Is it possible to be a Spiritual Atheist?
Religion or rather, spirituality, is a side of personal development which I often discuss with friends and family, but my most recent conversation was with my Doctor who asked me, "Is it possible to be a spiritual Atheist?" I asserted that it was, and it mostly boils down to… Compassion.
Suppose you had the opportunity to ask world-renowned Zen Master & peace activist, Thich Naht Hanh, "How to be more spiritual?" His essential instructions would include: developing the courage to look deeply at suffering and learning to act more compassionately. I doubt he’d mention God at all. It’s more about staying centered in the midst of crisis, so that you can react to the situation with a clear mind and take intelligent, compassionate action.
Putting it back in terms of personal development, spiritual growth is about transcending the tendency to be ego-centric and care only about yourself and your immediate family.
Contemporary Philosopher and highly acclaimed Psychologist Ken Wilber often points to a map of spiritual development, which starts at Ego-centric and graduates through Tribal-centric, and on to Cosmo-centric. According to him, the wider your circle of care, the more spiritually developed you are. If you can be a highly functional and contributing member of society on top of that…. We’ll you might just be enlightened.
Since this all started as a conversation with a Doctor, it seemed appropriate to mention the Hippocratic oath. I interpret the taking such an oath as a benchmark moment in a person’s life; when a person declares that they will hold themselves to a higher standard of caring and make an unconditional commitment to serving humanity.
Even if you don’t agree, maybe you can understand how I’d see taking the Hippocratic oath as something somewhat spiritual. If the oath itself isn’t spiritual, one’s commitment to it surely is.
So is it possible to be a spiritual Atheist? I certainly think so. Next time you go to see the Doctor, you might honor or even thank them for having made a personal commitment to help alleviate the suffering of humanity. Sure sounds spiritual to me.
Zachary Perlman
Executive Director
Monks Without Borders
dear zachary,
I think a person can be spiritual atheist. even though faith of God is in my very being but i know that spiritualism and God are not one.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha
Doctors as spiritual atheists??!? And all this time I thought they were just sadists. Fuck man, I've had it wrong all along.
This is an excellent question. So much of religious history is not spiritual at all. It is egocentric and narcissistic with devotees of each God fighting each other and killing in the name of their God. Therefore looking for a universal spirituality that doesn't include God is a path that many take out of disgust for those who claim the mantle of God while being killers.
Terrorists who strap shrapnel and c4 to their bodies do so in the name of their God. Colonialism and slavery were carried out in the name of their God.
This is the reason so many do not even use the name God when they pray or meditate.
love and light,
Stuart
http://stuatmarkberlin.com
Dr. Berlin, you are absolutely right. More harm than good has always come from religion–from the judgmental attitudes pouring out of the pulpits to the acts of terror in the name of a god.
Why is it then that practitioners of religion are always describing atheists as evil, immoral and dangerous? We are usually very kind, good and friendly people! We are not a threat to them. Sure, we would like for all people to be enlightened and free of the fear that religion perpetrates, but we are mostly aware that enlightened reason is a gift of evolution that all do not get at the same time.
Love your work
Marcia
Religious people seek to understand the true nature of Gods divinity. Spiritual people seek to understand the true nature of reality. This is why some atheists call themselves spiritual and not religious.
Jennifer, the eye says it all and tickles as it does
Spiritual realist, I'd say, but I can get it all wrong, too.
Thanks for the cheer,
ed
Spiritual people follow rituals and practices associated with spirituality. Religious people follow rituals and practices associated with their religion. What rituals and practices do you associate with atheism ? Religion is a form of spirituality centered around a belief in God. I don't see atheism as its own form of spirituality with a unigue set of rituals and practices.