Do You Believe?

Krisha Mitra Das

Krisha Mitra Das

Ethical Vegan Yogini
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I just watched a beautiful, beautiful Christian faith film called, “Do You Believe?” (2015)

The theme of it shows people who decided to not just believe in God, but also put into practice Jesus' teachings in actions as Jesus says: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

It showed people in different stories that later intertwined with the others. It's also quite the tearjerker, and extremely well made. The actors were brilliant and each portrayed characters you really cared about.

Well known actors are in the film: Sean Astin, Mira Sorvino, Lee Majors, Cybil Shepherd, Ted McGinley, Brian Bosworth.

When people really, truly stand by their faith, it can be very challenging. I won't give it all away, but not everyone had happy endings but the ones that didn't, they never regretted what they did in their actions toward others as they stood firm in their faith, not just in belief, but in action as well.

I plan on looking at my Yoga beliefs (yamas and niyamas) very carefully, very mindfully again and checking myself making sure I am truly, faithfully doing in action what I believe. Where I can do better and not just look at the tenets in a shallow way, but in a deep, committed way. Like not stealing doesn't mean just not robbing people; it also means not stealing time from work—taking longer breaks than one should for instance. Looking at things in a deeper, more discerning way.

I am so glad I saw this film.
 
I've not seen the film, but to answer your question, yes! For me, belief and faith in God is far more important than how one goes about practicing that faith, by what name they call God or what traditions they may follow.

I'm born and raised Christian, while my wife is a native born Hindu. Our religious upbringing was quite different, yet we both view faith in exactly the same way. Over the years, 32 and counting, the lines between our two faiths has become quite blurred, with my in-laws often referring to me as a Hindu devote of Christ.
 
The ‘love your enemies’ quote and related thoughts are found in the Gospel of Matthew. In that Gospel, Matthew stresses the need for righteous action as the essential feature of righteousness.

In Matthew, when Jesus is asked how one is to act, he replies not to murder, not to steal, not to lie, not to commit adultery, to honor your parents and … drum roll … love your neighbor as yourself. That covers a lot of territory.

In the story of the Sheep and the Goats., it is made clear that loving your neighbor means action. Matthew records Jesus as saying that those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison, will be rewarded in the end and those who do not will be punished.

And in all of these passages, Jesus never mentions belief in a particular system of faith as a requirement. In fact, in the passage where Jesus mentions ‘do not murder’ and so forth, he states that these commandments come from God, not from him.
 
Krisha Mitra Das said:
I plan on looking at my Yoga beliefs (yamas and niyamas) very carefully, very mindfully again and checking myself making sure I am truly, faithfully doing in action what I believe. Where I can do better and not just look at the tenets in a shallow way, but in a deep, committed way. Like not stealing doesn't mean just not robbing people; it also means not stealing time from work—taking longer breaks than one should for instance. Looking at things in a deeper, more discerning way.
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Contemplation in your context is great for mental growth, the only problem is that it only deals with the present circumstances. Spiritual meditation deals with the future and plans ahead. We learn from our mistakes but how we meditate is very important for where in time we place our trust, what we learn from living and circumstances, past and present and anticipating the future, and views on and in God. How does yoga help with the future?
 
Krisha Mitra Das said:
I just watched a beautiful, beautiful Christian faith film called, “Do You Believe?” (2015)

The theme of it shows people who decided to not just believe in God, but also put into practice Jesus' teachings in actions as Jesus says: “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

It showed people in different stories that later intertwined with the others. It's also quite the tearjerker, and extremely well made. The actors were brilliant and each portrayed characters you really cared about.

Well known actors are in the film: Sean Astin, Mira Sorvino, Lee Majors, Cybil Shepherd, Ted McGinley, Brian Bosworth.

When people really, truly stand by their faith, it can be very challenging. I won't give it all away, but not everyone had happy endings but the ones that didn't, they never regretted what they did in their actions toward others as they stood firm in their faith, not just in belief, but in action as well.

