Common threads in mainstream religions...
1] Belief in an afterlife and souls/divine essence.
2] A need to be ''saved'' through a god or holy man, through either faith or good work.
3] Pyramid structure in the form of priests, monks, students, followers.
4] Belief that there's a cosmic sense of right and wrong, and reward and punishment.
5] Belief in angels and demons, heavens and hells.
If you check early civilization or pre-civilization groups you don't always find the above, but [1] seems to be universal in all spiritual paths.
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Originally Posted by inavalan
I agree: all of them end up being about control.
Most religious and spiritual movements start from a need to share and interpret unexplainable experiences, but in time that gets distorted such that the original spark is unrecognizable.
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It's kind of already distorted with the first person, who tries to make sense of the ''experience'' through use of language, concepts, and feelings..
In a real practical sense, what matters are ethics that are applicable, such as ''don't steal'' or ''help the old lady pass the street''. To society at large, it's not so much the experience that matters but the outcome, how did/does it make improve life?