Guest LoveAll Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Hello, A little while ago I was browsing famous atheist Author Sam Harris's website. After reading one of the debates & then viewing a readers comment, I decided to Google; "leaving religion." Lo & behold, it brought me here! While my own Journey may be somewhat different from most here, perhaps (I was never a Christian or a believer in any "God") I did go through my own "dark night of the soul." About 15 years or so ago, after finding myself virtually hopelessly addicted to a progression of harder & harder drugs, ending with heroin, I was at my wits end. Life did not make a lot of sense to me with drugs or without them. I live in a place that is largely conservative, full of Bible-believing Christians who were all too happy to tell me that: "Jesus was the Way!" Even in my most intoxicated of moments however, I never fell prey to their wiles, something about them just didn't ring true. They talked a lot about love, joy peace & tolerance, yet scratch below the surface about a quarter inch, and they were some of the meanist, angriest, most joyless people I have ever known. In later years I came to realize they they were likely exactly the kind of people Jesus warned about, you know; the "many will come in My Name" sort! They were more like the Pharisees that Jesus scorned so perfectly. Anti-Christians, demons appearing as angels of light, you get the drift, I'm sure! Don't get me wrong, there were among them, people I did come to admire for various virtues. I was even friends with some, to the degree that a Christian & Atheist could be friends, but religion always wound up driving a wedge between us, especially when topics like the age of the earth or Evolution came up. It always has confused me how otherwise intelligent, rational humans in the 20th & 21st century could be bamboozeled by an old book right out of some of the darkest times of humanity!? Grown men & women of the modern age thinking a long-dead Jewish rabbi named Yeshua was going to descend from Heaven on a horse to intiate the Apocolypse, Second Coming, Armaageddon, The Rapture, etc. These beliefs seeemed more like hallucinations of a bad acid trip to me, not divine revelation! After being around some of my early friends Fundy-Christian familys growing up, I could see how some of it happened, unrelenting pressure from family & church! It was certainly not okay to think for yourself, the Devil woul;d just try to confuse you! (their parents would tell them.) So anyway, finding myself in jail for drug possesion, laying in a bare concrete cell going through heroin withdrawls, I knew I had to find some true Meaning, Joy & Peace and it was not going to be the kind Billy Graham & his like were hawking on their television shows. It seemed to me that there must be SOMETHING that made sense, something that would actualy make me more at peace with life. I began doing research on the worlds religions when I could get to the tiny jail "library" ( a small room with a few hundred discarded old books. I started writing to places asking for information about Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, New-Age. Anything but Christian, Jewish Or Moslem, I knew I wanted nothing to do with that! To make a long story short, after getting out of jail briefly, coming back in, on my way to prison, I made a discovery. I started practising Zen meditation & reading about the teachings of Buddhism. Finally! Something that actually worked that did not require me to just believe something because some book told me, but actually showed a way to discover real spirituallity for myself! By the way, in case anybody thinks this is turning into a proselytizing sermon, relax, it isn't. I do not consider myself to be a formal "Buddhist", it is just something that has changed my life very significantly, in the most positive of ways. Now, many years later from my jail cell despair, I work in a Drug Treament Center helping others to end the misery of active addiction. Your journey is your business, not mine! I never talk to the clients about Buddhist Teachings or meditation, etc. If one of them asks me a specific question, I will answer it truthfully, but not go into any religious spiel & or tell them what they should do. The spiritual journey is a vey personal one, and trying to "tell" someone what they "should do" is more likely to turn them away from what you are trying to practice. My main spiritual Teacher, a Zen monk, once told me in answer to a question about this subject: "Just live it, be a walking example of the transformative power of this teaching, thats more powerful than words ever will be." Years later I came to see how right he was; anybody can talk, preach, try to explain their spiritual practice, etc. It's fine to answer direct questions if they come up, but for the most part people see right through us when we try to talk them into believing what we do, they see our needyness, our clinging & insecurity. I believe, as many others do, that with the advent of modern technology, such as nuclear weapons & their rapid proliferation, we are at a crossroad of human history. We can no longer afford divisive & dangerous religions that tell us our god is right and others are wrong. As a species we truly have to grow up, or we will likely destroy ouselves. So I applaud the courage & wisdom of all those here who have awakened from the mind-numbing slumber of Theistic religion. Jesus was right, the Truth will set us free, but first we must have the eyes to see and the ears to hear it or we will be decieved into continuing to buy the Fools Gold of Fundamentalist religions. Keep in mind however, there could not be such a thing as Fools Gold in the world, if there were not some real gold somewhere. Humans have a deep spiritual capacity, lets not allow the Fundamentalists to keep us from finding it. My gratitude to you all, I look forward to listening & learning from you all. All my best ' LoveAll ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Great post, Loveall. Thanks for sharing. I hope to read more of your wisdom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 It seemed to me that there must be SOMETHING that made sense, something that would actualy make me more at peace with life. Welcome Loveall. I am also convinced there is something else out there and it has led me to a serious study of Buddhism. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
par4dcourse Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Welcome to the boards. Glad to have you. Buddhism and Tao are more philosophies than religions. I studied them both, and moved on through my own voition, not a fault in the practices. My wife called my repair shop "Larry's house of Zen and TV repair." You'll find a myriad of beliefs here so don't feel terminally unique. Enjoy. Edited to add: I'm with Deva in looking for "something else". I'm interested in quantum connectiveness, and how it relates to the human mind and thoughts. --Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha centauri Posted April 23, 2008 Share Posted April 23, 2008 Very interesting introduction, LoveAll. Your experiences are certainly much different than those of us who have come out of the Christian ranks. Welcome to the forum. I hope you find fellowship and thought-provoking discussion here. — Alpha Centauri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 *snip* So I applaud the courage & wisdom of all those here who have awakened from the mind-numbing slumber of Theistic religion. Jesus was right, the Truth will set us free, but first we must have the eyes to see and the ears to hear it or we will be decieved into continuing to buy the Fools Gold of Fundamentalist religions. Keep in mind however, there could not be such a thing as Fools Gold in the world, if there were not some real gold somewhere. Humans have a deep spiritual capacity, lets not allow the Fundamentalists to keep us from finding it... I like your introduction, LoveAll. Welcome as well. I have been looking for meaning outside the Christian worldview and I have found much. Just because I am atheistic toward the Christian god and I am agnostic to the whole question doesn't mean that humans can't be spiritual. Your story proves to me what subjectivism and deconversion is all about. It is a journey, it is the path to the right way for you and you alone. I enjoyed reading it. Namaste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted April 24, 2008 Super Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2008 Your thoughts are welcome here. Thanks for the excellent post. - Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One_World Posted April 24, 2008 Share Posted April 24, 2008 Echoing everyone else's sentiments, great post and I'm looking forward to reading more. You've certainly taken an interesting path, but it's clear it's made you who you are. Welcome to the jungle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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