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@divegeester saidYou sound paranoid. Nobody talks about you and on the rare occasion you have been mentioned people have spoken truthfully about you and your bizarre antics.
It isn’t, and you know it. Don’t lie.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidDon’t try to conflate the point. I am talking directly to and only about you.
You sound paranoid. Nobody talks about you and on the rare occasion you have been mentioned people have spoken truthfully about you and your bizarre antics.
No paranoia old boy Sir, I’ve seen the post.
- Joined
- 14 Mar 15
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- 29602
@divegeester saidI stand by anything I have ever said about you, in public and in private.
Don’t try to conflate the point. I am talking directly to and only about you.
No paranoia old boy Sir, I’ve seen the post.
Was it the post where I compared you to a hamster?
@ghost-of-a-duke saidGood to know I’ve gotten under your thin deceitful skin.
Was it the post where I compared you to a hamster?
@ghost-of-a-duke saidAs though your lack of integrity somehow provides honour to what you said. Hilarious!
I stand by anything I have ever said about you, in public and in private.
@ghost-of-a-duke saidGosh, in a few pages you pave accused me of or inferred that I am being embarrassed of my theism, of pedantry, of hypocrisy, of being shallow, emotionally weak, paranoid and now I’m a rodent.
Was it the post where I compared you to a hamster?
Amazingly I refrained from alerting any of your snide posts.
@divegeester saidSpirituality, a working definition: any persistent concern, body of writings, teachings, doctrine, practice, or technique (including yoga and meditation) the purpose of which is to move a person from a state of conflict with eschatological issues towards a state of resolution with such issues.
Atheists keep bringing theism into into this discourse, I don’t.
This discussion is basically about the definition of the word spirituality but the only reason I’m interested in it is that I see those here who like to enjoy their platform of science, rationality and logic attempting to also enjoy the eclectic nebulous irrationality of the spiritual.
It’s fake, and I’m calling them on it.
@philokalia saidAll Buddhist doctrine, including that of rebirth, is upaya: dispensable means to an end. Buddhism is a technique for unlearning suffering. Any Buddhist master will confirm that it does not matter what you believe, so long as the technique works for you.
It believes in the transmigration of... something.
You could make the argument that old Buddhism was hard atheist, but it doesn't really make sense in the context of how modern Buddhists throughout the world tend to believe, and how we can imagine the average Buddhist generally believing throughout the ages, and the tight little web of interpretations necessary ...[text shortened]... way that it tends to be understood and practiced even by very modern Buddhists like Thich Nhat Hanh.
In contrast to BigDogg, learning how not to suffer seems an eminently sensible thing to me.
@divegeester
Here's what you posted on page 3:
"Spirituality is a realm of the supernatural, perhaps the only realm. If there is no supernatural then there is no spirituality. One cannot deny the existence of the supernatural while claiming to hold to spirituality; that’s a contradiction."
I then posted:
"Buddhism is a form of spirituality which does not require belief in, or presuppose the existence of, supernatural entities."
To which you replied:
"No one so far has mentioned “supernatural entities”.
You are another atheist trying to sneak a god or or gods into this discussion. Stop it."
So, I'll re-phrase:
"Buddhism is a form of spirituality which does not require belief in, or presuppose the existence of, the supernatural. Buddhism posits pure phenomenalism and therefore a completely naturalistic means of dealing with eschatological issues."
@divegeester saidAt least he didn't accuse you of being a rat. 😉
Gosh, in a few pages you pave accused me of or inferred that I am being embarrassed of my theism, of pedantry, of hypocrisy, of being shallow, emotionally weak, paranoid and now I’m a rodent.
Amazingly I refrained from alerting any of your snide posts.
I find this topic an interesting read (including the banter). It has made me think how I perceive spirituality and what it means to me. My use of the word (correct or incorrect) is basicly: strive for balance between body and mind.
@moonbus saidThat sounds like psychology or some other cognitive discipline. Difficult to see what the metaphysical spirit has to do with that.
Spirituality, a working definition: any persistent concern, body of writings, teachings, doctrine, practice, or technique (including yoga and meditation) the purpose of which is to move a person from a state of conflict with eschatological issues towards a state of resolution with such issues.
@vals-loeder said😁
At least he didn't accuse you of being a rat. 😉
I find this topic an interesting read (including the banter). It has made me think how I perceive spirituality and what it means to me. My use of the word (correct or incorrect) is basicly: strive for balance between body and mind.
I find it interesting also, and I’d like to once again try to clarify my apparently contentious perspective:
- I am contesting the word “spirituality”, what it means, why a person chooses to use it to describe themselves or an attribute of their thinking . I am not contesting any of the thoughts and meditations themselves, nor the efficacy of them. I am not in any way inferring that an atheist or or a “non spiritual” (non metaphysical) believing person cannot achieve the same level of cognitive bliss as someone who does believe in the metaphysically spiritual elements.
- I am not contesting that only theists can achieve a spirituality
- I am challenging the hard atheists who, rightly in their opinion, deny the possibility of god or gods, and who deny the supernatural generally, but whom simultaneously hold to a form of spirituality by possessively (sic) attempting to conflate the term “spiritual” to underpin non metaphysical attributes of what are essentially cognitive and hormonal phenomena.
Wordy, but I trust I’m making myself clearer.