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Spiritual Emergency => What?


directionless

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I've never felt comfortable explaining my experiences as hallucinations and delusions. I read a few articles on the concept of a spiritual emergency that seemed to be a better explanation in some cases than psychosis.

 

If I assume spiritual emergency instead of psychosis what does that imply? Am I supposed to try to recreate these experiences through meditation, fasting, prayer, etc? If I move on with my life as though nothing had happened would I be missing out on something?

 

I was going to church and following Christian practices when I experienced many interesting visions/hallucinations? Maybe Christianity is useful or even true in some spiritual way even though it doesn't seem useful or true in a physical way?

 

My preference is to do nothing, because I don't like religions of any flavor. I have no desire to practice any type of spirituality. I prefer to ignore all of it, because it seems mostly useless.

 

Any ideas?

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" I prefer to ignore all of it, because it seems mostly useless."

 

Follow your instinct.

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" I prefer to ignore all of it, because it seems mostly useless."

 

Follow your instinct.

I suppose my instinct is to maintain some respect and openness to the possibilities of spiritual experiences, a spiritual purpose, and God without living any differently from an atheist. Even if I had stronger faith in these possibilities, I don't know what practices and religions are useful and I am not hardworking or persistent.

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You might want to start a thread in Ex-Christian Spirituality

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You might want to start a thread in Ex-Christian Spirituality

That is a good idea, but to be honest I can't usually relate to people in spirituality forums. It's hard for me to even explain why I can't understand them. All I know is they don't make any sense to me. Their whole outlook is probably so different from mine that it is like talking to Martians. It's like most of them don't actually believe in a literal spiritual reality. How can you claim to practice spirituality and be an atheist for all practical purposes? So "spirituality" seems like it has been commandeered by the psychologists and turned into atheism.

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You might want to start a thread in Ex-Christian Spirituality

That is a good idea, but to be honest I can't usually relate to people in spirituality forums. It's hard for me to even explain why I can't understand them. All I know is they don't make any sense to me. Their whole outlook is probably so different from mine that it is like talking to Martians. It's like most of them don't actually believe in a literal spiritual reality. How can you claim to practice spirituality and be an atheist for all practical purposes? So "spirituality" seems like it has been commandeered by the psychologists and turned into atheism.

 

Spirituality doesn't have to involve a god, so yes, there are spiritual atheists.

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I've never felt comfortable explaining my experiences as hallucinations and delusions. I read a few articles on the concept of a spiritual emergency that seemed to be a better explanation in some cases than psychosis.

 

If I assume spiritual emergency instead of psychosis what does that imply? Am I supposed to try to recreate these experiences through meditation, fasting, prayer, etc? If I move on with my life as though nothing had happened would I be missing out on something?

 

I was going to church and following Christian practices when I experienced many interesting visions/hallucinations? Maybe Christianity is useful or even true in some spiritual way even though it doesn't seem useful or true in a physical way?

 

My preference is to do nothing, because I don't like religions of any flavor. I have no desire to practice any type of spirituality. I prefer to ignore all of it, because it seems mostly useless.

 

Any ideas?

If you have no desire to practice religion then dont bother with it. If you decide you do have an interest then follow it. See where it leads. Just keep yourself in the drivers seat.

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If you have no desire to practice religion then dont bother with it. If you decide you do have an interest then follow it. See where it leads. Just keep yourself in the drivers seat.

I miss having spiritual experiences, because they added some excitement to my boring life. Even though most of the experiences were scary or unsettling, they made me feel like I had some purpose and value.

 

On the other hand, I was reading an article about spiritual emergencies yesterday and started feeling like I was beginning to have panic. I have noticed this panic welling-up at other times when I read certain things. I can't deal with the possibilities of spiritual phenomena unless I keep it at arm's length emotionally.

 

I worry that after I die God or somebody will scold me for being so stubborn and unwilling to listen - not like I will be punished but just that I will be a disappointment - like "gee whiz, we made it so easy for you and you still dropped the ball". smile.png

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I worry that after I die God or somebody will scold me for being so stubborn and unwilling to listen - not like I will be punished but just that I will be a disappointment - like "gee whiz, we made it so easy for you and you still dropped the ball". smile.png

 

Yeah, and it will be this gal who does it:

 

386px-Durga_Mahisasuramardini.JPG

 

 

Whatz da matter wid you?  Couldn't you find the real deity among the thousands of decoy deities?

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I worry that after I die God or somebody will scold me for being so stubborn and unwilling to listen - not like I will be punished but just that I will be a disappointment - like "gee whiz, we made it so easy for you and you still dropped the ball". smile.png

 

Yeah, and it will be this gal who does it:

 

386px-Durga_Mahisasuramardini.JPG

 

 

Whatz da matter wid you?  Couldn't you find the real deity among the thousands of decoy deities?

 

She doesn't look very understanding. smile.png

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Do you feel conflicted about spiritual experiences? You say you miss them, but you want to keep them at arm's length. Is that because you felt some benefit from them, but you also associated them with a supernatural (religious) god to some degree?

That's a good question.

 

I can illustrate with one particular experience. I was angry at my lack of progress in feeling love for people while I was a Christian in spite of a lot of effort (for me). So I started tearing up all my Christian books. After I calmed down I realized a cross had disappeared. That made me worry that God was abandoning me, so I went into another room and apologized to God. Then my cat who was beside me hissed and I heard something hit the floor. There was the cross laying on the floor by my feet.

 

So, my immediate reaction was relief that God had accepted my apology, but a month later it started bothering me more and more. It seemed to blatantly violate all the laws of nature, and that just didn't seem right to me. The more I thought about it, the more uncomfortable I felt. I began to think wonder if Christianity was wrong and Hinduism was right, and so forth.

 

Hopefully that answers the question somewhat.

