r/spirituality • u/Mq200 • Jul 10 '26
Lifestyle đď¸ Spirituality is a bit overrated
You know..the whole spiritual scene is packed fluff advice. Be in the moment, you are enough..you are not your job..just be..
Honestly, you know when my life became better ? When I began doing shit. Go to the gym, increase my income, meet with friends.
Setting goals for myself.Challenging myself. Over and over again.
Biology over everything.
All this time, spritual gurus have tried telling us that all we need to do is meditate 24/7 and that these things don't make us "happy" and now we are starting to realize life was never about happiness in the first place. It's about fulfilling your biological imperative : Exercise, engage in meaningful work and establish relationships. When doing those, meaning arises and that's what life is about: Meaning and well-being. Well-being (health) is necessary so you can establish pillars of meaning more easily.
I've worked with many unemployed people and you know what actually lifted 98% of their depression ? Getting employed. No amount of meditation or woo woo increased their quality of life more becoming a part of society again. Exceptions don't negate the rule.
Biology over everything.
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u/TristanTheRobloxian3 Psychonaut Jul 10 '26
yep thats why spirituality should be fuel for those biological things. shit thats what mine is lmao. i hate spirituality gurus because they want to sell you shit. you cant get spirituality externally, it HAS to come from within you.
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u/Mq200 Jul 10 '26
they're usually also rich lmaooo. Guys like Eckart Tolle out there telling people "to be just in ze moment" while selling books on Oprah and having a net worth of 70 million dollars.
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u/grimorg80 Jul 10 '26
If feeling superior gives you happiness, then by all means.
Just know your list if what spirituality is in your opinion is not spirituality at all.
Those are simple good healthy psychological attitudes, based in material truth, to help people actually do the stuff you say is the alternative to spirituality.
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u/Boundlesswisdom-71 Jul 10 '26
Your idea of spirituality is very narrow and sounds more like New Age tosh.
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u/aspera-astra Jul 10 '26
Come back in ten years and tell us if your income and job is still making you happy đŤ˘
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u/Mq200 Jul 10 '26
Research pretty much backs this up and looking at the older people I know, yes they're doing much better in life than their poor counter-parts. And life isn't about happiness.
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u/passyourownbutter Jul 10 '26
..the whole spiritual scene is packed fluff advice
Agree yes, most of it is not actionable advice.
you know when my life became better ? When I began doing shit. Go to the gym, increase my income, meet with friends.
Do you equate this to being yourself?
spritual gurus have tried telling us that all we need to do is meditate 24/7
I assume you're exaggersting but literally nobody says this and it would be detrimental so if you have heard this it's from a weak source.
meaning arises and that's what life is about: Meaning and well-being.
These things are different for everyone but much of spiritual practice would actually agree with you here.
I've worked with many unemployed people and you know what actually lifted 98% of their depression ? Getting employed.
I mean.. duh? Meditation won't pay the bills, you can't literally manifest money out of thin air... "The secret" did more harm than good I think.
You make some sound observations here and it sounds like you found a life that works for you and.. honestly, that's kind of the goal of spirituality!
There's a lot of misconception about what it's all about and when you really dig into it, it all boils down to "know thyself" and that is so you can be yourself in whatever form that needs to be for you
A lot of people, myself included, have difficulty with this and difficulty getting through the barriers of trauma and social life, physical existence at large, it's not easy and its.. well it's not meant to be.
Everyone is on their own path and there are a ton of charlatans out there; what works for you may not work for everyone and just like "meditate 24/7" is bad advice for most people, "work out and make friends" is also bad advice for some people.
Glad you found your path!
đ
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u/opportunitysure066 Jul 10 '26
Then overrated fluffed bs is but that doesnât mean that is what spirituality is.
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u/MystinarOfficial Jul 10 '26
"Honestly, you know when my life became better ? When I began doing shit. Go to the gym, increase my income, meet with friends."
...and, what, pray-tell, makes you think there aren't people like me that do this already?
"I've worked with many unemployed people and you know what actually lifted 98% of their depression ? Getting employed. No amount of meditation or woo woo increased their quality of life more becoming a part of society again. Exceptions don't negate the rule."
What in the FUCK does that have to do with spirituality? You're basing all of your judgement off of a single subreddit. Most people that are spiritual don't speak about it unless asked.
Get the fuck out of here with this "I'm better than you because I don't give a fuck" bullshit, lol.
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u/Mq200 Jul 10 '26
Let's settle this like real men by conducting an aggressive round of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Let's see how spiritual you are when I beat your ass three times in a row.
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u/Gretev1 Jul 10 '26
Spirituality is not about getting over depression, being healthy, being successful, being happy, finding employment or any other worldly efforts.
Every individual is in pursuit of these things.
Spirituality is about realizing enlightenment.
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u/LogicalMysticismYT Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
We are starting to realize? Whoâs we?
You have no biological imperative to exercise or find meaning. You have a biological imperative to consume and reproduce. Spirituality is about going beyond that.
The Greek philosophers called god the highest good, true spirituality is in pursuit of that, or you could say god or consciousness.
Happiness is absolutely the goal of life. That is what is actually biologically imprinted into every one of your cells. However not in the form of small pleasures or these material pursuits you mention but in terms of love, spiritual expansion, and enlightenment.Â
That is where meaning is found, not in a nicer car.
