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Go Back   Spiritual Forums > Religions & Faiths > General Religion

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  #1  
Old 30-05-2017, 10:21 PM
Honza Honza is offline
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speaking of religion.

Is religion avoidable? I'm not so sure it is. Loosely speaking all manner of practices and understanding can be called religion.

There is a definite trend here at these forums for people to state that they are not religious. So what manner of spirituality are they practicing? Is it not realistic to call any spiritual endeavor religion?

Religion is generally regarded as being the 'belief in God'. So what people are doing now is replace 'belief' and 'God' with two other states. 'Belief in God' turns into the 'practice of I'.

My contention is that the 'practice of I' is just as religious as the 'belief in God'. It is not the same. But it could be called a religion just as well.

People say 'I have no beliefs'....but they do. They believe in I. Every Eastern and New Age practice depends upon the belief in I. If people did not believe in I then they would not practice I. I is a belief just as much as God is.
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  #2  
Old 30-05-2017, 10:46 PM
Melahin Melahin is offline
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Just looked up the word religion, and according to the definition I found then there is little discussion: you hit the nail on the head So now what?
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  #3  
Old 31-05-2017, 12:38 AM
FallingLeaves FallingLeaves is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Honza
Is religion avoidable? I'm not so sure it is. Loosely speaking all manner of practices and understanding can be called religion.

There is a definite trend here at these forums for people to state that they are not religious. So what manner of spirituality are they practicing? Is it not realistic to call any spiritual endeavor religion?

Religion is generally regarded as being the 'belief in God'. So what people are doing now is replace 'belief' and 'God' with two other states. 'Belief in God' turns into the 'practice of I'.

My contention is that the 'practice of I' is just as religious as the 'belief in God'. It is not the same. But it could be called a religion just as well.

People say 'I have no beliefs'....but they do. They believe in I. Every Eastern and New Age practice depends upon the belief in I. If people did not believe in I then they would not practice I. I is a belief just as much as God is.

commonly, 'religion' in the mainstream is taken in the strictest sense to mean 'organized' religion, e.g. christianity or islam as practiced in churches or mosques. But yes if you want to broaden the meaning of the word to cover not how it is practiced but rather the whole topic that is being practiced, it does apply to more people... but people might fight with you when you do that because the whole point of saying they aren't a part of it is to disassociate from all the 'bad' associations the very word brings to their minds.

i find that people will often avoid admitting as to what something is because when their belief as to what something is conflicts with what the something really is... they will if given a choice choose the belief rather than accept the reality. And then call it 'truth'.
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  #4  
Old 21-06-2017, 09:25 PM
AlwaysDayAfterYesterday AlwaysDayAfterYesterday is offline
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Inaccuracies

Quote:
Originally Posted by Honza
Is religion avoidable? I'm not so sure it is. Loosely speaking all manner of practices and understanding can be called religion.

There is a definite trend here at these forums for people to state that they are not religious. So what manner of spirituality are they practicing? Is it not realistic to call any spiritual endeavor religion?

Religion is generally regarded as being the 'belief in God'. So what people are doing now is replace 'belief' and 'God' with two other states. 'Belief in God' turns into the 'practice of I'.

My contention is that the 'practice of I' is just as religious as the 'belief in God'. It is not the same. But it could be called a religion just as well.

People say 'I have no beliefs'....but they do. They believe in I. Every Eastern and New Age practice depends upon the belief in I. If people did not believe in I then they would not practice I. I is a belief just as much as God is.

Hello. Your thread (sutra) is my first comment to anyone on this forum. #1. Thank you for providing context for my reply. I'll make it a good one.

There are a great deal of inaccuracies in your presuppositions, which if corrected, would answer your own question without having to ask another. I would recommend reading up on the topic of Guest and Host in Eastern religion, and a topic in Buddhism called Perduring self. You are making statements about Eastern religion that are not accurate. Your questions are based on the same misconceptions most have about the words religion and practice.

