posted March 15, 2007 10:04 AM         

What impression do you get when someone engages in spiritual bragging.

posted March 15, 2007 10:46 AM         

If one is Spiritual, would s/he be bragging about their lofty perch?

If one is bragging, is s/he a Spiritual Being emiting Love & Sister/brotherhood?

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted March 15, 2007 10:48 AM         

Is it always a negative?

posted March 15, 2007 11:59 AM         

One can be sure they`ve stepped into a braggarts cow pie when they call another ignorant, blind or deaf when their piece of Truth is questioned.

We Teach by example.

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What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted March 15, 2007 12:05 PM         

I am gonna be quite critical about this ppl; I have seen too many over the top whiners online... I mean WAYYY too many. So much so that the online world have gotten to the point of labling them "emos."

Seriously, picture a high school cafeteria senerio. You have this one person in the middle of the table going on and on about his/her drama. At first people will wanna help but usually (not always but usually) this person just continues on with a sob story each and everyday just to get attention he/she usually doesn't gets. The result: Everyone else just walks away from that cafeteria bench and move away to other tables.

posted March 15, 2007 01:13 PM         

brag - "boastful talk."
braggart - "an offensively boastful person."
boast - "to talk, esp. about oneself, with too much pride; brag. to brag about; glory in."
pride - "an unduly high opinion of oneself. haughtiness; arrogance." [yet it's also..] "dignity and self-respect. satisfaction in something done, owned, etc. a person or thing in which pride is taken. to be proud of."

When I hear someone 'spiritually bragging' I can be silently happy for them. I do not feed their swelling heads though! I think that they are either very happy and proud of their accomplishment -or- they are trying to compete with imagined competitiors. Either way this is just where they happen to be at on their journey. It's where they are in regard to being conscious. Where one is, is perfect for their learning here.

Having said the above, I do not personally feel it's necessary to brag or even reveal what I know unless I am directly and earnestly asked. That's just me!

What makes 'spiritual bragging' negative is the energetics behind it. If a person is saying i can do this and that, or they're implying that they are above you because they were 1st, or can so something you can't, or whatever it may be, treat them gently as if they were just a child in this area.
"Make no judgements where you have no compassion."
- Anne McCaffrey

It also depends on how well you know this person. We often times tell our friends of our accomplishments and because of our heart attachments it's ok and they are genuinely happy for us. But if we tell a stranger/acquaintence the same things it isn't really special to them. There is no heart attachment and it may even incite jealousy or annoynace.

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." I also think the equal and opposite is perfectly true too...When the teacher is ready the student will appear!! They will be magnetically vacuum-sucked to each other

posted March 15, 2007 02:16 PM         

I don't think you can because bragging would mean ego, and ego means you're still
in the sea of samsara ie you're haven't found peace.

Cause the closer you get to peace, the more the illusion of ego dies.

But that's if you're into Buddhism.

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also want to add ( we hardly ever talk about this kinda thing - I love it!!! )

Bragging and ego is all about insecurities. How do I know this? cause it takes one to know one.

It's like in school I'd brag about my dad's work and how much he made ( even tho we'd never talk, he'd just send cheques ), because then everyone would think highly of me, which gives me permission to think highly of myself. If I already thought highly of myself, I would not need others to reinforce that. Same with when I spend a small fortune on my hair, so others will think I'm beautiful, cause if they don't, then I wont. And if they think I'm pretty, they'll think highly of me.

It doesn't matter if I'm rich or poor, pretty or ugly - it's irrelevant. What matter is me proving my worthiness by bragging.

Knowing this, I would not want to learn from a spiritual bragger. Cause, well frankly they're no better than me.

posted March 15, 2007 02:33 PM         

quote:

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I think it's ok to talk about spiritual aha moments that were amazing to experience. But, I don't think we can MAKE someone have the same experience, no matter how good our intentions are.

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posted March 15, 2007 02:46 PM         

quote:

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thirteen
Knowflake
Posts: 827
From: Rochester Hills, MI USA
Registered: May 2004
posted March 15, 2007 10:46 AM
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hey fate!
Ok then it is ok to talk about ones level of growth? In what manner. Examples needed of good and bad.
(ps my name is kathy)

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posted March 15, 2007 04:14 PM         

quote:

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"Make no judgements where you have no compassion."
- Anne McCaffrey

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posted March 15, 2007 04:18 PM         

quote:

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"Make no judgements where you have no compassion."
- Anne McCaffrey

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posted March 15, 2007 08:44 PM         

There can be various lines of thoughts here and many theories as to why this is. Now I hardly speak up or post on this site. (sometimes I just stop in, read a few posts and go - not wanting to share any of what I know or wanting to particpate in threads) As time goes on I find myself going away from messageboards for some reason.

