Are you religious?

[JonW]

"I think life is complicated enough without additional layers of Luck, Ghosts, God(s), Souls, energies, telepathic aliens or whatever - just navigating the basic psychosocial environments within one's community is difficult enough before such impositions!"

Amen to that.

[Brad]

I consider myself an atheist. To echo what barbs said, mindfulness has made me more comfortable and content with my atheism, since it has opened my eyes to the beauty and fullness of the physical universe.

[Enigma]

I practice Buddhism as a science of mind.

[raindrop]

I can pretty much relate to everyone on this thread. I came from a Christian background, but in my early 20's I found that it no longer worked for me. I've read about many philosophies, both eastern and western, and found them interesting or influential. At one point I called myself Buddhist, but later realized I wasn't as interested in learning about various Buddhist traditions or dogmas as I was interested in practicing mindfulness. In my view, dogmas have you thinking about words and what they represent. They also set expectations as to what you should or would experience. In the beginning it can help, but it can also get in the way. The journey in mindfulness practice takes us to uncharted, open waters, and to go there one must leave the bay of the expectation of what that experience should be. If you're expecting it to be a certain way, but you don't know what it is yet, then you won't open yourself up to the experience. To put it another way, if you're searching for a bird using a tried binary method that does not rely on visual information, and you don't know what that bird looks like, it's best not to draw a picture of that bird, or you risk not finding it. To me drawing the picture of the bird is the dogma.

[JonW]

"The journey in mindfulness practice takes us to uncharted, open waters, and to go there one must leave the bay of the expectation of what that experience should be. If you're expecting it to be a certain way, but you don't know what it is yet, then you won't open yourself up to the experience."
Beautifully put.
Increasingly I'm drawn to a Taoist way of being but I doubt I'll ever be comfortable calling myself one thing or t'other. Like Groucho, I refuse to be a member of any club that would have me as a member.

[larorra]

I believe in God, plain and simple. However I do not belong to any church or feel the need to attend church. I want to learn about other religions and alternatives and mindfulness has become a way of life and I am so glad I found it. Been life changing.

[Ponder]

No ... Not any more. I was heavily brainwashed during the 70's when a massive evangelical wave hit Australia. I think they call it a revival ... kind of like a last minute sale thing. Long story short ... mental illness has followed heavily in it's wake.

To be honest, even though my pliable mind was molded into unconditional love and surrender ... I always felt there was something wrong with the praying of damnation to our enemies and then onto love thy neighbor ... I've always been very open as a kid ... and to some degree whilst many consider it a weakness ... I've never stopped being so open ...

In many ways ... I feel that whatever that God was or who is suppose to be ... was just always my inner me questioning the hypocrisy as I went from one church family to the next wondering why they found it so hard to deal with me. Arrr the joys of being so naive ... yet whilst amongst all that religion, I kind of had an inner me with me all the time ... only thing was back then I thought it was suppose to be that God they all professed to worship or that spirit that goes in between.

I did pray a few times later on as a teenager on the side of the ride, and when I got a ride the clouds seem to part and the rain stop all at the same time ... I guess whilst never part of the religious club, I did hold onto a spiritual aspect somewhere in me that seemed to spark from all that I found positive despite there being so much wrong with the organizational and seemingly infallible teaching of so much hate and fear ...

____________________________________________

Mindfulness has very much help to heal me from the fear that was so drummed into me ... also helped me to accept life as for what it really is as it is happening. The brainwashing of religion has had such a traumatic toll on me mental state. I don't say it to simply give reason for not being accountable to myself ... mindfulness has given me the strength to claim the little boy inside of me that was so deeply hurt - to me that is like a spiritual thing, that sometimes warms me like I thought angels once did when someone helped me on the street or just when you thought your luck was completely out ... but then a shinning light comes along with a warm bed and a feed to eat ...

Being mindful in those moments when the world just goes by no matter how much the judgment may come to focus on me ... You know your place ... you accept it on just go through each day ... My point here is that after the religion ... then into the gutter came that same inner spirit that's always been with me ... no matter how much ridicule or hard knocks that come ... it's always been that same inner strength in me ... although it can sure fade at times when the body starts to tire ...

Some years later now, with all the death of my friends and family, plus the wife with her terminal condition ... Mindfulness has indeed help me to overcome religion, yet still a source of spirit when I am in much need. It's why the teachings of Echkart Tolle really go well with me ... his park bench affairs are very much similar to those moments time went still for me ... That whole thing about Past, present and future ... very true from the perspective he gives it. Jon kabat-zin ... also a good read.

I rarely talk about story and only do so to explain how Yes Mindfulness has very much helped me with spirituality ... I really don't know if I have found myself ... but I do love speaking with that inner me any moment I am to tune into my surroundings.

Respectfully though
Dave. (forgive spelling tonight/very tired of late) ZZZZZZzzzzzz Happens ... sleep time.

[starbug]

I appear to be the only Christian here.

I have been a Christian for over 20 years. Strangely enough, my conversion was considered a rebellion by my family, although I never intended it rhat way. I've struggled and even drifted away from the church at times, but somehow I've always come back to the Arms Of Love ( as the Amy Grant song says).

I don't consider my beliefs to be 'blind faith' - quite the reverse. And it certainly hasn't been mindless. I've wrestled with my beliefs at times.

I've found that practicing mindfulness is helping me to draw closer to God. In church, I've found it easier to concentrate and bring my mind back when it wanders. I'm also finding it easier to enjoy creation and thank God for the good things in my life. Learning to become more calm is helping me to focus and experience God in the 'now' - in the past, I've heard people say that God is only in the present moment and not in the past or future, but I've never actually experienced this for myself before.

I'm intrigued by the Buddhist roots of mindfulness, but I see this as complementary to my Christian faith, not a substitute. It probably helps that I'm a Methodist, which is a fairly liberal branch of the church. Methodism is very into social action and justice (there are several trade union activists among us, including me). We're also a bit more open to being reflective and using meditation than some other branches of the church might be. I've belonged to more fundamentalist churches in the past, but always come back to my Methodist roots because it's my spiritual home.

[Ponder]

Nice to meet you starbug. No doubt bad experiences can make people bias. Being a Christian yet remain open, gives me lots of hope. I thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and look forward to reading more from you.

Dave.

[quirky_friend]

I'm a Quaker. Like many liberal Friends, although my roots are christian, I would struggle if anyone expected me to recite the Nicene Creed as a statement of absolute belief. Quakers are often considered by other Christian groups to be not Christian because we also don't see the Bible as the literal word of God, and we believe the Divine is in all people.
Jokingly and seriously, we are a disorganized religion, as all are responsible for ministry and pastoral care as we have no appointed ministers. Just this Sunday I was involved in a meeting that included discussion of replacing our roof and planning our giving to community organizations as well as recording our spiritual outreach activities for the last month.
Quaker meetings are open to all. We have Quakers who identify as Buddhist, Muslim, non-theist and Christian. It can get interesting over cups of tea