The first world war...is still happening

[gentlewind]

Religion is allowing yourself to be sucked into someone else's vacuum cleaner, you become entangled with all the other lost souls(dust and dirt) and suffocate in the darkness of dogma and ritual.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

[h.uriahr]

Religion is allowing yourself to be sucked into someone else's vacuum cleaner, you become entangled with all the other lost souls(dust and dirt) and suffocate in the darkness of dogma and ritual.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

 

Actually by the very definition you couldn't be more wrong.

It's the study of and devotion to God....

[Lindelani Mnisi]

I guess it all sort of goes back to yin and yang...there is no 'right' or 'wrong', just perception.

 

Quiet frankly, I prefer not being a christian, it just wasn't for me and I've been doing research on it because a friend of mine (who is athiest I think, and has left religion) told me that the best way to leave my religion, is to found out the truth about it...I guess the more I know, the more satisfied I am with my choice and I have to say, I'm very satisfied, I just don't like the idea of being trapped or controlled.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll stick to doing my thing

[h.uriahr]

It's certainly not for everyone. I sincerely hope you find your way. Oh and trust me, I don't care much for calling myself a Christian just because there are many out there who make it hard for me to do so. As the Dalai Lama once said " I like your Christ but I dont like your Christians". The reality of this though is that we could all use a little tune up. The world is rough enough but even more so when we compete against each other. One other thing. The Christ that I know teaches that everyone NEEDS to have a direct relationship with God. The key to that relationship is to realize that unlike the many things we need externally, God can be found internally. >Blessings

[gentlewind]

Actually by the very definition you couldn't be more wrong. It's the study of and devotion to God....

Religion is a dead end.

 

Study of and devotion to g_d is yet another distraction.

 

Religion = Mind control.

 

Producing robots which perform their duties unquestioningly.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

[h.uriahr]

Religion is a dead end.

 

Study of and devotion to g_d is yet another distraction.

 

Religion = Mind control.

 

Producing robots which perform their duties unquestioningly.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

 

Well I certainly can't do anything about your negative Christian experience(s). I still disagree with you.

 

The service and worship of God=Religion

 

If you can understand the basic fact that God is in inside you then you should be SERVICING and WORSHIPPING. You need to nurture, feed that piece inside you. I'm certainly not here to force my beliefs. I do however love sharing my own personal experiences.

 

 

[gentlewind]

Well I certainly can't do anything about your negative Christian experience(s). I still disagree with you. The service and worship of God=Religion If you can understand the basic fact that God is in inside you then you should be SERVICING and WORSHIPPING. You need to nurture, feed that piece inside you. I'm certainly not here to force my beliefs. I do however love sharing my own personal experiences.

They were a lesson, I learn't and moved on.

 

I don't use the word g_d. And I don't worship, that is more laziness and more distraction.

 

What I do see is the Oneness of It All. And I go within on a daily basis, and often experience pure Bliss.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

[silas]

Although the modern religious community seems to pursuing a "holy grail" of a "one-world religion", because as one poster said "if you get all of the greatest masters together they'd all tend to agree with each other on technique execution, etc", classical Taoism has no conflict or discomfort in seeing different religions as "different" and pursuing its own divergent path.

 

If everyone pursues a divergent path, would that not lead to chaos and disharmony? No. For those of you who are familiar with the great father of economics, Adam Smith, his concept of the "invisible hand" guiding free markets where each person just follows his own "self interest" to benefit of all society, is a working model of this concept of Taoist mystical wu-wei. Here's a quote from his book Wealth of Nations:

 

By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, [an individual] intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other eases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.

 

Here's an interesting personal experience I wanted to share. Many months ago, I was in Venice Beach, at the local library. At the time, I wore a Taoist skullcap (a large yin-yang at the center which would not be acceptable to Jews).

 

A woman at the library mistook to the skullcap for a Jewish Kippah and suggested that I visit a synagogue down the street. I told her I was a Taoist, which she apparently did not know anything about.

 

Then she said "Well, they're all the same" (meaning all religions are really the same).

 

I said "Sometimes they are the same, but they are all part of the whole."

 

While classical Taoists practice non-distinction in the sense of no-prejudice, they TRULY value the diversity of creation as it happens and let wu-wei (non-conscious guidance) steer them in life. Everyone and everything in this universe is part of the whole, part of the family, so to speak, even if they look or act different, and your inner nature and Tao currents try to keep you safe as you travel life to attain destiny. Difference does not scare you, because you have the necessary tools to steer you.

 

What then about all this violence in the world, religious and otherwise? In classical Taoism, they are symptoms of unbalance or shifts in the landscape. Try to avoid it if possible, or you must "roll with the punches" because you are entering a time of turbulence in Tao currents. If there is an imbalance in the world, then Tao (in its regulatory function, equilibrium locating) will try to bring stability through people and events, if they can feel its call. All they have to do is act in accordance with inborn nature - just like consumers act in their self interest in Adam Smith's marketplace. They must also sense external Tao currents. Taoist meditation can help restore a lost connection.

 

More in: Interfaith, Syncretism and Universal Love: A Study Of New Age Taoism

Edited May 29, 2013 by silas

[h.uriahr]

They were a lesson, I learn't and moved on.

 

I don't use the word g_d. And I don't worship, that is more laziness and more distraction.

 

What I do see is the Oneness of It All. And I go within on a daily basis, and often experience pure Bliss.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

 

I'm certainly happy that you've found something that resonates with you.

[gentlewind]

I'm certainly happy that you've found something that resonates with you.

that makes two of us

 

It was when I stopped seeking and looked within. Closer than my heartbeat.

 

Amazingly simple.

 

Beautiful.

 

Namaste,

 

gentlewind

[Maddie]

This thread kind of reminds me of my internal dialogue over the years. First I was very zealous in the church. Then I got totally disillusioned with it and thought it was a huge waste of time. Then I got over it and didn't care. Finally I saw that a lot of the cultivation I do now in Buddhism and qigong I was doing in the church and didn't know it haha.