The first thought is this what you hate reading in a post inwardly is what you hate about yourself. Your own EGO gets offended and one can't see the person for who she/he is. (Ever read DR Wayne Dyer's book called Your Sacred Self - it's a must read). What does your self image/esteem say to you? Maybe you think that the seemingly annoying person is that they are so full of themselves and should shut the hell up. Who the hell gives a crap about this person and possibly they should go crawl back under that rock they were under? (I bet some people are thinking this). I'm want to be blunt and get right to the point here.

This the saying from the Talmud - we see things are we are, not how they actually are.

However on the flipside, maybe this is a big accomplishment in their life. Extraverts talk about themelves all the time - they have a sense of pride in themselves. However some can take it too far. With an introverted person going out on stage and finally showing themselves in the spotlight - is like an explorer going out into unchartered territory. There are discoveries that can be big and maybe the person never thought that just by being who they are can inspire others - maybe in the past they were too caught up on everything another person said to them that the individual coming put serious restrictions on his/herself.

Another question is this - this is an internet community. How many people have met each other in person or really know the other posters on close level? The internet can hide many deceptions. Look at the number of danger on the internet stories there are out there. Fact is you don't really know the other person, in the flesh.

Does the person who is shut inside themselves are aware of the impact they make on others around them? Are they even aware of others around them of or they too shut in and scared to be around others.....selfishly hoarding themselves away.

One of my biggest issues for myself is appearing concieted when I would talk about myself. My friends saw a person who treated herself very poorly and always put her self last. Somebody once told me that I treated everybody like number one and myself last. I couldn't live in my own skin and I dressed down and would appear so unattractive that others would avoid me or not want to talk to me. For 30 some odd years I kept to myself and said nothing at all. I live like a hermit and hardly see my friends. I have learned to distance myself away from civilization.

On that note I would rather be HATED for who I am than loved for the person I'm not. If I have any enemies, it means that some point in my life I stood up for something I believed in and not retreated cause somebody thought my beliefs were stupid.

Don't think I misunderstood things here.I'm just expressing and opinion. Pointing out some facts.

Threads and posts are just words on a screen and sometimes it may very well show what the person is like - but in a virtual world things are an illusion.

posted March 15, 2007 10:34 PM         

Probably the most strightforward and to-the-point post I have seen thus far in this month and I gotta tell ya, I come across a lot of crap online.

Do you mind if I quote you on this for an entry I am weriting? (You can stay annoynomous if you like... Not even a mention of your sign in name.)

posted March 15, 2007 10:52 PM         

Absolutely fantastic.

posted March 16, 2007 01:12 AM         

I would consider it bragging, not teaching, when someone even suggests that they have reached a higher level of spirituality than someone else. No one can know the souls of others so there is no way of knowing who has reached higher levels of spirituality. As someone said here, it's not a contest anyway.

I walk away from any religious discussion that turns into an argument of "who's right and who is wrong". It is not productive at all.

posted March 16, 2007 01:14 AM         

i was not clear what you meant by spiritual bragging in the first place.

I suspect that i too am sometimes guilty of it. though i try not to, but when you are trying to interact, to discuss something spiritual, sometimes it becomes difficult to draw a line. there are certainly some gray areas, and i, for one, need to guard against this tendency ferociously, to tell the truth. It is a constant struggle against the baser nature. (and i don't always win)

Ok, now let me come to the post in question. (I am sorry but i can't look at things objectively). One big reason why it was considered 'bragging' was that most people don't believe that it is true in the first place. right ???

I don't think this kind of bragging can ever be justified. Simply because it is not based on the truth (at least that is my assessment, and that of the majority here if i am right). How can it ever inspire if most people who read it shake their heads with disbelief ??? It simply does not hold.

ILWL

P.S. I also believe that if it had been true, that person would not be posting it on a message board. It is something too sacred to share so trivially, imho.