Has the materialism of the West severed the like to Spirituality?
963258
how many actually know what the season represents ... i mean really know ?
960780
Sure....\n\nThere is a great difference between religion and spirituality. \n\nSpirituality is born from a personal occurrence with a divine, psychic or mystical experience of one form or another which inevitably connects a person to All that Is/God/Goddess/Allah/Great Spirit /whatever you want to call it. \n\nReligion is second hand opinion of someone else’s divine experience. I think you will find that religions, and especially fanatical religions, tend to separate and divide people, while spirituality brings people together. \n\nThank God that Spirituality is on the increase!\n\nFor those who are ready, no explanation is necessary and for those who are not, no explanation is possible! http://www.psychic-junkie.com
218780
The center of Christianity has changed once again.  It started out that the Middle East, especially around Jerusalem, was where Christianity thrived.  That moved to Europe very quickly.  It slowly moved more and more west, from Rome to England and Spain, which brought it to America.  However, now we see more Christians in Africa than in Europe or America.  Is it making a comeback in the U.S.?  I don't know.  In some ways, I suppose.  I don't think Christianity will ever defeat humanism in the West again, though.
211878
There is, if you go to Society and Culture you will see it under Religion and Spirituality I believe.
807495
It's way too comercialised. It's been going that way for over 40 years now. I haven't celebrated the religious significance of it in more than 30 years.
287331
yes, very much so.  many religions, such as tantric hinduism and tantric buddhism claim that you become spiritual through sexuality.  I think paganism might sometimes take a similar stance.  Even (especially) if you are outside of a formal religion, you are free to find spirituality in any activity, including the sexual.  Personally, i think that there is something inherently spiritual in sexuality.
983050
Hello there. Funny you mention this because, as a boy, the first truly inspiring text I read was the Tao Te Ching. I still find myself reading it, at least in part, once a week. This text is so simple yet profound it put me on a path to seek out even more esoteric knowledge. I have also studied the writings of Confucius, the Vedic texts  of India, Buddhism,  Zen, Shinto, Suffic Islam, etc. All in all, the Tao really opened my eyes to a deeper understanding of things. I can read about Quantum Mechanics and sub-atomic physics and find the spiritual parallels within the science. I wish more westerners could be exposed to this. My email is viewable in profile.
703529
Yes it is a frightening trend happening in India, but as you said our religious and spiritual will help to realize the people that our country has been surviving for more than 10,000 years and whereas no western country is comparable to India because of our best culture and traditions. People will not realize in India the importance of our culture unless they get a good lesson.\nBut all youngsters and intellectuals have to work to help people to understand the strength and greatness of our Indian culture.
265312
PBS did a series and a book a few years ago on The Day the Universe Changed, as i remember it had to do mostly with landmark historical events and scientific discoveries. I think that you would say that the spiritual evolution of mankind is more of a continuum.  Judaism would look at the giving of the law to Moses as a key event; Christians look to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ; Muslims to the life of Muhammad and the Koran. Maybe the next step is trying to understand how this all plays out in everyday life, learning what lessons we need to learn, taking them to heart, applying them to ourselves, learn how to 'pull for' and not 'push against.' I remember the title of a book from years ago, One Hundred Years of Solitude,  that races condemned to one hundred years of solitude do not get a second opportunity on earth.
515142
As to religion, it is a belief system that is still being widely practiced. Spirituality is the pursuit of growing as a spiritual being regardless of method. \n\nMythology is a religious belief system that is no longer being practiced. Folklore comes from the belief in the existence of unnatural beings but are not worshipped as deities.
1057656
Religion & Spirituality is INTRINSIC in all of us. It is our means of connecting with The Source from whence we came... \n\nWe need to seek and return to THAT SOURCE once more, not unlike the Salmon that negotiates its way upstream "somewhere" if only to roost after completing its full cycle of Life.\n\nToo bad that Man bungled it all up with their organized churches and man-made doctrines. Hmmph!\n\nPeace be with you!
49561
Yes, but I don't think it is due to a lack of religion or the devil walking in our midst. In fact it should not have anything to do with religion as there should be a seperation of church and state. Which is not to insinuate that there is anything wrong with religion except that our goverment attempts to limit the power of factions for domestic security. I could care less what people do in their private lives it doesn't carry over to the public arena. I don't agree with the motives to follow but the US could fall as our economy is a source of security. Since WWII we have been economically dominant yet, our economic superpower is waning as various economies around the world are becoming stronger and challenging America. America will become more desperate to try and keep its self secure on many fronts therefore becoming overextended.
485945
Yes, but eastern philosophies are abound in contradictions and paradoxes, they love them infact.\n\nThis is the same thing as doing a good deed because you want to be seen as good.  It is just false.  As long as you hold onto the concept of wanting to be 'rid of desire' you will never be rid of desire.  This is an established 'doctrine' in buddhism and taoism, and nothing new i'm afraid.\n\nHaving a desire to be rid of desires can be used up until you have no more desires left, then you can rid yourself of this last one by dissolving the concept of self, and doing only what is natural, what tao would do.\n\nThey say you have to unlearn to become enlightened, but you can't do this without being learned first!  That's the bit they usually miss out.\n\nThey had more time on their hands than you :)
155467
In the United States the dominant form of Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism is confined to a few viharas. \nBuddhism in the West is a relatively recent development made possible by the breakdown in the State protection accorded to Christianity in Europe. When Buddhism became first known in the West it evoked great interest, especially as it came at a time when Darwinism and other areas of scientific discovery had considerably eroded the basis of Christianity. However this initial spurt of enthusiasm has not been kept up, and since then the Dhamma has been in regression in most of the West, at least amongst the native populations. \n\nTwo dangers confront the spread of Buddhism in the West in the present period. One is the spread of ethnic Buddhism which in some instances has transformed the universal message of the Buddha into a parochial cult. The other is the attempt to transform Buddhism into a minor meditation therapy by certain "teachers" who have not understood the role that "meditation" plays in the Buddha's scheme of liberation, as most of these "teachers" of Buddhism have learnt their "meditation" from Eastern gurus.\nBuddhism in Western countries have taken up two main routes. One is the formation of Buddhist Societies mainly amongst lay-persons centered on the study of texts, and lectures by experts or exponents of Buddhism. The other route was to establish Viharas which have been the usual units around which Buddhists have congregated in Theravaada countries. In most Asian countries the institutional mode is almost exclusively the Vihara model, but in the West it was normal for secular Societies to be established. However both modes can and indeed should exist in the West, but the Viharas established in the West should be in the mainstream of Buddhism, not replicas of ethnic temples imported from the East. We shall consider both these modes of institutional Buddhism in the West, but with the greater emphasis on the Vihara mode.
596554
religion is man made. Spirituality is walking in the way that God would have us walk.\n\nReligion brings death. Spirituality brings life.
346990
people started to have more free time\n\nthis is how materialism started because people could now create things to make life easier and they started making wants instead of just needs...
729408
I've heard of this, but don't know of 1st-hand examples.\n\nthe best part? you get to explore spirituality on your own terms, yet within a solidly self-responsible framework. It's quite beautiful and liberating.