What it means to be Que, an adherent of Natural Spirituality.
People are often confused about what being a Que or an adherent of Natural Spirituality really means. This site aims to explain that, and to provide serious answers for those with sincere questions.
A Que is a person who has accepted the teaching of Natural Spirituality and so cultivated a modern sensability about human spirituality. Natural Spirituality is a religion that has no story to believe, no god to fear, no guru to follow, no scripture to obey, no culture to exhalt, and no savior to worship. Natural Spirituality has nothing old or new to believe in. It simply doesn't work like that. You have a part of you that is not made of matter but it exists nonetheless. How you make sense of this is something you get from a religion. All human beings have a religion whether it is formal, informal or even just a hack from books and movies that they are not decided on. Natural Spirituality is a religion that says that this part of you is not "super" natural. You simply need a modern model to make sense of it. A Que is a person who has learned and accepted that model.
Que: pronounced "q"
Plural: THE QUE
One become's Que by a process called formation. It consists of a 10 day silent meditation. Followed by a period of instruction in the doctrine of liberty. This calls for taking courses from NaturalSpirtuality.org and learning the model. There is then a period of discovery where you test what you have learnt and so come to believe it for yourself. There is a period of formal instruction in the model and you use this to develop a personal spiritual life practice. The Que are not made they are formed.
UnderGraduate
Exploring the Path
Consecration is a spiritual process, like a baptism. After a period of instruction in the doctrine of liberty, followed by a 10 day silent meditation, A Que then takes a sacred oath, standing naked before one's fellowship, and so declare publicly that their beliefs are truly and sincerly held. This is followed by a celebration of one's family and friends. Consecration is required for official membership in a church of Natural Spirituality.
the consecrated wear white
the que wear black
Natural Spirituality is an agnostic spiritual path that brings a modern sensibility to human spirituality.
The difference between ancient religion and Natural Spirituality is like the difference between racquetball and physics. Natural Spirituality is based on a philosophy not the revelations of a prophet or teachings of a guru. Natural Spirituality is a connected body of rational precepts, systematically classified, under a framework of models. These are easily observable precepts that can be reached by any rational person. You get Natural Spirituality through an education much like you would to learn medicine. You get this kind of education not to get a better job but to live a better life. Learning Natural Spirituality makes a practical contribution to the quality of your life by transforming the quality of your thinking.
CIRCA 2000
NaturalSpirituality.com
As Que my religion does not give me an identity or role, like being a Christian. The word Que simply means a person who possesses a feature of something realized. My religion gives me an education and that teaches me how to live. It is more like martial arts in that it is an understanding and practice not a faith. By observing the practice I evolve in the feild of time. By doing this I thrive. I do it out of respect for my own life. It is not a cultural or identity thing. When I include Natural Spirituality in my daily life then my life is better than when I don’t. Natural Spirituality is not a means to cope with uncertainty in the world. It is the means to succeed inspite of it. It is that simple.
As Que we accept that ignorance is the problem and as such an education that works is the cure. There is nothing wrong with humans. Man is not born bad. No forgiveness is needed because there is nothing here to condemn man. Man like all creatures are by their very nature good. Man however is prone to delusion due to the power of his cognitive system. Delusion is trying to make something real that is not and make something true that one knows is not. As such he grasps for that delusion and acts upon it. The core belief of the Que is that "each must be to their own understanding" and therefore we do not believe mankind is in need of saving. Consequently we have no desire or ambition to make the world Que. Evolution is not for everyone. This may on the surface appear to be an elitist view but it is not. The corrosive element that destroys all good in the world and gives rise to evil is the core belief that another "aught" to be like you. No one "aught" to be like another. Each is to be to their own understanding. Therefore our core belief is to be an let be. The spark of evolution arises in each of us and at that time we seek to know. Those who want to learn will seek knowledge. In fact they cannot avoid it. Everyone wants to know, many want to learn but only a few are willing to allow themselves to be taught. Natural Spirituality is open to anyone but it is not for everyone. There is nothing wrong with that.
