I suppose a better question is how do atheists be Spiritual? and a follow up question would be why?

What does "spirituality" bring to the table?

I dont know how to define Spiritual so if you guys can jump in at this point that would be great.

I have and still do from time to time mindfulness meditation, but that to me is not spiritual, thats just sitting in one spot, doing nothing and thinking of nothing for as long as possible. So if you want to describe something like mindfulness meditation, dont bother because I do practice that.

I was thinking, when I die I have no idea where they are going to dump my body, so where does an atheists get burried at?

I was thinking out at sea would be cool.

May be it's all about being an atheist, but still belive in 'something'(it could be soul, or some kind of karma) which is not affecting science in any way.
It's personal thing.

It's possible to lack belief in a deity while still believing in the soul/auras/psychics/reincarnation etc.

I find it hard to accept the idea of belief in things I do not know (reincarnation are you having a laugh?)

Take for example soul, I have no idea what that is and even if I did what does a soul do?

They can be, because atheism is a only lack of belief in deities.
That leaves a lot of space for various energies that are divine, white, higher, lower?, healing, all-permeating, light, etc.
In supernatural beings and powers, other planes of existence...
You can believe in reincarnation, in fact, you can believe almost all Buddhist stuff. Except in deities ofc, but they are not the focus of Buddhism at all.

okay............but why would I believe in reincarnation? dont I need some proof first?

Atheism isn't the same as rationalism, empiricism, naturalism or materialism.

I'm an atheist who doesn't believe in reincarnation, ghosts, auras etc etc, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to be an atheist who does.

so what do you believe in then?

okay............why cant you tell me?

What do you mean?

zumby

Are you spiritual or not?

If you are spiritual then what is it that you do and/or believe to make you spiritual?

I wouldn't describe myself as spiritual.

He said he happens to be an atheist who isn't spiritual. But there are atheists that are spiritual.

hmm. i disagree.
if you believe in a supernatural being...
it's a Deity.

Spiritualism and theism are independent beliefs.

If we found firm scientific evidence that we lived on after we died, and that ouija boards really did work as designed this would in no way imply the existence of a god.

Converse will hold in general, however some people's specific perceptions of god might make non spiritual theists inconsistent. As implicit spiritualism is bound up in their definition of their god.

No. A leprechaun, if real, would be a being with supernatural powers, but (usually) wouldn't be classified as a deity.

the existence of the deity is subjective, and a moot point.

thank you, asdf.

if a leprechaun, or a witch, were considered to be godly, or divine in nature, or superior to a human, and the believer believes there can be an open communication..then it should be considered a Deity.
imo, possessing supernatural powers means..well, being supernatural, or godly.

whether they are viewed as such by the believer or not seems irrelevant to me.

Perhaps you are open to some suggestions about your current practice?

3. It's not about "thinking of nothing". That is still thinking. Observe the thoughts. Observe engaging them. Observe not engaging them. What happens when you don't grasp them? What happens when you don't take identity from them? Are they you? Or are they thoughts?

1/2. It's not necessarily about "doing nothing" in "one spot". Can you use the bathroom, wash your hands, go make a sandwich, watch TV, walk on the lawn, etc without taking thought? You'll likely be shocked when you awaken to how 98% of thought is unnecessary and is the cause of all your suffering.

4. It doesn't have to be "as long as possible". Just this moment will do.

There's a book called The Sacred Depths of Nature which defines sacred as an emotional state that can be accessed by getting down with nature.

Sacred is a pretty broad term and could encompass a number of non-supernatural beliefs. Regardless, one could be an atheist and believe in the supernatural, just not actually deities.

EDIT

It's not as though logical inconsistency or cognitive dissonance is confined solely to theists, however tempting it might be to imagine it is. Ultimately humans have evolved with a susceptability to magical thinking and theists' meat computers are not qualitatively different organs to atheists'.

Most people that got to the point of saying they were "atheists" are also "asupernaturalists". However, many people who say they don't believe in the "christian god" are indeed supernaturalists.

"spiritual but not religious" is one of my favorite feel-good nonsense phrases. It even has its own wikipedia page!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritu..._Not_Religious

I see these people as half-way converts to atheism. They're not quite complete atheists yet, so they cling onto whatever mysticism they can. Sooner or later, they drop these beliefs too.

hey veeddzz, did you hear the one about the short-sighted circumsiser?

He got the sack. lol

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a label's just a label.
it's not anywhere near serious in the grand scheme of things, no matter how hard or long people cling to their belief or non-belief..
if one wishes to confine themselves to such concepts, so be it..
i for one, will not be judging, as severely "unchurched" as i am.

SBNR is a big step towards liberation from the mental enslavement of dogma.
it is of no surprise to me that many have chosen to associate with the term.


but spiritual atheist?
whatever...