By "God" do you mean the Christian god or just a higher power? Personally, I believe we all share the same soul. We start and end our lives as the same being, which in a sense, would make us all "god." It follows very closely with what I've read on Buddhism (others who I explain it to say I'm Taoist, but I haven't read enough on it to know.)
my pantheism is just as similar to theism as it is atheism. I put yes, though, because even though I'de rather call it the dao it could be seen as god. I mainly use hallucinogens and weed. I also think that polytheism's gods of myth are archetypes from the collective subconscious and that abrahamic monotheism's god is the result of it being easier to put blame on something else (devil), put work on someone else (god) and such rather than ones self. that religion is the natural extension of mammalian society. (the biggest alpha male.) by the way, god is a crazy women and his name is eris.
I need a bit of Clarification. Which God? Christian, Islam, Jewish, Hindu (many gods), Catholic, etc... None of these people worship the same god. I believe there is something out there... Just not sure what. Perhaps that classifies me as Agnostic.
This is a HUGE difference between a higher power (s) and a god. Higher Power: various dieties such as aliens, budda, jesus, etc. GOD: A creator or creators of all things and maker of life. BIG difference. I certainly believe in a Higher Power. I am quite doubtful that there is a god and if there is that he/she/it cares nothing of humanity. Religion is the root of all evil.
Namaste! ~ God is God, no matter what we call it. And God can not be understood through speculation and philosophy. Krsna means All Attractive. Hare Krsna Yes, if anything, my experiences with all drugs, mainly sillycibon and LSD have strengthened my connection with the presence of God. Om shanti ~
I would say that desire is the root of suffering, which causes men to act in an evil manner. Religion is but one part of it.
We all have ideas as to what the Definition of god is. To me, a god would be a being with infinite power and the creator of all things. That is what a god would be to me. I say agnostic because I am not a god, which means I am not all knowing. To completely rule out a god would be awful close minded. If there is a god and demands fear of itself (as some religions teach), it would not be something worthy of worship and quite frightening of think of a god so evil that it used fear to control and rule. My wife is a practicing Wicca/Pagan. While I have no interest myself in the rituals and beliefs, I do like the idea of doing whatever you want so long as it didn't hurt anyone.
Religion is the cause of most war. Religion causes greed of power and money. Religion controls and a discourages people from thinking for themselves. Religion is a man made institution with the corruption and falicy of such a thing.
Quite the contrary, my friend. Desire for power causes religious manipulation. Desire for money causes religious manipulation. Before there was religion, there was desire. Desire for money and power. Religion came after. At least, the kind of religion you are speaking of. Vedic literature is the manual that comes with the creation of existance. True religion is non-sectarian God realization which shows us to love and accept all beings. False religion is the notion that one understands God through thought, speculation, and philosophy, which gives the authority to a human being to say God is this, not that, and if you dont believe you are not welcome/going to hell/lost.
Jack67 (btw, my sons name is Jack!) Im glad you agree, because we can see obviously that its true. Wether you believe in God or not, that not the issue. I dont believe in God, I have felt God, the oneness of our essence. But this is based off of substance, and can not be preached with words. Yoga can show you God, but YOU have to do it yourself. Kriya Yoga Again, this is not the issue. The truth is that there are very many selfish, careless people in this world who extort religion by twisting messages to gain material profit. Which, is disgusting. Jesus, who attained Christ Conciousness, came to tell us that the Kingdom of God is within us. And that to above all, Love each other. But through mistranslation, purification, and the perverted obsessions owned by certain leaders of men throughout the past 2000 years, His message has been bastardized so badly that one has to search his own soul so deeply to even begin to read through the lines in the New Testament. It's really a shame. But His message is still alive and definitley conicides with Krsna and Buddha :
the idea of religion in my eyes is mans desperation for safety and certainty...which i do not nescesarily believe is a bad thing, if it gets people through life then i see no harm in that...also the belief systems and teachings of the monotheistic religions are very helpful in teaching people good morals eg. love thy neighbour etc. i do not believe in the idea of god or a higher power and it is a very pessimistic way of looking at life but i find the idea far too improbable in this modern world. use of psychedelic drugs have not nescessarily changed my religious beliefs but they have helped me to philosophise and come to my conclusions about life...x x x
But, in all honesty, not every one who believes in God does so out of fear of being unsafe and uncomfortable! Sure, some do, typically the people who were brought up to blindly believe a certain faith and to never question said faith. But my search for God is nothing but love and happyness, and I do not do it to feel safe. If anything, my spiritual experiences, wether through meditation sober or on psychedelic drugs, have been far more earth shattering and startling then anything I had previously experienced. Also, why would you come to conclusions about life? Im assuming you are a young person, but even if you are old, do you not learn something new everyday? Dont close your mind man. Im not asking you to believe what I, or anyone else believes, but please, dont close your mind. Possibilities are endless
I think my MAIN problem with Christians are that they do NOT follow the teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught tolerance, love, forgiveness, and acceptance. Christians teach NONE of that, nor do they pretend to. IF the religious world taught love and acceptance of all, it would suck in me right in. But, I do not want to be controlled or brainwashed. I want to have beliefs based on my own conclusions (as I do now) and feel welcomed and loved even if I openly state disagreement in a particular dogma. IF I ever decided on organized religion, I would look strongly at Unitarians or Universalist.
sorry man i do believe i generalised a little bit there...my little rant was more over the idea of organised religion. i was brought up in a lets say liberal roman catholic household and the hipocrisy i saw in the people of the congregation as well as in my own household completely turned me against the constitution of organised religion...i meant to say the way in which people force themselves to go to church although they really dont want to be there is not out of love for god but more for the fear of damnation (in the more "oldschool" members) or for the fear of others looking down upon them...its almost as though whatever people do behind closed doors is fine as long as they turn up to church on a sunday... obviously here i am only talkin about the roman catholic church as that is what i know and i shouldnt really comment on the whole idea of religion as i havent been in direct contact with them...