Soteriology
the problem of the human condition
Some people like basketball, others football and others don't like sports. It's a big planet and there is room enough for everyone. We don't care to be right. It doesn't matter if we are right or wrong about human spirituality. Being right is just a lie you tell yourself to feel a sense of grandeur. Only the powerless seek power. All that matters is how you live life. How you treat your fellow man. This is what requires judgement. Everything else is a lie and an illusion meant to distract from the truth. A thing is what it does. A man is what he does. This is the only standard an intelligent man can believe. The standard of proof is how you live your life. How you treat others. How you contribute to humanity. Being right means nothing. We are not trying to be right. We are not trying to prove anything. Being Que is a personal choice about how you are going to live and what you are going to know. Are you going to use a 5th century model of the human experience to live in the 21st century or are you going to upgrade. This is a personal choice. No one can make that choice for another. This is not a believe or burn, convert or be condemned kind of thing. Being Que is a personal choice. This choice has nothing to do with anyone else.
Eachto their own understanding
BE AND LET BE
There is no guru to follow, no savior to adore, no god to fear, no scripture to obey, no group to join. It just isn't that kind of thing. You get Natural Spirituality through an education. You take a course and learn the model. You apply the model and if it works for you then you build a spiritual practice out of it. This spiritual practice is personal. The group is there to support you and help you learn. There are no levels, secret revelations, things like that. There is just one course and it takes you from principles to practice. It's like going to college or learning martial arts. It is just a deeply personal kind of discovery and learning about a sacred part of yourself. Natural Spirituality is something you do by yourself and for yourself and what the religion does is show you how. Natural Spirituality is a religion of scholars. All the religion offers is an education. It gives you a modern way to make sense of human spirituality. You do it to restore spirituality to your daily life, without fear and fanaticism, myth and magic, gods and gurus, scripture and stories, and without a belief in the supernatural. Natural Spirituality is new and its different. Some of it's practices are borrowed from Zen and Yoga. Beyond that it is not connected with, from, or part of, any other religion.
NOT A CULT
IT'S YOUR STORY NOT HIS STORY.
It is true we do perform some practices naked. Nudity is not sex. The human body is naked in it's natural state. Accepting yourself as human helps you wake up from the narcissism of being special. In the western world we are programmed to be ashamed and freaked out by the naked human body. If you believe you are a supernatural being or alien then the human state is vile and disgusting. Since our core premise is about being human and accepting that, we don't have that attitude. To us the human body is beautiful and ideal in its natural state. Nudity is not sexual. Nudity is a state of the body. Sexuality is a state of the mind. The objective of Natural Spirituality is to develop a personal spiritual practice. You only work in a group to learn how. The spiritual practice is something you do by yourself and for yourself. The fellowship is more like a study group than a support group. For us the church is not a social group or a source of identity. Much like an exercise program and a gym is for the body, so is a spiritual practice and the church is, for your cognition. Consequently, as far as Natural Spirituality is concerned, there are no "religious" position on world affairs.
NOT A CULT
IT'S YOUR STORY NOT HIS STORY.
Religion is an attempt by a culture to answer five core questions and codify such answers as they are central to the human experience.
Religare Course
teaches how ot make sense of religion
There is no "soul" concept in Natural Spirituality. We accept that That which you refer to as I (T.W.Y.R.T.A.I.) is an emergent property of cognition. Cognition is an information structure that emerges from the neurology of the brain. Cognition has a structure and an organization. Changes in the structure effects a transfomation of this organization. The experience of this is "mystical" - meaning not obvious to the senses nor apparent to the intellect. Emergent things while they may not have mass and are more than the sum of their parts are neither mysterious nor magical. It is definitely not "super" natural. The Que believes that we are biological organisms having a cognitive experience and as such we reject the notion that one is a spiritual being having a human experience.
