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[INFP] INFP - Spirituality

ComplexMind

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This has probably been spoken about before, but do any other INFPs feel empty without any sort of spiritual connection? I read this in one description

"They're more spiritually aware than most people, and are more in touch with their soul than others. Most INFPs have strong Faith. Those that don't feel as if they're missing something important. An INFP should nourish their faith."

This describes me to a tee because because the darkest time in my life has been when I was not practicing my faith.

I was wondering if this is true especially for Christian INFPs. And if it is true do you find your weaknesses, especially with depression easier to deal with or nearly eradicated when you are spiritually mature?
 

Rebe

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I completely disagree too. I don't see it as a necessity for an INFP. Personally, the idea of God/the higher power conflicts with my own moral principles. "If God does not exist, humans themselves freely choose their own essence, that is, freely choose both their own purpose in life and their own means to that purpose. The etymology of the word "existence" discloses to Sartre an emphasis upon human freedom."

But my isfj friend finds great solace in her God/Jesus. I'd say it's a very individual, not type related thing.
 

Seymour

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There was a thread on a related topic here. It covered a bit of spirituality vs. religion vs. belief in God.
 

Beorn

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I'm a Christian INFP that does not view himself as very spiritual. My faith is more intellectual than spiritual. I don't think this is natural though. I want to be more spiritual, but I'm still fighting against the emotional manipulation I encountered in the church for most of my life.

But, even as i desire to be more spiritual through more praying and hymn/psalm singing I still remain terribly suspicious of most forms of mysticism.
 

ComplexMind

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I'm with you beefeater, My faith is more intellectual than spiritual. I find myself using more of a T function when I study the Bible. I even research ways to prove the existence of a higher power and/or certain events. Which is one of the reasons why I thought I was INTP for a while
 

OrangeAppled

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do you find your weaknesses, especially with depression easier to deal with or nearly eradicated when you are spiritually mature?

Yes. I find when I make that a focus/priority, I am significantly less anxious about problems in my life. I get perspective on what is important & feel much happier.

Interesting to hear others take an "intellectual" approach to spirituality and/or their religion. I did the same, and it was not until I did allow it to touch my heart that I could really accept anything as spiritual truth. I had what I'd call head knowledge as a teen, but my heart was not fully in it.

It's funny, cuz I notice other people frequently do the opposite in regards to their beliefs (whether religious or not) - they have an emotional reaction and then they sort of rationalize it....
 

CrystalViolet

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My best friend told me the other day, I'm one of the most spiritual people he knows, which freaked me out at bit, because I feel I'm far from it. I'm not religous, a bit new agey, if I must be some thing, but he said it's not that you openly practise anything, it's that every thing you do is infused with meaning. (I answered so when I shower, I do so with meaning:alttongue:).
I don't think we necessarily feel it our selves, but I think we can appear so to others.
 

Southern Kross

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This has probably been spoken about before, but do any other INFPs feel empty without any sort of spiritual connection? I read this in one description

"They're more spiritually aware than most people, and are more in touch with their soul than others. Most INFPs have strong Faith. Those that don't feel as if they're missing something important. An INFP should nourish their faith."

This describes me to a tee because because the darkest time in my life has been when I was not practicing my faith.

I was wondering if this is true especially for Christian INFPs. And if it is true do you find your weaknesses, especially with depression easier to deal with or nearly eradicated when you are spiritually mature?
I don't like this description - it goes too far and misses the mark. It does have a point that INFPs have a spiritual side but in the broader sense of the word. Spirituality can be an intense introspectiveness, a deep philosophical interest in human nature or in moral contemplation. These matters tend to be a part of an INFP's life; whether they are of a religious nature varies from individual to individual.

I am an agnostic atheist and have a deep respect for and fascination with religion but am incapable of belief - my instinct strongly preclude it. I am glad that your faith gives you strength and guidance, ComplexMind. I too look for answers inside myself - we merely differ in where we believe those answers come from. I guess I am spiritual without religious belief.
 

Keith

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This has probably been spoken about before, but do any other INFPs feel empty without any sort of spiritual connection? I read this in one description

"They're more spiritually aware than most people, and are more in touch with their soul than others. Most INFPs have strong Faith. Those that don't feel as if they're missing something important. An INFP should nourish their faith."

This describes me to a tee because because the darkest time in my life has been when I was not practicing my faith.

I was wondering if this is true especially for Christian INFPs. And if it is true do you find your weaknesses, especially with depression easier to deal with or nearly eradicated when you are spiritually mature?

I think you're really on to something. Obviously some people disagree but I believe many INFPs would feel the way you do. I'm INtP, close to INfP, and I very much relate with your desire for spiritual completeness and your unsettled, dissatisfied feeling when spiritually malnourished.

Also, my mom is an INFP and she is the same way.

My wife pointed out that it makes sense because INFPs' dominant function is Fi, which means they are prone to feeling things inwardly. The spiritual realm is accessed primarily on that level.
 

unapologetically

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unsettled, dissatisfied feeling when spiritually malnourished.

That hits the nail on the head. Some of the loneliest and most discomforting times in my life have been when I neglect my spiritual side.

