Is spirituality evolving?

Personally, I don't get why people keep using the term "God" if they already have a concept like Apple to work with.

It's pretty simple. Not everyone was born out in the East.

And honestly, I don't see anything wrong with the word God. If people are foolish enough to use a demiurge as their version of God just to chase some trivial goals, you can't blame God for that.

Or maybe it’s just those folks who insist on linking God and the demiurge together... if that's the case, there's nothing I can do for them. 😛

Spirituality and mysticism—that's the whole point here, not some shallow, surface-level religion. 😉

No, I’m not saying the word God is inherently bad or anything like that. It’s just—well, it feels restrictive, if that makes sense. And look, I know I can be a total semantic nitpicker sometimes.
The crux of the matter is that I don't personally attribute any personality traits to the divine; since the word God implies a persona, it just doesn't quite sit right with me, you know? 😛

hollowviper72 said:No, I’m not saying God is inherently bad. It’s just that the term feels limiting. And yeah, I know—sometimes I get way too caught up in semantics.
The thing is, I don't personally attribute any personality traits to the divine. Since the word "God" implies a persona, it just doesn't sit right with me, you know? 😛

Not really.
By using that word, you're basically building your own set of definitions and boundaries right from the start.

But hey, like I said, everyone sees things through their own lens...

for you; God = a demiurge
for me; God = God

😉

hollowviper72 said:An atheist is someone who doesn't believe in any deity at all. What you’re describing sounds more like an agnostic.

I remember when I first joined an American online forum; I explicitly listed myself as a SKEPTIC - AGNOSTIC - ATHEIST. I made it clear that being a skeptic is my primary foundation, agnosticism follows, and atheism is simply the inevitable result of those two. We ended up getting into a heated debate over the terms "weak" versus "strong" atheists. The logic was that "strong" atheists are the "real" ones because they actively deny a deity. Personally, I think it's the exact opposite. To me, they are just dogmatists who place far too much emphasis on "God." After all, you can't truly deny something unless you actually know what it is.
That is why, for me, atheism has to be specific: it's the rejection of one particular concept of a deity.
I am certain that the "Christian" stories about God are nonsense.😉 I feel the same way about several other religions I've studied, which makes me a "strong" atheist in that regard.
However, I have no way of knowing—nor can I claim to know—anything about the nature of a god in general. Fundamentally, I remain a skeptic and an agnostic.😉

swiftcobra15:
We ended up bickering over the whole "weak" vs. "strong" atheist distinction. Apparently, the latter group thinks they’re the "real" atheists because they actively deny the existence of a deity. I actually think it's the exact opposite. Those folks are just dogmatists who place way too much emphasis on "God." I mean, you can't truly deny something unless you actually understand what it is first.

👍

That’s why (for me) atheism is always something specific: it's the rejection of one particular concept of a deity.

🙂, so if that's how you feel, tell 😉

I know all those "Christian" stories about God are nonsense.

The myths about a demiurge... BUT, it depends on which ones you mean. There is a massive difference between mainstream Christian religion/dogma and actual Christian mysticism. It's only the latter that I find any truth in.

I feel like spirituality isn't really moving forward on a global scale—mostly because it's so wrapped up in dogma. Plus, most religions seem to hinge on waiting for something specific, like a Messiah or the Apocalypse, or they focus on what happens after we die, which just circles back to more dogma anyway.

On an individual level, though, spirituality can definitely grow... but I guess that really just comes down to the person.

In this universe of ours—or at least here on Earth—things work a certain way. Spiritual awakening (whatever term you want to call it, I think we all get the gist) is something an individual experiences, not a collective movement. There are these theories floating around suggesting that if enough people reached enlightenment at once, it would trigger a global shift and transform the entire world. Personally, I’m not buying it. I truly believe the world we live in right now is exactly how it needs to be for us to learn the specific lessons we've chosen to face. I'm sure there are other dimensions out there governed by different rules where entirely different kinds of wisdom are gained. But really, everything happens in its own 😉 (if "time" even exists 😁).

