What does 'spiritual community' mean to you?

Post Reply New Topic

{Note: I spoke with a mod prior to this thread to verify that it would be okay}

We tend to dig deeper into things that we're interested in than NT's. Too, we tend to look at the same things differently as well as approach things differently. The area that I'm most interested in spirituality but I tend to get turned off joining groups/congregations because their explanations rarely make sense to me, I have found them condescending when I've asked questions, and frankly, pretty unwelcoming toward anyone that isn't their sort of 'different'. Still, it would be nice to have a supportive spiritual community.

To that end, I've thought about starting a meet-up group geared toward growing/learning/practicing YOUR spirituality for folks on the spectrum. A group that is welcoming and affirming no matter what your spiritual beliefs; a place where no question is a stupid one, and you are accepted in all your neuro-diverse glory - no matter where you find yourself on the spectrum. My question to you all then is this:

If this sounded even the least bit appealing to you, what would a group that would be a good fit for you - what would it look like? Are there any aspects that it should definitely have? How about that it should never have? How about a thought that isn't encompassed by either of those questions?

[opinion=mine]

A loosely-woven collection of disaffected people with little or no formal education trying to maintain a collective air of feigned superiority based on their subjective faith in ambiguous myths of questionable veracity, the sale of esoteric items of questionable origin, and the unproven claims of psychic abilities -- all of which exist solely under the auspices of allegedly invisible/incorporeal beings whose alleged wisdom can only be "channeled" by corporeal humans in the presence of candles, incense, crystals, cats, and other believers.

These people come together for mutual admiration/affirmation of their significance, free food, and the opportunity for potential hook-ups with other lonely individuals.

If they were any less sociable, they would be at home either writing rambling emo freeverse about their cats or playing video games with the sound turned off.

Had I not been caught up with the "Spiritual Community" myself, I would not have much at all to say about them.

[/opinion]

Isn't that who lives in a ghost town?

Isn't it true for every human community, this one included? Well, except food of course, due to onlineness... :3

What you describe to me sounds like philosophical discussions which I f*****g love, although I can't find anyone to do it. I want to talk to think, not talk to inspire/convert which I feel happens under the guise of spiritual community. So I would say it sounds like it could go really south if you called it that because it would be a lot of Christians potentially pushing their faith on the non-Christians...if its philosophical and spiritual discussion for learning...then that sounds lovely

I think making it clear that its for learning and maybe calling it something else less Christianity like...this probably sounds bad but I am just saying.

Us diverse folks don't miss much...

I completely understand each point you made; it sounded fine, thank you. I expected to begin by putting 'guardrails' on with moderating the group (until we could get a few people volunteer to share the duty) to remind people of the written guidelines like "No proselytizing or pushing your beliefs on anyone else" when someone stepped over the line. Because my interests align a lot more with you than any of that other stuff. I am concerned that if we 'disguise' the spiritual aspect too much, we'll keep the bad seeds out, but the good one's won't be able to find us.

I don't like the term "spirituality" because it's vague and often used to equate certain emotions with the supernatural. I'm very interested in philosophy but I'm more interested in critiquing philosophical theories than in celebrating "spirituality", whatever that means. I'd be interested in a philosophical community, preferably less rigorous and minutia-focused than academia but still with an emphasis on arguments, evidence, and critical thinking. It would preferably include but not be limited to philosophy of religion (what you mean by spirituality?).

It sounds like an oxymoron to me. Spirituality is something experienced quite personally. It's rare that two or more people would have the same philosophical belief system whether they're part of an organised religion, a spiritual practice, or a community of others.

A spiritual community makes me think I'll be getting BAD headaches. A spiritual community can be various things like a major mainstream religion that attacks & hates on everyone who is not part of the one true religion. It could be a cult where the leader manipulates & socially isolates people in order to use them, steal their money, & rape them which actually sounds a lot like mainstream religion. It could be people having deep philosophical discussions that are extremely difficult to follow & pay attention to. It could be people who pretend to believe in ghosts like on those paranormal investigator shows who insist that their pretend fantasy is reality. It may be some people who are pretending to have psychic powers in order to have their own TV show & make money off of grieving families. It could even be people who are LARPing pretending to be witches & cast magic spells which actually sounds like it might be kinda fun

I actually really like this idea! I am not really conservative but i do have beliefs that my agnostic/atheist family doesn''t share. And in my country religious communities are.. Not exactly welcoming to normal women let alone someone like me lol.

