pagannews:

Just because atheists don’t pray, don’t worship a deity, and don’t participate in religious rituals, doesn’t mean they’re not spiritual. Au contraire. By MANDY DE WAAL.

There’s this commonly held misconception that atheists aren’t spiritual. That if you don’t have faith, if you’re unconvinced of the existence of that deity the religious call “God”, or aren’t praying at some kind of altar, you’re devoid of spirituality.

Theists commonly think the word “spirituality” is synonymous with searching for meaning in life using faith as a vehicle. For others spirituality infers some kind of communion with an intelligent creator of the universe.

It’s curious for theists that people who reject the notion of a God can have a deep and intense spirituality. But they do.

Of course I cannot speak for all atheists. I can only speak about my own journey of abandoning God to come home to reason, logic, knowledge and truth, and from what I have learnt from the works of other atheists during my own journey.

Read more at Daily Maverick

pdxrain:

How to be a Spiritual Atheist - Mindfulness Meditation

Pragmatic magic* FTW.

I wish there were more people who could be like “no, I don’t really know why it works, nor am I going to try to push some pseudoscientific or dogmatic explanation onto you; I just know I feel better for doing it and that’s why I do it.”

*Aleister Crowley defined magic as “the art and science of causing change in conformity of the will.”  Therefore, even if there is no higher power or force involved, mindfulness meditation can still be described as a magical act.