Spirituality
Sitakaliism is the spirituality I created for myself when I was fourteen years old. After going through a phase of depression, and a bout of God-hatred, I managed to find myself in a series of young-adult fiction novels called The Last Vampire. I used the main character, Sita, as the main goddess in my eclectic pantheon. Kali is my favourite of all the gods in existing religions, hence the name Sitakaliism.
The main rule of Sitakaliism is as follows:
Nobody but me can be a Sitakaliist. This is simply to prevent others from blindly following someone else’s beliefs. If someone’s beliefs are similar to my own, that is fine, but they must come up with their own name for their spirituality.
Sitakaliism is split up into a more spiritual aspect, which involves the mystic gods and goddesses of my pantheon, and the more philosophical aspect, which I call Duality. It is not called Duality because I believe that everything in nature is polarized into good and bad; quite the opposite (not to polarize things or anything). Duality is based on the Taoist belief that nothing can exist without its opposite, and everything has a bit of its opposite in it (a visual representation is the yin-yang symbol). So, for example, all men have a feminine aspect to them, and women a masculine aspect. All cruel people have a bit if kindness in them, and all kind people have a bit of cruelty.
Some of my fundamental beliefs are:
1. “Do as thou wilt and harm none.” This is the Golden Rule, different versions of which are found in virtually all of the world’s religions. This simply means that you may do as you please, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.
In reality, it’s not simple at all. You must be careful, to prevent harm to others. This is different from the “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” belief (another version of the Golden Rule), because I do not believe everyone would be okay with the same things being done to them. If that doesn’t make sense, here’s an example:
Say that Martha is polyamorous by nature, and is in a relationship with Bob, who is monogamous. Martha goes by the “do unto others rule,” therefore not seeing any problem with sleeping with another man, since she wouldn’t mind if Bob did the same thing to her. But what will hurt Bob is different from what will hurt Martha. Martha needs to be sensitive to the fact that people are different. If she had gone by the “do as thou wilt and harm none” rule, she would have asked herself what would have harmed Bob instead.
2. A connection with the spiritual involves a connection with the practical; the real. They are not separate. Therefore, you cannot go off into la-la land and be enlightened when you have done nothing for the people or other creatures of this earth. Some say that in order to help the world, first you must know yourself, or help yourself. This may be partially true, but don’t take it too far. In order to truly know yourself, you must understand your relationship with the rest of humanity, and the rest of the planet. You must understand that simply looking out for your own interests hurts everyone, including – eventually – yourself. To say that you must help yourself first before helping anyone else, is like saying you must feed yourself before you can drink any water. You actually need both, at the same time.
3. No devils exist except here on Earth. The only hell that exists is the one we create (for ourselves and for others). We must stop fearing the unknown when there are plenty of well-known things for us to fear already. Stop trying to save people’s souls from some mystical hellfire if their souls are already being shattered by the world around them. Stop dismissing things as “evil,” and come to the realization that evil is within human potential, not some abstract demon. Since it is within human potential, evil can be dealt with.
4. Cruelty and violence are not destroyed with cruelty and violence. Justice and revenge are never the same thing. You cannot fight fire with fire and expect to win. This concept angers a lot of people, and rightly so. How dare I suggest that someone who has suffered at the hands of another not seek retribution! However, what many do not understand is that I am not saying that a victim has no right to retaliate. It is possible for someone to have a right to something, and for that something to still not be the best idea. Yes, you can take the eye of the person who has blinded you, but I ask you, what does that really accomplish, besides some kind of shallow, temporary sense of closure? Sometimes it causes the victim psychological harm to retaliate.
Those who are angered by this accuse me of having never experienced true pain at the hands of another. Without fully disclosing my deepest secrets, let me say that that simply is not true, in any sense.
By the same token, war will never stop evil. It may weaken it, or slow it down, but ultimately war creates violence in the psyches of people who have already experienced enough for one lifetime. It perpetuates an ongoing cycle of cruelty that has existed since the Neolithic era.
My point is, don’t preach empty things about how you have no right to harm a human being if they’ve harmed you. The most important thing is to the look at the consequences. This isn’t about an individual’s rights, it’s about what will ultimately stop the perpetuation of violence in society as a whole.
