Story highlights We all fall somewhere on the sliding scale of belief and unbelief, Deepak Chopra says Skepticism is a way station on the way to a higher, more fulfilling kind of spirituality, he says <\/p>\n
Standing back a bit, faith is on a rheostat, not an on-off switch. Putting God into the position of yes\/no, belief\/unbelief doesn't really reflect the modern state of faith. There are gradations of belief. In fact, 17% of people who identify as atheists still go to church -- they have social and family reasons for their choice rather than religious ones. <\/p>\n
We all fall somewhere on the sliding scale of belief and unbelief. Secular society has sharpened our demand for truth. To me, this is a positive development. If belief in God can't stand up to proof, it won't sustain a person through difficult times. <\/p>\n
Deepak Chopra <\/p>\n
I consider skepticism a way station on the way to a higher, more fulfilling kind of spirituality. <\/p>\n
Millions of people have walked away from organized religion to become more spiritual, not less. They call themselves seekers; their disbelief is a starting point for starting their own investigations. <\/p>\n
Where the census form asks what faith they belong to, they might not have a ready answer, but that's not important. What's important is walking your own spiritual path. As a lifelong goal, it's one of the most rewarding. <\/p>\n
What's not rewarding is to base your belief or unbelief on secondhand opinion. Being a knee-jerk skeptic is as limiting as being a knee-jerk fundamentalist. In both cases, the mind is being conditioned by others. <\/p>\n
In my own conception of God as the source of consciousness, creativity, intelligence, love and evolution, the reason to be spiritual is to increase all of those qualities. <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the goal of many faiths is to obey dogma and accept a cultural mythology. Atheism can do good by casting a skeptical light on cultural mythologies, but believing in nothing but the material world is cold comfort. <\/p>\n
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Visit link: Story highlights We all fall somewhere on the sliding scale of belief and unbelief, Deepak Chopra says Skepticism is a way station on the way to a higher, more fulfilling kind of spirituality, he says Standing back a bit, faith is on a rheostat, not an on-off switch. Putting God into the position of yes\/no, belief\/unbelief doesn't really reflect the modern state of faith. Continue reading
\nDeepak Chopra: The problem with atheism<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"