SE, I really must disagree. People carve a multitude of things from trees, which they then place spiritual significance to e.g. crosses, totem poles etc. But no, I do not see them as having any real meaning.
The thing is that the human mind seems to be extremely susceptible to hallucination. We tend to infer significance where there is really none. I, with my completely non spiritual view on things, am not exempt from this. For example, I remember leaving my house, to go running, when it started to rain. On my return, the rain stopped. I thought to myself just my luck, without any consideration for the fact that weather patterns play out without any consideration for my day to day life. This situation could be extended to a horde of various situations, all with the same result. And, it is just a small example of how fallible the human mind really is.
Secondly, my mind is open to new experiences. It just happens that I prefer tangible, concrete experiences, which occur in reality. The whole notion of a spiritual experience really goes against the grain of my personal experience. I actually do not know what is even meant by spiritual experience. Does this have mystical connotations? In order to investigate what is meant by the term, I searched the web. I was continuously confronted with headings such as, God saved me, outer body experience, Angels etc. Do people really get such spiritual experiences from something as simple as letting their hair grow and not brushing it?
Baba, the whole idea of a bandwagon implies the idea that there is more than one person. It is my contention that the more posts there are about spirituality, the more likely it is that there will be more. I mean, how many people start dreading with these notions of spirituality. I bet that there are basically no people who have only seen the DDHQ site who cite spiritual experiences. As I have previously said, it is the human need for acceptance and integration into the social group that is instigating the posts here.
Secondly, I only used Rasta as an example. It is merely the most accessible example which can be used. I never said it was the only one. And, can people really pick and choose what they believe? I mean, I might want to believe in a god, fairies, elves or monsters under the bed, but I cannot as I just dont believe. You dont choose belief. You either believe or you dont.
Sister Rags, this is a discussion about spirituality. How is it in the least bit spiritual?
These are my views. Rational, balanced thinking is what works for me. I believe in scientific exploration and critical thinking, alone. Does this make me close minded? I think not. It is as Richard Feynman once said, Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out.
