Spiritual Fallacies
Many people prefer to be called “spiritual” and not “religious.” Most of us are familiar with the toxic nature of bad religions. But there are also many toxic spiritual beliefs, which are fallacies. I am compiling a list. Here are a few for starters:
1. The mind is ego: This is totally baseless. Critical thinking requires the mind. Philosophy requires the mind. Science requires the mind. To bash the mind is the most idiotic thing I have seen among “spiritual” people.
2. You see people as evil because you are projecting your own shadow. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung are two of the prominent psychologists who have talked about projections and the shadow. Yes, SOME of the evil we see in others have to do with our projections. But not all. The evil of Hitler, for example, is not my projection.
3. Once you are enlightened, you won’t suffer. This is another dangerous nonsense. Yes, there are self-created suffering. But there are also suffering due to external factors. Some people suffer racial discrimination. Some people suffer due to bad policies. All of us suffer the ill effects of environmental pollution. All of us are also suffering from the Coronavirus pandemic and the mismanagement of that situation. If you attribute all suffering to the mind, then you are effectively condoning the social evils caused by poor governance and incompetent politicians.
