I want to hear your stories
You read enough of mine. I'd love to hear some of yours.
What are your spiritual experiences like? I use the term "spiritual" in a very broad sense, incorporating both religious and non-religious experiences. I've spoken about some of my spirituality here, but I always wonder about that of other people. What's it like for you? Tell me about one of your experiences.
For example:
Atheists/Agnostics: Are you "spiritual"? If so, how do you practice it? (For example, do you meditate?) What's it like for you? What does it mean to you?
Scientists: Have you ever experienced Carl Sagan's "informed worship"? What was it like? What brought it about?
Christians: What is it like to go to your church? How do you imagine God? How do you feel when you pray? Has anyone ever been to a traditional Catholic mass? I've never seen one, but I've heard they're beautiful. If you've been, tell me about it. What's it like? If you are "born again," what was that experience like? If you transitioned from one form of Christianity to another, tell me about that - what is your new church like? What is it like to take on new traditions within the context of Christianity?
Muslims: What is it like to pray in a mosque? What it is like to put on the hijab for the first time? Describe the sounds, the sights, the sensory and the spiritual experience.
Jews: What traditions do you have in your own home or community that are special to you? What are they like?
Buddhists/Hindus: What is meditation like for you? If you go to a temple or a meditation centre, what is it like there?
Wiccans/Pagans: What is a favorite ritual of yours? What is it like?
Sikhs: What are your holidays like? Your place of worship? What is it like to put on a turban and the other sacred objects?
Converts: What was your conversion experience like? What was it like the moment when you decided that you wanted to convert? What was it like the first time you practiced a ritual of your new faith? The first time you read your sacred text?
Everyone: If you experience walking through nature as a spiritual experience, describe it. If there are things that you've always admired or wondered about other traditions, ask. You might get an answer.
Give details - tell me about your physical surroundings as well as what you experience internally. I want to be able to imagine it. Also remember that you're writing for people who may not have seen this before, so we need some details to visualize things.
We all see so much ugliness in the name of religion and spirituality here. Wouldn't it be nice to celebrate it for once? For our differences to be a good thing - to admire that which is in others and allow others to admire that which is within ourselves?
Comments
From Wikipedia:
"Kundalini yoga is a physical and meditative discipline, comprising a set of techniques that use the mind, senses and body to create a communication between "mind" and "body". Kundalini yoga focuses on psycho-spiritual growth and the body's potential for maturation, giving special consideration to the role of the spine and the endocrine system in the understanding of yogic awakening."
"The practice of kundalini yoga consists of a number of bodily postures, expressive movements and utterances, characterological cultivations, breathing patterns, and degrees of concentration."
Here is a video of one particular exercise - the breath of fire - on YouTube. As I understand it, this exercise involves teaching people to be aware of their breathing and their bodies.
The turban that the instructor in this video is wearing is not related to the yoga - the instructor appears to be a Sikh in this case, although Kundalani yoga can be practiced by people of a variety of spiritual backgrounds.
There is a great deal of spiritual practice involving awareness of body, breath, and the present moment. It is to be found in a lot of Eastern traditions, but even those who adhere to no particular tradition have reported spiritual experiences from simply exercising or being in nature. There is a very deep and beautiful spirituality centered simply around awareness of the present moment.
When in the trance, my attention is focused tightly on the project and everything else disappears. (Imagine how it feels to read a really good book. Now make it ten times more intense. Yeah, it's like that.)
I do not go away in the trance, so this isn't the zen/yoga/meditation trance sort of thing. Instead, it is as if I turn on completely. It is fun, but exhausting.
John
I miss that. The closest I ever come to it these days is working out how to fracture images into varying patterns. It's just as absorbing, but there are too many other things going on in my life these days to really be able to allow myself to get that lost in the problem. I really really miss that.
But I will say - later more. Maybe as a link.
One statement that sums it: Raised Catholic, ran away from Catholic, searched and shopped for faiths, 12 step programs for families of alcoholics (spiritual) and came full circle. It is the most beautiful faith I can imagine. More later. Mass is beautiful. Old ones no. Running out the door to keep from looking old - too tired to do it myself. Color.