Maleficent, you absolute necromancer... just how deep did you have to dig to exhume and resurrect this thread? 😁

But hey, go ahead... you’ve actually gone and stirred up some old memories and reminded me of some other folks from way back when... 🙂

Maleficent said:In this universe—or at least here on Earth—things are just the way they are. Spiritual awakening (whatever term you want to call it, we all get the vibe) is something an individual experiences, not a whole society. There are theories floating around that if enough people reached enlightenment at once, it would trigger a global shift and change the world forever. Personally, I'm not buying it. I think the world we’re living in right now is exactly how it needs to be for us to learn the specific lessons we've chosen to face. Sure, there might be other dimensions out there with different rules and different types of knowledge to uncover. But everything happens in its own "time" 😉 (if such a thing even exists 😁).

Knowledge in this universe is finite. You can't just hand it over to all of humanity because it would end up being "diluted."
That's why only certain individuals can tap into higher realms. Everyone else is just stuck grinding on the ground level.

Cheers.

Scarlett O'Hara said:It’s just a little reminder. 🙂...and perhaps there’s still more to add to the conversation?

She really did take me right back to "the good old days." And now...

Is there anyone else hanging out here?

Is there any more left? Are there even any countries remaining?

Does anyone have any recommendations for decent wine left in their cellar? I’m looking for something actually worth sipping on—any suggestions for what’s still good? 😁

Well, I don't know about all of you... but I’m definitely raising a glass tonight! Here’s to good spirits, fertile lands, the deep blue sea, and—most importantly—to wonderful people! 😉

hollowviper72 said:Maleficent, you absolute necromancer... just how deep did you have to dig to exhume and resurrect this old thread? 😁

But hey, whatever... you definitely gave me a trip down memory lane and made me think of some old faces... 🙂

Honestly, I think it’s pretty silly to keep starting the exact same discussions when they’re already archived. There’s plenty of great stuff here, and I personally spend a lot of my time digging through the old posts and reading up. 😉

Go ahead, keep digging if you want. I see you’ve decided your location is "the underworld" too—brave move, I'll give you that! 😉

It isn’t just growing; it’s hitting warp speed. We’ve got a massive toolkit of spiritual development techniques out there right now, but here's the kicker: you actually have to do the work. You can't just sit around theorizing about it or wrapping everything up in some mystical fog—you've gotta roll up your sleeves and practice. I say things are accelerating because, honestly, look at the math? A decade ago, a single "session"—call it whatever you want—like a regression, would drag on for an hour and a half, whereas today you can knock out the exact same thing in maybe twenty minutes flat. These tools for spiritual growth are sitting right there for anyone willing to put in the reps. My go-tos? Peat, regression, Reiki...

...truth is truth... past, present, future... it doesn't change. That's why it's truth. It doesn't "evolve" just because it encompasses everything... right?...

...we're a different story. We're the ones moving toward it based on our experience, or what we call wisdom...

...think about it like math class in an American school... there's only one set of mathematical truths, but you have different grades... different levels of understanding. You aren't learning the same stuff in kindergarten that you are in high school. That's why you see different religions, or different denominations within the same faith...

...that's my take on it... 👋

What even is spirituality?
Based on your various posts, it seems like "spirituality" is such an incredibly broad category here that, if I’m following the logic of the folks on this forum, it basically covers everything under the sun.
Honestly, I’m struggling with this whole term.
Does it actually have anything to do with spirits in an ontological sense, or are we talking about something more anthropocentric?

Ronald Hayes said:What even is spirituality?
Based on your various posts, it seems like "spirituality" is such an incredibly broad category here that, if I’m following the logic of the folks on this forum, it basically covers everything under the sun.
Honestly, I’m struggling with this whole term.
Does it actually have anything to do with spirits in an ontological sense, or are we talking about something more anthropocentric?

Spirituality is really about looking at all planes of existence holistically. It isn't just limited to humans, nor is it just about the universe—which, strictly speaking, is just the material plane of existence.
Of course, matter is part of that broader view, but even then, things look quite different when you adopt a multidimensional lens.

Spirituality isn't some thing you just build from scratch; it's more about figuring out how to interpret and actually connect with the world above us... It’s really about opening up that line of communication between God and us.

Is it actually evolving, or just shifting shapes? Perhaps we’re all just caught in a cycle.

Developing.

In Christianity, you have Mithraism, which was a major religion back in the Roman Empire...

In Christianity, sure.
The question was whether spirituality evolves in general; there wasn't any mention of Christian dogma specifically.