Why is this forum so unpopular?

Oryx

And some people, in fairness, go 'spirtuality, wha?' - dont really know what it means...

Nevyn

Well then they should have a look at the charter

Twigy

I think this fast paced lifestyle we all have doesn give us enough time to reflect on our spirituality. It is also a little scary to thing we do not have complete control over ourselves. Most people dont have the time or energy needed to think so deeply about themselves.

stevenmu

homah_7ft wrote:

Why do you think the other fora present misery? I would say 80% of the activity here focuses on happiness.

That's not what I was trying to say, in fact I'm not too sure anymore what I was trying to say, or what it has to do with this forum.

Stabshauptmann

I dont think its a preoccupation with misery, if I started a thread about hell, demons and bad karma do you think it would get a huge number of views?

I think most ppl wont read a forum for a subject that (they think) doesnt effect them. This could be in part due to misconceptions about what this forum is about as steven said or because ppl are happy with what beliefs and practices they have at the moment (including apathy if thats the case).

I think Ill put a little line or two in my sig if it is the case of the former and just a misconception...

Scofflaw

KatieK wrote:

And some people, in fairness, go 'spirtuality, wha?' - dont really know what it means...

Ah. Also, of course, it's "below the fold", and doesn't show up unless you scroll down..

cordially,
Scofflaw

Oryx

Scofflaw wrote:

Ah. Also, of course, it's "below the fold", and doesn't show up unless you scroll down..

cordially,
Scofflaw

I meant them what dont visit here at all but just skim the home page most recent posts....

homah_7ft

Thaedydal wrote:

Well then they should have a look at the charter

A wonderful idea. I should really have had a peep in there earlier.

lostexpectation

I think people get pissed off about people by people like Dagon and Mogsa who's language isn't far off from the fire and brimstone talk,

he suggests that only religion or spirituality is the answer to the fast paced money driven material world...

is there a secular phrase for spirituality...


well said homah and clown bag

Dagon

This is not about the original poster - forget about me. Making judgements on me is a wastage of energy. I'm asking a much more important, vital question. I am not telling you how it is, I'm just asking "is this where we are"? Maybe it isn't true or maybe it is? I want us to find out together and explore it. I'm not telling you how it is, I'm just asking the question so we can find out as a group.

For the record, I refer to "we" a lot, meaning that I am of - not apart from - the madness in the world. I don't separate myself from anyone, or from the "superficiality" and dullness that exists in the world - therefore there can be no "talking down"! you are missing the whole point if you think that, and maybe you are just playing around here, and don't want to seriously go into these questions for whatever reason... I see this happening a lot on boards.

people would rather wallow in misery and in other superfical distractions rather than find a way out.

And I'm including myself in that.

Joseph, Katie and SteveMu are looking at the problem and exploring it, without trying to form judgements on it.

Unfortunately I have to go now but will respond properly tomorrow

happy cookie

Going back to the original post and topic I wouldn't say this forum is unpopular, in fact there may be people like myself who have been lurking around for a good while and never posted anything so the forum might still be popular for viewers (sorry, haven't looked at the charts or statistics or whatever)

I believe that people turn to spirituality when something major disrupts their routinely lives and they start looking for answers. As to whether they are asking the questions is a different matter, probably because most of us have preconceived ideas of what we should/should not experiencing (spiritual wise) and are afraid of whatever judgement others might make of us (as in: "Oh, he's seeing things/hearing voices/blah blah blah). People might actually be embarrased about the situations... that's just 2 reasons out of many!

That doesn't mean either that other people are less spiritual, they just haven't stopped to ask the questions methinks. And since we're at it, what does exactly mean being spiritual? I know people who think they're very spiritual just because they go on "meditation holidays / retreats" etal.... that doesn't mean they're more spiritual than your average Jane who watches her soaps but takes time off every Saturday morning to help her community...

Oh, forgot to say as well, sometimes it's very difficult to separate spirituality from religion. I haven't lurked around any of the religious forums but I would think that many spiritual as such questions have probably been posted there (as another poster mentioned I think)

And the final question... is it the case that if a forum is unpopular it will be moved or something?

Happy.

Dagon

Really I was just asking the question about society, and not trying to have a go at the general masses of boards as being superficial, and... like soooooo totally like... not spiritual man!!

It was just curiousity. Trying to find out if we are actually running from darkness towards more darkness, or are we helping ourselves to find the truth of life? Are we interested in studying and understanding the "field of life", rather than just playing intellectual games all the time?

