Objet_trouve24 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 My husband lately expressed a little interest in atheistic religions like Buddhism and Taoism (we had just finished re-watching Trigun), and I was wondering if anyone has some information about these and other atheistic religions. I know a little about them, but not much beyond taking a world religion class in college, so I'm looking for a bit of beginner information, preferably from people who are actually following these kinds of religions. What I'm looking for particularly- -What kinds of religions are out there for godless (have no gods, want no gods) but very spiritual people? -What are some of the basic beliefs in these religions? -What does the history of these religions look like? -Are there a lot of sects, denominations or schools of thought with differing views? What kind of differences? -What would you recommend a libertarian who enjoys good sex and good food, but believes in moderation and generally tends toward the middle of most debates (I don't think he would appreciate a lot of self-denial beliefs unless it was a learning to appreciate kind of optional occasional practice, and I think pacifism that even includes self-defense is too far)? I'm not saying he's definitely going to join anything, but we like learning, and I think regular atheism is just not fulfilling him enough in a spiritual sense these days, and doesn't really accurately describe him. He tends toward a little bit of the chaos magic belief that believing in itself is what brings you power and enlightenment. Things that I don't want to hear (I'll delete the thread if I have to deal with this). -Criticism of my husband's beliefs about spirituality. -Debate and arguing. Go do that in the Lion's den, I just want basics, resources, and education-oriented dialogue. If you disagree with someone about something, say that it isn't your experience and take that person to debate in one of our debate forums. -Proselytizing, for ANY religious view. I want information, not recruitment. This is not the time or place to try to recruit for christianity, non-religious atheism, or any atheistic religion. Please, just tell me what the religion believes and stands for. If you'd like to proselytize to me, tell me what your religion has done for you, things like that, PM me. I'd love to talk about it, but here I'd like to just hear what is available, history, beliefs and beginner's resources like books and articles. I'll try and be fair, but I'm already nervous posting anything in this forum. I haven't seen an awful lot of polite interaction in here in the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev R Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Is there a way to communicate directly with your husband Objet? Rather than a laundry list of doctrines and ideas, I'd personally rather hear where he is at and make recommendations of things to look into from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Objet_trouve24 Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Is there a way to communicate directly with your husband Objet? Rather than a laundry list of doctrines and ideas, I'd personally rather hear where he is at and make recommendations of things to look into from there. He's actually doesn't spend a whole lot of time online, but I can ask him any questions... and this is pretty casual for us, we're still trying to get pregnant and unpacking from our move and don't have a lot of time to go terribly in depth yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Valk0010 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I like Taoism personally, there is some fundamental ideas in it I like, but to be frank, I don't see the point in living by a philosophy(which is essentially to me what a atheistic religion is) most of the time. My suggestion is get a world religions textbook, which describes the basics of the most common religions, read it, and see what takes your fancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Objet_trouve24 Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 I like Taoism personally, there is some fundamental ideas in it I like, but to be frank, I don't see the point in living by a philosophy(which is essentially to me what a atheistic religion is) most of the time. My suggestion is get a world religions textbook, which describes the basics of the most common religions, read it, and see what takes your fancy. I have one. I just wanted to hear from real people who follow the religions, and I wanted to hear from smaller religions, which world religion textbooks generally don't talk about (you'[ll never see Asatru in one for example). And yeah, Taoism looks very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Margee Posted January 8, 2011 Moderator Share Posted January 8, 2011 I have a very dear friend who has been thru it all, and he is now soooooooo peaceful as a Buddhist. He loves the whole concept. Budda seemd like a good guy ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadedAtheist Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I have a friend who was/is (long and hard to explain story) a Taoist. There doesn't seem to be a lot to it from the bits and pieces he's told me. There's a focus on humility and self restraint but there isn't too much of don't do this or don't do that to it. They generally favor the "simple life" as well. Also, sex is viewed in a generally favorable light rather than a negative one. Taoism also seems more unified (from the little I know) than say Buddhism where you have multiple schools of thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight-mindwanderings Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 For a fun intro to Taoism that really spoke to me try The Tao of Pooh. That link explains it a bit and its a really cute little book that I simply adore. I'll have to dig mine out now so I can reread it! If he is a sciencey kind of guy he might enjoy books and videos by Carl Sagan and Neil Degrasse-Tyson. Its not a religion, but it shows a 'spiritual' side to atheism. I don't know all that much about Buddhism but most my atheist friends enjoy incorporating some aspects of it into their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev R Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Buddhism and Taoism are not inherently atheistic, nor are they inherently theistic. The best way to describe it is that in these "religions" (including Confucianism and perhaps Jainism) God is optional. However, these religions are humanistic. Our mind and our actions are what bring about awakening. It is not something that is granted from some outside source. Once you strip away all the tradition, structure, and societal conditioning, we are all equal in the potential for enlightenment. Enlightenment is simply seeing reality in it's unconditioned state. This is what it means to "penetrate emptiness" or "become one with the Tao". Don't know if that breaks Objet's rules for the discussion, but it's my take on what is at the heart of these religions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deva Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Buddhism and Taoism are not inherently atheistic, nor are they inherently theistic. The best way to describe it is that in these "religions" (including Confucianism and perhaps Jainism) God is optional. However, these religions are humanistic. Our mind and our actions are what bring about awakening. It is not something that is granted from some outside source. Once you strip away all the tradition, structure, and societal conditioning, we are all equal in the potential for enlightenment. Enlightenment is simply seeing reality in it's unconditioned state. This is what it means to "penetrate emptiness" or "become one with the Tao". I don't know much about Taoism, but what Rev says about Buddhism I would agree with. Its optional theism, and very flexible. Buddhism is not about humanity's relationship with a God or Gods. It is about the mind and living free from mental conditioning, as much as possible. At least seeing that the mind is conditioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Objet_trouve24 Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Don't know if that breaks Objet's rules for the discussion, but it's my take on what is at the heart of these religions. I don't think so, sounds good to me. And so does your PM, which I will get back to you on soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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