5. Never dismiss your actions, or anyone else’s, as “human nature.” I have made this point several times before. Humans are naturally adaptive beings. It is in our nature to be able to adapt to a peaceful lifestyle, just has we have adapted over the years to violence. This isn’t just something that has been seen throughout history; it is true on a biological and psychological level. Blaming “human nature” for our negative qualities just confirms that we are trapped; we cannot change. And that’s simply not true.
If you wish to hold human nature responsible for positive qualities, on the other hand, go right ahead. That does no harm.
Hi, gr8 post thanks for posting. Information is useful!
I just added the flnolwiog quotation: “If there is life after death then there is economic life after death, because the axioms of praxeology apply to immortals equally well as they apply to mortals. Volitional consciousness, itself, necessitates the desire to act, thus Nirvana is only achievable if death is real. By the way, ‘Nirvana’ is just a code-word for ‘death.’”
I know what you say on 2 where the spiritual involves a connection with the practical.I just got it on that.
I used to only go with being in the clouds and caring for my own needs.I know better now.Both must be acted on at the same time.
Almost Sitakali
You are 58% Sitakaliist!
I don’t know what it means other than your test results. I know something is with me that is feminine. Might even be Shiva or Durga, or from the Gnostics, Sophia.
It could be a fire spirit that the Nazarene Essenes know too. I don’t know. And that is where I am at in life.
I’m spiritual, but remain in unknown. In fact, sometimes I use this symbol [X]
It means integral part of unknown. I’m part of something unknown per say.
And then I’ve used the fairy. Originally maybe a fire spirit.
These resonate with me. …Deer, Rainbows, Stones, the smell of leaves, Water and Fire. Vishnu and Indira also make sense. I love the magic you hold in the old ticker there (O:
Thank you.
Neil,News flash from Mises.org:” Stephan Kinsella April 21, 2011 at 10:09 amWildberry has now been belckod as being a troll-ish waste of everyone’s time.”It appears Stephan has the luxury of banning anyone that disagrees with his views. Marx would be proud.
I am a great admirer of this spirituality of yours. You are wise beyond your years. I wonder how you managed to develop the emotional and spiritual muscle to articulate all this, or if you are just a very “old soul.”
With a lot of help from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley.
Lots of things are true in this article. But I do believe that when enough talking has been done and no positive result is coming against cruelty, its morally ethically and religiously fine to pick sword and fight back against evil.
I also think that God help those who help themselves so its good to have your own spiritual growth rather thatn relyin on others and get cheated in the end.
I feel their are two kind of spiritualities. One is of being a doer. We humanbeings can do what ever we want and ultimately are liable for our actions and reactions. Second is when we have tried enough and a point comes when we have to leave things in God’s hands and will.
I personally feels that God is there , I feel it when I pray from my heart, someone out there listens.
Sandeep:-)
Dealing with injustice and evil is a very complex issue. I’m not sure exactly where I stand, but I do know that the world’s current stance on war and violence is destructive and pointless. I believe that at the very least, every alternative option should be exhausted before violence is used.
I do not believe in leaving things in God’s hands. For one, I do not believe in God in a supernatural sense, I believe that god is the universe, and all of the observable forces of nature. Every action we take affects others; similarly, every action we don’t take affects others. To stand idly by while injustice occurs can be just as violent as helping perpetuate injustice.
So if by “leave things in God’s hands,” you mean humans take a moral stand on the side of justice and love, then yes, I agree. If you mean we must step aside and allow whatever will happen to happen, I don’t agree…but then you don’t seem to agree with that either, considering your stance on fighting against evil.
i have loved this and admired this for you. i think it is amazing. the only thing i don’t like is that you say you are the only one who can be a sitakalist. this as you say, is because you do not want other people “blindly” following other people’s beliefs. That is benevolent and logical, but i will tell you why i do not like it.
