Well, see, it's funny because even what I said can be called a belief-system. So there appears to be an inherent contradiction in such a statement.
My personal view is that language seems akin to a neurological grid, and if you frame statements in certain ways they might not get across much information - or only get it across to certain people, at least.
Sure, all dogmatic belief is bullshit. But I do not think that interest in the occult necessarily has to go hand in hand with dogmatic belief. In my experience, such dogmas will block all progress.
Many people on this board know of strange synchronicities that seem to be certainly impossible as coincidence. Is it any wonder that there may be certain aspects of the human mind which are hidden or ordinarily not
accessed? A whole dimension of theoretical and practical spiritual systems (be it yoga, fasting, UFO cult, magic, or simply reading books) all seem to working towards this same aim of experience with "the other" or with the raw facts of infinite space-time, which seems to behave in a very strange way indeed.
What I'm saying is basically similar to what Robert Anton Wilson was explaining in the audio to
this part of his memorial show, that all different practices which put you into exalted or open mind-states will be more likely to cause experiences of synchronicity. This rings true for me, because in my own experience it is possible to access this area of the brain at an early age and without any knowledge of methods nor theory.
Most people seem to have experiences, at different points in their lives, of being "on fire" mentally and the whole world seeming suddenly new all around them. Even, say, the time you are reading a book and
really getting into it, accessing and immediately integrating the information. Another time you could be reading the same book and have no feeling. For me, it is simply a matter of
quality of consciousness; here I am using the word quality as in the quality of a signal strength. That is to say, the experiences you have with the world around you vary in the levels of information which you are receiving from them - a simple shift in perspective or mood can cause a book to go from tiring to illuminating.
It seems like the times in life where I have been most able to "get into" the media around me were times when I was also feeling that way about the world around me and the wonder of everything. So for me it seemed like no big stretch to think that there is a collective unconscious mind and that quantum theory postulates the possibility of instantaneous transfer between two particles no matter the distance. When the quality of
my consciousness is high enough to receive a higher signal strength from the "objective universe", which it is constantly interpreting and displaying as reality, then I will receive more information from the world. This is identical to yoga states, etc. and seems to cause synchronicities to occur, for whatever reason.
Causing this to happen more frequently involves removing as many blocks from the mind as possible, hence the superstitious term "spiritual practice". I guess "spiritual" can still be accurate for me if I use this definition of spirit:
"temper or disposition of mind or outlook especially when vigorous or animated"
So really I'm just saying that I've been an atheist for pretty much my whole life, but that this statement itself is not very deep; my belief or disbelief in the objective existence of a deity or holiness of texts seems irrelevant to me in that these topics rarely enter into my thoughts or cares. The term "spiritual life" seems so outdated to me, especially as applied to things in which I have a scientific interest. I am similar to Terence McKenna in putting forth that he came to learn these things about the universe by taking the scientific route and not ignoring the phenomena he encountered in his life.
John Lilly wrote:"In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true is true or becomes true, within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the mind, there are no limits... In the province of connected minds, what the network believes to be true, either is true or becomes true within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the network's mind there are no limits."
"sombunall"
OK, done ranting.
This is what I meant about language being a neurological grid - it takes this long for me to properly explain myself within the confines of a statement such as "All religious belief and ritualization is bullshit."
I guess all I
really needed to say is that "One man's garbage is another man's treasure"; just because it's bullshit doesn't mean I can't read the books or follow the exercises and get real use and value out of interpreting it.