Why are we not zealous in our persuit of religious experience?

[muir]

You're going to have to be more specific. Please link me to a thread or something of that nature.

I think materialism is not inherently marxist but something of it's own nature. I also believe that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, no body is guilty of mass conspiracy and hate here. I also think that ideas can't be killed and live in the minds of someone whether they know so or not and it's really hard to challenge those assumptions with limited time/brain power to do so. So many stupid ideas persist, even become a dominant idea in our nation. This is the secret behind why some people can't work and it may be unfair to try and force them to do so without help or special care, ignore this and you become nearly Machiavellian. Also it's why people think government can change things when really it's a sort of cultural war instead, I feel you are actively waging cultural war. (although you practice the right approach, you must stand by the principle - improve your argument not raise your voice)

Marxism in your case is already such a trigger word, you bring with it so much preconception and possibly anger, I don't know if I want to let something like that into my life, especially if it's free of deductive reasoning. I do not block out the bad things (they don't block you out) so I will take a look at your argument further. Please oblige me with your full confidence and best argument.
(but in another thread unless you focus here on the mechanisms that prevent people from a spiritual pursuit)

I just mean the people who control our popular culture and mainstream media and education system exercise a huge amount of influence on how we think and feel about things and they are pushing a cultural marxist materialist agenda

They want to kill off religion so when you ask why we are not pursuing religious experience i'm saying that we are being culturally programmed to think and feel negatively towards religious experience

 

[Profoundhappiness]

I believe spirituality is important. It allows us to ask questions about why we are here, what might become of us after our life ends, among other reasons. That being said it can be achieved without religious ideas. At least from my perspective. Many are now consumed by their "needs" and the "pleasures of life". Earlier societies and societies that are not developed(India, many countries in the "Middle East", et cetera), usually lean more towards religious ideas to answer the questions they have or to bring them comfort in a seemingly unjust world. Most people in developed countries don't feel those discomforts and thus are more focused on everyday issues.

Also, what is your definition of Atheistic Humanism? Atheism is not a belief system. It is just a rejection of a specific belief system. Humanism is concerned with human needs and wants. Humans are social animals who depend on one another to survive. Why would someone reject that idea if they care about Human suffering?

How is belief in no system, not a belief system? Being atheist isn't picking and choosing which religions are regected, it is lateral.. thereby in itself systematic.

 

[Yatagarasu]

How is belief in no system, not a belief system? Being atheist isn't picking and choosing which religions are regected, it is lateral.. thereby in itself systematic.

Religions are categorized as belief systems. To reject a belief system means you do not have a belief system. To call the rejection of a belief system a belief system would be like calling baldness a hair color. And honestly, even if someones wants to call it a belief system that really doesn't change anything. Extraordinary claims have the burden of proof, not the rejectors of said systems of belief.

 

[muir]

All the main religions are based on stories about people having visions...which is to say DIRECT RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Then the priests and the money changers move in and they take over the 'revelations' of the visionary and they tell people to listen to them and that they don't need to have direct religious experience themselves they just need to do what the priests tell them

The old mystery schools however used to take initiates through a process that would expand their consciousness and make them aware of a greater reality beyond this 'physical' world of the 5 senses

Some of the mystery schools were very exclusive whilst others were open to everyone...men, women and even slaves

Shamanism which is the oldest form of religion we have recommends direct religious experience of exploring other realms of consciousness

The control system in our modern society is afraid of people exploring these realms and it makes it illegal to take entheogenic plants. it wants people locked into the 5 sense world and identifying with their bodies instead of realising that they are really consciousness using this 'physical' body to have a life experience here in this holographic reality

However the pineal gland on our brains creates naturally DMT, known as the 'spirit molecule' which is responsible for giving us dreams and near death experiences (NDE's) and out of body experiences (OBE's)

Sometimes in altered states of consciousness people meet entities in other dimensions. Hundreds of years ago people spoke about being taken away by 'fairies' and nowadays people speak about being abducted by 'ET's'

Both good and evil exists in the spirit world just as it exists in our world and the spirit world and our world interpenetrate each other...they are woven together as part of the same fabric

Shamans pro-actively go to the spirit world to negotiate with it

Not all interactions in the spirit world are positive and some can be shocking or terrifying but all teach something and that is what it is for

Some say it is another dimension in which people can go from this 'physical' realm and meet there whilst others say that it is actually our DNA that scientists currently call 'junk DNA' (because they don't know what it's for); some believe that the DNA is a storehouse of information which we can tap into like the akashic records through altered states of consciousness

Indeed the scientist who discovered DNA did so whilst under the influence of LSD

Personally i believe that because this is a holographic universe we have all the information about all of it already in us and altered states of consciousness simply allow us to perceive aspects of reality outwith our usual perception range

Controlling our reality in this 'physical' realm of visible light is all about controlling perceptions so it stands to reason that the powers that be do not want us to expand our perceptual awareness and for this reason they suppress the pursuit of religious experience and encourage empty ritual in its place and the passing on of knowledge from previous generations of priests many of which will not have had direct religious experience

The original christians however DID seek religious experience for example the 'desert fathers' in the middle east or the celtic culdees in their stone cells on far flung scottish and irish islands who through fasting, meditiating, praying, isolation and sensory deprivation would have induced altered states of consciousness

The reason many people feel like modern life is missing something is because it is. Modern life is 2D when humans are supposed to be living 3D (metaphorically speaking of course as in reality it is multi-dimensional)

[video=youtube;EiikWNu4yiU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiikWNu4yiU[/video]