if the spirit is part of being, and the being is inevitably shared with others, then why not the spirit? you discovered and created (perhaps it was always there and you found it) sitakalism, it freed you, it opened you.if it resonates with others, then that is not blind on their parts. in a world so full of pressure to conform, to resonate with this truly no-conforming spirituality is the beacon of self-awareness. there would therefore be nothing “blind” to someone following sitakalist.
you may be concerned that they are following you, and not the spirituality, perhaps. being the creator and founder, this is a genuine concern. but just because you opened the door that you discovered does not mean when others walk through the door behind you that they are following you. they have a choice, always, and you did not force them.
if you are saying that people should find for themselves what motivates them, and they find this, did they follow blindly?
no two people will ever be the same, so even someone else was to call themselves a sitakalist, they would never be the same as you and your faith as a sitakalist.
it sounds like you do not want this to become an organized spiritual practice with rules and customs. of course that ignores that the bright side of rules and customs are the basis of tradition and faith in the things that you do, that they work and they are good (good as in gives you faith) and therefore many people do them. it just sounds like you do not want the baggage of the spiritual heirarchy which says that you have to do certain things spiritually because they are better. but that is not central to sharing your faith with others and having other people adopt it. you could simply stress these components when you welcome other people to embrace sitakalism on their spiritual paths.
Hi Neon,
Thank you for that interesting perspective. You should feel free to call yourself a Sitakaliist, if you really wish to, as it is just a name. As an individual, your beliefs will inevitably be very different from mine. The thing is, my spirituality changes with me. It started out more agnostic, and now I am an atheist. I see things differently, but I am still a Sitakaliist, because Sitakaliism is still the belief system of Sandy (me). This post lists the fundamental philosophies, which have not changed. But some of the more spiritual aspects have. The fundamental philosophies of Sitakaliism (which I call Duality) are probably very similar to the fundamental philosophies that a lot of people hold, yet their overall spirituality may be very different.
For example, I worship the goddesses Sita (which is a hybrid of a book character and other aspects that I like) and Kali, in a symbolic way. I have other gods/goddesses and very personal rituals. I guess what I’m getting at is that the whole thing is very personal for me. I like to share my journey with others to encourage them to find their own path. However, I’m not going to copyright the name of the spirituality, because that would be silly and propertarian. So if you or anyone else wishes to use that word, just remember that it is a different Sitakaliism from mine, because you have come to your own beliefs through your own path.
I hope this helps?
Yes, your last point gets to the heart of the issue (but it apply’s to lirrbtaeians as well). They like to pretend the laws of the market are natural laws, rather than a chosen set of arrangements whose justification is and only is their effectiveness. The Natural Law of property is that you own what you can defend and nothing more.
“What is the focus of your life? What are your desires, your wants and cravings? Did you consciously choose them or do they just seem to be there? Do they control you, or do they exist for your enjoyment? Do you simply react to the world around you, or consciously act with purpose in all things, unhindered by what the world does? Are you actively creating who you are, being who you are, or do you let instinct, desires and outside factors determine your development?
“Reincarnation is not about what happens when you die. It is about what happens from moment to moment. Right now, you have moved in some way from who you were just a moment ago. Did you move closer or further from Reality, and do you even know? The power of who you are is in your hands, do not neglect this. Do not let the world decide for you.
“Focus on the compassion within you. It is what you really are, and will guide you to who you wish to be. Only through compassionate love for all things can you find yourself, and begin to consciously determine who you are. There is no other way. Love the world despite what it appears to be, what it thinks it is. Love the world for what it truly is. Use the strength of your compassion to take on the suffering of the world, and use the strength of your unconditional love to overcome it. Then you will see… there is only Love.
“You are all glorious beings. Each one of you will one day fully awaken to the Love that you are. It is inevitable. You cannot escape from your Self. The beauty of your Being eclipses all else. The Fire within you, that is me, as the Fire within me is truly you. I am telling you nothing your heart has not sung to you endlessly. Love. Love unconditionally, without fear, without desire. Love because you are Love. Know this, and know joy.”
~The Caterpillar Sutra
The heart of Caterpillaritarianism. Non-action. Which I have always thought translates better as non-reaction. Don’t react to what the world does, instead consciously and willfully love all things unconditionally.