temptations, distractions, addictions, deadly sins, etc.

This is what I mean - you can't rid yourself of religious dogma. For example, what is the meaning of sin outside Christianity? The concept of virtue or sin assumes objective moral law and knowledge of the good. One can't get such knowledge purely from observation or experience.

You are at a point where you have bought onto the idea that we cannot explore spirituality so you haven't. You don't know the good that is out there within yourself. You give your mind and soul away to man made traditions that are just controlled opposition by the same powers that you despise.

You can naval-gaze all you want, but that won't give you an objective standard for morality. Why do "spiritual non religious" people act as any spiritual endevour (aside from organized religion because it's considered unauthentic, because it's not entirely individualistic and subjective), is always positive for the individual? Isn't it possible that what you encounter in your spiritual pursuits are evil entities or at least entities that can be harmful for you? But no, new age people always consider their spiritual experience to be beneficial and leading them to growth (whatever they decide that means). It's self-worship and it appeals to one's pride and vanity. No wonder it's so prevalent in our narcissistic degenerate society.

About the "man made traditions" argument - it comes out of protestant criticism of the Catholic Church, making it part of a man made tradition itself. And what does that even mean? What is not man made in your worldview? Aren't you a man and aren't the traditions you make (even just for yourself) man made traditions too? The problem you have with traditional religion is that it's other men and not you making them up and that it's a tradition, meaning that it predates you and is not born out of your mind (but of course every idea you hold about the world also predates you and you just adopted it, or rather it won you over; what matters then is that you are the one who gets to pick and choose which ideas you prefer, i.e. consumerism).

Besides, no Christian would agree that Christianity is a man-made tradition because that would assume Christ is not God. So I don't follow a man-made tradition to begin with. I think people can get some truth outside the Christian tradition but it's not the whole package and it's intermixed with lies and deceptions. In the end the only thing that matters is what is true and I believe Buddhism or any other religion or ideology doesn't have a strong case for that (and I've come to Christianity late in life while being a pretty convinced atheist before that). Man is weak and susceptible to manipulation (Christianity explains this by our fallen nature) and should know better than to put all our faith in himself or his kind.

temptations, distractions, addictions, deadly sins, etc.

This is what I mean - you can't rid yourself of religious dogma. For example, what is the meaning of sin outside Christianity? The concept of virtue or sin assumes objective moral law and knowledge of the good. One can't get such knowledge purely from observation or experience.

You are at a point where you have bought onto the idea that we cannot explore spirituality so you haven't. You don't know the good that is out there within yourself. You give your mind and soul away to man made traditions that are just controlled opposition by the same powers that you despise.

You can naval-gaze all you want, but that won't give you an objective standard for morality. Why do "spiritual non religious" people act as any spiritual endevour (aside from organized religion because it's considered unauthentic, because it's not entirely individualistic and subjective), is always positive for the individual? Isn't it possible that what you encounter in your spiritual pursuits are evil entities or at least entities that can be harmful for you? But no, new age people always consider their spiritual experience to be beneficial and leading them to growth (whatever they decide that means). It's self-worship and it appeals to one's pride and vanity. No wonder it's so prevalent in our narcissistic degenerate society.

About the "man made traditions" argument - it comes out of protestant criticism of the Catholic Church, making it part of a man made tradition itself. And what does that even mean? What is not man made in your worldview? Aren't you a man and aren't the traditions you make (even just for yourself) man made traditions too? The problem you have with traditional religion is that it's other men and not you making them up and that it's a tradition, meaning that it predates you and is not born out of your mind (but of course every idea you hold about the world also predates you and you just adopted it, or rather it won you over; what matters then is that you are the one who gets to pick and choose which ideas you prefer, i.e. consumerism).

Besides, no Christian would agree that Christianity is a man-made tradition because that would assume Christ is not God. So I don't follow a man-made tradition to begin with. I think people can get some truth outside the Christian tradition but it's not the whole package and it's intermixed with lies and deceptions. Man is weak and susceptible to manipulation (Christianity explains this by our fallen nature) and should know better than to put all our faith in himself or his kind.

temptations, distractions, addictions, deadly sins, etc.