The Question of Soul
We accept that we are a homo-sapiens. The last of the hominids, which is a species of organic life on Gaia (earth), the third planet in the Sol (sun) system. Homo-sapiens evolved on this planet and are the only surviving member of their species. We accept that we are of earth, from earth and as such serve only man on earth. We accept that our culture does not define us. Culture evolves and is necessary only to organize resources. Culture is a tool of organization not a means of identity. Liberating oneself from the bounds of such artificial constraints is to become authentic. The authentic self is not defined by a culture. The authentic self is a sacred being. One becomes an authentic being through the process of enlightement. Enlightment is becoming cognizant of a larger context. We use science to understand the universe. We use reason and our "natural" spirituality to make sense of our experience of life.
The Question of Existence
One of the things a religion provides is a Mystica-a theory of “who am I”. This provides a way for an adherent to understand their experience of life and understand the world. It is from this that purpose is derived. Natural Spirituality posits that I am a human being, a kind of biological organism, having a cognitive experience. I (my being) is an emergent property of the Individual 11+2. This refers to the 11 major organ systems of the body, which are (1) integumentary, (2) skeletal, (3) muscular, (4) nervous, (5) endocrine, (6) circulatory, (7) lymphatic, (8) respiratory, (9) digestive, (10) urinary, and (11) reproductive systems. The two regulatory systems are (+1) the cognition (navigational) and (+2) the communal system (the Matrix).
As such I have 11 basic needs, (1)air, (2)food, (3)water, to (4) sleep, (5) to excrete waste, (6) maintain a relatively constant body temperature and (7) reproduce. I need to communicate(8) and navigate(9) to fulfill those needs. Therefore I need to (10)represent sensory instances and occurrences in order to navigate. Humans are connected to and work together in a Matrix (Culture). As ants are to a colony humans are to a Matrix. The Matrix emerges from human communication and helps humans better fullfill their needs. Since I navigate and communicate to fulfill my needs, to do this effeciently, I need a (11)TAO , a way to do that. You inherit this TAO from your environment. When you reach the age of reason, you can awaken and realize you have a choice. You can choose a modern way to make sense of this or an ancient way. We accept that the purpose of life is learn in order to thrive.
Being Que is something you do and doing this enables me to thrive. Another way to look at it is that as Que, we are in the pursuit of excellence. We are not in pursuit of perfection because only a copy can be perfect. We pursue excellence not to be better than other people but to be better than our former selves. Having a body of knowledge that helps me make sense of this helps me to do that. As Que we believe that to live is to learn and to learn is to live. This is why we are here. To learn how to do that is why we become Que.
The Question of Purpose
As Que we accept that our purpose in society is to contribute to the evolution of mankind. Man's fate is what he makes it. Our ancestors didn't have a way to make sense of the binding effect of the experience of cognition. They didn't know about DNA or that even that earth was a planet. They understood the world only in myth. They did the best they could with what they had. There is no reason to use a 5th century model of the human experience to live in the 21st century. Why use alchemy when you can use chemistry? Getting a modern understanding of spirituality and it's role in your life makes a practical contribution to the quality of your life. Natural Spirituality is not Humanistic in that it rejects as real things that don't have mass. Natural Spirituality is Quantumisitc in that it asserts that there are things that are real but have no mass. We accept spirituality as a valid means of human expression. There is an invisible part of you. You will not find it with a microscope. No more than you can find this document by breaking open your computer. You need a way to make sense and a way to interface with the information. This is all spirituality is for. We use science to understand the universe. We use Natural Spirituality to understand our experience. Being Que means possesing a modern sensability about human spirituality.
