had open minds, and then we formed defenses.
I'm not talking about, "My defense mechanism is better than yours."
Most of the people of the world have faith, and they're not all grey headed. In fact, the grey headed ones are a minority.
@coluber2001,
Since religious experience is a subjective one primarily based on one's environment (often times in churches, synagogues, and cathedrals) and emotion, it's not based on facts. No one can describe what their god looks like except man-made paintings and sculptures. The rest is left up to the individual's imagination.
@InfraBlue,
Quote:Most of the people of the world have faith, and they're not all grey headed. In fact, the grey headed ones are a minority.
Not in America. Of course fundamentalism is common in America, they stick to the old Christian myth--the literal version--but if their myth is in conflict with the facts of science, then it's the fact's fault; they just reject science. But the children have a dilemma; do they reject their religion or science? I think that it's easy for them to become polarized, that is they become athiests. The vocabulary of fundamentalists and athiests is similar. What they have in common is that the religious experience is anathema, ie., taboo.
@coluber2001,
Religious Experience is a sweeping statement and hard to answer. Did you want to rephrase or be more specific? I'm not a hard core aethiest, meaning I did have experiences when I felt God interjected on my behalf. I would call it a 'spiritual epiphany' rather than a religious experience..
@Freddie2,
IF there is a God then all experience conveys something to those attuned to the Will of God. I can sorta see taking a deist position that God is not at all in affairs, or a Catholic/Christian view that God is in all of life. But that God is now here and now gone, that seems sheer foolishness.
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