Philosophy seems to be what you do on this website, so I curious as to which system of thought you follow. That’s basically what I’m asking.

I have been downloading and reading your articles for some time now. YOu are very well read and have a bright Mind, and for a very young person with so much achievement you are still very humble, these are rare qualities in a human being. All this indicates to a soul looking for the meaning of life or something more to do in life.

You Mention “For me, making money, folding laundry and consuming food are just as important to deriving meaning in my life as anything else. Without them, I would starve to death, broke and covered in dirty laundry. How is that supposed to contribute to the meaning I draw from life?”

To answer this I would suggest you read some of the writings of the Indian Saint – Ramana Maharashi – who simplified spirituality by asking only one Simple Question – “Who Am I ” – Am I a son of so & so, Am i the Husband of my wife, am I the ego self or this human body which is born and will die, Am I the generator of my thoughts, where do these thoughts come from, am i creating, destroying or protecting the concepts, am i the actor or the director. Who am I?

As we go deeper into our source of our thoughts we will find that we can do without a lot of things which lets us escape this give and take relationship that we have with life where we give our life and time to make money or do our laundry etc which is again done to fulfil some of our never ending needs and finally when we ask how much money do i need – we may put a figure there but managing that and protecting that from misuse or loss will become the main purpose of our life instead of enjoying the money. Hence money is a tool and to live a life but do we need it & can we live without it ?.

If you can sincerely start asking the question “Who am I” and why am i born into this world, what learning should i get & where do i go from here i am sure you will find a more fulfilling life.

None of This is Spirituality but only Self Enquiry which we do any way.
I believe we are what we think and we think what we experience and we experience what we were supposed to or destined to go thru and as this chain goes on it comes back to the same question Who or What Am I?

Do give this some thought, I am no expert in these matters but only a seeker looking for answers just as you are.

All the best – Enjoy your Europe Trip.

Best regards

http://the-brights.net/

We all should live life for the now and not an uncertain here-after because the now is all we really control over.

I wouldn’t say the overuse of a word makes it meaningless, but the misuse of it. Like for example many people use “sarcastic” when they actually mean “ironic” and vice versa. Going on the definition, I’ve been misusing spirituality myself, but I personally blame Oprah

Btw Darin, I believe we’re all free to decide what is valuable in our lives or what is of higher or lower pursuit in our lives. There is no real guidelines on this and it’s all down to what we decide. I think that is what Scott was trying to say. That in the end it’s up to us to decide, not something ‘outside’ of us. If it’s important to you, do it. If not, don’t.

I don’t think you believe that. You don’t really believe pursuing laundry has the same value as pursuing virtue. If you did then I don’t understand the reason this blog exists. Your sub title “Get More From Life” seems to imply certain things offer more than others. I realize you could argue that you get more by putting all the things, supposed lower and higher, in proper balance. However, by the very nature of suggesting a proper balance you are saying there are things that are essential.

For instance, what if I want to do laundry, eat, sleep, and then watch TV with all my remaining hours, can that get me “more from life” if its what I find valuable. Based on your quest for personal improvement that doesn’t seem to be a take you would agree with. So that would imply you believe certain areas of personal virtue are critical to getting more from life and they are things you must undertake yourself. I doubt you would argue that doing your laundry personally would be essential if you could afford to pay someone else to do it. Yet paying someone else to do your “virtue” doesn’t provide you any “more from life” because its a higher pursuit.

Apparently nobody is picking up on my mild sarcasm, re wikipedia…

-Scott

The vagueness of the term lets us apply it to anything. Everyone is always spiritual in some form. That universality renders it objectively meaningless, as you said, Scott. It’s interesting to listen to people discuss spiritual concepts and to parcel out the claims which have relevance to anyone but the speaker. Invariably almost nothing of substance is found, except stories. That’s not a bad thing, except where the stories distort reality in a way which is harmful.

yours etc..
Steve