Do you have a personal spirituality that isn't centred around a particular religion?

after reading a philosophical article by nick bostrom i find the hypothesis that we are currently living in a computer simulation to have a probability to be true at least 33 percent.
if that counts as spirituality.

I was raised Catholic, but I never agreed with all that was taught. I’ve examined other religions as an adult, even joined some in order to understand them better. I’ve always had an inner feeling of what God was, but no religion ever matched. Recently, I was able to (almost) fully shrug off the guilt associated with “leaving my faith” and simply accept my own version of God within myself and ignore religion. I became more tolerant of all religions in the process. Now that I am comfortable believing what I naturally believe, I can let everyone else believe what they feel is right for them. It’s very freeing.

Maybe I am “leaning back on world religions” to an extent in my own spirituality, but I don’t feel like I am. I do what I feel is right from within my heart while tuning out what my brain tells me it has been taught. I hope this helps you to find your own God.

I’ve never really had anything in the ‘void’ you’re talking about because I’ve always been non-religious, but I would have to say basic logic and reasoning fill that gap.

I read Krishnamurti and the Tao te Ching. Now I have a broader understanding of existence and spirituality that doesn’t require faith. I now consider myself a pantheist Taoist; god is in everything and the right way to live is to go with the great cosmic flow.

Yes. It’s easier to think of myself as “Christian”, but that’s just the code I use for my religion to make sense. I disagree with many aspects of Christianity, and even some of the basic dogmas. I do however follow some of its rules. I consider myself agnostic, in the sense that as mortals we could never even start to comprehend God, let alone prove His existance. But I like to think there’s some Supreme Being out there, probably beardless, sexless, ageless and even immaterial. Or some Power that we cannot grasp, that makes the world go round.

I don’t have my own religion or anything like that, but I don’t necessarily acknowledge a certain religion either. I believe in God. I know there is a higher power to holds the universe and ensures it’s keeping. I was raised Christian and attended several Christian churches, but found most of them to practice bigotry and intolerance (not saying, of course, all Christians do this). I guess the big thing is, believe in your own higher power. Go to YouTube.com and type in “The Bible Tells Me So.” Watch that and see what you think afterwards. :)

Evelynism, which started out as a lark, and has evolved into a form of spirituality based on a mutual respect for all living things, a love for humor, compassion and empathy towards others, and most importantly, a realistic ideal that makes no promises and never, ever begs for monetary support.

You don’t tithe to Evelynism, for it is self-supporting and there is no punishment for a refusal to follow it. Evelynism lays no claim to being the “only” religion, or even the “right” religion.

Evelynism may never be as popular as Christianity and it may never be more than a brief blip on the radar screen of spiritual expressionism, but it has one thing that no other religion can ever claim to have. It has a message that is simple, and yet, as far reaching as anything yet devised by a man-made religion. And all religions are man-made.

Evelynism teaches that life is about choices, your results may vary.

@ragingloli thanks for the nick bostrom thing,...found his homepage and sounds intriguing…if only from a philosophical point of view

It took me a long time to recover from Catholicism, which I ardently followed in my youth. Most of all, I missed the social ritual. I also dealt with feelings of arbitrariness over picking a different religion.

Now, I believe that all religions are part truth and part control, and the difficulty is parsing out the truth and applying it while simultaneously trying to deprogram and “build oneself a new spiritual infrastructure” (to put it in ridiculously inadequate terms). For me, the base idea is that creation is everywhere and we are all creation, and all we have to do is be open to the connection. I don’t do as good a job putting that into practice or expanding on the idea, but that’s what I believe.

I also believe there is a cult of evil (or perhaps more amorally a cult of chaos) at the top of many religions—evil disguised as good, or power disguised as leadership. Metaphorically, it’s a high priest who skims off our relationship with the sun. The priest is the control. The sun is the truth.

Buddhism is the one major religion that sort of sits on the fence with me. I think maybe its one fault is encouraging
passivity of thought and circumstance (as opposed to exercising more causality in the universe on both fronts), but I haven’t fully turned that rock over.

@kevbo…more please…so where do you sit now?

In theory, I believe the universe conspires to help us when we are open to that help and it is aligned with our purpose (sort of an “Ask, Believe, Receive” mantra such as is found in “The Secret”). That the closer we are to the sun (or the creative center) the more liberated we are from “control.” (If you look around at religions, corporate logos, and the like there’s ample evidence of sun-related icons, and it’s not a stretch to think of them as gatekeepers or surrogates.)

