Spiritual atrophy

[an anarchist]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

 

[Secret Chief]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

I don't think I have a spirit. How would you describe it?

 

[idea]

I went through my dark night of the soul - not atrophy, completely gone - spiritual death. (Kid abuse by clergy).

 

[an anarchist]

I don't think I have a spirit. How would you describe it?

I am referring to what is often called "soul". I believe it to be an entity in its own right, and if there is a life after death, it is the spirit that moves forward on that journey. It is interlinked with our conscious mind I would suppose.

 

[an anarchist]

I went through my dark night of the soul - not atrophy, completely gone - spiritual death. (Kid abuse by clergy).

Seeing as you are now "spiritual not religious" it is good to see you have overcome complete spiritual death.

 

[Koldo]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that...
Do you mean you have been feeling down?

 

[Secret Chief]

I am referring to what is often called "soul".

Bugger. Buddhism declines belief in a soul.

 

[an anarchist]

I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that...
Do you mean you have been feeling down?

A little more to it than that. It contributes to me feeling down. Are you religious or spiritual by chance?

 

[an anarchist]

Bugger. Buddhism declines belief in a soul.

I have only read the tibetan book of the dead as well as the dhammapada. I got the impression from the tibetan book of the dead that some form of Buddhism teaches of a soul and afterlife.

 

[Secret Chief]

I have only read the tibetan book of the dead as well as the dhammapada. I got the impression from the tibetan book of the dead that some form of Buddhism teaches of a soul and afterlife.

I've not read the Book of the Dead. The absence of an abiding soul (and hence an afterlife of such a soul) rests on ideas fundamental to all schools of Buddhism - specifically impermanence of every thing and no abiding selfhood.

 

[idea]

Seeing as you are now "spiritual not religious" it is good to see you have overcome complete spiritual death.

I no longer believe in God. For me, spirituality is anything that inspires, uplifts, brings peace - like nature, music, art.

-The term spirit means "animating or vital principle in man and animals".[web 1] It is derived from the Old French espirit, which comes from the Latin word spiritus (soul, ghost, courage, vigor, breath) and is related to spirare (to breathe). In the Vulgate the Latin word spiritus is used to translate the Greek pneuma and Hebrew ruach.[web 1]

Spirit is energy, vitality, outlook - optimistic drive, excitement - what makes you feel alive.

 

[Bird123]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

You do not Understand. What you give the world returns. Look out into the world and just help someone who needs help. Do this Unconditionally. You will find that those spirits you have lifted through your Unconditional help will show up to lift yours. Soon you will have no time for atrophy.

That's what I see. It's very clear!!

 

[The Hammer]

Bugger. Buddhism declines belief in a soul.

What about the Karmic flame of consciousness?

""Like Hinduism, Buddhism accepts there was no time when we were not bound to the cycle of birth and rebirth. But unlike Hinduism, it does not believe there is an eternal, unchanging “soul” that transmigrates from one life to the next. There is nothing permanent in us, any more than there is any permanence in the world generally.

Nevertheless, Buddhists believe our consciousness is like a flame on the candle of our body. At the moment of death, we leave the body but this flame, particularly our flame of moral credit or debit, goes into a new body. In Buddhism, this “karmic flame of consciousness” plays the same role as the “soul” in other religions.""

 

[The Hammer]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

I'm currently working my way through a DNS that started a couple years ago.. It has been a slow recovery process.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

My spirit used to feel like it was well used, like an oiled machine. Now my spirit feels all rusty.
What's the longest spiritual drought you've been in? Are you in one currently? My current drought has been all year. My spirit is atrophying. Do you agree that you have to work out your spirit like a muscle in order to strengthen it? I do.
I know the route out. Water reaches the lowest point and erodes the hardest rocks. I just need to drink. I just don't know when that motivation will come.

Yes, you need to work out your spirit.

May I ask, what is your preferred source for spiritual stimulation?

 

[an anarchist]

Yes, you need to work out your spirit.

May I ask, what is your preferred source for spiritual stimulation?

When I was a Christian, prayer was useful. I don't pray anymore because I don't know who to pray to. Meditation I would do too, as well as divination. I don't do those anymore, nor do I have a shrine anymore. Tai chi as well

 

[Secret Chief]

What about the Karmic flame of consciousness?

""Like Hinduism, Buddhism accepts there was no time when we were not bound to the cycle of birth and rebirth. But unlike Hinduism, it does not believe there is an eternal, unchanging “soul” that transmigrates from one life to the next. There is nothing permanent in us, any more than there is any permanence in the world generally.

Nevertheless, Buddhists believe our consciousness is like a flame on the candle of our body. At the moment of death, we leave the body but this flame, particularly our flame of moral credit or debit, goes into a new body. In Buddhism, this “karmic flame of consciousness” plays the same role as the “soul” in other religions.""

"Do Buddhists believe in a soul?
The short answer is no. In fact, this is the defining premise of Buddhism and one of the main things that differentiates it from other religions."

- Do Buddhists believe in a soul?

 

[stvdv]

"Do Buddhists believe in a soul?
The short answer is no. In fact, this is the defining premise of Buddhism and one of the main things that differentiates it from other religions."

So, you say that Hinduism (Sanathana Dharma) does not include that belief?
Are you certain about that?

 

[The Hammer]

"Do Buddhists believe in a soul?
The short answer is no. In fact, this is the defining premise of Buddhism and one of the main things that differentiates it from other religions."

- Do Buddhists believe in a soul?

What is it that reincarnates then?

 

[Secret Chief]

What is it that reincarnates then?

Oh no not this rabbit hole!

Reincarnation is not a Buddhist belief, as understood in that an abiding entity continues to persist.

"Would you be surprised to learn that reincarnation is not a Buddhist teaching?
Reincarnation normally is understood to be the transmigration of a soul to another body after death. There is no such teaching in Buddhism"
- What the Buddha Didn't Teach About Reincarnation

The Buddhist belief is in rebirth - the usual analogy being a flame on a candle lighting another candle. From the link above, my understanding concurs with:

"Being born and dying continues unbroken but changes every moment."