Exploring spirituality

[Grey0_0girl]

I really want to expand my knowledge on spirituality. I use tarot for a deeper insight however I want to find peace and help others. I have worked on myself to level my emotions however now I wish to grow. Any advice on how to start? 

[Bodhiseed]

While this fellow talks about why people have a problem finding a spiritual path, his suggestions might still be useful to you:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2015/07/5-reasons-you-cant-find-the-right-spiritual-path.html/amp

[Jacqueline]

I like finding books that are a little further along on the particular path I want to go down. That can mean anything at the time, any book that you find calming can be spiritual. I've found books on minimalism spiritual, and lately I've been reading books on Shaolin and the martial arts mindset. That in particular I find really helpful, as it doesn't require belief in anything. I feel like it can merge well with tarot, because it's about improving yourself and having a good character. 

Also, meditation groups can be a good way to find people who are also trying to grow spiritually.

[and_it_spoke]

Ah, where to start. Here's the worst part of the real answer up front: It depends on you and your needs.

 

But, I can share with you some suggestions that got me started, and re-started at various points of my still continuing journey:

 

1. Read poetry. We live in a world where narrative and instructional writing are king. That's why your self-help sections and even spirituality sections are filled with "how-to" guides, "simple steps" books and other forms of guide based material. These are rational, practical and formal guides.

 

The problem is that the spirit, or soul, or whatever name you choose for it, is none of these things. It has it's own language, and the best way to start to become familiar with how that type of language works is to steep oneself in poetry. Poetry is not linear, it is impression over instruction and can change the way you perceive this formalist world we live in.

 

2. Contemplate. Allow you mind to pursue all sorts of paths and allow it to follow them deeply. This is different from the still mind of many meditative practices. Try and keep your focus on your subject of contemplation, but don't be afraid if the path diverges. It's just new territory to explore.

 

3. Meditate. Cleanse that palate. 🙂

 

 

As for specific books and information I can recommend:

 

1. 'The Case For God' by Karen Armstrong - don't let the title fool you. It's less an argument than it is a crash course in the history of religious thinking.

 

Similarly, her book 'The Lost Art of Scripture' is another great religious crash course that may inspire you to grab and check out a specific religious text.

 

2. Most anything by Joseph Campbell. His main focus is the similarities in human experience across cultures.

 

I hope that helps. And good luck! And make sure you report back with Earth-shaking findings!

[katrinka]

On 8/23/2020 at 3:23 AM, Grey0_0girl said:

I really want to expand my knowledge on spirituality. I use tarot for a deeper insight however I want to find peace and help others. I have worked on myself to level my emotions however now I wish to grow. Any advice on how to start? 

 

That's all well and good, and books, meditation, poetry, religion, nature, and art can all be a part of that. 
But saying you need spirituality to find peace and help others is like saying you need to buy a car before you can go to the store. 
If you want peace, pinpoint what's got you all roiled up and change that. If you want to help others, just help them. 

[MKP]

For me, I try to focus on how I receive my message and try to work on that. Do you hear that inner voice, do you have a special feeling, does your message come in dream form? In other words are you clairsentient, clairvoyant etc Focus in on how you feel most comfortable with receiving your messages and then try to find ways in order to strengthen it. Meditation helps me a lot but as @and_it_spoke mentioned, there are different ways to meditate. Being still and allowing yourself to recentre is a great, I require this often,  however I've been currently working on trying to meditate and follow where my mind takes me when I'm in that meditative state in order to connect better and strengthen what I'm working on. Fear plays a big part in not developing our strengths 100%, and you may not necessarily feel scared, but not trust in yourself and the messages the universe is sending us. A close friend has recently said to me that acceptance of my skill and strength is important, why question what we are able to do, why do we need verification over and over? This is something I am working towards that may help you also. Accepting wholeheartedly and focussing on ways to connect spiritually. Then over time when you feel more confident in yourself as you practise more you will develop in other areas too. 

