Spiritual Flavors

FutureHumanDestiny

FutureHumanDestiny

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aloha people!

During the time that i've enjoyed the Interfaith forums, a persistent question has been surfacing in my head, and i'd like to ask it here. Since a large segment of the Interfaith Forums Population is unusually spiritual, and opinionated about that (and opinionated about their beliefs), i'd like to discuss the various flavors of spirituality.

Obviously spirituality is personal, and it is cosmic, and it is strange.

Within cultures there are religions, within religions there are sects, within sects there are various schools, and doctrines, and various laypeople, adherents, scholars and 'gurus.' over time those can be translated and re-interpreted, etc. but does that justify the creation of various flavors of religious and spiritual belief? or is there much more to it?

obviously people are not obtaining the spiritual attainments and they are misunderstanding the meaning and relevancy of the teachings, which are twisted, distorted and flawed.

But there have been real spiritual masters who have raised kundalni, obtained samadhi and sat on the doorstep of enlightenment (and beyond). are they not enough to sway the confusion of the masses? each master knows that there is a unified path and unified purpose to spirituality.

so here is my question, put simply: Why are there so many flavors of spirituality?

thanks for your insights, opinions and ramblings (in advance!).

-dale
 
Welcome to the Forum futurehumandestiny!

Mankind is like a garden and how would it seem to you if there was only one variety of flower... ? It could be monotonous.. So the variety...Spirituality also though has similarities...

"Consider the flowers of the rose garden. Although they are of different kinds, various colors and diverse forms and appearances, yet as they drink from one water, are swayed by one breeze and grow by the warmth and light of one sun, this variation and this difference cause each to enhance the beauty and splendor of the others. The differences in manners, in customs, in habits, in thoughts, opinions and in temperaments is the cause of the adornment of the world of mankind. This is praiseworthy. Likewise this difference and this variation, like the difference and variation of the parts and members of the human body, are the cause of the appearance of beauty and perfection."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 295
 
FutureHumanDestiny said:
so here is my question, put simply: Why are there so many flavors of spirituality?

thanks for your insights, opinions and ramblings (in advance!).

-dale
Click to expand...

Because there are so many different flavors of affliction.

Buddhism says there are 84,000 (meaning innumerable) dhamma doors. The one that gets a being there is the correct door for that being.
 
FutureHumanDestiny;265365 But there have been real spiritual masters who have raised kundalni said:
yes and there are flavours like protestantism where its Grace and Faith in Christ that are key not things like enlightenment and kundalini.
Click to expand...
 
Well, I guess I would say that there's a large cultural component to religion in the way it provides identity and a sense of who is us and who is them. But there's also an anti-identity component available to those wishing to eschew their cultural programming. A person brought up with western religious programming can find it helpful to switch to an eastern oriented belief system in order to gain a fresh outside perspective. I think that at some point one comes to the point of needing to kill their personal Buddha, whatever that may be for them, and alternative belief systems, while ultimately their own unique, eventual impediment, can be a helpful part of the process.

Chris
 
FutureHumanDestiny said:
thank you arthra for sharing.

here is a question just for you: is there a place in baha'i for kundalini, samadhi, ectasy, bliss and enlightenment?
Click to expand...

There are no specific forms of meditation prescribed in the Baha'i faith so one is free to use whatever style of meditation that works for them.. so yes people have experienced bliss and ecstacy.

As far as the processes described such as kundalini, samadhi, etc. again there are no such specifics. There are texts that mention mystical states such as "the Four Valleys and the Seven Valleys" but the stress I would say is more on building the foundations of a future world civilization than say on mystical states alone.

:)
 
The "Guna(s)" and their sphere of influence


In the Gita there is a catagorisation of which of the three mode(s) (ying-Yang-Yung) something may be lump into.

The three modes are:
1 Goodness [maintanence],
2 Passion [creation],
3 Ignorance [dessolution].

