Has spirituality helped or hindered your happiness?

[BlessedLion]

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if i had never come across meditation and the pursuit of enlightenment. Meditation has helped me grow in many ways and learn so much about myself and being, but sometimes i feel i am wasting my life chasing it too much. Yoga retreats, meditations retreats, books, youtube all on enlightenement and "healing". Do you guys ever feel the same. Would love to hear your benefits and cons of spiritual work. Mine are

Benefits;
More ccalm
Cooler 
Grounded in myself
More attractive to others
More disciplined
Sense of purpose
More loving
Less stress
Less anxiety
Less negativity
More awe and wonder at life

Cons;
Lots of time spent trying to become enlightened
Can be nuerotic about being the witness
Disassociation sometimes and other scary spiritual eperiences like questioning my sanity and reality
Money spent on retreats (don't mind this though)
CONFUSION! 
The angst of not being enlightened and why do we have to struggle so much for it, seems like a sick game

[mandyjw]

There are no cons to spirituality, there is suffering that we cause ourselves sometimes trying to figure out what direction we should go in and what we really want. Spirituality is inseparable from the rest of life. Some people know on a level of thought and speech that they are interested in it, and others don't yet.  

[Pallero]

Everything is spirit. At first, you can make yourself suffer a lot by trying to be "more spiritual". Then in time you realize that you were spiritual all along. This realization has made me happier, yes.

[Aaron p]

I like being a deep philosophical kinda guy. I have an insight that these things create real joy with time, whereas the idea of the "good life" that most societies promote degrade with time. Everyone around me is living in the fast lane in their late teens and early 20's...their life will slowly get worse and worse. Alcohol making them depressed, weed making them anxious. Unfulfilled and lost. I am just opposite to that. I get wiser, happier, deeper understanding as time goes on. My life will slowly get better and better.

My primary results as of now are; considerably less anxiety, considerably less depression, very considerably wiser. It's like I can finally enjoy life. I am fucking happy as Larry boys hahahah. I'm loving life. All I need is a meditation session, some psychedelics and a funky ass song to bop to lol. I love wisdom. It is better than silver or gold. 

It's only gonna get better haha. It's like I'm fucking cheating hahahahahah

Edited January 29, 2020 by Aaron p

[Ambalams]

Maybe the cons are just pointing at some kind of egoic block. That’s what I think. 
 

pros for me: 

I love everyone and don’t really get upset about anyone else’s behavior. My own? That’s totally different ?

i get really accurate insights about the nature of everyone, like a quick snapshot of their weaknesses and strengths etc  

I could care less if I die—actually excited to see what it’s like. 
The high consciousness moments... I mean damn... who would’ve known I could get high without drugs? It’s my new addiction ?

Mind tricks! My son thinks I’m a witch bc I’m good at knowing what he’s thinking. My husband and I are always sharing thoughts. I love the psychic perk. 
 

the cons: 
Not being in high consciousness all the damn time. Don’t fuckin tease me like that god! But then that’s my own fault bc I don’t always listen... 
I’m in between careers. In other words, I CANNOT go back to my old job, but I don’t have my new thing up and fully going. I have the pieces of it scattered everywhere but lack the focus to put it all together coherently, but that’s bc I have a small child not yet in school. Idk if that’s a con so much. I’m tired of waffle stomping shit down shower drains and I’m so excited to help others heal. 
when I fuck up, I feel really bad. I beat myself up when I lack what I believe perfection to be. 
There’s a ton of responsibility. That honestly scares me sometimes. 

[Bob Seeker]

Why don’t you go for LP? 
that’s like a spiritual practice in itself.

might allow you to go much higher.

 

[Guest Bazooka Jesus]

Wow... reading your impressive lists of pros makes me wonder if I am doing this whole damn thing wrong.

Perhaps I should just drop this spirituality nonsense and take up playing chess or knitting sweaters, lol.

[Mason Riggle]

I was severely depressed (nearly suicidal) for over two years.. it was my reaction to situations in my life which felt beyond my control.  This was about 10 years ago. This depression was, in a way, what led me to spirituality. I am no longer depressed (or anxious), even during extremely difficult times.   Haven't been for years.  I'm free. 

[The0Self]

On 1/29/2020 at 5:34 AM, BlessedLion said:

The angst of not being enlightened and why do we have to struggle so much for it, seems like a sick game

The impetus to leave a relatively comfortable, and more importantly, known, dream is generally going to be unpleasant. Just comes with the territory. Surrendering the belief in control can seem to help.

Delusion is prior to perception, so two-ness fills the entire field of view. What you’re not aware of controls you. 

Lack of context is only terrifying for the sense of self, which is illusory. Perhaps see that the past-context is demonstrably projected in the now, and therefore is other than it seems.

The safety nets to keep you from awakening are very crafty. It takes a great, prolonged, and very focused effort to break free.

 

Happiness has very little to do with truth-seeking, but the more you trust the process the smoother things get. And even though meditation has almost nothing to do with enlightenment, at least it can be like oil in the machine.