[Millie]

Perhaps start with what you believe.  Write it down or draw it out, create your own crede and examine who you used to be, who you are now and how you got here.  You can create your own lifepath of events in a visual way, drawing it out, using colour, shapes, images and whatever you like.  It's amazing how, once these major events are laid out in a visual way, we start to see the correlations between things, the repeating patterns and the direction we tend to take or what direction we keep avoiding! 

 

Beliefs are odd things though, easy to feel drawn into the need for a single spiritual belief system when in reality it could take decades to investigate many areas of spiritual belief to find the deeper connections between them all and make your own sense of them.  What you believe will inform what spiritual path you start with and I remember, many moons ago on another forum (AT if anyone remembers) doing an exercise that Mi-Shell put up, to write down our personal 'creation story'.  That, in itself, was enlightening and helpful to see where I aligned myself.  Of course, it has changed over the years as it should so I guess these are exercises that we should do regularly.  :)

 

 

[Grace]

Spirituality is a big topic. Perhaps think about the specific areas that interest you, and take it from there. A few questions you may like to ask yourself...

 

Do you want to expand on your current belief system, or do you want to explore others? 

 

Do you have a preference or passion for a particular culture, religion, values, period in history, narratives, symbols, traditions, practices?

 

Do you prefer reading, listening to podcasts, or perhaps you are a kinetic learner (yoga or meditation group anyone?)? 

 

With so many wonderful ways to broaden your knowledge, sometimes it is just hard to decide how or where to start. I suggest you dust off the old library card, lest you spend a fortune on books you'll never finish. There are plenty are in the 'read once' column, so it's nice to try before you buy. 

 

Good luck!

[and_it_spoke]

4 hours ago, Grace said:

With so many wonderful ways to broaden your knowledge, sometimes it is just hard to decide how or where to start. I suggest you dust off the old library card, lest you spend a fortune on books you'll never finish. There are plenty are in the 'read once' column, so it's nice to try before you buy. 

 

 

 

 

Definitely this! All of @Grace's advice is wonderful, but especially the library part. 

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

OP hasn't been back since they posted the thread. That always disappoints me, as forums are built on conversations. 

 I hope OP comes back and fleshes out the query.

 

I too question the 'help others' part, smacks of missions and crusades and inquisitions and mine is the only true religion. But we all start somewhere, and as as-it-spoke said, open mind and research. I found when I shucked off white christianity it left a void so I hurried about looking for something to fill it. Witchcraft, organized paganism, yadayadayada. What I found was when I quit seeking to fill the void, real spirit and light were able to flow in and I didn't need titles and books, just an open and questing and loving mind. 

 

[and_it_spoke]

48 minutes ago, AJ-ish/Sharyn said:

OP hasn't been back since they posted the thread. That always disappoints me, as forums are built on conversations. 

 I hope OP comes back and fleshes out the query.

 

I too question the 'help others' part, smacks of missions and crusades and inquisitions and mine is the only true religion. But we all start somewhere, and as as-it-spoke said, open mind and research. I found when I shucked off white christianity it left a void so I hurried about looking for something to fill it. Witchcraft, organized paganism, yadayadayada. What I found was when I quit seeking to fill the void, real spirit and light were able to flow in and I didn't need titles and books, just an open and questing and loving mind. 

 

 

I hope they come back, too. 

 

You bring up a great point about trying to fill a void. It's such a natural inclination, especially if you've been brought up in a particular tradition. What helped me was finding a safe place to deconstruct various beliefs. Take them apart, and examine the pieces.

 

For me, that was a Universalist-Unitarian (UU) church. People were always questioning and happy to question with you. I love UU's to this day for this reason. For me, it was not so helpful when I was ready to build again, spiritually but I appreciate having that questioning and thought provoking environment to 'play' in.

 

[vague-whisperings]

On 11/4/2020 at 3:44 AM, Grace said:

I suggest you dust off the old library card, lest you spend a fortune on books you'll never finish. There are plenty are in the 'read once' column, so it's nice to try before you buy. 

