What is the harm in believing

Originally Posted by geri

Would'nt you always want to believe that you can have the best life possible?

Certainly true in my case.


eudaimonia,

Mark

We can choose to change our belief at anytime. If what we are believing is not serving us in the highest and best way. As we learn and grow our beliefs can change. Its up to us to continue to seek the highest and best for ourselves and those around us. Some of the things I believed when I was ten do not serve me now but they did at the time. The only thing permanaent is change, hopefully for the better.

3d, I never said we are weak. I was just suggesting that maybe we limit ourselves by what we believe to be true for us. If you believe that there is nothing helping you and you have it all under control, you have what you believe.

Bluegreen, why would you blame God, or whatever you want to call it, when you are making the choices for your life not God. Remember freewill. You are your own person. What you choose to do in your life is up to you. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

Originally Posted by geri

3d, I never said we are weak. I was just suggesting that maybe we limit ourselves by what we believe to be true for us. If you believe that there is nothing helping you and you have it all under control, you have what you believe.

Believing that there is a higher power certainly does not help.

3d

[quote=geri]3d, I never said we are weak. I was just suggesting that maybe we limit ourselves by what we believe to be true for us. If you believe that there is nothing helping you and you have it all under control, you have what you believe.[/QUOTE
You misunderstood what I said. I did not say there was nothing to help us. I said I did not believe in a personal God.

Bluegreen, what do you and others mean by a"personal god?" I believe that God is no more personal than electicity or gravity. I see God as a law or principle always available to be contacted by thought without respect of persons. If a person is in the dark in a room, is that the fault of the electricity flowing into the room? Whatever a person believes about electicity makes no difference to the law of electicity it just is. Another thought is that there are those who have light without knowing a thing about the law of electicity. The law never changes weather one believes it or not.

Bluegreen, it certainly does'nt hurt!

Originally Posted by geri

Bluegreen, what do you and others mean by a"personal god?" I believe that God is no more personal than electicity or gravity. I see God as a law or principle always available to be contacted by thought without respect of persons. If a person is in the dark in a room, is that the fault of the electricity flowing into the room? Whatever a person believes about electicity makes no difference to the law of electicity it just is. Another thought is that there are those who have light without knowing a thing about the law of electicity. The law never changes weather one believes it or not.

Perhaps the term is not quite correct but when I say 'personal God' I mean a God who takes a hand in individual and human affairs. How often have you heard say "If there is a God why does He allow all the pain and misery?" That is what I mean by a 'personal' God or should I say God as a person with superhuman powers.

The more I think about it, mankind is the greatest power in the Universe I know of. Now as it seems man did not create the Universe, but I did find some really old Buddhist text once where Buddha was said to have said that Universes begin with thoughts. Sometimes I think we really do have the power to create ourselves, and even that it isn't just a power so much as pure reality. You know even Jesus quoted the Hebrew Scriptures as stating that humans are also gods.