Best Of

Someone who studies spirituality scientifically. Seems very helpful and grounded to me.

I think the topic of the thread has more to do with the way we hold our view of science or spirituality rather than the rigidity being in the thing itself. Or at least, our views of science and spirituality are subject to the way we approach them mentally. We can hold either science or spirituality rigidly or loosely. The straightjacket or lack thereof exists in us more than it does out there.

Here is my poorly worded, addled stab at it.

Science is the study of the physiological phemomia. Even psychology is within the measurable relm. it deals with our reaction to stimuli and what synaps are associated with X Y or Z. it deals with how we may change our reactiond based upon a measurable and identifiable input.
Spirituality including religion, deals with the immeasurable.
in terms of religion, there is the story:

A man approached a leader/mentor within a particular school of Buddhism.
He stated that he had been studying and observing this school for 20 years.
He knew it's history and it's positive effects, philosophy, etc.
He knew all about it, but was at a loss as to how or what actually made it work.
To this, the leader/mentor replied that, with that study, there was one element missing.
The man was encouraged to apply all that knowledge by doing the practice.
Upon doing so, the man quickly, and with great appreciation, understood.

The scientific study of the theory, and other aspects, from a third person perspective, gave the man a theoretical undertanding of the philosophy and mechanics of the practice. But only when he actually crossed the line to open the spiritual application, actions, did he truely undertand. We can study all there is about riding a bicycle. But, if we never actually ride a bike, we will never know the actuality of riding a bike.

All this, of course means Science is the observation, study and measurement of ideas and things. Engineering is manifesting these concepts, theories, in a material form.
Spirituality is going into the immeasurable. The study of life itself, rather than just the physical, observable, measurable manifestations of life.

Peace to all

@Lionduck said:
Spirituality is going into the immeasurable.

That I think is closer to the truth. Jiddu Krishnamurti once said, “truth is a pathless land” and he indicated that in a spiritual search one could not follow any man or doctrine. But the conditioning which we pick up from toys, clothes, parents, teachers, schools, the government, they all limit the paths we walk.

In order to walk and pursue the truth freely, we have to perceive and let go of the conditionings. It’s a slow process. Science is a good tool for examining the physical world, and it even says some things about spirituality and the origins of life. But once you start looking at the self, at consciousness, at the immaterial realms, it is a serious constraint.

The thing is, many of the things you encounter in an Ayahuasca experience are not physical, but our spirit is profoundly affected by them. Things like magical chants, song, myths and legends all acquire a kind of meaning that renders them significant as the mind expands.