Do you have any recommendations for books to skim/check out? :0 

[AJ-ish/Sharyn]

Part of inside spirit is learning who you really are, rather than what you've been raised/molded to be. It is a very long process, kind of the opposite of being born again, which is sort of sudden epiphany thing. Which accepts someone else's idea of spirit.

And many books, even if not intended, have an agenda. Sharing what they think with an intended result. 

 

So that said, a book that started my long long winding journey was, gasp, Simple Abundance. 

Looking back it seems more retail therapy to make the outside you feel better, but it allowed me to think beyond what I knew.

To gift myself, appreciate myself. Sounds Selfish...but most of us were never allowed to think heal self first, before we can have enough left to give to others. 

And it taught me to love Day books, a page a day, consistently, moving through the year. And a good time to think about one. 

From there I did Iyanla Vanzant One Day My Soul Just Opened Up. I can't say how many times I wept working through that book, I began to feel I was allowed to have feelings. She has since sort of gone around the bend 🙂 but that doesn't make her work bad. 

Can't remember the name but I had a beautiful book of prayer that wasn't prayers. That allowed me to come to the conclusion Thank You is enough. 

I kept a gratitude journal consistently (see the recurring theme?) for three years. Changed my outlook on life completely. I've recently began again with an app, something unheard of 20 years ago. 

Another life changer was Julia Cameron's Artist's Way...another year project. She has a christian outlook but it doesn't overwhelm the lessons you'd learn doing each daily task and the morning pages. 

Learning yoga. Hokey Smokes, what a change that made in my life. 

 

So you can see, it is all a process. I agree, go to the library, you don't need a card to go in and look at the book shelves although many libraries are closed now. Find the spirituality section, thumb though whatever catches your eye. Make a list and check them out a few at a time. There are a million roads to go down. Even poetry can bring a spiritual awakening. Bill's 12 step book can and might be offered free online. Read everything, take what you want leave the rest. 

The 78 week study with one deck of cards, is a book you already have in your hands I'll bet. There worlds within worlds in a good tarot deck once you apply every possible keyword and symbol to yourself... key being what it brings out in you. I can not begin to tell you how many 100's perhaps 1000's of hairballs I've harked up using the cards.

All great fun if the mind and heart are open. That doesn't happen overnight. I just booked myself 15 quiet minutes each morning, the rest fell into place. And remembering to separate spirit/spirituality from religions. 

 

 

[vague-whisperings]

42 minutes ago, AJ-ish/Sharyn said:

I agree, go to the library, you don't need a card to go in and look at the book shelves although many libraries are closed now.

theres a couple online library apps like libby and hoopla that let you borrow books remotely u_u you need a card for them but i think you can get those online

[Grace]

14 hours ago, vague-whisperings said:

Do you have any recommendations for books to skim/check out? :0 

Oh my gosh... so many, and I can hardly claim to have read them all. I can only speak for myself of course, but I really enjoyed:

1) Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth. @and_it_spoke mentioned this author also. It is more of a recorded conversation between Campbell and the interviewer on various myths and beliefs throughout the history of the world. It comes to mind as I read it more recently, so it is still fresh. The conversational style makes it easy to read, but I found the ideas they dove into resonated with me. 

2) Joseph Murphy, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind. I hesitated to add this, as it is probably more a 'self-help' book than anything else, but it's a a good practical illustration of the New Thought movement. For some reason I have it on my phone and open it randomly whenever I'm waiting around for something. 

3) James Redfield, The Celestine Prophesy. Granted, it has been over two decades since I picked up this book and I was very young when I read it, but I remember enjoying it at the time. It's considered a classic so I thought I would add it here.

4) Dr Joe Dispenza, Becoming Supernatural. This is another one that straddles spirituality with self help, but his books tend to focus on the power of meditative practice and the science behind it. 

There is really no end to it... Neale Donald Walsche, Deepak Choprah, Eckhardt Tolle, Wayne Dyer, John J Thatamanil... the usual suspects on the best seller lists aren't a bad place to start. I think you just need to start reading, and you will then naturally be lead to the next topic organically. 

