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I should further clarify what I mean. As shawn wisely stated, it is not good to make a habit out of anything. However, if psychonautical/spiritual/shamanic experience is your thing, then it can be preferable and the rituals then become apart of the fun of enlightenment. Of course we should never...

Individual communities shouldn't even get larger than what democracy can support. Local communities can still set up voluntary federal structures that can help in sharing the resources of the world. A global community can certainly exist, especially with the technology that we have now. Think...

Hey Chris I am not sure why that original reply of mine to your first post in this thread never appeared. I guess I'll try to reply to it now since this post brings up a lot of what was in your first post. I think people shouldn't settle for the false dichotomy that society presents. Voting...

You know, you're probably right, it maybe be that organically grown tobacco might be a lot safer than the pesticide-dumped tobacco of industrial nations. After all, tobacco has a long use among shamans all over North and South America. My personal experience with tobacco was not very spiritual...

Actually you seem to fail to having any sort of reading comprehension skills that merit your sloppy analysis. Perhaps I should clarify, tobacco kills hundreds of thousands more people than every other drug combined. Furthermore, there are more tobacco related deaths than many of the next largest...

I agree with the OP, smoking tobacco is an unhealthy waste of time. Thanks to the tobacco industry, more people are dying every year from tobacco than almost everything else combined. But hey, it's your choice. If you want to smoke tobacco I'm not going to stop you. Just do yourself a favor...

I agree and personally feel that people shouldn't just use the tool. Automatically using any of the tools that induce an altered state of consciousness does not automatically make you spiritual. You must actually do spiritual activities when in the intense mystic altered states, whether that be...

I was going to post this poll, but I passed the 5 min mark. Can some mod make a poll? The poll question is; Does your spirituality incorporate psychonautic mind exploring practices? Answers - Yes, my spirituality incorporates at least some or more psychonautic practices. - No, my...

So to have an approach to spirituality that is more rational and intuitive, and away from faith and dogma. How does one approach the great spiritual mystery? Yes that's what it is. Our birth, our death, our existence in the present moment, these are all mysteries. They are vistas that go towards...

Yup, it is quite hypocritical how christians in western nations like america critisize islam when christian fundamentalism has done it's fair deal of bad behavior. Both radical christianity and radical islam can both lead to some pretty screwed up societies and individuals, and should be...

Thomas my friend, I never said personal experience was infallible, lol. I was just saying personal experience is a great spiritual tool we have, and exercising the spiritual centers of our body and mind are a good way to increase your spirit. The felt presence of immediate experience is quite...

Science is just a method of understanding the world using empirical observations and reason. It does not take a specific side on issues, as it is meant to be neutral to the morality of humans. With that said, it should be pointed out that a large amount of criticism directed at environmentally...

Hate is in many cases a by-product of anger. All negative emotions can be linked to neuro-chemical reactions in the nervous system, but that does not mean it can't be conquered. Realizing the futility of negative emotions like hate is one way to conquer it. If for instance someone did something...

Yup. I don't see why clergy has to hide their theological insights and teachings from the people, as you have pointed out in your example of the Church of England. It only makes those who are unsure about religion move closer to no trust in spirituality. It certainly does breed primitive notions...

Hello Thomas, that's quite an interesting name you got there. ;) Well of course Thomas is a popular name, but I do have a particular interest in the disciple Thomas, he is one of my favorites of Jesus's disciples. In particular, my favorite book in all of christianity would probably be the...

Hi Shawn. Yup. If humanity can make good informed decisions about all aspects of human affairs, such as money, politics, and power systems, perhaps we would be living in a better world.

Hi Chris, I did make a response to you, but somehow it got placed in the moderator's approval section. I'm not sure why, maybe it was a bit long. Hopefully it will appear soon.

Yup this is true. Certainly the experimentalists are still filtering and framing it as you put it into their own beliefs systems. So I do think they have some ways to go before they can be truly considered objective, but I do admire the fact they are at least trying. And yup, that's what I've...

Well certainly there are other possibilities out there. But I think I intended the poll and thread to address something more specific. And that is faith vs knowing. That is, believing in something just for the sake of believing, or knowing something because you discovered it yourself. And of...

"The Kingdom of God lies within you." That simple quote of pure wisdom came from the main figure of the most popularly adhered religion (christianity) in the world: Jesus Christ. From another tradition, it is said that there is no salvation through merely believing. Having faith in the fact...