Taking Off My Spiritual Hat

[Ariel]

Use this thread to discuss the following blog post:

Taking Off My Spiritual Hat

[Jimmy]

Ariel,

Your post arrives here as a coincidence, as just a few days ago, I decided to take off my own spiritual hat.

Early this morning, prior to reading your message, I was wondering where I could find a big box for packing up my spiritual books and audio CD's. I plan on getting all that stuff out of the house.

There has been a strong depression and something like what you called "internally catastrophic", and yet I'm not all that concerned. There doesn't seem to be anything left except "to be", whatever that is.

[binnoy]

"TAKING OFF THE SPIRITUAL HAT" I just love the title of this post. I myself felt a lot of relief when this happened to me.
It was much later that i realized that the mind had only got a new topic to chew upon....SPIRITUALITY.

So true that it is addicted to problems. The ego's survival is with solving problems and getting entangled with it.
Little does it realize how it is the problem itself.

By the way .....your photo-blog is awesome.
Also i have read books on Mr J-Krishnamurthi. His writings are really piercing.
And I think watching your photo-blog....i am falling in love with photo-graphy.

with love always
BINNOY
http://the-law-of-attraction.hpage.com/

[deeprivernz]

Ariel - well done!

I do hope we meet sometime if you ever travel this way. I feel that we now have even more in common.

Yes, life just IS - in all it's glory!

Journey well, my friend

River

[Ralph]

Ariel wrote:
what I do have some interest in saying is that it was perhaps one of the most internally catastrophic periods in my life I’ve ever experienced. One of the many things that was unexpectedly destroyed, much to my surprise actually, was my interest in continually talking about, thinking about, teaching about, or in any way making spirituality a central aspect of my life.

Hi Ariel, ... looks like you had an extraordinary trip !!

If you don't mind, can you elaborate a little on what you wrote in the above quote and also, can you say a few words on how you came to this conclusion of "just BE" .

Thank you.

[Ariel]

If you don't mind, can you elaborate a little on what you wrote in the above quote and also, can you say a few words on how you came to this conclusion of "just BE" .

Hey Ralph,

Yeah, if you asked me this a month or two ago, I would have gladly told you all about the details of what happened and what occurred, but at this point I don't actually have anything to say...

[Ralph]

[deeprivernz]

Hmmm, taking photographs is an interesting concept:-
I have to detach myself from enjoying the moment for what it is, so that I can capture something which will be viewed as the past sometime in the future.

[Ariel]

Hmmm, taking photographs is an interesting concept:-
I have to detach myself from enjoying the moment for what it is, so that I can capture something which will be viewed as the past sometime in the future.

lol... yeah there was a phase I went through when I realized that the photography was based on trying to "capture" and hold onto it, rather than let it go.

Eventually when that drops, you're free to enjoy the creative process itself, the intimacy with the subject, the editing and sculpting that comes in photoshop, the stories that the photos tell...

I guess you could detach yourself from the moment, but haven't you found that when you're doing something you love, you're totally absorbed and at one with it? You're immersed in it. You ARE it. Not detached at all...

[scarface]

Nice story.

It reminds me of back about half a year or so.
I had been into reading, studying, trying to understand, conceptualizing and living by certain spiritual concepts (or my idea of how it should translate in my daily activities/actions). I had been into spirituality for about 3 and a half years or so. In those times, I tried to stop it many times (intentionally) because I was getting fed up with it, but I still found myself keep going back to it because the pull was (too) strong.

Then at some point it happened that I felt that my current understanding was it for me (for now). From then on (about 1/2 a year ago), I totally lost my interest in spirituality. I notice I don't have any questions about it anymore for myself, and have no interest anymore in reading, hearing or whatever about it.
To me it felt and stil feels since about 1/2 a year ago, kinda like I resumed the daily living again as I did before I got into spirituality. With one big difference though is: that before I didn't care and therefore didn't have any questions nor understanding. And now it feels like I don't care anymore and therefore don't have questions yet I feel backedup/supported by a strong understanding.

Fealt like sharing my story, because it feels nice to talk about me for me