Cadcam

When it comes to magic, it's really rather simple. Certain words contain ideas, that when a person understands the meaning of them, can be used to harness the brains focus and the body's energy to send forth energy into the universe, and a person can act upon them. Words like chaos, order, love, hate, good, evil; when a person uses these words they harness the energy from them, and that energy is mentally applied to the world. I think a lot of occult tools are a waste of time, why not go to the source of the words instead of these rituals?

I'm curious to know about the groups origins. What got you into the occult, philosophy and religion?

Well, having been raised Christian, and early on started following my own will and desires, and later returning to examine Christianity, i realize that while following impulse and desire is satisfying, it can lead a person to destructive behavior. I guess I believe that human beings are prone to selfish behavior, but can learn compassion and charity, which honestly, is good for society.

I mean individually. What was the spark that started your journey

One needs to understand the limitations of God, if there are any. Then you should ask yourself what that God likes. I'm of the opinion that God knows what needs to be done.

Life isn't black and white. A lot goes into people's choices. Sometimes evil is accidental, or from external factors. We have to consider that we are all human, and don't always make the right choices.

Though it is a nice idea, and I'm sure God appreciates our love, I don't believe that God must love each of us individually as is often suggested by Christianity. God gave us free will to choose to love, and loving everyone unconditionally leads to problems. No, people have to earn love. God too, has the free will to choose who to love, and can you imagine, with the billions of people born throughout history, and all their virtues, deeds, and talents; how hard it would be to attract God's attention and earn God's love?

Reason to believe that the world is a hologram that is projected outside of my body. When I go out to smoke, I run into the same neighbor at least once a day. I also am outside when a city bus is passing by. What are the odds that I choose to smoke as he chooses to go out, or that a bus with a windows of a minute would be passing by? I mean really, which makes more sense: this infinitely enormous reality with its unfathomable amount of space and planets just coincidentally existing, or all of it is fabricated for one person?

So, I read this thread and started singing my own private Idaho by the b 52s. Then I log into Facebook and the first thing on my feed is a story about that movie

I'm not in charge of the simulation, I just interact with it. Id say that it happens because God is making it clear that it's a simulation.

It takes a person years to contemplate, compare and consider moral ideals, and to gather axiom to stand by as they create a set of ideals. People aren't just born understanding these things. Also, because we aren't all educated monks, parents don't always treat children the right way, and the child develops improper behavior. It takes a good set of teachings and good teachers to raise people to a moral level.

I think you're all in mine

While it may be possible to always do the right thing because it's embedded in our being, the truth is that most of us fail. That is why they worship Jesus, because he walked perfectly through life and was without sin. I would still argue that people are not born righteous and need dogma to act appropriately

My understanding of enlightenment is the apprehension and understanding of Chaos. Once one recognizes that action is dependent on ideals, and that any ideal can produce a series of action, and that there is no set list of ideals and actions, one can see the chaos that ensues in the understanding and interaction of different people's. This brings wisdom. Also, examining actions and the chaos they bring also yields wisdom. A third reason for studying chaos is to see where individuals fail their ideals, causing irrational or chaotic action. I consider myself enlightened because I can understand a broad spectrum of actions, and can be at peace with chaos.

The thing about right action is that they can be established by any ideal. That's why nihilism and existentialism prevail over any system. Once you break free from the system one was indoctrinated in, it's possible to see this. Unfortunately it can leave a person faithless, especially if they have no higher power.

Before one can understand right action, they would have to establish a set of ideals. It would appear that the religious ideal is loving kindness, which brings about compassion and wisdom.

It strikes me odd that so many people call themselves Christian, yet the world is the way it is.

How so?

The bus arrives every half hour. It takes one minute to stop or not as it goes past. I smoke once an hour or so, and about half the time I'm out there for two minutes it goes past

While I believe gods will is love, my personal experience tells me God can do more than emit love and good will.

I have to say, I'm experiencing a bit of jealousy today. I'm visiting family, who are all religious. I've thought long and hard, and studied quite a bit, but can't bring myself to believe in a religion. I'm aware of a God, but idk much more about it. Idk what it wants or what it does, but my religious family does, and I'm jealous. There's a certain power to understanding the world through the lens of religion, and it gives a supernatural strength to have that knowledge base, and to have a God to lean on. I don't have that.

I feel this way because of my experiences with God. I'm coming to a point where I recognize God is in everything, yet separate, and that we have autonomy, yet God can move us into thought and action.

So I've reconsidered the title of this post. I think God is in everything, and the impulse of God is love, but because of our free will, and God's will to test our ability to love, people do other things than choose a loving response.

It's a simple idea: jews believe in one life, live the right way and life is good. Christians are the same, except they are also rewarded with Heaven. Buddhists are the same, but until you do it perfectly, you come back, unless you attach yourself to nothing, then you...

The problem with religions and systems that are based upon profound realizations is that the original prophet had very simple observations but their followers started applying these thoughts to other ideas and systems, and soon you have reams of books going in all different directions. When I studied, I would notice that nearly all systems start with a core set of ideas and then the author wanders off into new areas. Buddhism has been around a long time, and there have been many people contributing to the knowledge of it. I recommend just sticking to the essentials