[Era]

Learn how to focus and channel your internal energy through hours of meditation and physical application.

Is this really spiritual though, or is it just a skill that can be learned? I tend to think that once you understand something, it no longer seems deep, mysterious or spiritual. It becomes normal.

Astrology too; it only seems spiritual to people who don't understand it (or to those who are fooled into thinking it's spiritual, so they will pay for it). There's really nothing spiritual about it. It's a very dry subject.

@Seralya: it's nice to see you again!

[Abuwabu]

It is the ability to see the sacred in the ordinary, to feel the poignancy of life, to know the passion of existence and to give ourselves over to that which is greater than ourselves.

I am actually quite spiritual. I don't believe in a God, but I do believe in the well-being of our planet and it is a sort of 'giving over to that which is greater than ourselves'.

[madhatter]

Sometimes, when the sky is clear and turns into that dark velvet indigo at twilight, and the moon and the stars fill it with brilliant, piercing light, I am overcome with its beauty and the vastness of the heavens. These moments are deeply spiritual. Has anyone here had similar experiences? I'm curious.

[AEIOU]

When I was younger I would have said spirituality is a load of bull. But, as I got older and started to read more about it spirituality isn't just religious beliefs or new age mysticism its a lot more, it relaxes people and lets them live their lives with less stress. So how would you define spirituality? and what do you do to fill that void in your life?

I'll start with for me, Its learning something new, like a theory that if it can be applied to the real world can change it in some drastic way . Or that introspection that gives me tingles up my spine because its so profound.

I knew there was I reason why I like you (non sexually of course).

One of the most influential and prominent men in all of recorded history had this to say; "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need."
We learn two things from his statement. 1) A measure of happiness can be obtained from being spiritual. 2) Many people are not conscious (basically unconscious) as to having a spiritual need.

I was watching Globe Trekker on PBS TV once and they were touring through India on a budget. Anyway, there is this region in India where the people are very poor. Yet the travelers in the program noted how happy most everyone there was. They said it was because the people of that region were more spiritual and even though they were economically deprived they had no worries. They all led simple and uncomplicated lives. I imagine the pleasures they were able to enjoy were simple pleasures and many.


Joke
Mohandas Gandhi walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of callouses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and with his odd diet he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis. Ha!

[ThoughtProcess]

Is this really spiritual though, or is it just a skill that can be learned? I tend to think that once you understand something, it no longer seems deep, mysterious or spiritual. It becomes normal.

Astrology too; it only seems spiritual to people who don't understand it (or to those who are fooled into thinking it's spiritual, so they will pay for it). There's really nothing spiritual about it. It's a very dry subject.

Developing your spirit is one of the definitions of spiritual. It's something you have to actually experience for it to be anything other than "Asian mysticism". Nobody is born religious or spiritual. We learn those paths as we walk through life.

The only paying I've done is for my wife's small library of astrology books. She's been into it for the last decade. Your perspective is not my perspective. Thank you.

[Era]

Developing your spirit is one of the definitions of spiritual. It's something you have to actually experience for it to be anything other than "Asian mysticism". Nobody is born religious or spiritual. We learn those paths as we walk through life.

The only paying I've done is for my wife's small library of astrology books. She's been into it for the last decade. Your perspective is not my perspective. Thank you.

I was just trying to engage you in a conversation on the subject. I would have been interested to hear your views, since we're probably the only two ISTP astrologers here. Sorry if you thought I was attacking you. I was referring to 'people', not you personally. Sigh.

Sometimes, when the sky is clear and turns into that dark velvet indigo at twilight, and the moon and the stars fill it with brilliant, piercing light, I am overcome with its beauty and the vastness of the heavens. These moments are deeply spiritual. Has anyone here had similar experiences? I'm curious.

What makes it spiritual though? Isn't it just a feeling, or a state of mind? Or something that sparks the imagination?

[AEIOU]

All I really ever needed to know about Astrology, I learned from a bargain bin/close out table in a THRIFTY Drug Store.
Years and years ago, in the front of this store was a table full of paperback books. Among them was an entire collection, a set of 12 Astrology books. I thought to myself at that time. "Cool, I could pick up the whole set and add it to my library." As I started flipping through all the different books, one for each of the different signs I noticed something, basically all the books were identical, the only real differences were the cover artwork, dates and of course the names of all the different signs. Then I realized how big a ripoff it really was. Astrology is just another way to make money, fleece the unsuspecting and gullible. Some people are always searching for guidance and they will listen to and pay for whatever tickles their ears.

