Pros and cons of spiritual practices

What do you all see as the pros and cons of living a spiritual life or experiencing those moments of sudden clarity? Is there actually such a thing as a downside to being spiritual, or is life just objectively easier when you aren't? For me, the upside is that when I feel truly connected to the Divine, everything feels right—there’s this incredible sense of peace where I don't even feel the need to overthink things. The downside, though, is how difficult it can be to reconcile that state with the reality of the world around me. Honestly, if I acted the way I do during those moments in a typical American office or on a busy street in Chicago, people would probably think I'd lost my mind.

I’m not entirely sure if we’re talking about pros and cons here... but, look, I’ve never really considered myself a particularly spiritual person 🐔 😁

It feels a bit like some kind of game—I mean, will you just be cycling through a few pre-set scenarios, or are you actually going to engage with other things by, strangely enough, using actual free will 😁 and eventually, I suppose, it all boils down to whether the other games stay interesting or just end up feeling tedious

And then there's the whole thing about who actually showed up to do what, and what their role really is within their own little arc, or even the broader story as a whole

electrictinker26 said:What do you all see as the pros and cons of living a spiritual life or experiencing those moments of sudden clarity? Is there actually such a thing as a downside to being spiritual, or is life just objectively easier when you aren't? For me, the upside is that when I feel truly connected to the Divine, everything feels right—there’s this incredible sense of peace where I don't even feel the need to overthink things. The downside, though, is how difficult it can be to reconcile that state with the reality of the world around me. Honestly, if I acted the way I do during those moments in a typical American office or on a busy street in Chicago, people would probably think I'd lost my mind.

From where I'm standing, everyone is actually living a spiritual life; the only difference is that some people are too stuck in their own heads, obsessed with nothing but the physical grind, to realize it.

When you're in that headspace with God, yeah, you're definitely gonna look like a total nutcase to the "normal" crowd at first. But here's the thing: that state of being eventually shifts you, naturally leading you toward a sense of oneness with everyone else. Your vibe starts radiating outward, and that's actually how you help people best—by reminding them of the truths they already know deep down but have totally forgotten.

...And pretty soon, people actually start listening to you. You go from being the "crazy guy" to being someone interesting. Once you stop sweating how others react to you, you suddenly find this crazy burst of creativity.

Don't sweat it, though. It all settles itself out. Some people will fade out of your life entirely, new people will show up, and honestly, your old relationships usually end up getting better, too.

The whole idea of "pros and cons of spirituality" just doesn't exist. 🙂

Is it just me, or am I the only one not even trying to fit in?

electrictinker26 said:What do you all see as the pros and cons of living a spiritual life or experiencing those moments of sudden clarity? Is there actually such a thing as a downside to being spiritual, or is life just objectively easier when you aren't? For me, the upside is that when I feel truly connected to the Divine, everything feels right—there’s this incredible sense of peace where I don't even feel the need to overthink things. The downside, though, is how difficult it can be to reconcile that state with the reality of the world around me. Honestly, if I acted the way I do during those moments in a typical American office or on a busy street in Chicago, people would probably think I'd lost my mind.

It really all comes down to how much you stay tethered to the physical world; the better you can stay grounded, the less likely you are to get swept away by it all.

Michael Gonzalez77 said:The whole idea of "pros and cons of spirituality" just doesn't exist. 🙂

Everything is going fine on my end; just riding the usual highs and lows... 😵

electrictinker26 said:Everything is going fine on my end; just riding the usual highs and lows... 😵

From what I gather, life is just a series of fluctuations. In my experience with spirituality, the goal is to find a constant—a state of being. That constant is consciousness.

Cheers 🙂

So, what kind of constant are we even talking about when it comes to spirituality these days?

Paul Jones7 said:So, what kind of constant are we even talking about when it comes to spirituality these days?

I wrote consciousness

I don't know much about esotericism, but if you look at what it all boils down to, it's that consciousness—the present moment, oneness, call it whatever you want. In that state, we align ourselves with the universe. I've walked my own path and realized this myself 🙂 even if I happen to walk away from it all in twenty years, I am convinced this is the truth

My beliefs are based on experience. Naturally, there are as many directions as there are people, but I lean toward the ontological, the primal—what one might call esotericism.
Every spiritual discipline deals with this, yet they all develop their own specific systems 🙂; personally, I have no interest in systems, only the original source
Or perhaps I'm just losing my mind😁 😁 😁

Cheers 🙂

Personally, I don't find all these theories particularly useful. God isn't a theory. But I suppose the mind likes to wander when it's bored. In reality, you can connect with God whenever you choose, but life tends to get in the way—you want to grab some food, catch a football game, follow the news, enjoy intimacy, or focus on building a family and providing for them. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but it's just how it is. I once had an experience where I decided to live as simply as possible for a month. It backfired because I got incredibly bored. I remember lying in bed, tossing and turning, my mind racing, when this thought suddenly hit me—in English, since I sometimes think that way—as if God were asking, "May I enter?" And I answered, "Yes." Suddenly, I felt this overwhelming surge of power. It was brief, maybe just a fraction of a second, but it felt like if I had stayed in that state, the intensity would have been too much to bear, or I might never have recovered. Who knows. I still believe in God and I genuinely want to know Him, but I feel I need to gather more knowledge on how to proceed. Spirituality isn't a game. I think someone mentioned earlier that trying to feed the ego by collecting degrees or finishing five different colleges is a distraction...