 

Sometimes, the longing for spiritual experience indicates some feelings of unmet needs in the human experience. Have you explored Humanism? You might find some aspects of that view of reality to help meet some of the "spiritual" needs.

I haven't looked at humanism. I like what little I know about animism.

 

Otherwise, I agree with Orbit. You could start a thread in Ex-Christian Spirituality forum. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that some other people here do understand and maybe even relate somewhat to your perspective, and to your dilemma. I would be interested in discussing these subjects with you, especially the idea of "spiritual emergency."

o.k. I will try to figure out how to send a message to a moderator to get on that list.

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Directionless, I have to say that you puzzle me.  You are an atheist.  You miss spirituality.  You do not want to practice any form of spirituality.  You cannot equate spirituality and atheism.

 

Are you hung up on labels?  Does it matter whether atheism and spirituality seem consistent?  if you practice something and call it "psychological experience" rather than "spirituality" would that be a less loaded term for you?  Do you actually know what you want in this labyrinth of ideas?

 

Please don't take that as any sort of criticism - I really don't know quite what to make of this.  Perhaps I'm misreading something in your posts.

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Directionless, I have to say that you puzzle me.  You are an atheist.  You miss spirituality.  You do not want to practice any form of spirituality.  You cannot equate spirituality and atheism.

- I'm only an atheist when I'm in the right mood.

- The spirituality I miss is probably better described as paranormal experiences. A therapist told me I had been experiencing mild psychosis.

- So I don't want to practice spirituality, but I want to see the spiritual world once in a while to provide some variety, inspiration, purpose, etc.

 

Are you hung up on labels?  Does it matter whether atheism and spirituality seem consistent?  if you practice something and call it "psychological experience" rather than "spirituality" would that be a less loaded term for you?  Do you actually know what you want in this labyrinth of ideas?

 

Please don't take that as any sort of criticism - I really don't know quite what to make of this.  Perhaps I'm misreading something in your posts.

Practicing meditation and similar spiritual practices might be good for mental and physical health. A few times I have been able to reach a trance-like state from staring at a candle for about an hour. That was beautiful and also unsettling. Meditation is very difficult for me, so I don't do it much.

 

What I enjoy is sitting in nature and trying to be aware of everything without focusing. I suppose that is mindfulness?

 

Sorry that my posts are confusing. I don't mean for them to be that way, but I can see what you mean.

 

(I'm very self-absorbed and enjoy talking about myself too much (obviously). smile.png )

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What I enjoy is sitting in nature and trying to be aware of everything without focusing. I suppose that is mindfulness?

 
 
Do that ^^  
 
:-)
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Whether it's strictly speaking "mindfulness" or not, if communing with nature is what helps you, do it.  What you describe sounds similar to something I've often done myself.

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Directionless, I have to say that you puzzle me.  You are an atheist.  You miss spirituality.  You do not want to practice any form of spirituality.  You cannot equate spirituality and atheism.

- I'm only an atheist when I'm in the right mood.

- The spirituality I miss is probably better described as paranormal experiences. A therapist told me I had been experiencing mild psychosis.

- So I don't want to practice spirituality, but I want to see the spiritual world once in a while to provide some variety, inspiration, purpose, etc.

 

Are you hung up on labels?  Does it matter whether atheism and spirituality seem consistent?  if you practice something and call it "psychological experience" rather than "spirituality" would that be a less loaded term for you?  Do you actually know what you want in this labyrinth of ideas?

 

Please don't take that as any sort of criticism - I really don't know quite what to make of this.  Perhaps I'm misreading something in your posts.

Practicing meditation and similar spiritual practices might be good for mental and physical health. A few times I have been able to reach a trance-like state from staring at a candle for about an hour. That was beautiful and also unsettling. Meditation is very difficult for me, so I don't do it much.

 

What I enjoy is sitting in nature and trying to be aware of everything without focusing. I suppose that is mindfulness?

 

Sorry that my posts are confusing. I don't mean for them to be that way, but I can see what you mean.

 

(I'm very self-absorbed and enjoy talking about myself too much (obviously). smile.png )

 

Are you missing the highs of psychosis? That's a dangerous thing to try to recreate.

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What I enjoy is sitting in nature and trying to be aware of everything without focusing. I suppose that is mindfulness?

 

 

Do that ^^  

 

:-)

 

 

Whether it's strictly speaking "mindfulness" or not, if communing with nature is what helps you, do it.  What you describe sounds similar to something I've often done myself.

Thanks, that is good advice. I need to make more time for that, because it does make me feel better about life. I don't do it very often.

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Are you missing the highs of psychosis? That's a dangerous thing to try to recreate.

Fortunately I don't have bipolar, schizophrenia, or any of those illnesses, so there was no high. I had a period of about a week that was similar to schizophrenia. I don't miss that at all.

 

What I miss sometimes is the out-of-the-blue supernatural experiences that happened every month or so. They made me feel like I was doing something right in my Christian efforts. A big part of why I became discouraged with Christianity was the diminishing frequency of those experiences. Sometimes I think I was tapped into something at that time, and I should try to tap into it again. (Of course, I can't go back to the Christian practices of that period in my life, because I don't believe or at least doubt most of it.)

 

There seem to be at least two definitions of "spiritual emergency".

- atheists think of "spiritual emergency" as psychosis with potentially beneficial effects.

- others think of "spiritual emergency" as a real supernatural experience that sometimes turns into psychosis when the person can't cope.

 

I'm using the 2nd definition, because that is how it seemed to me. This is the reason I can't honestly say I am an atheist. I agree with the atheist approach, but I saw things that don't fit that model and I didn't exhibit any signs of mental illness at the time of the most interesting experiences. But the literal supernatural explanation has its own difficulties. So I am stuck right now. smile.png

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