The truths are simple and intuitive (so long as we are of a reasonably clear mind), but too often they are repackaged in a way that obscures independence and creates dependency.

In practice, I fall well short of my ideals, and I fall well short of just normal good practices (gardening or caring for relationships, for example) that I see other, more conventional people in my life doing very well. I’m still a little too wrapped up in mapping out the problems, but I think Arther end of that road is the freedom
to bask… and not out of ignorance but acceptance or love or compassion. Still, it would be better, I think, to just start basking and not worry about the rest.

The other thing I’ll add is that I think we live moment to moment choosing between fear and love. Just being mindful of that (with every breath, say) makes a world of difference.

I went to a pastoral counselor once, he was a methodist minister who gave that up, went back to school and ended up a combination of both.

When I met him,I was very disappointed in the god of my childhood whom I felt deserted me when I was most in need. This guy espoused a theory that sort of went like this, there probably is a supreme force somewhere but once creation was completed this force bowed out. Humans are given all they need to be, then as Evelyn says, it is pretty much all about choices. Within yourself, you have the strength and knowledge, you just need to take the self accountability and responsibility to act accordingly.

That idea is okay with me. I don’t need to go sit in a church and listen to a middle man who is probably struggling with their own choices and most likely no better at making them than I am. It is all up to me what I do with my life. I don’t need to pray for enlightenment, I just need to sit still and search within.

I think spirituality is very different from religion. Religion in our times could mean a lot of things – a lot of BAD things – control, power, manipulation, blind-faith, biased, dogma, fear, brainwash, etc. My personal definition of organized religion is “a government for your soul”. I’m not saying that you are – but your question sort of suggests that you believe spirituality and religion are two of the same thing or at least intertwined in a way that is inseparable.

Spirituality to me goes beyond what Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism etc. has to say. I think there is something very valuable to be respected about all of them but they all eventually end up trying to consume your soul entirely – this is why I use them as only a reference guide to life and not so much follow them as set of rules that has to be followed in order for a life full of prosperity and enlightenment. I have a spirituality of my own that is composed of philosophy, religions, experiences, my own moral beliefs, etc. going on to explain it would take hours. Long story short, it is nameless; I dont call it anything nor do I read from any given book at any given time. I do believe that a higher power (I hesitate to use the word “God” because that would be drawing from the common Christian perception of God and what it’s like) exists but I simply believe that it’s beyond my/our comprehension.

Having said enough, if I began to tell you exactly HOW to define spirituality or what exactly you need to do in order to find your spirituality – I’d be doing nothing different than world religion and all of it’s evangelical practitioners. There is no right/wrong “way” of finding your spirituality, that’s all reliant of your own philosophies. I’m glad you’ve made the realization that being brought up Christian doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian – nor are you enslaved to Christianity – you have a mind, body and soul of your own.

My dictionary definition of “Spirituality” is this – “of, relating to, or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material things….” I encourage you to either interpret that one on your own or create an entire definition yourself. It really is an open book, you write the pages.

I have a bible I obtained from my former church. I read it every now and then and pray, and I kind of keep to myself.

I’ve come to realize that anything within religion itself is doomed to fail, and so I pursue God, but in my own way. I read the Bible, I pray, I love the Lord, but I do not call myself Christian, Catholic(albeit I was raised mostly Catholic and it never did anything for me except force me into loving God.)

After Catholicism, I defected from God and “lost” my faith for a short while, because I had always believed that faith was simply black and white. You’re either good and go to Heaven, or bad and go to Hell.

But, now I’m learning that maybe it’s for the best that I nourish my spirituality on my own. Being a part of a church is fun, but in the end, other than God, no one knows what’s best for you spiritually.

i think the term spiritual is kind of broad, and i don’t know if i have the grasp of it. i think that basically anything is possible. i guess i’m agnostic, because i don’t know. i literally think that we could be anything from a science experiment to the results of some deity wanting new pets. i’m pretty sure i believe in spirits themselves, though.
i believe that there’s more to life than material things.
i don’t think your spirituality has to revolve around any religion.