We humans seem to be becoming more mechanical all the time. At school, all that is taught is technical knowledge, mechanical information. And so, naturally, humans end up living quite mechanical lives. The mind itself is mechanical and conditioned, always reacting, building up images of things, reacting more to these images. The mind is a slave to ideas, to books, to all sorts of pointless addictions. What has been left out in all the education we've received is a study in the field of life. I'm not using the word spiritual anymore because we have too many associations built up with this word and it seems to cause confusion. It is just a lack of understanding of the field of life that exists, and there is a huge empty void within modern humans (and down though the ages) that is left totally, horribly empty. You can see it if you look. Look at the lack of happiness in young people, the crime, the rising problems with dicipline, teachers having nervous breakdowns, etc. These are just a few small examples, I won't dwell on these things..

People live in the here and now, and only look towards how big a mortgage they can afford, what colour car they can have and whether they look good

In other words, we are not really living in the here and now. Always looking towards a better house, newer car, mortgage, whatever. In all this, life is left behind. Living is left behind. You become totally dull, only concerned with images. Your life reflect your dullness, and you create much misery for yourself, and other. You become a totally conditioned machine, running at a fast rate until you reach death. When you reach death, all of the important things that have been accumilated have become totally useless, and during the entire life no time was spent gaining an understanding of the gift of life, of the gift of the present moment.

it does seem patronising to hypothise that people would rather "wallow in misery", and that spirituality taught through spiritual teachings/teachers knows better. That hypothesis seems like it's coming from an egotistical viewpoint, and from my very limited knowledge, that's not the way these teachings are taught, in a "I know best, it's not your fault you don't know any better" manner

I'm not hypothesising anything, I'm just trying to find out. Are people - WE - wallowing in misery? Maybe I am wrong. I'm just asking - is it possible for us to look around and find out for ourselves without believing anybody else, any teacher or any guru or self proclaimed "spiritual" person? Don't believe me, don't believe a book, but find out. For instance, go and read the PI forum - find out what problems exist in the world. Find out how people are attempting to solve these problems. Look at it, without judging... just to see what is happening in the world. Just look... no opinions yet. Leave your opinions about the thing behind for now, and strip it back to what you see.

Lets forget completely about the word spiritual if you like for a while, because being able to look and see clearly without judging anything is quite enough.

time is something we don't give ourselves any more, although we always complian about. For most people if the answers don't come quick and easy then it's no good. Therefore most people look elsewhere be it money, power, drugs, sex, violence, whatever.

I can see this has happened. As somone else said, we have become more secular. So if there isn't an instant thrill or an instant and measurable result, then it is not good enough. So another interesting occurence coming from this is the search. The endless search for something to give fulfillment. If we look around, can you see a search going on? Are people are searching... for something? Can you see this? And what is found? Look around and see if you can find it. Does that thing give happiness? Or does it lead to more searching?

Giving 'secular' advice or information is fine, but mention religion and your likely to get flamed.

Not even religion, just techniques that provide definite ways to finding peace. So we are back to the question - would we prefer to keep on running from one mindless entertainment to another short term fix (be it psychological help or physical), always running from a desire to a hatred, from a passion to an aversion...to a quick fix (be it medical help or so-called religious help) can we look at that for a minute, and see if that is what's taking place here?

The reaction time and again is 'dont try to convert/force your views on me.' This is as true in life as in boards, just ask a Jehovahs Witness (although they may be trying to convert you ) Apart from football, it's the one thing that seems to divide people.

This is exactly what organised religions have done - divided people, fragmented people. People have lived in fragments. Anything that does this is again moving away from understanding life, understanding reality, understanding that we are all together in finding the truth. Separateness is an illusion that has been solidified by many so-called spiritual practices unfortunately.

To be fair anytime someone takes a stance with even a hint of self righteousness on boards they are flamed.

There is no stance to be taken on this one - we are just exploring these problems. If somebody here takes a stance it becomes a pointless excercise. We have to find out, we've wasted too much time with our own personal ideas and images about reality. Can we just look at reality, without judging it, or judging ourselves?

Any chance of me believing in a god is not going to come from someone telling me about it.

This is important; I say that you should find out for yourself what the trith is. Dont believe anyone about it, or any book or idea or philosophy.

