Charles,
Spirituality and religion are different animals. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is quite clearly spirituality.
Here is a quote from the Dalai Lama's new book, "Ethics for the New Millenium" concerning the difference between religion and spirituality.
"I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims to slavation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural relity, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual,prayer, and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit-such as love and compasssion,patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony-which brings happiness to both self and others."
If you look at those qualitites he mentions concerning spirituality, meditation(navel-gazing) is a very legitimate method of developing and/or examining those same qualities in one's self.
Mark |