The three mode cause all material elements to go into flux.
Sometimes one of the three is prominent ---other times another of the three is prominent ---so the elements (along with their by-products) may be classified as to which mode predominates amonst which spheres of influence.

http://www.interfaith.org/forum/the-guna-s-and-their-12946.html#post229958

Various Triads in the Vedas
In the material world, Dharma (duty) comes in Three flavors.
http://www.interfaith.org/forum/various-triads-in-the-vedas-12963.html#post230297
 
FutureHumanDestiny said:
Within cultures there are religions, within religions there are sects, within sects there are various schools, and doctrines, and various laypeople, adherents, scholars and 'gurus.' over time those can be translated and re-interpreted, etc. but does that justify the creation of various flavors of religious and spiritual belief? or is there much more to it?
Click to expand...

As Osensei Ueshiba put it, "When you bow deeply to the universe, it bows back; when you call out the name of God, it echoes inside you...
The art of Peace I practice has room for each of the world's eight million gods, and I cooperate with them all. The God of Peace is very great and enjoins all that is divine and enlightened in every land."​

Underneath all the "various flavors of religious and spiritual belief" there is only oneness, the beyond.

FutureHumanDestiny said:
obviously people are not obtaining the spiritual attainments and they are misunderstanding the meaning and relevancy of the teachings, which are twisted, distorted and flawed.
Click to expand...

That may be true... that is a product of monkey-mind, not the Divne Mind. It ia a matter of doing what G!d wills us to do and defeating the maya, the shadow, the absence of G!dess.

FutureHumanDestiny said:
But there have been real spiritual masters who have raised kundalni, obtained samadhi and sat on the doorstep of enlightenment (and beyond). are they not enough to sway the confusion of the masses? each master knows that there is a unified path and unified purpose to spirituality.
Click to expand...

There is one goal, but many paths. Each must find their own as did everyone from Mahavira and Zoroaster to Matthew Fox and Rufus Jones. The trick is to go into each and experience and take what thy wilt of it. The written teachings (of all manner) are just a guide--the are not "The Word of G!d", but "G!d's words as fallibly put down by humanity".

FutureHumanDestiny said:
so here is my question, put simply: Why are there so many flavors of spirituality?
Click to expand...

Because there are so many fragments of the One D!vine Soul,
 
Originally Posted by FutureHumanDestiny
so here is my question, put simply: Why are there so many flavors of spirituality?
Click to expand...
There are three qualities that overarch all activities ---so there are facilities for each of these stratum of behavioral types of human thinkers.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
“The World deluded by these Three Gunas does not know Me:
Who is beyond these Gunas and imperishable.” (7.13)

a guṇa is one of three "tendencies": tamas, sattva, and rajas. These categories have become a common means of categorizing behavior and natural phenomena in Hindu philosophy, and also in Ayurvedic medicine, All creation is made up by a balance composed of all three forces.

For creation to progress, each new stage "needs a force to maintain it and another force to develop it into a new stage.

The force that develops the process in a new stage is rajo guna, while tamo guna is that which checks or retards the process in order to maintain the state already produced, so that it may form the basis for the next stage".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%E1%B9%87a

*********************
The Puranas [The History(s) of Hindu Antiquity]:

Classification
Puranas are classified according to qualification of persons who can understand them: "Purāṇas are supplementary explanations of the Vedas intended for different types of men. All men are not equal.

There are men who are conducted by the mode of goodness, others who are under the mode of passion and others who are under the mode of ignorance.

The Purāṇas are so divided that any class of men can take advantage of them and gradually regain their lost position and get out of the hard struggle for existence."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puranas
 
seattlegal said:
Because there are so many different flavors of affliction.

Buddhism says there are 84,000 (meaning innumerable) dhamma doors. The one that gets a being there is the correct door for that being.
Click to expand...

Mine seems to be a revolving door :eek:
 
Spiritual flavors... nice ring to it. I am motivated for a post before I head off to taste some other spirits.

If anyone has any uncertainty on things, as I find that one should, then questions might surface and there is a decision of whether to seek answers. If spirits are seen, there is a decision of whether or not to taste that spirit. A spiritual flavor has taste, right? How is that spiritual flavor tasted, or do we accept our own and not covet, nor venture towards, the spiritual flavor of others? Everyone is physically unique, right... are they spirits not unique, too? Can we just watch the spirit on TV, or YouTube, and ascertain the spirit of it? Can we thankfully enjoy our own and ignore the spirit of others? Can we just read about it on a forum, or in a book, even the holiest of... books? Can we just imagine the spirit, or simulate it in our minds, without the actual mess of doing it, and honestly walk away with a taste of that spirit?

