http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/features/finding-the-sacred-in-the-secular
Category Archives: Religion / Atheism
Non-dual spirituality non-self vs Atheist non-self
When you believe* in the spiritual concept of ‘liberation’ i.e. a recognition/realisation of the delusion of a separate self, but you don’t have ‘life after death’ beliefs e.g. a belief in heaven, reincarnation etc. – then ‘liberation’ amounts to this:
1) either ‘dying’ when you die i.e. the concept of a separate self dies when your body dies – as for most people
2) or ‘dying’ a few years before you die i.e. the concept of a separate self dies and one’s own experience is transformed into ‘life experiencing life’
Given that for these people liberation only amounts to a few years of changed experience (often quite joyful) … does ‘liberation’ actually amount to much anyway? Is it actually such a ‘big deal’?
Presumably this is ‘something’ like the way Sam Harris (an atheist philosopher) and Tony Parsons (a ‘liberated’ ‘person’) experience the world (at least sometimes during meditation in the case of the former, permanently in the case of the later).
Since neither ‘believe’ in free-will, do they both doubt that you can ‘do’ anything about the outcome either?
* Strictly speaking – perhaps its not appropriate to refer to spiritual teachers as ‘believing’ certain words such as those written here – since they would say that this is the way they ‘experience’ reality – not a set of beliefs they have ‘about’ reality.
Sam Harris:
http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/blogs/heather-wax/sam-harris-already-has-his-next-book-planned
http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/consciousness-without-faith
Tony Parsons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSGiWV0kqE
Belief in a separate self is the hardest religion to leave. Its much easier just to become an atheist.
Its not so important whether you are religious or atheist (or Democrat or Republican), so long as you don’t hold on to your beliefs with a clenched fist.
To say that you are ‘spiritual, but not religious’ could simply mean: “I am good and not bad. Please approve of me”. But it could also mean something deeper e.g. “I am willing to undermine/let go of the beliefs I already have, as an alternative to continually reinforcing old beliefs and adopting new ones” or “I am willing to try ‘wanting what I get’ (accepting) as an alternative to ‘getting what I want’ (striving)”.
Insight Junkie 