As for darker topics, these are a reality of life and people need to discuss them

These darker topics exist. Do you think we have started to somehow *accept* them as being the reality of life? Have we accepted that our life should be a bundle of miseries and problems? And are we trying to run away or escape from that? Is it possible that the reality of life that we have *accepted* contains problems created at a much deeper level of ourselves? Problems that keep on occurring and make us ill, depressed and suicidal? Have we really found solutions to these things, or are we just playing around with tme and multiplying them?

having problems just becomes a way of life, and while many people do have real problems, others make the tiniest little thing into a huge ordeal.

And this becomes a deeper and more serious issue. If you look around, can you see this darkness multiplying and gaining quite a hold over us?

Its all about escapism, (something I presently could do with a healthy dose of) spirituality just offers a different outlet, conveniently with meditation you get to decide the ending.

Real meditation has absolutely nothing to do with escapism. As I've said, there are a lot of so-called spiritual practices out there that are not very helpful and only provide a quick fix. It ends up doing more harm and can be dangerous.

he suggests that only religion or spirituality is the answer to the fast paced money driven material world.

I hope I haven't said that anywhere? Ok then, leave your ideas of spirituality and religion completly behind - leave all your ideas behind. Can we do that? So forgetting about spirituality and religion, we can look at the thing as it is.

lostexpectation

Dagon wrote:

I hope I haven't said that anywhere? Ok then, leave your ideas of spirituality and religion completly behind - leave all your ideas behind. Can we do that? So forgetting about spirituality and religion, we can look at the thing as it is.

so now that you taken out God is the answer to all our ills out, we/you're left with nothing, so why did start this thread again? anything to add yourself?

MeditationMom

Just read this long thread - and have you all and your answers and questions mixed up in my head. So I'll respond to all of you as ONE...

My whole life, has been informed and driven by spiritual concerns, insights, longings. I have lived all over the world and have had contact with thousands of people. I can tell you that it is not often that I get to have conversations, explorations, discussions or even arguments with people about spiritual matters. One of you mentioned how unsure and uncomfortable most people are, talking of these matters, and I have found that to be true, also, including myself.

So that is definitely one problem. Then, even if you want to talk about spiritual matters, how do you do it? Even Jesus was misunderstood and ended up cruxified. So it takes courage and willingness to look like a fool, to get flamed, to get misunderstood etc. It takes no courage to exchange one's feelings for a popular football star, but try running around proclaiming your awe for Jesus or Buddha, or your love for prayer or meditation.
"Want to go to a strip bar?" "Nah, been there done that, I'd rather go home and meditate or help my wife do the dishes so she can have a little quiet time, too." You'll be laughed out of town by most.

So, let me compliment you. I was overwhelmed yesterday by my love for all of you - after about a week on this Irish Spiritual Forum - my first time ever to go on line and join anything on the Internet - that alone is a miraculous event! Can't believe I landed in Ireland (all the way from California)- your beautiful, green, sweet, rich in spiritual history, Ireland.

When I asked myself where this love comes from, I found that I feel welcome here with you. I get to express myself, I can be helpful to you, as I have been around the block, so to speak, and if you all get mad at me I just turn the computer off and take a break until everybody forgets what a fool I am. I could even change my name and start over. I wonder every day whether I come on too strong in that "Mom", "Know-it-all" or "Guru" kind of way, but the fact is, that I know what I know, and I know what I don't, and I am dying to express it. I recognize many of you are in certain phases I was in, in the past, and feel I can be of assistance. I wonder who I am talking to - teenagers, old people, crazy associal maniacs, other moms, and it doesn't matter. Each one of you has a soul and a spirit at a ceratin phase in their longing and search for the truth, and that is who you are to me.

I was so surprised to find you! Halleluja- there are people out there who think, and struggle about these matters, and may care for my contributions or be able to enlighten me in these areas of contemplation. This is too amazing. Thank God for this amazing thing the materialistic, secular, money hungry people have come up with - the Internet and my slick computer.
Popular? -we may not be. Is there truth in numbers? I think not.


And you may be surprised how "spiritual" some people are. I used to get terrribly bored at social functions, where nothing but money, cars, sports, business and politics was discussed. Then I read a statement that said, "If you are bored, you are boring." So then, at these functions, I would ask "safe" questions like " Have you ever been to India?" or " Did you know that the reason the Irish have the cloverleaf for a symbol, is because St. Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity to them that way?" and the most interesting spiritual conversations would start and often to my surprise the most materialistic, stupid people turned out to be the most grateful that they had found someone to talk to about their experiences and thoughts and became the most intersting to me, even lifelong spiritual friends - and I became someone to them with whom it was safe to talk about such things.