I plan on looking at my Yoga beliefs (yamas and niyamas) very carefully, very mindfully again and checking myself making sure I am truly, faithfully doing in action what I believe. Where I can do better and not just look at the tenets in a shallow way, but in a deep, committed way. Like not stealing doesn't mean just not robbing people; it also means not stealing time from work—taking longer breaks than one should for instance. Looking at things in a deeper, more discerning way.

I am so glad I saw this film.
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Reply removed at user's own request
 
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'Amir Alzzalam said:
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So, the bottom line here is that the Christian bible and what includes the 'teachings' of Yeshua the Nazarene took a hard left after the Old Testament probably in order to suck more sheeple into it's grasp!
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They were so dang sneaky (and prescient) that is one ton of credit you give the authors, editors, and council of nicea 3 centuries later.
 
wil said:
They were so dang sneaky (and prescient) that is one ton of credit you give the authors, editors, and council of nicea 3 centuries later.
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In the Gospel of Matthew there is a prophecy of the Lord concerning the raising up of the worthless Shepherd.

In Matthew 27; 9-11; we read; “Then what was spoken by (Jeremiah) the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the LORD commanded me."

The words here quoted are not in any copy of Jeremiah extant. But they bear a strong resemblance to the words of Zechariah 11:12-17. And it seems, from a remark of Augustine, that the original copies of Matthew 27: 9-11; in his time named no prophet, but that Matthew 27: 9-19, originally said; “That which was spoken by ‘THE PROPHET’ was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the LORD commanded me." Indeed, it is believed that the name (Jeremiah) was erroneously inserted by some much later officious transcriber.

“That which was spoken by ‘THE PROPHET’ was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, and they used them to buy the potter's field, as the LORD commanded me." THE PROPHET being Zechariah 11: 12 to 17.

Zechariah 11:12-17 New King James Version (NKJV) Then I said to them, “If it is agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.

And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.

17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Who do you think might have been that foolish and worthless Shepherd that God raised up in the land to guide his stubborn flock after they had paid him, ‘who filled the man Jesus with his spirit,’ the majestic wage of thirty pieces of silver?
 
So your support is a quote from a text that was written decades after an incident that predicts the incident and is supposedly quoting another text that doesn't actually contain that quote.

Why would anyone question your logic?
 
wil said:
So your support is a quote from a text that was written decades after an incident that predicts the incident and is supposedly quoting another text that doesn't actually contain that quote.

Why would anyone question your logic?
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Zechariah wrote that prophecy some 500 years before Jesus and it was not until the fourth century C. E., that any one religious leader claimed to be the chosen Shepherd of all God's people.

It was Emperor Constantine who decided to personally summon all the opposing and quarrelling Christian leaders to the first ever ‘World Council’. The date was 325 AD, in the town of Nicaea, where Constantine was to resolve the bitter source of contention between those differing bodies of beliefs. After Constantine the Judge, had made his decision on which belief the Christians should follow, he urged all council delegates to sign the revised formula as a statement of faith on which all Christians should in the future agree.

From the book--- “Jesus The Evidence,” by Ian Wilson. P. 144. “The Middle Ages, for the Jews at least, began with the advent to power of Constantine the Great. He was the first Roman Emperor to issue laws which radically limited the rights of the Jews as citizens’ of the Roman Empire, a right conferred on them by Caracalla in 212. As Constantine’s church grew in power it influenced the emperors to limit further the civil and political rights of the Jews.

But if times were again difficult for the Jews, for the Christian Gnostics and other fringe groups they were impossible. The books of Arius and his sympathizers were ordered to be burnt, and a reign of terror proclaimed for all those who did not conform with the new official Christian line decided upon by Emperor Constantine.