 

You’re controlling what you’re aware of, but not really, since what you aren’t aware of is controlling you. If what you’re not aware of is controlling you, then simply due to that, you’re not really in control.

The biggest “happiness-booster” is giving-over or dedication of self, in any way. Whether it’s to beauty, truth, higher power, or anything really.

Edited December 21, 2021 by The0Self

[Consilience]

To directly address the title’s question -

It has helped, immensely. I was diagnosed with a pretty vicious autoimmune disease about 6 months after I learned about enlightenment and sort of held that I could, in fact, become enlightened myself. The disease routinely causes physical and mental pain, but through a very dedicated meditation practice and all the other activities (psychedelics, contemplation, reading, youtube, some yoga, etc) Ive completely transformed my relationship with it and hold it as a gift. Moreover, spirituality has made life so much more beautiful and fulfilling. Ive also really busted my ass with meditation though to a degree I rarely see others attempt. I believe this has played a critical role.
 

Is life perfect? No. Am I always emotionally experiencing happiness? No. But these conditions are not the true fruits of the path anyways. A radical recontextualization is what we’re after. 
 

I like Shinzen's explanation of how mindfulness increases happiness in the long term:

F - Fulfillment of the senses. When we have a ‘complete’ experience of pleasure and pain, both befome fulfilling. In this sense, mindfulness is the practice of having a complete experience of whatever is arising in experience. 

I - Insight into the nature of self. As we continue to practice, we come to experientially understand what we are at deeper and deeper levels. We also come to see the perfection of this moment as it is. There is a place for cultivated improvement (slowly increase mindfulness, or “consciousness state increases”) while also recognizing the primordial perfection of reality. Holding both truths as complimentary rather than contradictory is the true spiritual path. 

R - Relief from suffering. Turns out, when we apply mindfulness to our apparent suffering, the suffering dissolves or is seen to have never actually existed. We untangle perception until we see the truth of perception. 
 

if pain x resistance = suffering

then (pain x resistance)/mindfulness = relief

M - Mastery. When we apply the skills we’re building through meditation towards our lives, we begin to approach life more masterfully. This applies both broadly, and specifically for skills we’re attempting to buikd such as programming, public speaking, making music, writing, etc. 

S - A spirit of service. We learn that when we work on ourselves, we work on the word. When we help the world, we help ourselves. Experiencing this actuality rather than a fluffy philosophy are radically distinct. 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Consilience

[Mosess]

Spirituality killed the persona that was seeking the notion of happiness.

[BipolarGrowth]

It has done a whole lot more than just “help.” It’s revolutionized my moment-to-moment experience exponentially to make it permanently better than it ever could’ve been otherwise. 

[Loba]

Spirituality has helped me in so many ways, I feel happier, healthier, freer and more clear.  I feel safer knowing that I don't die, I feel blessed that I had an awakening before understanding spirituality - that it literally called to me in my time of need and is always there - God; my guides as well - and that even though I might still have a ways to go when it comes to understanding, I understand so much more than I ever thought I could - I can read Sri Aurobindo and actually understand, whereas before 6 years ago, I never would have understood.

If spirituality did not exist, if consciousness was purely material, then I don't know where I would be.  I never would have looked for this stuff on my own, it came to me.

I feel as though it has saved me from a life of fear, meaninglessness, lovelessness and lack and given me something to look forward to.
Whatever powers that be thought that my life was worth saving and that I was deserving to know that there was more and I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity, when so many people out there who are lost, are never given a glimpse of hope.  I'm no better than any of them.  I hit the jackpot.  I won the lottery.  I was sick and suffering and God was there for me, Kali was there for me, the Wolf was there for me - I won the "game".  I fought for a sense of truth tooth and nail, and came out victorious.  I went into the belly of the beast, into death itself, and came back unscathed.  

I am an ordinary person, a no body, and yet I received a blessing, a Knowing and a sense of peace when I needed it the most.
I feel as though my soul has been saved.  That I was drowning and suffocating and the goodness of God pulled me out and resuscitated my near-corpse.  The things spirituality has done for me, no person has ever done in the way that it has - it gave me my everything.  My sense of reason for being, my sense of imagination and wonder restored, my curiosity and an entirely new interest that has so much depth to it that I could just learn about it forever and ever and barely scratch the surface.

I don't deserve what spirituality has done for me.  There are much better people in the world who have gotten less than a person like me.  If God could save someone such as myself - then it is a testament to the goodness of God.  All I had to do was look at myself with honesty, and God did the rest.  It was like my entire life was built and planned just to see, just for that moment - that I had been "chosen".  And I had.  And so are you guys.  Not a lot of people get these kinds of chances in life, to learn and to Know in the way that we get.  It is a gift that should never be squandered.

I would say that the cons are that sometimes it can be hard to determine an awakening from a delusion.  I have followed myself into clarity as well as into insanity going down the same road, with completely different results.