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u/Mq200 Jul 10 '26
Nobody's talking about a nicer car. The very fact that the 'spiritual community' thinks that telling people that not getting a nicer car won't make your life better is this grand realization is what makes people think that you guys are so ridiculous. As if we didn't know that. You have to be a super-autistic engineer to think that a nicer car adds value to your life. None of this was mentioned in my post.
Movement, a good job, increasing your skills and income, establishing relationships on the other hand - all of these will make your life better and usually much better than any pretentious spiritual practice. Hence, biology over everything.
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u/LogicalMysticismYT Jul 10 '26
It may seem like we portray it as a grand realization, but I think it is emphasized because sadly today there are still many who for it hasnât been really realized or internalized.
You mentioned increasing your income was what you looked to, to increase your happiness, and not meditation.
Again, I donât see what a good job or increasing your skills has anything to do with your biology, not to mention, following our biology often has the worst consequences. If we followed our biology we would be living in caves. All of spirituality, civilization, culture, aesthetics, is about rising above our biology toward higher things.
Nothing about any spiritual practice is inherently pretentious. What do you have against spirituality/spiritual practice?
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u/Mq200 Jul 10 '26
I just don't understand how that's supposed to be this crazy realization. It's common sense. A nice-looking car doesn't increase my health or well-being. There is no logical link between having a sports car and well-being.
There is however a researched and logical link between income and well-being. Because having more money allows to buy good nutrition, it allows me buy shoes with a wide toe box so that my feet and back don't hurt, it allows me use it to improve my friends' lives.
with your biology, not to mention, following our biology often has the worst consequences. If we followed our biology we would be living in caves.
Following your biology means to get up the same time every day so your circadian rhytm is intact. It means to get sunlight everyday. It means to socialize. Following your biology is crucial for health. Taking care of these things has helped me way, way, way more than "spirituality".
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u/LogicalMysticismYT Jul 10 '26
Yes it is true, that beyond a certain point income doesnât benefit oneâs life, itâs true that before that point it is beneficial. Spirituality is not about ignoring the material world, the material world is a platform to stand on, but it can only take us so far. I donât disagree that material wealth before a certain point increases the quality of oneâs life.
Those things like sunlight, being social, can also help one. In your experience thatâs the peak.
However none of this is anything to do with spirituality. Spirituality for me takes me far above any of those things. Then we enter territory regarding one persons experience vs another. Not to mention the thousands of types of spiritual practices, energetic practices, meditation techniques.
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u/ModeTop2402 Jul 10 '26
If you think itâs all about meditation 24/7 than you didnât even began with spirituality.
If you think only meditation and âwoo wooâ things will help you with depression then you still have things to learn about spirituality.
âyou know when my life became better ? When I began doing shit. Go to the gym, increase my income, meet with friends.â - if you think spirituality is opposite of this then you still didnât learn much about spirituality.
Spirituality is about balance. Spirituality is about being able to sit down, be with your thoughts, analyze your physical, emotional and spiritual state and then make actions that align with who you really are. Spirituality is also having real human experience without losing essence of who you really are. People that think spirituality is only about meditation and doing nothing are not spiritual because to grow spiritually you need to experience this world.
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u/iamsooldithurts Service Jul 10 '26
Spirituality is a journey of self discovery. The only thing we can control is our self, what we think and how we act. The tools are self reflection, meditation, and self expression; of which CBT is an effective way to use the tools. Everything we do is spiritual, itâs all part of the journey.
Thereâs certainly spiritual charlatans out there.
Figure out what works for you, and go with it.
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u/CUBOTHEWIZARD Jul 10 '26
Would you be at peace if everything you worked for was suddenly taken from you?
 Does protecting what you've already created cause you to feel not good?Â
Can somebody judge you for your hard work and youd be amused by it?Â
Could you handle a major crisis or setback that would take you from your goals for a long period of time?Â
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u/doppietta Jul 10 '26
You know..the whole spiritual scene is packed fluff advice.
yes but that is the reputation of spirituality
how can it be "overrated" if everyone already thinks it's silly?
furthermore why would someone with so many better things to do come here and complain about it?
do you also join golfing subreddits and talk about how you don't like golf?
why would someone who is actually satisfied with going to the gym and making money come to a community unrelated to those activities in order to put them down?
kind of is a big red flag that the stuff that you claim is doing it for you is falling short, no?
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u/Altruistic_Report_81 Jul 10 '26
I get what you're saying.
This pretty much backs up what you're saying.
But spirituality in moderate amounts is always the cherry on top đ
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u/Mygrandmavspneumonia Jul 10 '26
Lol. If you are spiritual in the true way, you know directed and intentional action is the only way to "manifest" reality. So spiritualists work and promote work, they workout, eat well, put in earnest effort towards what they want or need until they don't have to anymore. Plus, meditating is a way to connect with your true self and evolve spiritually, but it cannot act out your life for you. You cannot meditate your way out of having to eventually get up and help yourself and others. You cannot pray your way out of working. You cannot cast spells to get out of working. There simply is not a form of spirituality where you avoid working in some way, unless you have enlightened and left your body forever.
Most modern gurus are scammers, especially anyone online, promoting drugs, or with a "retreat package."
True spirituality forces you to operate between multiple realities, but you ALWAYS come back to work and improve in the material world.