As Que we accept that our moral and ethical imperative is to treat others the way we want to be treated. As a biological organism your function is to enable homeostasis, thrive and thus evolve. The Matrix (society) has a function not a purpose, which is to derive benefit from the environment and provide aid to its hosts. Life itself has no embedded purpose than to be and ultimately to thrive as this facilitates evolution and perpetuation of the species. Life seeks to live. Purpose is something you add to a thing. By being "able" that is aware of my experience I am seeking to thrige. In order to do this effectively I must derive from the remains of experience a policy that will yield an accurate (as best it can) and reliable representation of occurrences. Policy alone however is not enough. The system must have proficiency and efficiency in using this policy therefore it must learn, explore, discover and create. No one can do what they are not able. The first step is to become able. My religion provides me with an education.Through practice I develop a skillset that enables me to realize proficiency and efficiency. By making a practice of this it will enable an authentic (an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life) self to emerge.
The Question of Ethos
We accept that we are of earth and for earth. As Que we accept as fact that there is no "super" natural dimension to the human experience. Earth is our home and our final destination. We serve no alien or other-worldly agenda be it benolevent or otherwise. The purpose of life is to thrive. Life has a beginning and an ending and that is what gives it its value. We return to innocence the state of not being when we die. The brain we believe in the event of a natural death has a shut down proceedure in which eternity is experienced. Only the living is concerned with death. The dead is not. We embrace life and the doctrine of human liberty as this is the means to thrive and so evolve. The future is created by the present therefore we are concerned with the present.
The Question of Destiny
Religion has no place in politics. Politics is about negotiating a social contract. Our Religion is about your personal experience of life. Church and State should be seperate.
Marriage is part of the social contract. Our Religion has nothing to do with the social contract. You do not need the approval of the church on who you love or have sex with.
The Church is a means to grace. It has no ethical authority. Who you have consensual sex with is not a right given by the church. This is part of the social contract not the domain of religion.
We believe in medicine and use science to understand the universe. We use reason and spiritual teaching to understand our experience of life. They are separate but equal.
There is a difference between emotion and sensation. Feeling something does not mean it is real. Believing something does not make it true. We use reason not feelings as a means of knowledge.
Human ancestors did the best they could with what they had. We respect that. Our policy is coexistence and non-interference. Each must be to their own understanding. Be and let be.
THE RELIGION OF NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH, DERIVED FROM OR CONNECTED TO ANY OTHER RELIGION, DENOMINATION, THERAPY GROUP, PSYCHOLOGY, ETHNIC GROUP, CHARITY, POLITICAL GROUP OR ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY HAS NO GOD TO WORSHIP, NO GURU TO FOLLOW, NO SAVIOR TO ADORE, NO SCRIPTURE TO OBEY AND NO STORY TO BELIEVE IN. WE ARE EDUCATORS HELPING PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO LEARN A MODERN WAY OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN SPIRITUALITY. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS DRAWN FROM A CONNECTED BODY OF RATIONAL PRECEPTS DERIVED FROM OBSERVABLE PHENOMENA AND SYSTEMATICALLY CLASSIFIED UNDER A FRAMEWORK OF MODELS. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS BASED ON EASILY OBSERVABLE PRECEPTS THAT CAN BE REACHED BY ANY RATIONAL PERSON. THERE IS NOTHING SUPERNATURAL, ALIEN, EXTRA-DIMENSIONAL OR OTHERWORLDLY IN ITS TEACHINGS. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS A HUMAN RELIGION. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS A SACRAMENT FOR LIVING. THEREFORE, IT HAS NO CONCEPT OF OR BELIEF IN AN AFTERLIFE, RESURRECTION, REINCARNATION OR REGENERATION. THE CHURCH OF NATURAL SPIRITUALITY DOES NOT DO WEDDINGS. MARRIAGE IS A PERSONAL CONTRACT BETWEEN ADULTS. THEREFORE, YOU DO NOT NEED OUR APPROVAL, BLESSING OR RECOGNITION. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY HAS NO ETHICAL AUTHORITY. THEREFORE, IT CAN HAVE NO POLITICAL STANCE, OPINION OR "OFFICIAL" POSITION ON ANYTHING. NATURAL SPIRITUALITY IS A PERSONAL, SPIRITUAL PRACTICE. WHAT THE RELIGION DOES IS SHOW YOU HOW TO DO THIS FOR YOURSELF.
