Quote:
Originally Posted by Frisky  The only 2 atheists I ever listened to extensively are Dawkins and Hitchens. And yeah, they dont get much more condescending then those 2 
Also, you're atheist? Why would you frequent a spiritual forum??
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm really curious  |
That's true about Dawkins and Hitchens, but there are also plenty of mouthy spiritual people who are negative and condescending towards those who don't share their beliefs, so I find it best not to judge the value of a belief system on its fundamentalists :-)
I don't really hang out in the spiritual section of this forum but your post was on the main page, so I clicked on it because I saw the word atheist.
Like Zeph, I don't think atheism is incompatible with high consciousness. I believe in acceptance, tolerance, moving towards oneness (in the sense of seeing the beauty and truth in all people), and I believe in karma in the sense of 'you reap what you sow'. But these are quite practical matters for me; they don't necessarily involve any kind of universal driving force - they just seem to be a more effective and integrated way of living.
I have, from time to time, seen people who are really into the spiritual side of PD, New Age beliefs, etc, refer to people who don't believe in, say, oneness or astral planes etc, in quite condescending ways. One that seems to be a favourite is 'Muggles'
To me, the highest point of consciousness would seem to be when you truly understand that you are one with everyone - that nobody is better or worse than you, and that judgment is pointless (or a reflection of self-judgment). So I don't think 'higher states of being' are necessarily reserved for those who believe in a spiritual realm.