Why a 14th-century mystic appeals to today's 'spiritual but not religious' Americans

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

The percentage of Americans who do not identify with any religious tradition continues to rise annually. Not all of them, however, are atheists or agnostics. Many of these people believe in a higher power, if not organized religion, and their numbers too are steadily increasing.
The history of organized religion is full of schisms, heresies and other breakaways. What is different at this time is a seemingly indiscriminate mixing of diverse religious traditions to form a personalized spirituality, often referred to as “cafeteria spirituality.” This involves picking and choosing the religious ideas one likes best.

To read more:

https://religionnews.com/2018/12/10/why-a-14th-century-mystic-appeals-to-todays-spiritual-but-not-religious-americans/

[dae]

1. Thanks.

[guillaumeb]

3. You are welcome.

My personal path finds me crafting a synthesis from the many things that I find. Rumi is another favorite of mine for inspiration.

[dae]

4. Thanks again, I've looked him up and will read up on him as well.

[pansypoo53219]

2. well, i guess i am a brownist. reading in a 1891 encyclopdia britannica.

but i have only read a-f, so who knows.

[trotsky]

5. Yes, organized religions such as yours are hemorrhaging numbers.

Some take up non-traditional spiritual practices. Some are non-believers. That's the great thing though - THEY are choosing, they're not following your rigid dogma.

That's what scares the mainstream religions such as yours, g. And it's why you are so upset whenever anyone posts anything about the decline of religion, and why you invariably try and save face by reaching for an article like this to say "SEE? THEY'RE STILL RELIGIOUS IN A WAY!!!"

Yes, some are. No one has ever disputed that, of course you'd prefer if they had because then your straw man would be valid.

But you keep whistling past that graveyard, g. Don't you worry one bit.

[guillaumeb]

7. Yes, the rigid dogma meme.

I understand your need to believe this.

[trotsky]

9. Not my meme.

It's why people are leaving churches. But you don't think that's happening, so I understand your need to ignore it.

[Major Nikon]

6. ...

[guillaumeb]

8. Now that is a great one. eom

[MineralMan]

10. I first encountered the writings of Meister Eckhart

while visiting the library of the Theosophical Society near Ojai, California. He certainly influenced a bunch of spiritualists over the years. However, like all of his ilk, his poorly defined "higher power" concept didn't age well with me. Nor did Theosophy, in general, really. The Krotona Institute of Theosophy was kind enough to let local residents borrow books from its library for a small membership fee. That gave me access to a lot of volumes that can't be easily borrowed and read.

I enjoyed conversations with people there, but discovered before long that they had only vague, general ideas and a dislike of scientific knowledge and investigation. I did enjoy reading old tomes about arcane philosophical thinking, though, along with a friendly set of people who were willing to discuss almost anything.

It's a pity there isn't more of that way of looking at things in more places. Really. It's also a pity that so many people only delve into alternative philosophies at a shallow level, adopting attractive points of view, but ignoring more complex questions. Few I met had any clear idea of what they actually believed in a broad sense.

That place is still there, and its library is still available. I, however, have moved far away from that place both physically and intellectually. For those who are interested, there are Theosophical Societies in most major urban areas. Few have the resources of the Krotona Institute, but they're worth a visit if such things interest you.

For more information: http://www.krotonainstitute.org/about/

[MineralMan]

11. I'm surprised you didn't include his name in your post.

Why the omission? You realize that you can excerpt more than one paragraph, right? Have you read much of Meister Eckhart's writings? Are you familiar with his work? Or did you just find this article and drop it in here for some other reason?