Mental Health & Spirituality

Forums:
Email this Topic • Print this Page

There is a direct connection between mental health and spirituality.The mind needs to be stilled.One can learn with practice to wear the physical body and thus tune back into the five senses.However,trying to understand/tame the mind is a completely different problem.The last frontier is not space,the last frontier is trying to understand the mind and consciousness.Does anyone have issues with mental health?

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Discussion • Score: 0 • Views: 5,909 • Replies: 244
Topic Closed

No top replies

@Jasper10,

Religion is called a belief for a reason - there's no proof of any of it being true or false. The Bible was written by man, not "god".

Quote:

Does anyone have issues with mental health?

I have no doubt at least some of the right-wing/trump supporter nutjobs that post on this site do...

1 Reply

There is solid scientific evidence that having religious beliefs (of any type) has measurable benefits to mental health outcomes.

This makes sense, religion provides meaning, a sense of identity and a connection to a larger community.

1 Reply

@justaguy2,

Ultimately,the reasoning mind will always end up with a nihilistic view point that one cannot prove or not prove that there is a God...yes you are correct.That’s just the reasoning mind though isn’t it.As we are more than just our minds anything further than this means we either roll the dice or look for other answers.Man did write the bible you are correct on this point as well but the men who wrote it had insider knowledge.I know ....this insider stuff just doesn’t seem fair does it?

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

I am glad we agree on this point even if we disagree on the fundamentals of salvation.

2 Replies

@Jasper10,

Jasper10 wrote:

I am glad we agree on this point even if we disagree on the fundamentals of salvation.

Salvation and mental health are two very different things.

0 Replies

@Jasper10,

Jasper10 wrote:

I am glad we agree on this point even if we disagree on the fundamentals of salvation.

What is it that you people feel you need saving from?

Is it the wrath of the god you worship?

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

A lot of people don’t believe in God that post in these forums.I do.God is holy...so holy he cannot let any sin enter his presence.Therefore only perfection can enter his presence.We are all sinners because we have not kept his Ten Commandments perfectly.That leaves us with a big big problem.If we can’t enter his presence because we are imperfect then what then? God loves us so much he (Jesus) came to this earth to be punished for my and your sins.Genuinely of heart accept this sacrifice as a free gift from him so that you can enter his presence forever.God demands perfection and will judge imperfection with his wrath.

1 Reply

@Jasper10,

Where does one start with trying to understand our minds? Where one starts is by bringing oneself into the moment (1) and learning to recognise the difference between this consciousness state as opposed to being in the not in the moment consciousness state (0).Notice the difference between the two and the fact that initially it is very hard to stay in the moment for long periods.Your mind will just default back to the autopilot/not in the moment state ALWAYS.What does this tell us.Well it tells us that unless we stay in the moment are minds operate in a subconscious automatic state most of the time.As we reason in this state of mind and there are 2 equal and opposite opposing views,I call this consciousness state (0,0).I call the in the moment consciousness state (1).The more one practices the more one will notice the seesaw affect as one moves backwards and forwards between a (0) state of consciousness and a (1) state of consciousness, hence a (1,0 or 0,1) if one is reasoning.

0 Replies

I thought this thread was on "Spirituality" rather than on a specific religion.

The research suggests that Spiritual belief doesn't matter. Believing in Buddha, or Jesus, or Allah, or Krishna doesn't matter. What matters it that you have a belief in something.

There is scientific evidence that this can have a positive benefit. It is the religion that matters, not the god.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

I can only go off the Christian religion because that is the one I know but if any one wants to make a connection with other religions then fine.As I have said in my post spiritual truth is directly linked to the renewal of the mind .If anyone wants proof of this then start with understanding consciousness states.Most people live in a dormant state mentally most of the time,relying on the brain to operate automatically to get them through the day.If one tries the above exercise then one can PROVE this to oneself.In other words most people are being dictated to by a biological machine if that is all one thinks one is.

0 Replies

@Jasper10,

Jasper10 wrote:

A lot of people don’t believe in God that post in these forums.I do.God is holy...so holy he cannot let any sin enter his presence.Therefore only perfection can enter his presence.We are all sinners because we have not kept his Ten Commandments perfectly.That leaves us with a big big problem.If we can’t enter his presence because we are imperfect then what then? God loves us so much he (Jesus) came to this earth to be punished for my and your sins.Genuinely of heart accept this sacrifice as a free gift from him so that you can enter his presence forever.God demands perfection and will judge imperfection with his wrath.

So you are answering my question, "YES, we need saving from the god we worship."

Okay. Thanks.

Not sure why you would worship a god like that, but...