With this cleared up, the words in your premise are practice, religion and 'I.' Are you referring to the true self in Sattva (Truth / Being / Pure Mind), or the Ego in Rajas / Tamas (time / space)? Define the terms and I will show you 10 dimensions of reality in relation. When you look up the three Gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas, you will only see them applied to mind, but they also apply to space (not time). Time is Rajas Guna, but not affected by ignorance (Tamas). It is neutral and invariant.

Overcoming the lower regions of the Triloka (again look it up) is a function of Maya (Illusion) and the hologram we are clinging to as the false conception of self. Learn these terms and let me know what you find. I can answer any questions you have to show you the world around you by practice, or what you (MANU) are here to do. Manu is the Sanskrit term for Man, meaning, "to think (Practice). Sanskrit is the source for all religious (verb) thought. Thinking. MIND!

By a person saying they are not religious, they do not realize religion is a verb. Correct this as well in your thinking. 'Religion' as a noun is a term meaning the philosophy of practice. When a person uses the word religion, they are likely making the same mistake, thinking that belief is your religion. Philosophy is your belief, but religion is your practice, which is the correct use of the term practice as applied to thinking. In Eastern religion, practice is meditation, but this again is a flipped concept that is hidden to most people.

Meditation is not what you do here in Maya, but the construction of the world around you from another realm (Sattva / Being / Mind / Truth). Your mind is meditating there to make this dream reality, just as you produce the same shadow when you dream here into your material mind (one more level down). Literally, you are meditating this world into existence. When you meditate here in silent awareness and contemplation (stillness), you are shining the light back again to your true self in Sattva (Truth / Being). Awakening (BUDH) is waking up the mind above to the mind below (YOGA). Illusion (Maya, or the Triloka here in illusion) is not reality, therefore not true (empty). Sattva is Mind, or truth. You are here to practice this skill of building reality. You are a creator. Religion is the action you take to either take or give, making you either a thief or saint.

Now you can define religion. Religion is your practice here to do Yoga (union) with others. Compassion and goodness is the proper way to practice (do religion). Hatred, Aversion, Stealing, Killing are all improper ways of practice (religion). That's the simple truth. When someone says they do not practice religion, they do not know what they are saying. In truth, they are saying, they do not have a definite philosophy (view of reality), or knowledge of dharma. Worse, they are denying any thread of truth (sutra) to follow as a system of practice and awareness of Dharma (teachings).

What I just sowed you is a hidden truth in religion, but your question is answered by seeing that the question itself was flawed. Your view must change. I am willing to help. AMA.

You know the truth already. Give and you are doing good. Take and you are doing bad. God is not known to any of us, so the honest answer is to say you sense a loving mind at the heart of your being, but do not know it directly yet. You know God when you reflect him, thereby seeing him in yourself. This is knowing God. Belief in a God separate from you is dishonesty unless you see him in yourself, then know all others are Him as well. Belief in the presence of God is honesty if the identity of God is not known within all of us equally. My favored way to say it is this: You cannot know God until you overcome your own (false illusion of God). God then presents himself to you in meditation. Like science, negate what is untrue, then find the truth. All is illusion. Start there, then seek inside for the answer. From this, practice religion.

Last edited by AlwaysDayAfterYesterday : 21-06-2017 at 10:27 PM.
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  #5  
Old 22-06-2017, 12:03 AM
tommylama tommylama is offline
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What does it mean to love God with our mind?

When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment of all, he answered “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

Have you ever wondered what it means to love God with all of your mind? I understand loving God with all of my heart, because it’s all about my feelings for my Creator and I really, really love Him for everything. Loving Him with my soul is another story. I’m thinking that soul loving will be something we do in the future, mainly because I’m not sure anybody has a clue as to a correct definition of "soul" here in the present. So let’s leave loving God with our soul to another discussion. What I’m interested in right now is loving God with my mind. It’s part of the most important commandment of all, yet I don’t think I’ve ever read any discussion or heard any commentary on what it means to love God with all of our mind.