Spirituality, I believe, is about practice. If you find something (and it could be any activity) that totally absorbs you (meditation, music, dance, woodworking, etc, etc) and you practice it every day (or most days), it will become a spiritual practice, and it will connect you with the (not necessarily deistic) divine.

No, I’m very Christian BUT I am non-denominational Christian. If that is helpful or interesting in any way. You might check out that kind of Church. Doctrine is still biblical but the attitude of the churches can very a lot and some people find it makes a big difference.

I’ve never been taught or raised with a particular faith but have always been fascinated by world religions. Spirituality for me is exploring what I’ve experienced to be an innerconnectedness to other humans and living things. It’s been fulfilling and comforting enough for me not to hanker after created gawds.

Yes, though often errant, I do my best to follow The Way taught by Jesus Christ, which is more akin to Buddhism than Christianity.

I am sorry you have this void, it’s brave of you to ask…I am not religious at all, but I believe that by serving others you can always find meaning…maybe volunteer for an organization that you wouldn’t ever consider

@Simone_De_Beauvoir – wonderful answer, your solution is more christian, in the sense that I think this is what christianity should actually represent in a perfect world, than any response given by practicing christians not to mention more real and meaningful.

@rooeytoo yes I have met Christians who believe the same as I do and so I say ‘look, I don’t care how you get to social justice, just get there’

hmm well i hope you find someone…i have never been religious so i dont think i can really understand…but well i think perhaps what your feeling is just you know reality….its natural to feel a bit lost in the world because for the most part nobody really knows the ryhme or reason behind it all..to my mind religion seems to give people certainty and security (false in my opinion) where as a path without absolutes dosnt offer that…learn to understand why you feel that way and come to terms with it ..talk to others about their perspectives and ask yourself lots of questions…not sure that helps or answers the question but i hope it does

I try to follow what the Mother Earth and Father Time teaches me:)

I read a book of a discussion between philosophy and physics, and it really got my mind grinding about reality. It was a gateway into reading other books like it, and I ended up pretty happy with Buddhism as a philosophy.
Try looking into consciousness, and coming to a conclusion from that? Also, despite what people say, science doesn’t have everything figured out. Try checking out books that debate mainstream science (or rather, scrutinizes it to show its many imperfections and gaps in conclusive information) and you’ll find out that surprisingly, there is room for some sort of super natural force after all. A lot is oversimplified.

True Spirituality will never be centered around religion but life itself.

God is life.

I recommend that you look of Buddhism (philosophy not religion) and Suffism. Buddhism is simply a philosophy and you can be any religion or no religion at all and incorporate Buddhist principles into your life. Suffism is a form of Islam but it is more similar to many native american traditions. It is basically that God (a genderless being or spirit) is the overseer of all that exists and all that exists is interconnected. It is not about Heaven and Hell so much as learning to coexhist with existance. Humans were not created to be Godlike but if they purify their hearts by genuinly seeking to understand God and creation (on their own not through society) then they can find inner peace. Suffism is a religion but it isn’t about human beings who are not God but want to be Godlike telling you what to do. You can’t be Sufi because you were born into it or raised to believe it or forced to believe it because it something that must be sought through the heart. If you believe that there is only one true God and that no man or organization is qualified to speak on the behalf of God and that only God can know what is in your heart then you should try Sufism because you are responsible for your actions and no one elses thoughs can save or harm you in the eyes of God. That probably didn’t help you at all but good luck!

Oh yeah! I forgot to explain Buddhism. Buddhism is simply that all actions have a reaction. If you are mean or rude to people then they won’t like you. If you go into traffic you might get hit by a car. If you eat spoiled food then you may become sick. In Buddhist teacings things that happen are not because of Sin but because of your actions. In Christianity bad things that happen are because of God’s judgement against you or because the Devil wants to harm you, but in Buddhism there is no such things. If you have unprotected sex and get AIDS it’s not because God is punishing you it’s because if you have unprotected sex there is a chance you will catch AIDS. If you stick your hand in fire and you get burned that’s not the devil trying to get you, it’s because you stuck your hand in fire. In Buddhism you get what you put out just as in physics. It is not a religion and any person of any religion can also be Buddhist.

^^^^^^^^^^ fascinating synopsis of Christianity. “if I stick my hand in fire and get burned the Devil did it. ”
I had no idea. Honestly. Sounds pretty darn primitive. And here I thought it was cause and effect, not the Devil. hmm