:Understand now by this present statute, Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulinians, you who are called Cataphrygians. . . . with what a tissue of lies and vanities, with what destructive and venomous errors, your doctrines are inextricably woven! We give you warning . . . .Let none of you presume, from this time forward, to meet in congregations. To prevent this, we command that you be deprived of all the houses in which you have been accustomed to meet . . . . and that these house’s, should be handed over immediately to the catholic/ i.e. universal church.

Within a generation, hardly leaving a trace of their existence for posterity, the great majority of these groups simply died away as successive Christian emperors reiterated the policies that Constantine had pursued.”

BUT 'why would anyone question my logic,' that's a good question.
 
The Anointed said:
BUT 'why would anyone question my logic,' that's a good question.
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It is just the thing I do when anyone has all the answers. There have been so many that are positive, it is usually a dead giveaway that they are not.

I gotta admit, I prefer the people that come and discuss and not those looking for students, I do think getting you all in one house and have a reality TV show would go viral in today's world
 
wil said:
It is just the thing I do when anyone has all the answers. There have been so many that are positive, it is usually a dead giveaway that they are not.

I gotta admit, I prefer the people that come and discuss and not those looking for students, I do think getting you all in one house and have a reality TV show would go viral in today's world
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I ain't looking for students mate, and I don't have all the answers. I've learned a lot in my 80 and more years of life and I don't want to take it all with me, that's why I visit the religious forums, in order to empty the cup and hopefully refill it, so what would you care to discuss, perhaps I may learn something from you, who knows.
 
The Anointed said:
I ain't looking for students mate, and I don't have all the answers. I've learned a lot in my 80 and more years of life and I don't want to take it all with me, that's why I visit the religious forums, in order to empty the cup and hopefully refill it, so what would you care to discuss, perhaps I may learn something from you, who knows.
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I respect that! Still wish you would do an intro. Yeah ya gotta download, ever since I died I have been trying to dump a bunch out of my hard drive, lol. Good onya 80 years!
 
wil said:
I respect that! Still wish you would do an intro. Yeah ya gotta download, ever since I died I have been trying to dump a bunch out of my hard drive, lol. Good onya 80 years!
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When did you die? What did you die from? And what's it like down there?

I assume you're trying to take the micky out of me, [EVER SINCE YOU DIED]
 
The Anointed said:
It was Emperor Constantine who decided to personally summon all the opposing and quarrelling Christian leaders to the first ever ‘World Council’. The date was 325 AD, in the town of Nicaea, where Constantine was to resolve the bitter source of contention between those differing bodies of beliefs. After Constantine the Judge, had made his decision on which belief the Christians should follow, he urged all council delegates to sign the revised formula as a statement of faith on which all Christians should in the future agree.
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Really? So many errors here ...

The Anointed said:
Within a generation, hardly leaving a trace of their existence for posterity, the great majority of these groups simply died away as successive Christian emperors reiterated the policies that Constantine had pursued.”
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OK ... but what about the Arian emperors? Sweeping statements tend not to stand up to close inspection ...
 
The Anointed said:
And you believe that you were BRAIN DEAD do you? Many people have zero memory after some terrific trauma, but they're not dead.
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They have 30 min to restart everything as cells die, the second time they went i asked if I was gonna lose more brain cells, they said don't worry you got plenty.

But you are correct, my brain was frozen in suspended animation while they replaced my aorta both times, second time was a quasi routine procedure (except if they did not bring me back from thar state I would be dead) the first time I had less than a 2% chance of that happening and success was with a few dozen folks spending a few hundred thousand over those first 2 weeks
 
wil said:
They have 30 min to restart everything as cells die, the second time they went i asked if I was gonna lose more brain cells, they said don't worry you got plenty.

But you are correct, my brain was frozen in suspended animation while they replaced my aorta both times, second time was a quasi routine procedure (except if they did not bring me back from thar state I would be dead) the first time I had less than a 2% chance of that happening and success was with a few dozen folks spending a few hundred thousand over those first 2 weeks
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'I would have been dead' slightly different from 'Ever since I died.'
 
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