/spiritual/

[Anonymous No.17153038]

looking to become more spiritual in general, post your recommendations (books or otherwise)
I know there's guided meditations out there, anyone recommend them or is it not so much worth it because the spiritual liberation aspect has been stripped of it and it's just a coping tool for not breaking under capitalism?
Are Allan Watts lectures worth listening to for learning about buddhism? Anyone read his books?
additionally, feel free to redpill me on your respective spiritualities whether it's
> taoism
> buddhism
> christianity
> islam
> pagan
> etc.

[Anonymous No.17153353]

>>17153038
Buddhism isn't even spiritual, in fact it denies the spirit.

[Anonymous No.17153362]

>>17153038
Irreducible Mind by Kelly, Gauld, Grosso et al.

[Anonymous No.17153498]

>>17153038
Taoism or some sort of Christianity seem to be the way imo, they really engage with the world as it is and don't try to make you distance yourself from it too much, instead helping you make what change you can achieve. Buddhism is too life-denying once you get past the lovey-dovey surface, Islamic mysticism isn't really accessible and is too esoteric for most people, also requires a lot of commitment, paganism is a literal larp. I've read some interesting things about Hinduism but in all honesty I can't take it seriously, it just doesn't speak to me at all despite being a very developed tradition.

Bear in mind I'm only speaking about seriously pursuing the systems, if you just want to try them and see what they're about you could just flip a coin and you're pretty much guaranteed to get something out of them. However, bear in mind the core teachings of all aren't immediately apparent and you might feel like you've wasted your time if after some practice you find out you don't agree with them. Please don't take ANYTHING on blind faith just because your guru/scripture says it has to be true. Most systems prime you to jump to certain conclusions when alternative explanations are perfectly valid too, and indeed are often held by rival spiritual schools. Lastly, mystical experiences aren't fully understood by anyone no matter what they say, it's impossible to make an objective observation of the mind "as is" because you're using that very mind to analyze it, so whatever ultimate truth is, everyone will have a different interpretation of it. Or maybe it's just your brain having a glitch, who fucking knows.

[Anonymous No.17153510]

>>17153353
Read the Dhammapad, it clearly promotes spiritual values and encourages their cultivation.

[Anonymous No.17153514]

>>17153353
This. Buddhism is ancient psychology

[Anonymous No.17153553]

>>17153353
Wrong. You don't know what Buddhism is.

[Anonymous No.17153555]

>>17153498
>Buddhism is too life-denying once you get past the lovey-dovey surface
Only people who've only looked at the surface think Buddhism is "life denying" whatever that means. Of course if you want to remain a hedonist it isn't for you.

[Anonymous No.17153583]

Hinduism makes the most sense to me following the developments of Kant and Schopenhauer. Buddhism only makes sense to me if you interpret it as no-thing instead of nothing. Daoism is interesting and life-affirming in a lot of regards, but I haven’t read a lot about it.

[Anonymous No.17153627]

>>17153583
>The universe or maybe multiverse is shit and will be so for eternity, the buddhas are like lone mountains here and there against an infinite sky
>Altruism and caring for others only matters insofar as burning off past karma and losing your sense of self little by little toward nondual permadeath, because ultimately there are no sentient beings to save
>It's immeasurably more virtous to give a robe to a monk than helping the poor and sick
>If something is impermanent and conditioned it's automatically not worth it
And this is all based off the assumption that the payoff will be worth it. If rebirth isn't real or the buddhist theory of mind is wrong, you're wasting your life for no reason. If Buddhist theology is correct then "I" have a literally infinite number of lives to try again and will, by sheer probability at some point attain liberation.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Buddhism specifically, I love the Asian folk Buddhism you see in China or Japan, with people going about their lives and enjoying the religious community it brings. It's always the serious westen converts that take it a bit too seriously imo.

[Anonymous No.17153635]

>>17153555
The universe or maybe multiverse is shit and will be so for eternity, the buddhas are like lone mountains here and there against an infinite sky
>Altruism and caring for others only matters insofar as burning off past karma and losing your sense of self little by little toward nondual permadeath, because ultimately there are no sentient beings to save
>It's immeasurably more virtous to give a robe to a monk than helping the poor and sick
>If something is impermanent and conditioned it's automatically not worth it
And this is all based off the assumption that the payoff will be worth it. If rebirth isn't real or the buddhist theory of mind is wrong, you're wasting your life for no reason. If Buddhist theology is correct then "I" have a literally infinite number of lives to try again and will, by sheer probability at some point attain liberation.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Buddhism specifically, I love the Asian folk Buddhism you see in China or Japan, with people going about their lives and enjoying the religious community it brings. It's always the serious westen converts that take it a bit too seriously without realizing the logical conclusion of its tenets is that nothing matters but escaping the house on fire that they see the world as.

[Anonymous No.17153682]

>>17153635
I don’t personally understand why Buddhists are so concerned about a body, a karma and a mind that was never theirs to begin with. I personally see no problem with murder, egoism, or any other “evil” act - as good and evil are constructions of the mind, and the mind is not my concern. And seeing as I was never born to begin with, how could I be reborn? What is there to attain? What is there to practice? Suffering was never in me to begin with, nor time, nor space.

[Anonymous No.17153696]

>>17153682
This is why rebirth is non-negotiable to all schools and secular buddhists aren't really buddhists. The ethics completely fall apart without it.