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

Hi well I think you need to see the bigger picture.I don’t need saving from the wrath of my God that’s the whole point because I have accepted the sacrifice that he made on the cross at Calvary.i.e Jesus.He took the punishment for my sins if I genuinely accept this in my heart,which I do.If I didn’t accept it then my sins still need to be accounted for because God cannot let a single sin into his presence.If an individual doesn’t accept Christ’s sacrifice then that individual will need to stand before the judgement seat on his/her own in the final scenario and take the full justice of God otherwise.I personally struggled with this for years but eventually I had to concede that there is something in it.I have since moved on into a strange peace that I can’t explain.

0 Replies

@Jasper10,

While I agree with a lot of what maxdancona said in their last post; you seem to think that unless you believe in a particular "religion", then you must be an "atheist". Well, this isn't correct, as one can still believe there is something greater (whatever that may be) than us humans without following a particular "religion". The same as one can have "christian belief's" without ever going to a church to "worship jesus".

In fact there are many people that believe there is a "god"/higher power/whatever else you want to call it without following a particular "religion", and/or going to a place of "worship" such as a church.

Said in another way; one can still believe there is in fact a "spiritual world" without subscribing to a particular "religion". One can believe there is in fact a "god" of some description without following a particular "religion".

So I'd suggest if I'm right that you believe one doesn't believe there is a "spiritual world" of some description, and/or you believe one must be an "atheist" if they don't follow a particular "religion", then your view is rather flawed.

1 Reply

@justaguy2,

From my understanding there is only one God that makes all the rules.This may not be everyone’s opinion but then there are many many opinions out there.From what I have discovered in my walk/ reasonings the Christian religion makes total sense and so I haven’t needed to look else where for my personal answers/ queries..I can’t comment on any other religions.

1 Reply

@Jasper10,

Quote:

From my understanding there is only one God that makes all the rules.

Well, that's called a "belief" in the absence of what we call "proof". The point is: to have a "belief" (spiritual or not) doesn't require believing in a particular "religion" - even if it's a spiritual-based "belief".

Quote:

This may not be everyone’s opinion but then there are many many opinions out there.

Precisely, including yours.

Quote:

From what I have discovered in my walk/ reasonings the Christian religion makes total sense and so I haven’t needed to look else where for my personal answers/ queries..

That's the benefit of a secular society - one can believe in whatever "religion" they like, or indeed, not follow any particular "religion".

Quote:

I can’t comment on any other religions.

Fair enough.

1 Reply

@justaguy2,

The thing is that if you want proof of everything you will be waiting for an awful long time.You cannot please God with out faith.Hebrews 11:6.I do realise that many people don’t acknowledge this but that is what the Christian faith says.People can believe in whatever they want but it doesn’t mean that it is true.One could say that about the Christian religion as well,What the bible says makes perfect sense to me.

0 Replies

@Jasper10,

You started this as a thread about mental health and spirituality. This is an interesting thread because mental health is something that can be measured "scientifically". You can create objective measures of a persons well-being and then test to see if spiritual practices improve them.

The fact is that yes, spiritual practice has been shown to have positive effects on mental health. And, the religion doesn't matter for this effect... Muslims, Hindus and Christians all get a benefit from the practices of their own religion.

You are turning this into another thread about how great your personal religion is. This kind of feels like a trick. You are pulling a bait and switch on us.

1 Reply

@maxdancona,

Ok,it wasn’t intentional I can assure you I’m only responding to questions.My view is that there is a lot that goes on in the mind that we don’t understand.My view is that we can understand our minds better and it is tied into spirituality.A lot of people search deeply inwardly and experience duality.Does anyone have any views on this?

2 Replies

@Jasper10,

The famous Psychologist Erickson wrote about this based on his research.

He outlined for stages developing an identity (in my own weird paraphrase).

1. You don't know what you believe and you don't care.
2. You don't know what you believe and you are open-minded about it.
3. You do know what you believe, but you are open-minded and will change if new evidence comes along.
4. You do know what you believe, and you are closed-minded. You aren't open to new evidence and nothing will make you change your mind.

When I first read about this, I said... #4 (I believe the technical term is identity foreclosure) is a bad place to be. Who wants to be closed-minded.

But I found research that says that people who are "foreclosed" around religious beliefs (i.e. they are stuck on a belief and are unwilling to change no matter what) have less stress and higher measures of happiness.

Apparently being closed-minded and religious can have mental health benefits if that is what you want. Go figure.

3 Replies

Forums
» Mental Health & Spirituality

Read Discussion
Reply to All

Mental Health & Spirituality

Quick Links

My Account

able2know