Is There One True Religion, One True Path to God?

Namaste Jesus

Namaste Jesus

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There are many religious beliefs throughout the world. Is one of them the only true path to God and the others false?

The way I see it, all faiths and religious beliefs are in one way or the other interconnected. I see the differences between them as more cultural than anything else with the goal of each being more or less the same.

Thoughts?
 
Namaste Jesus said:
There are many religious beliefs throughout the world. Is one of them the only true path to God and the others false?

The way I see it, all faiths and religious beliefs are in one way or the other interconnected. I see the differences between them as more cultural than anything else with the goal of each being more or less the same.

Thoughts?
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No, I used to think like this; religion is like 3 blind men describing an elephant, etc or all religions are different paths up a mountain, but it just cannot be

Ideas of karma and reincarnation are fundamentally evil and incomparable with a loving God

Lawbound religions such as Islam are fundamentally different from Christianity
 
voiceofwood said:
No, I used to think like this; religion is like 3 blind men describing an elephant, etc or all religions are different paths up a mountain, but it just cannot be

Ideas of karma and reincarnation are fundamentally evil and incomparable with a loving God

Lawbound religions such as Islam are fundamentally different from Christianity
Click to expand...

To me, karma is not evil at all. Quite the opposite actually. If you do something wrong, it comes back to haunt you. Seems quite fair. Really, it's no different than the idea of being cast into hell for your sins.

I see reincarnation as the ultimate do over. A chance to get right in the next life what you failed to get right in the present. To me, allowing us a second chance is the ultimate expression of a loving God.

I've always thought of all religions as being law bound as each calls for adherence to God's ordinance.

Anyway, do you think that one religion is superior to the others?
 
Any religion has taken a step on the road to truth, for to acknowledge the divine is a necessary start.

Is one religion going to be the complete truth? No. God is infinite and man is finite, so any revelation is going to be partial, since the totality would be incomprehensible.

Are some religions better than others? Yes. When I read in the Koran that Muslims have a duty to make war on unbelievers, or Jesus threatening people with hell "where the devouring worm never dies and the fire is not quenched", I ask "who could believe in such a God?" Or rather I conclude that not much of the truth has got through.
 
From my journey through life, and what I have seen, and what I have felt, and what I have thought, my conclusion is there is no one true religion and no one true God. My reasoning is that I have seen too many good paths to enlightenment. There is no one true path. There are a great many true paths. This has been my life experience.
 
agreed....not only many paths...but many mountains...

This surely does not discount your path or my path....

The real question is...why do we let others on their path affect our path?

We should rejoice as others find their connection, to G!d, spirit, nature, the universe...
 
Namaste Jesus said:
To me, karma is not evil at all. Quite the opposite actually. If you do something wrong, it comes back to haunt you. Seems quite fair. Really, it's no different than the idea of being cast into hell for your sins.
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It is completely different and completely unfair. In the karmic system, as I understand it,
Actions taken in one life time determine the state of being and 'fate' or a being, which in no true sense of the word is the same being, in another lifetime and that, is grossly unfair. That I should be rewarded or punished for actions taken by a so called former self, since I am, at least in part, the sum total of my experiences, choices, actions, etc is in no real way me, is by definition unfair and evil
Namaste Jesus said:
I see reincarnation as the ultimate do over. A chance to get right in the next life what you failed to get right in the present. To me, allowing us a second chance is the ultimate expression of a loving God.
Click to expand...

That might be true except what is reincarnated is in no way me and it is ludicrous to pretend it is
Namaste Jesus said:
I've always thought of all religions as being law bound as each calls for adherence to God's ordinance.
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Part of what Jesus teaches is to avoid legalistic law bound religion, to seek the spirit not the letter of his law. Remember, his disciples gathered ears of corn to eat when they were hungry against the letter of the law and he himself cured on the Sabbath against the letter of the law.

Such a concept is meaningless in Islam I am informed
 
voiceofwood said:
It is completely different and completely unfair. In the karmic system, as I understand it,
Actions taken in one life time determine the state of being and 'fate' or a being, which in no true sense of the word is the same being, in another lifetime and that, is grossly unfair. That I should be rewarded or punished for actions taken by a so called former self, since I am, at least in part, the sum total of my experiences, choices, actions, etc is in no real way me, is by definition unfair and evil
Click to expand...

It's because what you define as 'You' is not what reincarnation defines as you. 'You' are more then what you are in this moment, more then you can realise being this 'you'.

You might not see it that way, but our own ignorance doesn't make things evil, unfair or ludicrous.
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
It's because what you define as 'You' is not what reincarnation defines as you. 'You' are more then what you are in this moment, more then you can realise being this 'you'.
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So you claim but I think that is untrue, firstly because it is contrary to scripture and secondly because it is, I consider, incoherent.

To say that their is some other me, some essence of me, that is somehow more me than me, makes no sense. Nothing can be more me, than me and if that were more me than I am then it would not be, in any meaningful sense of the word, me RAA

A Cup Of Tea said:
You might not see it that way, but our own ignorance doesn't make things evil, unfair or ludicrous.
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Rather it is because it is a ludicrous idea that the consequences of it are evil and unfair
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
. 'You' are more then what you are in this moment, more then you can realise being this 'you'.
.
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If that is so, then you can surely explain it clearly or I will not believe your words to mean anything, they already seem like language idling
 
I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to realise your own limitations on the subject. We're all entitled to our opinion but it is rendered pointless if it isn't founded in a serious study and understanding of itself.
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to realise your own limitations on the subject. We're all entitled to our opinion but it is rendered pointless if it isn't founded in a serious study and understanding of itself.
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And why do you think it is not?
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
I'm not asking you to believe me, I'm asking you to realise your own limitations on the subject. We're all entitled to our opinion but it is rendered pointless if it isn't founded in a serious study and understanding of itself.
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I am not supposing that you are asking me to believe you, rather you make a claim which appears to be no more than language idling so I ask you to explain what you mean. Since it is your sentence, presumably it is cogent to you, in which case you can explain it or the whole sentence is just meaningless
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
What is not?

We're all entitled to our opinion but it is rendered pointless if it isn't founded in a serious study and understanding of itself.
Click to expand...

That exactly; why do you suppose that what I say is not founded in serious study, research and understanding?
 
voiceofwood said:
It is completely different and completely unfair. In the karmic system, as I understand it,
Actions taken in one life time determine the state of being and 'fate' or a being, which in no true sense of the word is the same being, in another lifetime and that, is grossly unfair. That I should be rewarded or punished for actions taken by a so called former self, since I am, at least in part, the sum total of my experiences, choices, actions, etc is in no real way me, is by definition unfair and evil

That might be true except what is reincarnated is in no way me and it is ludicrous to pretend it is
Click to expand...

You have part of the picture, but here's what you are missing. Your former self, your past self and your future self are indeed separate beings, but these are all just physical manifestations of the same soul. Bad karma has a negative impact on the soul itself and it is your immortal soul that God is concerned with. Your spiritual self, not the physical you.

Correcting karma is but a small part of the reincarnation process however.
 
I think today were are obliged by common sense to say: No.

Sadly the tendency today is to pick and choose a selection from a number of paths that accord with one's own disposition, which inevitably tends to following the path of least resistance, which suggests one might indeed cover a good deal of ground, but never actually ascends anywhere.

The path to God is simple, but not easy. If it were easy, it wouldn't generate so much debate. If it were easy, we'd all follow it without the need to comment.

The sage advice seems to be: Find a path, and stick to it.

From The Paradise of the Desert Fathers:
"A beginner who goes from one monastery to another is like a wild animal who jumps this way and that for fear of the halter."
 
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