Atheist or Satanist

The word atheist seems to conjure images of devil worship, demonic sacrifice and cannibalism even if it’s just some sort of metaphysical cannibalism. Metaphysical cannibals do not prey on the life-blood but the magic, spirit and wonder of humanity.

Just to clarify, atheists generally deny the existence of any conscious being or force that acts outside natural progression, whether this outside force is called God or Satan. Hence religious folk are more likely to believe in the devil than atheists. Those who do choose to worship the perceived dark spirit as opposed to the holy spirit are called satanists. And guess what? Satanism is a religion.

With regards to sacrifice, I am certain that like all humans’ atheists make many sacrifices. However their sacrifices are not to appease, honour, pleasure any metaphysical being. I am not saying that all atheists are paragons of selflessness and that all their sacrifices are for the greater good. As humans we all have the potential for altruism and selfishness, compassion and cruelty, generosity and callousness, openness and constriction, flexibility and rigidity. The choice it entirely yours, “what are you willing to sacrifice?” and “what do you want to gain?”

With regards to cannibalism, metaphysical or otherwise, atheism as a philosophical standpoint does not set out to destroy humanity. Atheists too revere in unexplainable phenomena, intangible (spiritual) experiences and marvel at the natural world. However they believe that when one looks into things deeply, when one really tries to understand then this awe-inspired wonder is multiplied. This is contrary to simply defining incredible natural phenomena just as magic, miracles, grace.

This and my previous posts are not intended to be blasphemous or proselytise atheism, rather my aim was to clarify a point of view that engenders such irrational anger, irritation and venom. In this age of freedom, why do we still persecute alternative viewpoints? If religion is supposed to teach tolerance, then why are the religious so intolerant of contrary philosophical positions?

I greatly admire Richard Dawkins intellect, work and commitment to the Humanist Society. However I am not driven to be a militant atheist. Frankly that is because the beliefs of society, friends and family don’t really matter to me, as long as those beliefs are not imposed on me.

My choice is to sacrifice everything that prevents me from being the best human being that I can be. I choose to honour the human spirit as opposed to dark or holy for humans can transcend this duality.

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Coming Clean

I am an atheist. I have spent much of my life feeling guilty for this gut feeling. Yet denying it, is denying myself. Hence I feel the need to come clean, to state my case. I am an atheist not just because I do not believe in the God principal but, to paraphrase the Marquis de Laplace, “I have no need for that hypothesis”. I do not want to be altruistic, compassionate or generous because these acts ensure salvation. I want to be all of those because that is who I am. No perks required.

I have been vegan/vegetarian for most of my life because I do not want to part of the meat trade. Not because this is bad for my soul, but because I don’t think it benefits the planet. In fact my idea of the soul is contrary. It is not some spiritual form that will survive after my body perishes. To me, my soul is the heart of me, the passions, desires, intensions that drive my action and behaviours, forces me to create art, poetry, products, strings of words with meaning. My soul is all that I create that will either survive me or be forgotten with me.

I do not believe in religion, yet Daoist, Vedantic and Zen Buddhist teachings are an essential part of my philosophical outlook. I practice yoga, meditation, mindfulness because it benefits my body, mind, intellect. These practices enable discernment and focused attention. Hence I religiously engage in these practices for selfish reasons.

Even though I do not have faith, I respect people who do if that faith leads them to compassion, personal growth, internal strength. However faith that leads to mindless acts makes me angry. That’s where mindfulness practice comes in handy, I need to be aware of this anger so I prevent it biasing my behaviour. For all actions and behaviours have repercussions. Sounds a lot like karma. My karma does not span multiple lives for it all happens here and now.

My experience and gut feeling about life and the universe is somewhat similar to James Lovelocks, Gaia hypothesis. This hypothesis posits that the Earth is a self-regulating complex system that is constantly evolving. Biological organisms (biota) co-evolve with their environment: that is, they “influence their abiotic environment, and that environment in turn influences the biota by Darwinian evolution”. Hence the evolution of life and its environment are intimately linked. My worldview expands this concept slightly as I believe that every thought, action, deed (conscious or unconscious) either directly or indirectly affects your environment. Hence every being plays a vital role in how his universe was created and will evolve. So I am a universal atheist. And this is where I take a leap of faith. I  mchoose to believe in humanity. I believe that as humans we will ultimately do what benefits the whole.

I present myself as a rationalist, yet my default mode of thinking is intuitive. Scientific exploration fills me with awe and wonder. Physics and chemistry feel like magic, especially when you observe a reaction or phenomena that you cannot explain. However, I hated school because I did not want to regurgitate information that was fed to me, I wanted to objectively and subjectively explore what lies beyond the known. Does this make me a mystic or sceptic? A fake, a fraud, a believer, a seeker?