[AEIOU]

Sometimes, when the sky is clear and turns into that dark velvet indigo at twilight, and the moon and the stars fill it with brilliant, piercing light, I am overcome with its beauty and the vastness of the heavens. These moments are deeply spiritual. Has anyone here had similar experiences? I'm curious.

Not exactly identical to you, but that is one of the reasons why I like to look up at the stars on a clear night.

[ThoughtProcess]

I was just trying to engage you in a conversation on the subject. I would have been interested to hear your views, since we're probably the only two ISTP astrologers here. Sorry if you thought I was attacking you. I was referring to 'people', not you personally. Sigh.

Hahaha, you sound like my wife! "I'm just trying to have a conversation with you, you asshole!"

My bad, let's back that up.

I consider astology spiritual in the sense that I use to help me develop who I am. I know exactly what you mean about charlatans. My wife and I were in a shop in Mendocino a few years ago. On our way out the lady said, "wait, I'm getting something...you're name is X" to my wife. I looked her square in the eyes and said, "did you get that after the third or fourth time I said her name across your store?" And then we walked out. That's bullshit mysticism at its finest. If I have this negative aspect in that house, I can look at that and say "well, I'm prone to react this way so I need to work on it". If that helps me develop my spirit, I consider it a literal definition of spirituality.

If you want to talk about a mixture of spirituality and religion, read Bhagavad-gita As It Is by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It's from the India Vedas and would be comparable to the Christian Bible, but it's 2,000 years older than the Old Testament. Chapter 2:17 says: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, 2: Contents of the Gita Summarized, Text 17. and chapter 18:66 says: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, 18: Conclusion--The Perfection of Renunciation, Text 66. The approach is almost scientific...almost. If I were a religious person Vaishnavism (Hare Krishna) would be the religion I'd follow. Instead, I take the spiritual teaching and leave the religious, just like I did while growing up Southern Baptist and when I read the Satanic Bible. I believe that there's something greater than us but, I don't believe in some omnipotent being nor do I believe in organized religion. If anything, I tend to agree with the theory that the missing link will never be found on earth and that our "god" may well be a gray alien.

With martial arts, I'll have to explain it by guiding you through a meditation. Ok, so, get in a meditation position...minus the "ohm, ohm, ohm" crap. Your center of power (dan jun, in Korean) is about hand width below your belly button. Find it, then close your eyes and visualize the location. Consciously tighten just those muscles. Then, picture a ball of fire burning within your dan jun, this is called "chi" in Chinese and "ki" in Korean. Fan the flames each time you inhale and let it shrink back down when you exhale. Once you can do that and actually feel the heat within yourself, you're ready to start moving the energy around. From there, you fan the flames when you inhale and then force the energy down each limb and to the head, one at a time, when you exhale. Actually visualize fire shooting down your arm to your knuckles. This is the beginning stage of "transfer of energy" and will take you several months to achieve. When performing a powerful technique, a martial artist will yell. This is called a "ki hap", or focused energy/spirit yell, in my art. It takes your meditation exercises and focuses all of that energy right into the point of impact. When a martial artist performs a break, it isn't the physical act of breaking a 1"+ piece of wood. It's combining the body, mind, and spirit into one focused event. Breaking a 1" thick piece of wood isn't as easy as it looks and you can easily break your hand/foot with improper technique and/or focus. For a practical example, this is one of the ways that Bruce Lee developed such tremendous, literal knock-down, power with his 1" punch.

All I really ever needed to know about Astrology, I learned from a bargain bin/close out table in a THRIFTY Drug Store.
Years and years ago, in the front of this store was a table full of paperback books. Among them was an entire collection, a set of 12 Astrology books. I thought to myself at that time. "Cool, I could pick up the whole set and add it to my library." As I started flipping through all the different books, one for each of the different signs I noticed something, basically all the books were identical, the only real differences were the cover artwork, dates and of course the names of all the different signs. Then I realized how big a ripoff it really was. Astrology is just another way to make money, fleece the unsuspecting and gullible. Some people are always searching for guidance and they will listen to and pay for whatever tickles their ears.

Yes, as I keep saying, horoscopes are for entertainment. Natal charts are entirely different.

[AEIOU]

Natal charts are entirely different.

If the position of the stars and planets affects you, why would they only affect you at a certain moment in time? The stars are there all the time, wouldn't their affect be continuous? Why only at the exact moment of birth? What, are you somehow shielded from cosmic radiation only inside the womb?
What about at the moment of conception? And what about if you were born prematurely or by Cesarian?