Do we live in a spiritual wasteland? With the amonut of money and effort that
is being spent on creating disire and greed in, not just us, but our very young children, I am afraid the answer is yes, but something in me trusts that it has always been so in some way and somehow is divinely part of the whole. The danger we (-us here in this forum/thread-) are in, spiritually speaking, is that we may feel special, superior, better than "the others". Careful!

stevenmu

lostexpectation banned for two weeks.

solas

meditationmom wrote:

So, let me compliment you. I was overwhelmed yesterday by my love for all of you - after about a week on this Irish Spiritual Forum - my first time ever to go on line and join anything on the Internet - that alone is a miraculous event! Can't believe I landed in Ireland (all the way from California)- your beautiful, green, sweet, rich in spiritual history, Ireland.

hello, have we met?
If not you can givus a hug anyway. Welcome to the forum. (flattery works with me)

6th

solas wrote:

.....(flattery works with me)

Takes note!

Anyway as Solas said - welcome! Now lets get this forum kick started!

stevenmu

Welcome to the forum MeditationMom. I've noticed too that sometimes the people you'd least expect are willing to talk about deeep spiritual or existential matters with a little prodding. A few drinks usually helps too . I think many people do think about spiritual matters but are unsure how to bring it into a conversation or unsure about what reaction they'll get.

Nevyn

Hi there MeditationMom,

I hear you on the boring converstaions part.
Really I hate to see time wasted talking nothing with people you learn nothing about them and they nothing about you.

It can certainly take time to find people to have those talks with but there are some of use arround

solas

setven wrote:

I've noticed too that sometimes the people you'd least expect are willing to talk about deeep spiritual or existential matters with a little prodding.

I'm just highly sensitive and need a little gentle caressing, from time to time.

MeditationMom

hello, have we met?
If not you can givus a hug anyway.

Solas, I forgot that, unlike here in California, one should know people before running around and hugging them, telling them 'I love you" out of the blue. You'll get used to me.

Thank you all for your welcoming words- did you notice somemone taught me to quote in blue boxes (Thank you, again, HairyHeretic) I am stupidly excited about that.

Oh, and lots of hugs to everybody!:)

solas

no worries, used to do it a lot myself when the spirit moved me. ((*)) hugs back

Dagon

"Peace and love... forever"

That is the only law.

I cannot look down on the others, for there *are* no others. I am the world and the world is me. I am all the darkness and light as well...

The world is us. If you try and change the world you will become frustrated and bitter... if you change yourself, you will find ecstacy, and your ego will become very small.

MeditationMom

Dagon, how beautiful. I guess the challenge for all of us is to live this, especially through our challenges. Yes, the only power we have is to change ourselves. We project onto "the World" our light or our darkness.
Much love

Asiaprod

happy cookie wrote:

Going back to the original post and topic I wouldn't say this forum is unpopular, in fact there may be people like myself who have been lurking around for a good while and never posted anything so the forum might still be popular for viewers (sorry, haven't looked at the charts or statistics or whatever)

I am also one of those people. This is a great forum and I have learned a lot of new things here.

Oryx

Hi MeditationMom, lovely post, is really nice to hear from someone so positive. I look forward to hearing more from you. *gives another hug*

MeditationMom

Thank you, thank you , thank you
* bows deeply *

stormkeeper

One of the reasons why I don't post here, asides from the fact that I really only come to check the Paranormal forums on here these days (but I'm looking to change that) is because I currently have nothing to contribute, plus I have a tendancy not to post anything unless I can contribute something worthwhile to a thread (excepting where I'm having to respond for personal reasons). I was having a convo with Steven about why I don't post here, and that's pretty much what came up, although hopefully, over the coming weeks, I'll be able to post something here, as my understanding of spirituality grows...

MeditationMom

Kennett wrote:

I have a tendancy not to post anything unless I can contribute something worthwhile to a thread

Hi Kennett
No need to only join to "contribute" - you can also just ask questions. Surely you must be wondering about a few things relating to spiritual things. And don't underestimate the "gift" of a question. A question is a wonderful contribution. Looking forward to your contributions

stormkeeper

MeditationMom wrote:

Hi Kennett
No need to only join to "contribute" - you can also just ask questions. Surely you must be wondering about a few things relating to spiritual things. And don't underestimate the "gift" of a question. A question is a wonderful contribution. Looking forward to your contributions

Hey,

Well, the problem is, I simply have nothing to say at all at the moment... for the time being, I have more to ask about/contribute in the paranormal forum... ^_^;;;