just a thought...

[Samkenman Profile]

One must step back to view the whole before one can understand the fraction....
There are a thousand religions in this world...who's to say which one is right or which one is wrong....?
The only thing we have together/collectively is our sense of humanity.....Entertaining a balance between wrong and right is the only way we can truly have any righteous thought.

For if one proclaims to be always right..one makes him/herself a God, which is wrong....

To be occasionally wrong while searching for truth only makes one human....and that my friends...is all we could ever aspire to be...HUMAN!

And if your wrong all the time...then you're just an ass!!!!

........A little Qigong philosophy for ya.....

[Gary19702 Profile]

In my view, religion did not create God just as God did not create religion.

Everything is up to us personally, and being open to other perspectives is a duty in life.

Every religion contains wisdom, one religion does not contain all wisdom to the detriment of the others, and in Truth, no one religion can claim to be the lone true one...

and yet with some religions, they do make that claim, sadly enough.

[Riddle Profile]

I like that thought and I have thought the same thing.. that's why in the end, we really don't have anything to worry about.. it's like Shakespeare himself said, a mysterious figure that some thing was on the 'inside' anyway, and not really an illiterate poor man, how could he be anyway? Well he could be, but besides that, like he said

"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players."

Maybe he was onto something there.

Whether it's us, the Illuminati, the shadow government, the politicians, sincere and corrupt, the rich, the poor, the stupid, the ignorant, or the naive and cunning, we all have a part to play in this great Universal play.. yeah, I like to see that too. Good work.

And in relation to what gary19702 and other said about religions, I have to concur with that view too, I think that every 'religion' has truth and some deceit to it, the job is to find the truth in it for ourselves, it cannot be just given to us, if it were, we would not recognize it anyway and we might not be worthy of it. But if we find it ourselves, we will surely know it when we see it and will be worthy of attaining it at that point. Also, I think that every religion or way of thinking has some piece to the puzzle and it's up to us to all work together with our different points of view and thinking and beliefs, the key is to 'work together' to 'become one' in the truest most spiritual form, not 'new agey' and then, and only then we will all discover the One Truth collective truth that resides in the collective unconscious of the Universe itself. ONe of Jesus' last words before he went before the Garden of Gethsemane after all was 'Let everyone become one' I think this is what he was referring to..

[Riddle Profile]

I must say, this site has some of the most informed and thoughtful posters..

[Sentientseed Profile]

Another fine thread indeed.

It is my belief that all religions have something positive to offer. It is also my belief that they all have much negativity that one can latch onto as well.

I think one can use parts of Crowley and the like with ones of Christianity and the like for positive or negative results.

The idea of a savior is something I interpret as quite differently possibility...than let's say my Christian brothers in the Masonic Lodge. I personally believe Yeshua/Jesus/Christ was a lead by example story. He stuck to his guns and died for it. He saw hipocrisy, elitism, and corruption and "rebelled" against it. He challenged the authority with their own line of speech and with his actions. He was put to death for it. He did not wish to be but was willing to in order for others to see that they as well could do as he. Still one has to make an effort of their own to follow in his actions of challenging a negative status quo and improving oneself for positive results. Not merely following around crying lord lord help me and praise be. One may call this a "savior" and would not be entirely off the mark in a sense...but I believe it to be more of an example setter.

With the great debate between works and faith....many believe in faith alone and many believe in works alone.

I muse that one must be pure of heart in their intentions. If you are helping someone...one should be doing so because they want to help them and not because of some reward, praise, or regard to come. Although it may be good regardless, the intent of the heart could turn quite sour if the latter never came to those merely doing it for gain of some sort. Even yet...one could be pure of heart in their intentions and still cause negativity with their mis-perceptions.

I also do not follow the current ideas that seem to surround the term worship. I don't buy into any need or demand to be a subservient slave. I look at worship as a high regard, appreciation, or respect. Not something involving a reward/punishment dynamic. Using biblical examples...I do not feel that I must bow in subservience irregardless or face a negative consequence to a Lucifer, Satan, Tetragrammaton, or any other entity. Respect, appreciate, be thankful of, even love...sure possibly. My parents don't demand Nebuchadnezzar homage or suffer the consequences. Why should anyone else.

