The silliness of calling Christ an "enlightened man"

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Your point, "Subtracting instead of of adding ", is well taken and in accordance with what sages of all traditions have said. It's more about UNDOING than DOING (Purification).

Still_Waters,

Or as Lao Tzu said: "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Molearner

Still_Waters,

Or as Lao Tzu said: "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."

"What I might be" sounds like a concept to me.

As Ramana Maharshi once said, "That which is no longer even says I AM" or, I might add, what "I might be".

[sky]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

"What I might be" sounds like a concept to me.

As Ramana Maharshi once said, "That which is no longer even says I AM" or, I might add, what "I might be".

If you let go of who you are to become who you might be then you are in the same position again of who you are.
Will you let go of that self as well.

I personally don't think Lao Tzu is referring to ' I am etc : ' although I do enjoy his Teachings.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by sky123

If you let go of who you are to become who you might be then you are in the same position again of who you are.
Will you let go of that self as well.

I personally don't think Lao Tzu is referring to ' I am etc : ' although I do enjoy his Teachings.

Since you mentioned Lao Tzu and Taoism, I thought that I would mention one of my favorite quotes from a Taoist handbook: "In utter emptiness and complete silence, simply watch the return (to original nature)".

Just discover who one REALLY IS and JUST BE.

[Mystic Mark]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Don't feel bad, I had a hard time realizing there was a difference.

The word has a different meaning, probably slight, but still a different meaning.


How I got into this was trying to rationalize Exodus 6:3

"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them."

I had problems with this scripture.

Why, Jehovah (Yahweh) first got introduced in Genesis 2:4 and by Genesis 4:26b

"then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."


In this case, the Lord in Hebrew is transliterated as Yahweh.

To me, none of this made sense till I noticed the spelling was different!

Exodus 6:3 KJV

“And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty (Shaddai) , but by my name Jehovah (Yahweh) was I not known to them?” KJV

God Almighty = Shaddai

The purpose for this verse was to point out the fact that “God Almighty” (Shaddai) is ONE of the names for Jehovah (Yahweh). The difference is that Jehovah (Yahweh) is just the general name for the Lord, whereas “God Almighty” (Shaddai) is a reference to Jehovah’s Power.

So when the verse mentions “I appeared unto ... ,” what it really means is that they were given a Sign (of his Power).

What type of Sign?

Taken from Wikipedia:

The root word "shadad" means to plunder, overpower, or make desolate. This would give Shaddai the meaning of "destroyer", representing one of the aspects of God.”

Hint ... If you’re not using “Interlinear Bibles” to check on what the actual word used in the verses are, they will help.

The actual Name for the Lord (of the Old Testament) as if appears in scripture is ...

YHVH

So whether or not that is translated as meaning YaHWeH or JeHoVaH, is not really relevant to the understanding of The Bible. The two are simply names ascribed the understanding of the four letters which some refer to as the Tetragrammaton.

[BigJohn]

Mystic Mark
Close........ but no cigar.

Genesis 4:26b reads:
"then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."
As mentioned, the Lord, mentioned in this scripture, in Hebrew is commonly transliterated as Yahweh.
It is written in Hebrew as:

יְהוָֽה׃
but you did not seem to realize that in Exodus 6:3 which reads:
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them."
In Hebrew, the word for Jehovah is commonly transliterated as Yahweh and is written in Hebrew as:
יְהוָ֔ה
which is commonly transliterated as Yahweh.
Why does Exodus 6:3 claim they did not know God's name when in Genesis 4:1b it clearly shows they did know and were using the name?
Explanation: Look at both Hebrew words - they are not identical. They are
even pronounced differently and have different meanings.
Conclusion: Hebrew is more complex then we ever imagines. The common expression
transliterated as Yahweh, we though was a singular word has at least 7 different variants.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Mystic Mark

The actual Name for the Lord (of the Old Testament) as if appears in scripture is ...

YHVH

So whether or not that is translated as meaning YaHWeH or JeHoVaH, is not really relevant to the understanding of The Bible. The two are simply names ascribed the understanding of the four letters which some refer to as the Tetragrammaton.

I've always found it interesting how much time people spend discussing the "Name for the Lord (of the Old Testament)".

Like yourself, it seems that "whether or not that is translated as meaning YaHWeH or JeHoVaH, is not really relevant". For those who think that it's important, I wish them the best in pursuing what is important to them as my priorities most assuredly lie elsewhere.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Mystic Mark
Close........ but no cigar.

Genesis 4:26b reads:
"then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."
As mentioned, the Lord, mentioned in this scripture, in Hebrew is commonly transliterated as Yahweh.
It is written in Hebrew as:

יְהוָֽה׃
but you did not seem to realize that in Exodus 6:3 which reads:
"And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them."
In Hebrew, the word for Jehovah is commonly transliterated as Yahweh and is written in Hebrew as:
יְהוָ֔ה
which is commonly transliterated as Yahweh.
Why does Exodus 6:3 claim they did not know God's name when in Genesis 4:1b it clearly shows they did know and were using the name?
Explanation: Look at both Hebrew words - they are not identical. They are
even pronounced differently and have different meanings.
Conclusion: Hebrew is more complex then we ever imagines. The common expression
transliterated as Yahweh, we though was a singular word has at least 7 different variants.

I always enjoy reading your posts as you point out things that I would not have discovered for myself since I don't know Hebrew.

I do have one question for you relevant to the Hebrew language but triggered by my limited understanding of the Sanskrit language.

It is said that the rishis of India mastered the science of sound in such a way that various chants were devised to trigger changes in one's "mind stuff" (for lack of better terminology). Just as science has shown that certain sound vibrations will cause fine sand to move into certain patterns, so it is said that certain Sanskrit mantras can similarly cause the "mind stuff" to move into certain patterns. Hence, pronunciation becomes very important for obvious reasons.

I was once told that the Hebrew language has a similar attribute, but I don't know. What are your thoughts on that since you seem to be very cognizant of the nuances in sound and writing of at least some Hebrew words?

[BigJohn]

I suspect the Paleo Hebrew and Old Hebrew were tonal languages.

Our language is non-tonal.

I have a hard time describing what a tonal language is.

I once use to go out with a woman whose language had 7 tones.
To my ears, it wasn't like music but in many cases irratating.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

I've always found it interesting how much time people spend discussing the "Name for the Lord (of the Old Testament)".

Like yourself, it seems that "whether or not that is translated as meaning YaHWeH or JeHoVaH, is not really relevant". For those who think that it's important, I wish them the best in pursuing what is important to them as my priorities most assuredly lie elsewhere.

As the word that is commonly transliterated from Hebrew as 'YaHWeH or JeHoVaH' are, believe it or not, not transliterated properly.

For example

יֱהוִה‎

as used in Genesis 15:2 is generally transliterated as Yĕhwih.
I believe we should be able to distinguish one God/god from another and what the various aspect of the God/god are.