Sandra Morales said:I wrote consciousness

I don't know much about esotericism, but if you look at what it all boils down to, it's that consciousness—the present moment, oneness, call it whatever you want. In that state, we align ourselves with the universe. I've walked my own path and realized this myself 🙂 even if I happen to walk away from it all in twenty years, I am convinced this is the truth

My beliefs are based on experience. Naturally, there are as many directions as there are people, but I lean toward the ontological, the primal—what one might call esotericism.
Every spiritual discipline deals with this, yet they all develop their own specific systems 🙂; personally, I have no interest in systems, only the original source
Or perhaps I'm just losing my mind😁 😁 😁

Cheers 🙂

just give me some credit 🙂

Look, if you really dig into the definition, spirituality is basically just the antithesis of the material world—we're talking about stuff that doesn't play by the rules of cause and effect or that whole deterministic grind we're stuck in. All those pros and cons people obsess over? Those are just different sides of the same coin in this physical, material mess we live in.

David Vaughn75 said:Look, if you really dig into the definition, spirituality is basically just the antithesis of the material world—we're talking about stuff that doesn't play by the rules of cause and effect or that whole deterministic grind we're stuck in. All those pros and cons people obsess over? Those are just different sides of the same coin in this physical, material mess we live in.

Hold up, we really need to tweak that definition. The material isn't the enemy of the spiritual; it’s actually just one aspect of it. They aren't opposites at all.
If you go around defining "material" as the direct opposite of "spiritual," you end up trapped in this endless cycle of good versus evil... a loop that keeps spinning forever. Sure, the struggle might exist, but why stay stuck there? We actually have the chance right now to rise above this whole duality thing and find some actual balance. Imagine living without all that unnecessary resentment, envy, fighting, or fear. Once you hit that point, what used to be an eternal struggle turns into something else entirely. It becomes a game. The eternal game...😁

🎉 🎉 🎉

Even the spiritual realm follows the rules of cause and effect.

electrictinker26 said:Personally, I don't find all these theories particularly useful. God isn't a theory. But I suppose the mind likes to wander when it's bored. In reality, you can connect with God whenever you choose, but life tends to get in the way—you want to grab some food, catch a football game, follow the news, enjoy intimacy, or focus on building a family and providing for them. There’s nothing wrong with any of that, but it's just how it is. I once had an experience where I decided to live as simply as possible for a month. It backfired because I got incredibly bored. I remember lying in bed, tossing and turning, my mind racing, when this thought suddenly hit me—in English, since I sometimes think that way—as if God were asking, "May I enter?" And I answered, "Yes." Suddenly, I felt this overwhelming surge of power. It was brief, maybe just a fraction of a second, but it felt like if I had stayed in that state, the intensity would have been too much to bear, or I might never have recovered. Who knows. I still believe in God and I genuinely want to know Him, but I feel I need to gather more knowledge on how to proceed. Spirituality isn't a game. I think someone mentioned earlier that trying to feed the ego by collecting degrees or finishing five different colleges is a distraction...

Look, living a simpler life from a spiritual perspective isn't some lazy excuse to just rot on the couch all day, you know? It’s actually about stripping away those layers of addiction we have to material junk... like, I don't feel the need to run down to Best Buy to pick up some massive 4K TV just because, especially when staring at a screen like that just drains my soul anyway. Instead, wouldn't it be better to just head out into the woods and spend the afternoon foraging for mushrooms?😁So, picture this: your washing machine finally kicks the bucket, right? And instead of throwing a massive tantrum or losing your mind, you just kind of stare at it blankly because, let’s be real, you don't exactly have a mountain of cash sitting around to go out and drop hundreds on a shiny new appliance from Best Buy. So what do you do? You just shrug, move right past that broken hunk of metal like it isn't even there, and start scrubbing your clothes by hand in the sink like it's the freaking 1800s? Is that just how life works now?😉

David Vaughn75 said:Look, if you really dig into the definition, spirituality is basically just the antithesis of the material world—we're talking about stuff that doesn't play by the rules of cause and effect or that whole deterministic grind we're stuck in. All those pros and cons people obsess over? Those are just different sides of the same coin in this physical, material mess we live in.

👍 Well said.
I'm in. Count me in on this one.