As far as desiring to be as a god being connoted a negative thing....I don't believe it to be. Setting oneself up as god deserving of subservient subjects isn't my idea of a god anyway.
Striving to be like a god can be quite a positive on improving oneself if done as objectively as one can. One of freemasonry's motto like phrases is "making good men better." The tenets of Masonry are Brotherly love, Relief, and Truth. They encourage charity, character building, and learned study of liberal arts and sciences. Many Christians will mention being Christ like or being like Jesus even to the point of the acronym... WWJD. These insinuate god like pursuits. I interpret Jesus comment that we can do greater works to be just that an not merely some "message spreading" take on the comment. In a Crowlyanesque manner, ones will (intent) is of utmost importance. Love is the law...love under will. Everyone is a star. Striving to perfect oneself no matter how impossible can be a good goal. Many see extreme conflict in Thelema vs Christianity. I can see some correlation.

It matters little to me if one is a Buddhist, Luciferian, Wiccan, Thelemite, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, et al. It is their intent in action that makes the difference. Same goes for a Freemason. We all aren't out to getcha. I am no more a elitist global control freak than a christian is a child molester mere because they attended some church in which the priest or pastor did such things. I read Jefferson quotes here some. He himself was not perfect. He owned slaves. I am a Jefferson fan but this is a flaw no matter how well the treatment. Punish the individual criminal an not the entire field. I would imagine a pro one world goverment crowd may have individuals in it who sincerely believe it the best unifying option for us all and that some may be trying for this with a heartfelt good intent.

As far as the divine plan...I never make claim to know the mind of any perceived god. I never make the claim that gods are perfection. Many of our founding fathers were Deists...some Freemasons. Many deist follow the idea of god as a watch maker and observer. I see nothing wrong with this thought nor most others. Yet most anyone with a thought process isn't perfect. If the God relayed in the old testament is the one true god or some demierge...I do not know. I believe the god of the old testament to be no better than any human in his ideas of justice, love, etc... if taken at surface value. Quite frankly the God of the old testament seems more like modern ideas of the devil himself. I do not even believe the one known as Jesus Christ was perfect. I know I believe in a creator, hope for universal brotherhood, and cling to the idea of immortality of the soul. It doesn't mean that I do not question any of these things. Quite the contrary. I question them all.

I wonder why everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to go now. I have heard it all in regards to such a place. A city of gold, no pain, no sorrow, no trouble, immortal, etc.
Yet when I think about it....why is being a spirit being a better state? Why is the happy box the most desirable state regardless if it is a matrix like mirage or not? Why should one sacrifice pleasure to attain some sort of spiritual enlightenment? Why does it seem that many think pleasure in matter and pleasure in the soul mind are not compatible? Why is a borg consciousness or a ODO (Star Trek) like existence any better? Why is the grass always greener on the "other side".

Why not just try to be all one can be in the environment provided if one so chooses or just be like a lazy lion absorbing the sunlight without a seeming care in the world? The earth is a beautiful place to me. I am quite fond of matter. It seems the creator is too. Maybe the perfect thing is the harmony of the imperfection?

I sometimes think we interchange between spirit and matter at intervals and jump from one experience to the next to combat boredom. Once one knows everything...what else is there? Well....unknowing it and starting from scratch would be a logical choice. I think switching from a unified state back and forth from a separated state... might be a good option. Definitely a better and more colorful thing than the when your dead your dead alternative.

Whatever created this existence...I believe created it all. The good, the bad, and the ugly as well as the beauty. To do so...I believe the thought must reside in the entity that created it and even moreso if our existence is a mere thought process or dream of said entity.

With this all being said...I also understand the atheist point of view. I am not naive enough not to see the bad side of religion. I also realize the lack of evidence for the god factor. Although I acknowledge the possibility they may be right...it isn't a belief I myself hold even in my questionings. I could ramble on forever...guess I will stop here. Many may stop reading much sooner.

[dialated Profile]

i was watching a video i forgot the name but anyway they used the concept of the ocean as the fullness of and the understanding of God.we as humans each have a cup which holds a small part of this understanding of God so give your brothers and sisters a drink and be careful not to spill it.