A year ago I was actually engaged to an ESFJ but ended up calling off the wedding. I'm not religious, but very spiritual. He just never understood my need for spirituality and deep conversation. I thought I could manage on my own but the closer it got to the wedding, the more I realized that I can't settle for someone who isn't on the same level as me, spiritually. He was fun to be around and a wonderful person but the idea that I'd be spending the rest of my life with someone but not being able to explore philosophy/religion/spirituality together left me feeling like something of paramount importance was missing.
 

stringstheory

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I'm pretty surprised by some of the answers in this thread, but that's never a bad thing :)

I actually feel that sort-of instability without some kind of spiritual connection...i searched many paths for years for one, but being an agnostic atheist, none of them ever really clicked with me because they all included belief in some sort of god or "higher power", which at the time simply meant a god to me. i had no real tangible way to describe what it was like to look at the mountains and feel their power and the awesomeness of being so deeply touched by knowing how long it took for them to become what they were.

Then one day i got a little :chillpill: and re-watched Carl Sagan's "Cosmos"; it blew my mind. I started writing down quotes of his and it really hit me that this was it. his words were what i'd been looking for for so long. i didn't need god to be deeply spiritual, and i didn't always need answers either, and his quotes helped me put into words what i had been feeling since i was very young.

these are the videos i have listed under my "religious views" on facebook...the person who makes this actually does some other really nice ones as well, but usually when someone asks me to describe such views i direct them to these two because i just swell up inside and not a single bit of me feels that emptiness anymore...most people can at least get a sense of that feeling.

YouTube - Symphony of Science - 'We Are All Connected' (ft. Sagan, Feynman, deGrasse Tyson & Bill Nye)
YouTube - Carl Sagan - 'A Glorious Dawn' ft Stephen Hawking (Symphony of Science)
 

Phoenix_400

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I'm not sure if I would call it 'faith', more like a personal belief system, morals, and ethics. I was raised southern baptist, but found some things just didn't jive with what felt right in my heart. These days, I believe in a higher power but I lean more towards eastern philosophies and don't really do organized religion. After I found what's right for me, my life did become far less turbulent, I'll admit.

Two things developed from questioning my faith, and I hold to these.

1.) I suppose my 'god' is Balance. Everything serves the balance. For anything to be exist there has to be a counterpoint to define it. No good w/o evil, light w/o dark, order w/o chaos. How can we call it 'day' if there was no 'night' to be its opposite? For things to happen for a reason there must things that happen completely at random. If the scales tip too far in one direction, everything goes to hell. Balance must be maintained.

2.) I developed my 'All roads lead to Rome' theory on religion. Most of your major have two things in common, belief in a higher power (God, Allah, Mother Earth, etc) and some variation of the Golden Rule (Do right by others, harmony w/ nature, etc). There's so much intolerance of other religions and everybody focuses on how we're different than on how we're the same. So, what if its a test? All these different religions, all spawned from the same higher power, to teach us tolerance of those with different beliefs? Maybe when we learn to truly accept each other, it'll be time for the human race to evolve into something greater.

There's more to it, but those are the main points. These are the things I hold firm to, and some people (especially where I grew up) want to damn near brand me a heathen for it, but they also respect me for not backing down when challenged on it. Its not really 'faith' in the classic sense of the word, but its something I try to live by, it feels right in my heart, and its carried me through a lot.

That's the main problem I see in this quote. 'Faith' is usually a word geared more towards organized religion than spirituality. Maybe its just an argument over semantics?
 

soft

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i grew up in a practicing catholic family, i even went to catholic school grades K-8. my faith was strong back then.. but it faded after i began to hate how close-minded so many catholics seemed to be (not tyring to stereotype, but i had several bad experiences). i went through a breif atheist period in high school, though looking back now, i never really lost faith.

i'll always believe "something is out there", i just don't think it's what the bible talks about. i really do feel a connection to something, though. like there is something who is listening to my thoughts and understands me more than i do. so yea, i guess i am spiritual
 

Thoradin

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New member here, hello :).

I think that organized religion puts off a lot of people and unfortunately when speaking about spirituality must people associate that with the Judeo-Islamic-Christian root. The problem that I see is the association with the word "God" which automatically gives a person a viewpoint from a Biblical perspective. Personally I do not think that the Bible is the ultimate authority in all matters spiritual, nor do I think that "God" is the way he/she/it is described (Monotheism). I consider myself spiritual but I do understand that that is a very vague term. Usually (generalizing here) when someone says they are not religious they are spiritual what they really mean is that they are Christian (or new age) without the ritual or dogma. That is not my definition at all and IMO it's limiting.

I think that spirituality and science will one day mesh together in a unified theory. I do believe in the transcendent, and that there is a creator. However I do not believe creation and creator are mutually exclusive. I also believe that there is purpose and that the spirit exists. These are my beliefs (much simplified) so speaking from personal view I fit the profile of INFP's having a sense of connection with creation and creator (or vaguely, spirituality).
 

The 9th Man

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Hmm, well as far as faith in terms of faith in a religion, there was a time when I felt empty when I didn't feel connected to God. Whenever I'd stopped reading the Bible for a while, or done some things that I thought I shouldn't have done, I felt sick about it. Funny thing is, now that I don't believe in any main religion, I don't feel empty from that lack of connection to God. I feel empty whenever I'm not connected with people. Whenever close loved ones feel distant to me, that's when I feel spiritually broken.
 
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