Lawrence Torres56 said:Look, living a simpler life from a spiritual perspective isn't some lazy excuse to just rot on the couch all day, you know? It’s actually about stripping away those layers of addiction we have to material junk... like, I don't feel the need to run down to Best Buy to pick up some massive 4K TV just because, especially when staring at a screen like that just drains my soul anyway. Instead, wouldn't it be better to just head out into the woods and spend the afternoon foraging for mushrooms?😁So, picture this: your washing machine finally kicks the bucket, right? And instead of throwing a massive tantrum or losing your mind, you just kind of stare at it blankly because, let’s be real, you don't exactly have a mountain of cash sitting around to go out and drop hundreds on a shiny new appliance from Best Buy. So what do you do? You just shrug, move right past that broken hunk of metal like it isn't even there, and start scrubbing your clothes by hand in the sink like it's the freaking 1800s? Is that just how life works now?😉

👍 Well said.
I'm in. Count me in on this one.

I see your point, but once you already own a TV and a house full of stuff, the goal is to clear it all out so your attention isn't pulled in a thousand different directions. I wasn't really thinking about escaping to the wilderness. My idea was more about shedding all desire entirely—living with that minimalist, Zen-like simplicity you see in certain Eastern philosophies where everything is stripped down to the bare essentials. That was my focus. And in terms of gaining insight, it worked. Once you truly reach a state where you no longer crave anything, you can finally say, "God, come to me, I'm bored."

It really comes down to identifying what you actually want—but some of those desires are just pure instinct, which messes everything up because it’s tied to your psyche. It's that whole "me vs. society" struggle.
So yeah, we're talking about a pretty complex process of working on yourself.

electrictinker26 said:I see your point, but once you already own a TV and a house full of stuff, the goal is to clear it all out so your attention isn't pulled in a thousand different directions. I wasn't really thinking about escaping to the wilderness. My idea was more about shedding all desire entirely—living with that minimalist, Zen-like simplicity you see in certain Eastern philosophies where everything is stripped down to the bare essentials. That was my focus. And in terms of gaining insight, it worked. Once you truly reach a state where you no longer crave anything, you can finally say, "God, come to me, I'm bored."

Everyone should just do whatever works for them:

1. Just sitting there in total stillness, doing absolutely nothing. Spring will come when it comes, and the grass grows on its own.

2. Chopping wood, hauling water from a well—oh, how wonderful, oh, how marvelous.

3. Heading to morning Mass every day and saying my Rosary in the afternoon.

electrictinker26 said:I see your point, but once you already own a TV and a house full of stuff, the goal is to clear it all out so your attention isn't pulled in a thousand different directions. I wasn't really thinking about escaping to the wilderness. My idea was more about shedding all desire entirely—living with that minimalist, Zen-like simplicity you see in certain Eastern philosophies where everything is stripped down to the bare essentials. That was my focus. And in terms of gaining insight, it worked. Once you truly reach a state where you no longer crave anything, you can finally say, "God, come to me, I'm bored."

You're starting from the wrong end of the equation here; the stuff sitting around you isn't the actual issue, it's that "attention" of yours that keeps getting hijacked by external noise😉...well, actually, it's whatever happens to be interesting, regardless of why...and until that specific mental click happens inside your head, you aren't ever going to truly break free from those cravings.
That whole minimalist thing, that Zen concept of just having four white walls, isn't about preventing distractions; it's because those walls are complete in themselves, and adding even one extra little thing would just mess up their perfect harmony...
And once you finally hit that sweet spot, you'll realize that God doesn't show up just because you're bored; He shows up when you actually, truly need Him.😉

Maria Parker77 said:Hold up, we really need to tweak that definition. The material isn't the enemy of the spiritual; it’s actually just one aspect of it. They aren't opposites at all.
If you go around defining "material" as the direct opposite of "spiritual," you end up trapped in this endless cycle of good versus evil... a loop that keeps spinning forever. Sure, the struggle might exist, but why stay stuck there? We actually have the chance right now to rise above this whole duality thing and find some actual balance. Imagine living without all that unnecessary resentment, envy, fighting, or fear. Once you hit that point, what used to be an eternal struggle turns into something else entirely. It becomes a game. The eternal game...😁

🎉 🎉 🎉

Even the spiritual realm follows the rules of cause and effect.

Well, I guess it really depends on how you choose to define "spiritual."

If you're looking at the spirit itself, there's a pretty big distinction to be made. The spirit would be the essence, while the material stuff belongs to the illusion. Or, if you want to put it another way, the spirit is reality, and matter is just part of a dream. Plus, the spirit is alive. And if something is truly alive, I don't think it can be bound by cause-and-effect determinism—because, well, things that aren't alive are the ones that follow those rules.

But, if you view spirituality as just some kind of discipline that certain people practice, then yeah, that's just as much a part of the illusion (the dream) as the material world is. In that sense, I suppose you're right.