It’s definitely not the same as heart love, so there is really no emotion attached. Our mind is what we use to understand our environment. Our mind is about science and mathematics and associating causes with effects. Our mind is rational, while our emotions are irrational. When something is rational, it means that something makes sense. So what Jesus was emphasizing in His instruction was to make sure that our love for God was something that could be defended with logic. Our belief system is a part of our love of God. It is the rational part of our love for God. So our belief system must be defendable with logic, or we are guilty of breaking the most important commandment of all.
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Old 22-06-2017, 02:56 AM
AlwaysDayAfterYesterday AlwaysDayAfterYesterday is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tommylama
When Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment of all, he answered “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

Have you ever wondered what it means to love God with all of your mind? I understand loving God with all of my heart, because it’s all about my feelings for my Creator and I really, really love Him for everything. Loving Him with my soul is another story. I’m thinking that soul loving will be something we do in the future, mainly because I’m not sure anybody has a clue as to a correct definition of "soul" here in the present. So let’s leave loving God with our soul to another discussion. What I’m interested in right now is loving God with my mind. It’s part of the most important commandment of all, yet I don’t think I’ve ever read any discussion or heard any commentary on what it means to love God with all of our mind.

It’s definitely not the same as heart love, so there is really no emotion attached. Our mind is what we use to understand our environment. Our mind is about science and mathematics and associating causes with effects. Our mind is rational, while our emotions are irrational. When something is rational, it means that something makes sense. So what Jesus was emphasizing in His instruction was to make sure that our love for God was something that could be defended with logic. Our belief system is a part of our love of God. It is the rational part of our love for God. So our belief system must be defendable with logic, or we are guilty of breaking the most important commandment of all.

You might kick yourself if you figure it out, but 1 John 4 answers a very important question. What is God? Read it, and if you can't figure it out, I'll give you the easy answer. If you get it, then you realize that God is not a noun, but a verb parallel to our own actions.
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  #7  
Old 22-06-2017, 09:09 AM
sky sky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysDayAfterYesterday
You might kick yourself if you figure it out, but 1 John 4 answers a very important question. What is God? Read it, and if you can't figure it out, I'll give you the easy answer. If you get it, then you realize that God is not a noun, but a verb parallel to our own actions.

Did you kick yourself when you figured it out ?
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  #8  
Old 22-06-2017, 09:57 AM
AlwaysDayAfterYesterday AlwaysDayAfterYesterday is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sky123
Did you kick yourself when you figured it out ?

Yes. God is Love. So simple. You will hear sermons on God's will for you life, complicating the matter with predication of such a simple truth. What is God's will? Give and do not take. That's it. What is his law? This is found in both Galatians 3 and 5. One law only. Against this law, there are no other laws; no other restrictions. Our predicatory mind wants to name this as something more complicated. In truth, be what God is to know God.

Religion is a verb. So is God.
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Old 22-06-2017, 10:09 AM
sky sky is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysDayAfterYesterday
Yes. God is Love. So simple. You will hear sermons on God's will for you life, complicating the matter with predication of such a simple truth. What is God's will? Give and do not take. That's it. What is his law? This is found in both Galatians 3 and 5. One law only. Against this law, there are no other laws; no other restrictions. Our predicatory mind wants to name this as something more complicated. In truth, be what God is to know God.

Religion is a verb. So is God.

To know yourself is to know God,..... we are God.
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  #10  
Old 22-06-2017, 10:23 AM
AlwaysDayAfterYesterday AlwaysDayAfterYesterday is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sky123
To know yourself is to know God,..... we are God.

Gnothi Seauton. I agree. I have spent the last 6 years writing articles, showing this perennial philosophy within the Biblical story of the Son of God overcoming his own self / ego. It's a hidden narrative untold from the Gospel message, entirely missed by the bulk of Christians. This philosophy is the hallmark of all religious practice, truth and is the source of all Spiritual pursuit.

You are wise to know this. If you are ever curious how this applies to the Bible, Buddha or even Muhammad, let me know. It's my passion in life to tell this story. I can show you how to find my articles if you are curious.
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