A good spiritual community to me would be sharing our experiences in life and how it affected our belief system/spirituality. Supporting each other with sharing meditation/mindfulness exercises rituals or interesting books we have read.

I have read some books about spiritual healing and occult, actually have one in my library but i haven't started it yet.

Anyway I really like this idea and i am glad you made this thread! Feel free to pm me if you would like too!

If you had wanted this thread to be an echo chamber -- a thread wherein only a very narrowly-defined set of perspectives is allowed -- you should have stated so from the start.

Asking open-ended questions involves accommodating answers you neither like nor agree with.

^^^^This. This is my vision precisely. If anything within that perfectly encapsulated thought would be worth bolding, perhaps 'sharing our experiences' and 'how it affected our belief system/spirituality'. Understanding that spirituality and/or ones philosophical viewpoint or stance is unique - we share ours and share space for others to have their own experience.

For instance, regarding "sharing meditation/mindfulness exercises, rituals or..." I would want it to be a place where sharing the following would be welcome, valued and respected, whether or not it would be a good addition to your life...

I quit eating sugar about 13 months ago. That left me with a cookie jar that I am quite fond of, but had no good use for any longer. Then one day, I was sitting around calling myself a &*%#@ for forgetting something, or making a mistake or whatever - I don't recall now, and I had this thought that I could be arrested for a hate crime in many jurisdictions, for the way I talk to myself. Then I decided that had to change. So I repurposed the cookie jar. I cleaned it out, and put a small plate in front of it. On the plate, I put a pen and a bunch of colorful index cards that I cut in half. Then I committed to myself that at least once a day (turns out that it's been averaging about 3x a day since I started on January 1st), whenever I catch myself doing or thinking something kind, considerate, or compassionate toward myself, I head on over to the cookie jar, write it down, and toss it in the cookie jar. The goal is, that on December 31st, I'm going to dump over 1000 messages of kindness toward me from me and read them all. Funny thing happened on the way to December 31st though. Turns out my negative self talk has dropped by at least 80%. For every five horrible things I said to myself on January 1st, I'm down to only about one now. Been an amazing, positive experience.

How does this tie in? Amazing how much mindfulness this practice requires - can't do this without watching my thoughts.

You are right. My choice of titles invited you to show your displeasure for all things spiritual. I am sorry that your experiences have been so negative. Regarding the "very narrowly-defined set of perspectives is allowed" part - you may be right. I had hoped that such a thread would be answered by folks who would be doing so in order to be helpful. I had thought that such guardrails would be easy to find oneself between, but perhaps you're right and asking for kindness, respect and helpfulness might be a narrower path than I first thought. So be it!

If you consider what myself and others have had to say about our interpretations of "Spiritual Community", you might also have to consider that our negative experiences are valid and more universal than your positive ones.

Instead of placing the blame for those negative experiences on ourselves, you might also want to consider that the sources of those negative experiences were within those very same "Spiritual Communities" -- that it is the way those "Spiritual" people treat the rest of us (e.g., condescending attitudes) that caused the negativity to occur.

The "Spiritual Community" is far from perfect, nor is it superior to "Non-Spiritual Communities", yet its members seem to believe otherwise.

@Angel: I have heard of this exercise too. I think there are also apps for mindfulness and positive self talk. I have to try this so thank you for sharing!

In my experience positive self talk comes with a belief in God, or a force that is the source of all things beautiful and good. I feel like i don't completely belong to myself and that i am created by a higher power. So to honor that power i have to be kind to myself, as with other people.

Actually it doesnt have to tie in with a belief in God either. I think we can agree that all People have a good side that wants to be kind and fair to other people around them. And since i am no different than other people, i should treat myself as i treat a friend or someone i like. I noticed that whenever someone makes a mistake or something bad i tend to forgive And try to help them. I don't insult them or try to hurt someone when they are already feeling bad so i should do the same thing to myself.

Basically i noticed that the person that i hate most is myself, so now i am trying to be more understanding and forgiving of my faults. Because no one is born better or worse than anyone, within my limitations i will try to be the best version of myself that i can be. And i won't be a perfectionist.