Atheists. Satisfaction? Happiness?

[Truthseeker]

I've never found a God that seems believable to me so that's unachievable. Happiness however is achievable and seems easy for me, my only rule would be as long as it doesn't harm others.

Of course I understand.

 

[Truthseeker]

I am an atheist, and I have sustained happiness.

I don't believe you.

 

[Truthseeker]

Who you are communicating with is of your mind, therefore imagination. There is no reason to think otherwise.

For you.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Had no idea that you practiced Buddhism once. Buddhism can be good if practiced right. There are also different "schools" in Buddhism. Which one did you follow? In my opinion as a Baha'i nirvana is really equivalent to connection to the Source. Guess you didn't reach that?

I was a theravada buddhist for more than 20 years
No I did not reach nirvana

 

[Truthseeker]

If it's not about belief, there would be no reason an atheist couldn't connect with this "Source of Happiness"?

Sometimes they do if they commit acts of sincere altruism and the like.

Of course, all of this presumes that any such thing exists, that it is the specific God that you believe in and that is the one and only way anyone could possibly find happiness.

There is no specific God. There is only one.

 

[Truthseeker]

But in my own life, the times when I was concerned about the existence and nature of a deity were the *least* happy ones. I am far more happy now than I was when those topics were 'live' ones for me.

Yes, but were you connected to the Source at that time? I doubt it.

 

[Truthseeker]

So how do you, as an atheist, find ultimate fulfillment in life? How do you find comfort without God? Is it possible for you guys to be truly happy? Atheists refuse communion with God, so I don’t think it is possible for atheists to be truly happy. How do you find ultimate purpose in life without God?

They can have a degree of happiness, and they can feel comfort, I believe. I have gathered that from some posts I've seen. They usually also have some kind of purpose. Without a connection with the Source, the happiness they feel actually makes not seek this connection. They don't realize that without a connection with the Source they are actually in hell.

O Son of Being! Thy Paradise is My love; thy heavenly home, reunion with Me. Enter therein and tarry not. This is that which hath been destined for thee in Our kingdom above and Our exalted dominion.
Bahá’u’lláh, "The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh", a6

The "Me" is God.

However, you must realize that if they commit acts of sincere altruism there is a degree of connection to the Source, in my opinion. The question is, without connection to the Source how likely is this?

Another form of worship which Bahá’u’lláh has ordained in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is one's work, when carried out in the spirit of service to mankind. This teaching is unique in religious history, and is a source of spiritual and material progress.
Adib Taherzadeh, "The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh vol. 3"

Work done in the spirit of service is the highest form of worship.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, "Divine Philosophy", 2.14

 

[Truthseeker]

Satisfaction means being without unanswered questions, and I have achieved that.

What an ego!

 

[Aupmanyav]

I don't believe you.

Believing or not is your prerogative, but I am never unhappy now. I accept whatever comes my way, good or bad, as Gita advises.

"yaḥ sarvatra anabhisnehah, tat tat prāpya śubhāśubham;
na abhinandati na dveṣṭi, tasya prajñā pratiṣṭhitā." BG 2.57
One, who in this world, without any preferences, accepts whatever good or evil comes his way, neither praising it nor despising it, is firmly established in his wisdom.

What an ego!

Could be ego, could be truth as well.
One thing is sure, I am not a messenger of any God, since the maidens that appeared in my dreams were human and not heavenly.

 

[HonestJoe]

Sometimes they do if they commit acts of sincere altruism and the like.

So you disagree with the OP that it is impossible for atheists to be truly happy?

There is no specific God. There is only one.

There are countless proposed gods that various people believe in (or have done in the past). Which of them, if any, actually exist as those people believe remains entirely unknown.

 

[Polymath257]

They can have a degree of happiness, and they can feel comfort, I believe. I have gathered that from some posts I've seen. They usually also have some kind of purpose. Without a connection with the Source, the happiness they feel actually makes not seek this connection. They don't realize that without a connection with the Source they are actually in hell.

If this is hell, I'll take it.

 

[Truthseeker]

If this is hell, I'll take it.

In the next world the only wealth is spiritual, so you probably won't be happy there, in my opinion. Of course you will disagree.

 

[Nourh]

For anyone in this thread I have a college paper, I need to write on a different religion if anyone does not mind just answering a few questions about being an atheist and how it has impacted your life please reply to me.

 

[Mock Turtle]

For anyone in this thread I have a college paper, I need to write on a different religion if anyone does not mind just answering a few questions about being an atheist and how it has impacted your life please reply to me.

Perhaps you worded it wrongly but atheism isn't a religion and being an atheist isn't a religious belief.

 

[Nourh]

my mistake I think I did word it worng

 

[an anarchist]

For anyone in this thread I have a college paper, I need to write on a different religion if anyone does not mind just answering a few questions about being an atheist and how it has impacted your life please reply to me.

Perhaps you should make a thread in the religious Q&A section, with this request

 

[Watchmen]

How do atheists find satisfaction and happiness in life?

A recurring theme I find while studying religion is the teaching that the only way to attain meaningful fulfillment and happiness in life is through spiritual practice. Communion with God. I think the opening Psalm is a good example

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Not to call atheists wicked, but from a theological perspective, to refuse communion with God is wicked.


In my own life, when I walk off the altar of living sacrifice, and stray into spiritual apathy and darkness, I am never satisfied. I am in a state of disarray and fill my time with meaningless pleasures. The only time I feel truly happy is when I am fully into my spiritual practice and seeking communion with God continually.

It is this communion with God that is the source of all happiness. For my own life, this holds true. Without God there is no satisfaction or fulfillment in anything I do. I feel like the tree planted by the stream when I am close to God, and feel like chaff when I stray.

Why is this? I’m not sure how to explain it, this bliss that God offers me, which I often cast aside to allow myself to become miserable in worldly pleasures. But it is there. I’m sure fellow believers in the Almighty can attest to His comforting presence that only He can provide. Without God, there is no happiness.


So how do you, as an atheist, find ultimate fulfillment in life? How do you find comfort without God? Is it possible for you guys to be truly happy? Atheists refuse communion with God, so I don’t think it is possible for atheists to be truly happy. How do you find ultimate purpose in life without God?

I was a theist, now I’m not. Trust me. Being atheist brings WAY more happiness.