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Wanting To Be Normal is a Mental and Social Disorder

While still uncategorised by DSM, this syndrome includes:
-Conforming to what you think is normal at all costs, almost to the point of obsession.
-The belief that you are not normal, hence you have to pretend that you are. The stronger the pretence the more severe the condition.
-Wanting to be the Persona you think will be loved, accepted and approved by your peers, family and employers.
-Feeling like something is missing from your everyday interactions and you just cannot figure what it is.
-Have a feeling that people are always looking at you.
-Hiding everything that you are, that you think others will not like.

Many of us consciously or unconsciously spend much of our lives trying to be fictionalised versions of ourselves. The version that appears groomed, poised, serene, successful, perfectly put together. The image of a swan comes to mind, gliding beautifully on the waters surface. Yet we do not see the little feet paddling frantically, painfully to maintain that image of perfection.

This may have led to the myth of the swan song. Swans are supposed to be silent all their lives but sing as they die. Is that because they expend so much effort trying look perfect all their lives that they are free and happy enough to sing only as they die?

BTW the swan song myth is false, swans do not sing as they die. But would it not be wonderful if they sang throughout their lives? If their swan songs were an ode to their individuality and uniqueness? What would your swan song be? And whats preventing you from singing it now?

“Sometimes I pretend to be normal but it gets boring, so I go back to being me” Anon

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Recognising Negative Self Concepts – a summary of my reading

One of the best ways of assessing how good you feel about yourself is to monitor your thoughts and opinions of other people.

If we don’t have a good opinion of ourselves, it is not quite possible to hold good opinions of others.

When we feel good about ourselves, we do not need to have critical or judgemental attitudes about other people. If you were comfortable with any issue in yourself, you would not need to react to it in others.

A criticism of someone else is really a criticism of yourself, and a judgemental approach to life is a direct reflection of how you feel about yourself.

A simple exercise for experential learning: This has really helped me recognize my negative self concepts and make then more positive.

Spend one day monitoring all your critical thoughts and judegements about yourself and others around you. Start with the people you are interacting with on a daily basis.

Notice specifically what it is you feel critical about and make notes  of  your thoughts.

At the end of the day, ask yourself:

Are your criticisms the same or different than those of other people?

Does this reflect in how you feel about other people?

How does this exercise make you feel about yourself?

Now just something else to consider:

Lets change our perspective to the following. As people, we are all doing the best we can with what we know.

Does this change the way we feel about ourselves and others?

It has helped me view things differently and encouraged me to try to see things from the perspective of others. It is very often not the intention of people to hurt or offend us. Very often they are just doing what they feel is right for them.

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8 Kinds of Intelligence: Which do you use?

Everyone has their own way of knowing and learning. Understanding what your natural style of learning is, can make even the most difficult tasks seem simple.

Howard Gardner, an American development psychologist who is based at Harvard University developed the theory of multiple intelligences. He identified eight different kinds of intelligence. These are:

1. Linguistic or language based intelligence: the ability to use words and listening skills.
2. Logical linear intelligence: shown in excercises similar to sequential mathematics and scientific skills.
3. Naturalist intelligence: the ability to sense patterns in and make connections to elements in nature.
4. Spatial intelligence and skills: based on the ability to visualise and manipulate mental images.
5. Body ‘kinesthetic’ intelligence: the ability to move athletically; use fine motor skills; co-ordinate between hand, eye and other body parts; to employ creative and artistic skills and crafts.
6. Musical intelligence: the ability to respond and experience music, to play music creatively and spontaneously rather then the processed linear style thought by music teachers.
7. Social or interpersonal intelligence: the ability to get along with people wherever and whoever they are.
8. Intrapersonal or Self-motivational intelligence: the ability to be self-directed and self-motivated.

Each individual manifests varying levels of different intelligences.  However almost all educational experiences are based on the the first two kinds of intelligence (linguistic and logical linear intelligences).

Skills like spatial and kinesthethic intelligence are often treated as behavioural disorders. A person who is very kinesthetically intelligent may have difficulty staying in one place for long. They want to touch and move around in order to learn. This would often be termed “disruptive behaviour”, a label which teaches us not to trust our ways of learning, thinking and feeling.

Its time to shed those limiting labels.

Which of the styles are you good at? How does this relate to your feeling and beleifs about yourself? How will you use the understanding of your learning style to make your life more fulfilling?

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Hello world!

I am excited about this blog. I feel its a wonderful avenue for me to interact with people, share ideas and learn from others. Please join me in my search for understanding, creativity, inspiration…

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