I am personally enjoying the subject of comparative theologies or religion at the moment, and going through Robert Wangs The Qabalistic Tarot in conjunction with a 78 weeks of tarot study has been a lot of fun. 

My library offers a lot of e-books these days, so if you can't get to one physically due to the pandemic, you may be able to access some books online. 

I agree with @AJ-ish/Sharyn, that part of internal spirituality being a process of discovery, and sometimes healing. And there will definitely be books with bias and agenda - they probably all are come to think of it. The more widely you read, you start to learn where the BS begins and ends, grow from what you can, and even change your mind a few times along the way too. That is all we can hope to do!

[katrinka]

5 hours ago, Grace said:

1) Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth. @and_it_spoke mentioned this author also. It is more of a recorded conversation between Campbell and the interviewer on various myths and beliefs throughout the history of the world. It comes to mind as I read it more recently, so it is still fresh. The conversational style makes it easy to read, but I found the ideas they dove into resonated with me. 

 

Or just watch the series: https://www.organism.earth/library/document/power-of-myth-1

 

Just that one will point you to other important works, from Schopenhauer to Black Elk to Joyce to Nietzsche...plenty more. Campbell read a lot of stuff. 😉

[vague-whisperings]

tysm @katrinka and @Grace! I've been lurking on this thread since the question OP asked is also basically exactly something I've been working on/struggling with personally. So hearing what everyone is saying is also super helpful for me, and getting some pointers on where to start is v much appreciated ❤️

[Grace]

20 hours ago, katrinka said:

Or just watch the series: https://www.organism.earth/library/document/power-of-myth-1

 

Just that one will point you to other important works, from Schopenhauer to Black Elk to Joyce to Nietzsche...plenty more. Campbell read a lot of stuff. 😉

I didn't know there is a recorded series! There you go. 

 

Nietzsche! That's a good one. So many great places to start. It's true that you end up finding something/someone you like, and tend to look to the philosophies or philosophers that inspired them or were discussed in their work. It's a good way to go about it.

 

@vague-whisperings good luck! It's a wonderful rabbit hole. I'm sure you'll find something interesting soon enough. 

Edited November 7, 2020 by Grace

[Gardener]

Hello all,

 

What a wonderful discussion!  I think we are all happy to share some of the ways we started on our individual spiritual paths.  My spiritual path started in my 30s with tarot and yoga.  I was coming from a place of total indifference to all things not-material, and the spiritual urge seeps in little by little over the years.  The three biggest "next steps" after tarot and yoga were all auditory for me.  I do love to read, but for spirituality, I much prefer having someone talk to me.  Or sing to me.  The first is the mantras of Deva Premal, which are just beautiful.  So soothing, and so spiritual.  I had a difficult job and during my commute (an hour drive) I would sing along to Deva's mantras, and it carried me through.   

 

The second is Pema Chodron.  She's an American Buddhist nun.  It's possible to read her books, which are edited versions of her talks, but it's infinitely better to hear the talks.  Almost all of them are available through Audible.  She has a laugh that just melts your heart.  She is so wise, and so thoughtful.  

 

My third "next step" is the podcasts of Tara Brach.  She is another American Buddhist, but she comes from a psychotherapy background, so her flavor is different from Pema's.  Her podcasts are all free, every week she does a 15 minute meditation and an hour-long dharma talk.  The archives go on forever.  I tend to fall asleep to her mediations most nights.  I know you're supposed to stay awake for meditation, but it's soooooooo soothing in difficult times!

 

I've really enjoyed reading everyone else's suggestions - thanks for this conversation.

[Arch]

Hmm well, I used to think that all my work made me the perfect candidate for helping others in all sorts of ways.

Now I don't care at all about others and their problems in general.

Not because I don't wish them well, but because I realized two key things.

 

1. They don't really want my help and advice most of the time.

 

2. Wanting to help is an indication that I have an unmet need I need to work with.

It usually boils down to wanting the favour returned for what I really want to get,

but instead of admitting that I want something, I project the need over on the other person.