I find that some spirits are the pits, and other spirits are the ladders out of those pits. I find that there are some things that a person can do, and there are some things that a person should not do, in order to taste some spirits. Whether or not it is worth it to taste those spirits... well, that is your choice. Take on the tough relationships, and the spirits do spark. Seeing the sparks in relation to what you do, you see the spirit. I find that you can choose whether or not to become that spirit. The origin and variety of the spirits? Well, a good number of people are struggling with the origin and the variety of man... I'm not so sure the spirits can be similarly counted.
 
Personally, I don't think that anyone with anything approaching "real" enlightenment can absolutely, 100% agree and espouse just one doctrine without also, at least, acknowledging the merits and similarities that their "one truth faith" shares with other, supposedly different faiths.

I also think that, if a person of insight acknowledges that their tradition is not the only one, it would be... duplicitious for that person to speak only of one specific "flavour" being Ultimate Truth. I also think that a true person of insight would never become, or profess to be, a guru.

For a person with insight, becoming a master is nothing but an ego trip. How can it really be anything else? If you're ... lucky... enough, to "see" or "feel" or even "sense" the big "all", then you have no choice but to appeciate just how small you are, yourself, how... imperfect your mind is.. you have to admit you know nothing, really...

the whole shabang, the big everything, is just too big. In it's entireity, it's just too large and all encompassing for one person, one mind, to know everything about everything. Even geniuses have specialisms. Hence the different flavours, maybe...

Or maybe... The Gods, in their infinite wisdom, present their different faces to remind us that, truthfully, nobody has all the answers. People who profess to lie. Oftentimes, there isn't even a question. A person with insight, real insight, would have no option but to acknowledge this, and by acknowledging this, could not, without deceiving others, profess to have all the answers.

I believe there is no such thing as "real spiritual masters". I have met many who profess to be, but that does not mean they really are.

Here's a few choice examples for you...

I remember visiting an ashram, and the guru grabbed me, during the chanting and the dancing, and the singing, and the guru had a small vial of clear liquid... she would go around the room, anointing people with this supposedly spiritual oil... some people would get a little dot of it... I didn't... oh no. She gave me a great big dollop, rubbed it into the inside of my forearms... perfume she said it was... a strange perfume that had no smell.

I went to bed, feeling hot, and tired... and went to sleep and had great dreams. Of that faith, of that guru, of that tradition. Unbenownst to her, I made my own "flying ointment", and had exactly the same response to mine as I did to hers... Fabulous dreams and visions of the gods, and a scabby looking rash on my wrists...

I'm lucky to be... experienced... some people are not. The average person would have dreamed great visions of the gurus and the gods and thought-- ooh. This must be a holy place, or I must be receiving visions, or I must be special, but the truth is... most people fall into three catagories:

a) they're "into religion" because they need something; hope, somewhere to live, something to believe in, acceptance, love, etc, etc, or religion gives them something -- power, status, an occupation, a niche,
b) they're into religion because it's like habit; religion is their football team to support, and they don't really ponder the mysteries too much because they've been told to believe this one way is the only way, so they never bother looking around,
c) they have had some kind of big experience, and they have to investigate further...

The majority of people who profess to be holy are scammers. Here's another case for you...

I'm in a monastery. A monk is walking up and down the corridor. Every time he passes me, I see his "third eye" emit a small flash of light. This was not, though, because he was holy. This was because he was sticking small stick-on diamantes to his forehead, and deliberately walking up and down the corridor when new people arrived, so those same new people would also see the flashing third eye and think this scammer was a holy being... How do I know he was sticking pieces of bindi-stuff on his ajna cakra? Because I sneaked around the corner, behind him, and watched him pull it off his forehead and I watched him place it, almost casually, on a window ledge.

I say, unless you've had some kind of massive religious or transformational experience, be wary of wolves in sheep's clothing. Be aware that not everything is as it initially seems. Be cautious, and above all else, form your own opinions. Don't take the easy path -- the do as you're told and think like we do" path, for that path is the road to hell...
 
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