This is what I mean - you can't rid yourself of religious dogma. For example, what is the meaning of sin outside Christianity? The concept of virtue or sin assumes objective moral law and knowledge of the good. One can't get such knowledge purely from observation or experience.

You are at a point where you have bought onto the idea that we cannot explore spirituality so you haven't. You don't know the good that is out there within yourself. You give your mind and soul away to man made traditions that are just controlled opposition by the same powers that you despise.

You can naval-gaze all you want, but that won't give you an objective standard for morality. Why do "spiritual non religious" people act as any spiritual endevour (aside from organized religion because it's considered unauthentic, because it's not entirely individualistic and subjective), is always positive for the individual? Isn't it possible that what you encounter in your spiritual pursuits are evil entities or at least entities that can be harmful for you? But no, new age people always consider their spiritual experience to be beneficial and leading them to growth (whatever they decide that means). It's self-worship and it appeals to one's pride and vanity. No wonder it's so prevalent in our narcissistic degenerate society.

About the "man made traditions" argument - it comes out of protestant criticism of the Catholic Church, making it part of a man made tradition itself. And what does that even mean? What is not man made in your worldview? Aren't you a man and aren't the traditions you make (even just for yourself) man made traditions too? The problem you have with traditional religion is that it's other men and not you making them up and that it's a tradition, meaning that it predates you and is not born out of your mind (but of course every idea you hold about the world also predates you and you just adopted it, or rather it won you over; what matters then is that you are the one who gets to pick and choose which ideas you prefer, i.e. consumerism).

Besides, no Christian would agree that Christianity is a man-made tradition because that would assume Christ is not God. So I don't follow a man-made tradition to begin with. I think people can get some truth outside the Christian tradition but it's not the whole package and it's intermixed with lies and deceptions. Man is weak and susceptible to manipulation (Christianity explains this by our fallen nature) and should know better than to put all our faith in himself.

temptations, distractions, addictions, deadly sins, etc.

This is what I mean - you can't rid yourself of religious dogma. For example, what is the meaning of sin outside Christianity? The concept of virtue or sin assumes objective moral law and knowledge of the good. One can't get such knowledge purely from observation or experience.

You are at a point where you have bought onto the idea that we cannot explore spirituality so you haven't. You don't know the good that is out there within yourself. You give your mind and soul away to man made traditions that are just controlled opposition by the same powers that you despise.

You can naval-gaze all you want, but that won't give you an objective standard for morality. Why do "spiritual non religious" people act as any spiritual endevour (aside from organized religion because it's considered unauthentic, because it's not entirely individualistic and subjective), is always positive for the individual? Isn't it possible that what you encounter in your spiritual pursuits are evil entities or at least entities that can be harmful for you? But no, new age people always consider their spiritual experience to be beneficial and leading them to growth (whatever they decide that means). It's self-worship and it appeals to one's pride and vanity. No wonder it's so prevalent in our narcissistic degenerate society.

About the "man made traditions" argument - it comes out of protestant criticism of the Catholic Church, making it part of a man made tradition itself. And what does that even mean? What is not man made in your worldview? Aren't you a man and aren't the traditions you make (even just for yourself) man made traditions too? The problem you have with traditional religion is that it's other men and not you making them up and that it's a tradition, meaning that it predates you and is not born out of your mind (but of course every idea you hold about the world also predates you and you just adopted it, or rather it won you over; what matters then is that you are the one who gets to pick and choose which ideas you prefer, i.e. consumerism).

Besides, no Christian would agree that Christianity is a man-made tradition because that would assume Christ is not God. So I don't follow a man-made tradition to begin with. I think people can get some truth outside the Christian tradition but it's not the whole package and it's intermixed with lies and deceptions. Man is weak and susceptible to manipulation and should know better than to put all our faith in ourselves.