More on spiritual advancement...

[kyrene]

It is interesting to see that the people who think that spiritual advancement as being "self-serving" and "shallow" because it "removes the focus from the gods" are among the most self-centered and self-serving people whom I have ever met.

Interesting more still that those whom I know who genuinely seek to advance themselves spiritually are among the best and finest examples of human beings whom I have ever met.

Lots of people can claim to be into "spiritual advancement" but few walk the talk. You know by the walk, not the talk.

And I am proud to call such people my friends.

The idea that we should just "focus on pleasing the gods and not on spiritual advancement" leaves me thinking one thing: "Baaaa." This is why I do not belong in organized religion or believe in empty ritual. In fact, I find it to be a very immature form of spirituality. Not immature in the sense that it belongs in grade school but immature in the sense that it is empty and unevolved.

I often think that most people get involved in religion only to make them feel good about themselves and take the easy approach as opposed to the more difficult roads, like forcing yourself to become a better person in service to the gods and community. Anyone can go in and burn incense and make libations daily to the gods. Walk in, walk out, and that's all you do. No effort, no fuss, no work--and hence no mess. You don't even have to think about it afterwards or even think while you're doing it. Real spiritual advancement requires effort and work. And most people don't like effort nor work. Do volunteer work? Take psychology courses and learn how to improve your personality? Meditate in order to achieve a clearer, more balanced mind? Hell, that sounds like WORK! None of that for me!

"Don't bother focusing on self-improvement, that's just a distraction from making the gods happy. The only thing that makes the gods happy is libations and incense. If you become a better person that just distracts you from burning things and libating to them. You might actually, like, think for yourself and reach the conclusion that the best way to serve the gods is to improve yourself and thus be a good member of society and your community, and that would be BAD."

I wouldn't want to worship selfish gods like that who only want our incense and libations and no genuine evolvement and involvement on our parts to do something with ourselves. Am I alone in thinking this? Whatever happened to the concept of arete? Last I checked the ancient Greeks were HUGE into self improvement because that was how to best please the gods. And these people who think that this is a "distraction" call themselves "reconstructionists"!

Gods, this is all so terribly sad. I'm not sure which is sadder: the idea that spiritual advancement is detrimental to religion or that people think that it detracts from your worship of the gods. The saddest part of all however is that these notions are coming out of the mouths of my contemporaries. It makes me want to disavow anything having to do with the Hellenic community, and I can see why people from mainstream religions looking in on us would think that we are doomed and that their faiths are better because at the very least they advocate improving yourself.

And you know what, they'd be right.

I think that if this is the majority opinion of the Hellenic community we are doomed, and I will be leaving this sinking ship in pursuit of actually worshipping and serving the gods in another medium. It's not like this is my only spiritual community, after all. I seem to have the best luck finding peers in multi-denominational and non-denominational mystical groups. Although, admittedly I've met some non-mystics in the Hellenic community with a clue and many a mystic in said community who are completely lacking in any hope of a clue. If anything I've learned from being in the Hellenic community that being a mystic definitely does not guarantee posessing a clue in anyone's pretty little head. I just wish that the ones with a clue, mystic or not, would multiply and spread.

I didn't want to turn this LJ into a "rant about how stupid some people are in my religious community" place. I didn't start this LJ with that intention. I wanted to post about the shit that pops into my brain and gets me thinking deeply about my faith, the gods, and why I believe the shit that I do--and I still want to do that, in fact. It's no secret to a few why I disappeared, definitely more of a secret why I stopped going by my original Hellenic name. It may be way more of a secret that I was not intending upon ever returning to the community, either. I'm desperately trying to give the Hellenic community another shot and stick around; however I'm finding it very hard to find reasons to stay--and I don't really think that pissing off the people who deserve it most is a good enough reason to do so. But the people whom I have met and have stayed in touch with have been the reason why I came back--that and the hope of helping others new to the scene who do have a clue to reassure them that they're not alone.

I think what is best and sanest to do is pray for an answer from the gods and move on from there. Maybe unsubscribe from the idiot lists and chart my own territory, continue to hang out with the Hellenists who have a clue and just form our own little oasis on the Net.

Personally, I know what pisses me off the most about this shit. It's not that people disagree with me--because that's just fucking stupid, and is not how I am. I actually LOVE it when people disagree with me because a) people who always agree with me are simply boring ass kissers and b) I'll never learn to think outside my own box if I don't meet people who disagree with me and c) I love hearing about different opinions and thoughts and learning from them. My annoyance isn't due, either, to the fact that I think their opinions and beliefs are stupid--note I said their beliefs, not them. People don't get that; they get VERY attached to their opinions: "How dare you insult me by disagreeing with me!" And believe it or not, some of these opinions come from very intelligent, well-spoken people. What genuinely ticks me off that I very much wish that I had more peers who are in my faith, and I'm finding that there are a whole lot of people in my faith I'd rather have nothing to do with. I used to have a home in this community, but I have changed a GREAT deal since I first became a part of it, and I'm finding that home no longer exists. And while I may have changed, others not so much so. I may delude myself every now and again thinking that they're the ones who have changed, but not really--I know better. It's me, my outlook, and my beliefs that have changed, and the person whom I'm turning into is someone who most likely doesn't belong in this community and won't find many Hellenist peers. I wish that I had more of those peers, people to bounce ideas off of that pertain to our gods and how we relate to them in our lives. People who comprehend what spiritual advancement is and are attempting it so we can compare and contrast notes. Gods, how I miss Thiasos Dionysos when it was running and people were doing work, comparing notes, and talking about our experiences with the god. We were actually ACCOMPLISHING something which I feel is needed in the community and filled a void in my life which is frankly still there. brontosproximo is the only person I really get to talk to these days about such things, and on occasion shellsong. Do I just not getting out enough? Am I just not giving certain people more of a chance?

All in all, I should seriously think about cultivating more compassion and patience for those who are lacking in clue. Not everyone is ready to be unplugged from the Matrix. Heck, some people never will be. And my ranting about them certainly isn't going to help ME advance spiritually either. The amount of time I spent to write this post could've been spent in meditation or something. But when it comes down to it, would I have worked through my aggravation and reached the conclusion that I have otherwise? Probably not, and maybe that's why I love writing so much--it's really the best way I have to work out my thoughts and feelings in a concrete way and draw my own conclusions about why I feel the way I do and what the best course of action is. Whee, know thyself--what a concept.

Well, this is a lot closer to something resembling sanity and reason, but I still think I should resort to prayer.