 

So lately I've been just working on this major project for my own personal growth.

Maybe I will make something later down the line that helps people, but only if it comes out of a real sense of abundance.

To do otherwise is just cheating both myself and the other.

[katrinka]

6 hours ago, Arch said:

Hmm well, I used to think that all my work made me the perfect candidate for helping others in all sorts of ways.

Now I don't care at all about others and their problems in general.

Not because I don't wish them well, but because I realized two key things.

 

1. They don't really want my help and advice most of the time.

 

2. Wanting to help is an indication that I have an unmet need I need to work with.

It usually boils down to wanting the favour returned for what I really want to get,

but instead of admitting that I want something, I project the need over on the other person.

 

So lately I've been just working on this major project for my own personal growth.

Maybe I will make something later down the line that helps people, but only if it comes out of a real sense of abundance.

To do otherwise is just cheating both myself and the other.

 

That's the thing.

Tarot, or Lenormand, or playing cards, or whatever, isn't going to save humanity. We can "see around corners", true enough. But if science and religion aren't opening peoples' eyes, how is a fortuneteller going to do that?

Stay humble. 😉

[Arch]

4 hours ago, katrinka said:

Tarot, or Lenormand, or playing cards, or whatever, isn't going to save humanity. We can "see around corners", true enough. But if science and religion aren't opening peoples' eyes, how is a fortuneteller going to do that?

 

Yeah right, because what is significant and groundbreaking for me, is only that to me.

It just hit me in relation to my personal history, my knowledge and situation right now.

To anyone else it is just another sermon.

If I'm inflated enough to do sermons outside of a religion, then I'm the one who really needs help.

 

Of course going down this train of thought, really opens up the question what is worth doing in terms of other people.

Where should my focus lie, to not trap myself in a dysfunctional transaction with them as I try to be of service.

[Mab]

11 hours ago, Arch said:

Maybe I will make something later down the line that helps people, but only if it comes out of a real sense of abundance.

This really resonates with me. 

[Arch]

29 minutes ago, Mab said:

This really resonates with me. 

 

Glad it did, it is my current general stance on the question I keep asking over and over lately.

 

Quote

Where should my focus lie, to not trap myself in a dysfunctional transaction with them as I try to be of service.

 

However the devil is always in the details, and such a general notion is easy to lose track of in the mazes of specific situations.

I find personally that a lot of my patterns still seek out many other solutions than this one.

Hence to intellectually know a way is not enough to actually go down that path.

For me it is a start at least, and I guess that is why I focus on it so much, to make sure I stear myself in that direction.

 

Some issues I struggle with right now, is the notion of being humble vs being arrogant.

Also I wonder how far I can or should care about others rather than being indifferent.

Of course there are no set answers to these questions, as each persons experience of arrogance, humbleness caring and indifference will differ.

Also their manifest behavior will differ with the same perception of humble/arrogant.

I may feel very humble or arrogant, and yet to others come across as the complete opposite.

 

I think it comes down to that our experiences makes our conception of these terms relative.

So any stance or change of stance, MUST be an individual choice in relation to what feels right,

and this choice has to be taken over and over in a persons lifetime, as more experience accumulates.

Hence in many ways one is totally alone with these decisions, no one can really tell one what the right answer is.

However discussing it may be helpful.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Arch

[katrinka]

51 minutes ago, Arch said:

Yeah right, because what is significant and groundbreaking for me, is only that to me.

It just hit me in relation to my personal history, my knowledge and situation right now.

To anyone else it is just another sermon.

If I'm inflated enough to do sermons outside of a religion, then I'm the one who really needs help.

 

Yep.

 

51 minutes ago, Arch said:

Of course going down this train of thought, really opens up the question what is worth doing in terms of other people.

Where should my focus lie, to not trap myself in a dysfunctional transaction with them as I try to be of service.

 

I don't think it's a focus. When you see somebody who needs help - the stranded motorist, the guy asking for spare change, etc. - you try to help. It's pretty simple.