UnbornTao

We bullshit ourselves. That's the main issue. If we don't clearly and personally "experience" our nature or that of existence, of what use is pretending? Even worse, a conceptual system may be confused for consciousness, which is why many people may think and imply to be enlightened. Is it true though? If we were honest to ourselves in the first place, acknowledging one's lack of consciousness in the matter wouldn't be that big of an issue. That insight would provide some openness. If someone were to point a gun at us, most would be hard-pressed to admit that we're ignorant, and this is OK. This is when inquiry can begin.

I'd go in the direction of what @Vajra is pointing out. acknowledge that you enjoy the mental gymnastics and entertainment, or; cut out the bs and start contemplating, discovering stuff in your experience

Keeping up that positive spirit!

What do you want to be up to before you die?

@Carl-Richard Religion is a confession of having failed at personal experience. It denigrates the movement towards honesty by adopting more beliefs. Granted, there might be some benefits for some people to gain from engaging in either religion or spirituality, such as a sense of communion and shared values, but these are social. Even what so-called spiritual people are up to is being followers, not serious contemplators. Entertaining stories and theories that approve of their worldviews are much preferred over a personal investigation. And then, there are a few individuals who want to know.

A sense of emptiness accompanies the lack of authentic self-expression.

@MellowEd Stop the nonsense already. "Whatever one frequently thinks and ponders upon, that will become the inclination of his mind."

I think this is a common phenomenon. Without the expectation there wouldn't be disappointment. It is an ineffective mind pattern, renew your wonder each time and question now.

Most of them seem to be engaged in one form of believing or another.

Remain presently vulnerable in a wide-open state; this is powerful and authentic as opposed to clinging to old presumptions and jumping to conclusions!

Depends on how you define each. If spirituality is defined as the pursuit of direct experience, I'd say very few are spiritual. At that point it'd be more accurate to call it truth seeking. Humans may be driven to believe, regardless of form. Belief does occur in both; it is fundamental in religion while in spirituality it is also significant but given some leeway. Depends on what each person is up to. A direct inquiry doesn't seem to be commonly pursued, believing is much easier and keeps one off the hook. Having breakthroughs must step beyond the realm of belief; this is what people like Gautama presumably did. Also there's the phenomenon of trust which is another thing to look into.

Good. Set those beliefs aside, they're ultimately hearsay, pointers at best. You seem to be pointing out a common dynamic with students – getting disappointed with the teachings after some time, based on the sense that it might all be "bullshit", that it might not be true. This sense is based on the recognition that what you had about the work was essentially conceptual and believed, therefore their reality hasn't been yet directly experienced and verified. Now the real work of going after what's true can begin. Question, wonder, contemplate.

@MellowEd You should do some serious work in the domain of assumptions.

Cotton-candy Hell. For diabetics exclusively. --- AI image.

They weren't teaching religion, though. Religion is what the original communication turns into when people fail to grasp it.

Then make a leap of faith.

Regardless of excuses, if it isn't true, it isn't true. I'd start with questioning what a belief is. If there's willingness to question whether the Tooth Fairy is real, I don't think it's that hard to do. @CroMagna Hell is (equivalent to) the Tooth Fairy. @Inliytened1 It is easier said than done, it seems to me. If one is unwilling then that's an unworkable position as you implied. A willingness to question is essential on your part. From that, it is a fairly straightforward process especially when it comes to obvious beliefs. What do I truly know? Have I actually experienced the reality of this? If I stop believing that this is the case, what's left in my experience?

They can simply not think that or stop regarding it as the truth.

May be true in some cases but I think this is mostly BS. In some level they already recognize that deep down what they're really doing is believing (pretending); behind one's fervor and conviction, we fundamentally don't know. The discomfort of uncertainty might be what drives the need to believe in the first place. The condition of uncertainty remains but it is just covered up with "knowledge" and hearsay. Given that, I don't think it's hard to see how it is an activity of your making -- how it is taking a thought as true whose reality hasn't been personally and directly experienced). "My religion is not deceiving myself." – Milarepa.

Microsoft is starting to replace some of the Windows kernel components with Rust (already shipped an insider preview with that language at the end of last year), and Linux devs are adding Rust to the kernel as well. Memory safety with no performance compromise is an essential use case from what I've heard.

"First take the plank out of your own eye..."

The fear that you have is irrational and unfounded. You've adopted on faith a concept of hell from an outside source, and now you worry about what could happen if it is let go of. First notice that at some point you didn't have such belief. Whatever you are must exist prior to mind activity.

That's already in some level a confession of interest in what's true, and a good starting point since you're questioning and being honest! What else is there to pursue? True in all regards, existential, experiential, absolute and relative. What's effective? What's true? What's factual? Mastering a skill, an emotion, your mind, itself requires unearthing what's real about your chosen field and, learning and perceiving reality accurately. And what's absolute requires direct consciousness.

Be honest and keep moving towards that.

In short, be what's needed. A teacher is there primarily to facilitate learning. What works best for that purpose in any given situation? In retrospect, we might find that the uncompromising teachers were the effective ones, the ones from whom we learned the most; their main service was to our learning rather than to our immediate desires and preferences. Contemplate what makes an effective teacher and become that.