_OneSoul_

https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com/distress-tolerance/radical-acceptance/

Acceptance of life is generally a good idea. That doesn't mean passivity, nor does it mean never changing anything. It's about not arguing with reality.

I recommend you read Spell of The Sensuous

Religions aren't necessarily just picking some superhuman being to worship. There's a lot about spirituality that's simply trying to be in harmony with the world you find yourself in. Reviving paganism as it was might be hard (though there are revivalist groups that might be worth connecting with) but you can try to understand what experience of life made your ancestors characterize their understanding of metaphysics in whatever way they did. Meditate in nature etc. Find out if there are still any old holy sites in your region and see if you can't visit them. If you have elderly relatives, you can just try asking them about superstitions etc. that they used to have as kids - there might be some grain of wisdom there that's worth thinking about. Not as a belief to adopt but to wonder, what gave rise to the superstition and did behaving in accordance to it give beneficial results (for totally non-magical reasons). A good example of a superstition that may have had practical roots is whistling at night. It's an easy way of coordinate and communicate if you're thieving, raiding etc. so hearing whistling at night might be a sign of legitimate danger. That then may have morphed into various beliefs about whistling at night bringing evil spirits etc.

I realize you might be joking but if you really want a god or goddess to worship, go ahead. Just think about what you want it to symbolize for yourself. Gods have realms of influence for a reason - and it's that tangible realm that should be what your worship centers around, not the symbol. Want a Goddess of Love? Focus on Love, not the Goddess. Want a God of Bravery? Focus on Bravery. And so on. How much you want to use a symbol to help you orient towards the realm that symbol points to is up to you.

Grab a rock you like from a place you like, put it on an altar. Symbolizes your connection to your land. Put a flower on it every week. Symbolizes your commitment to keeping your land beautiful. Do it with a presence of mind, not as an empty ritual. The magic is in the psychology.

Love this!

YES!!! Dancing has been a huge part of many cultures in the world since time immemorial. For every occasion and emotion! My pet hypothesis is that it particularly fell out of favor in the west (as a purposeful practice) because of Christian influence and the mind-body split. Some peoples even dance in funerals as an expression of grief.

It's coming back a bit now but though it's slightly hindered by the associations with new ageism etc. but I really wish people didn't let that stop them from trying it. It does have clear benefits. You can use any kind of music. You don't have to know how to dance. Just move the body with whatever music you like.

I dance at least a little every day, even if I don't feel like it. And I very purposefully dance to aggressive music when I'm angry because I have a temper, and I don't want it get the better of me. It has worked really well.

Edit: Not to devalue talking about your feelings at all btw. But a lot of people struggle with intellectualizing their emotions to the point they can't connect to them at all in their body. You need a balance.

Definitely true, you're right. But I've not heard of one that specifically aims to completely stop thoughts. And as I said, it's a common and unfortunate misconception that that's the most general goal of it.

I banned this user as I have little reason to think he'll participate in the community with any degree of decency. As already evident. Also see their modlogs.

The question in particular is fine though.

General conduct. You made it clear you're not interested in meditation as a spiritual practice and then use unnecessarily crass language. If you are unable to participate in a good faith, rational discussion, this space is not for you.

Don't try me.

Edit: They tried me.

Please keep civil. Note that this is a spirituality community. If you wish to discuss meditation as a self-improvement practice, you might try !mentalhealth@lemmy.world instead.

Just gave my view on the matter with precise language.

I made a distinction between a description of a subjective experience, and a claim about consensus reality.

People experience something and then use the best language available to talk about it. These experiences are viscerally real to the experiencer.

Vast majority of people will reasonably make a claim about consensus reality if they experience something that feels very real. Because vast majority of people don't know or understand that you CAN have a very visceral subjective experience that only happens in the brain. Or to put it another way: the brain behaves in a way that gives one every reason to think the experience happened in consensus reality.

It doesn't make them "crazy" or "stupid". But again, because most people don't understand the distinction between a subjective experience and consensus reality, it's easy to be dismissive of people who talk about outlandish experiences.

It would be more rational and kind to meet in the middle: "I believe you had an experience, but I don't believe it means Aliens exist in consensus reality."

I meant that to have the subjective experience of aliens to be considered to have the same level of reality as emotions, 99% of people would have to experience it.

I know I already experience things that vast majority of people don't. It doesn't bother me because there are people who experience things I don't. Consensus reality is fine for general use but the range of human experience is incredibly diverse.

The goal of meditation isn't an empty mind though. It's a common misconception. Not sure if this is your case of course.

Flow state is considered spiritual though, yes. But it's not necessarily the state all meditations seek.

Flow state is a hyper focused meditative state. It's also possible to have a hyper open meditative state, such as noticing thoughts and everything else that arises.

People interested in spirituality usually practice both 🙂

99% or so. Leaving just a tiny bit of room for outliers which always seem to exist.