WHY
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE?
Five minutes of considering the matter makes it clear the the ordinary
life of materialistic self-fulfillment doesn't do a very good job of addressing
human unhappiness or suffering, and fails altogether at addressing our
mortality. This site goes a step further. It points out that the usual
reason we give ourselves over to a life of self-fulfillment (despite its
serious limitations) is because we aren't aware of any better alternative.
But this site points to the real possibility of perfect, unending happiness
through spiritual means. Given that as a real alternative, why settle
for less?
The culture in which we were raised made our choices for us
We come into our view
of reality, not generally as the result of a conscious, free and comprehensive
inquiry (based on both intellect and experience), but largely by unconscious
cultural inheritance. And we come by our inheritance through both the
active advocacy by our culture (or neighborhood, or family) of certain
views, and its active suppression or anathemization of others. For this
reason, the primary purposes of this website are:
- to identify, understand,
and transcend the (generally unconscious) cultural biases that prevent
us from fully exploring (not only intellectually, but also experientially)
alternatives other than those we inherit culturally.
- to paint a larger
picture that includes a more comprehensive set of religious and spiritual
alternatives than those our cultural biases readily offer to us.
- Three
Views of Reality and Human Potential
- Materialism
-- the view that there is no greater-than-material reality.
- Esoteric Spirituality
-- provides means for experientially embracing the Greater Reality.
- Exoteric Religion
-- belief systems, rituals, and social gatherings (as in Christianity,
Judaism, and Islam).
- Only esoteric
spirituality provides the means for fulfilling the greatest human potential
- Only esoteric
spirituality is an adequate address to mortality
|