Is it right to "try" other religions?

SatyamAbhidi said:
Truth is what remains when all beliefs and opinions are dropped.

This is why it is important to look at it from many aspects though, if you are sticking to only one system, it is bound to remain restricted to a mental activity.
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That would depend on whether you stay strictly within the doctrine of your religion. Sometimes one has to add common sense into the factor. I am Anglican for example, I follow the Anglican doctrine as close to the pulpit ( pardon the expression) as I can. Yet I have come to the understanding that some of the old ways were ok a millennia ago, but are impractical in todays society.
 
Richard Pickett said:
I am Anglican for example, I follow the Anglican doctrine as close to the pulpit ( pardon the expression) as I can. Yet I have come to the understanding that some of the old ways were ok a millennia ago, but are impractical in todays society.
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I suppose you fall closer to the pulpit than jack spong?
 
SatyamAbhidi said:
This is why it is important to look at it from many aspects though, if you are sticking to only one system, it is bound to remain restricted to a mental activity.
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I would have thought looking at 'many systems' restricts one to a mental activity, as one cannot 'do' them all.

No Tradition is a mental activity – all traditions are fundamentally dynamic – 'trying other religions' is mental stimulation from the get-go – the very premise of the question is flawed from the pov of what religion actually is.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
I would say that there is a mental component though. But one of the components that make up the whole.
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It is one of the components, but it's not a necessary component, and if it is the primary component then it will more often than not act as an impediment, in that the practice of religion either falls within the bounds of what the practitioner would call common sense – "For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me" (Matthew 25:36). Some do this because they take it on as a moral obligation of their religion, some do it simply because it strikes them as the right thing to do. But you don't really have to think it through too much ...

There are more sentimental saints than intellectual ones. There are more simple sages than clever ones.

As Taijasi said, the word 'religion' comes from the verb ligare – 'to bind'. The 're-' meaning to do so again, to re-connect to that which was lost. This will be a component of most natural traditions because the observation of nature says the world works in cycles, not straight lines. If modernity could just get a grip on that simple fact ...

But within the dynamism of the word it's useful to contemplate that from the same root comes 'ligament' which is the connective tissue that binds. So the term means not only to reconnect, but also to continually 'work' the connection and by so doing to strengthen it.

As for my comment, the full question is:
is it right to "try" other religions until you find one that bests suits your person beliefs and lifestyle?
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Religion is about change. The question isn't.
 
Thoughts address each at will.


1...The idea that we must live with whatever notions our parents provided for us for life is ludicrous.

2....The wish or requirement of any religious group on its adherents to not read about investigate other religions is based on a fear and lack mentality.

3... Edicts/laws/whatever, which institute punishments like ostracizing, banishment, whatever are proof that that fear of losing numbers is evidence of the above...

And is in my opinion a denial of a basic human right.
 
wil said:
1...The idea that we must live with whatever notions our parents provided for us for life is ludicrous.
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Depends how crap one's parents were I suppose. Mine weren't. I'm over 60 now, the same partner for near 40 years, three kids, a wide circle of friends, was head-hunted for a new job ... the lessons my mum and dad taught me never let me down.

As for the rest, if that's how you see religion, that's a shame ...
 
Lol...no shame... If you enjoy the religion of your family...why not??

If they require you to take part, if they kick you outta the house should you buy a Quran or visit aa Buddhist temple or take a yoga class...

That is what I have issues with... And shame on them.
 
wil said:
If they require you to take part, if they kick you outta the house should you buy a Quran or visit aa Buddhist temple or take a yoga class...

That is what I have issues with... And shame on them.
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you do realize not all (or most for that matter) religious folks do this. I've personally been the instrument of people's perception changes, although even with knowing who I am there are people in my life who will probably never accept the changes in my life, the vast majority are more interested in why, how, what, etc. and are much more willing to listen based on our history together. Noone may ever revert because of me, but I cannot say it is impossible either.
 
I am only talking about folks that are my way or the hiway...

I know, you know, and I am not saying all...

I am pointing out the folks I have issues with and why...

If it feels as if I am talking about you... (Any of you) that is your perception, not mine.

I have asked which of my statements you oppose and why...
 
Thomas said:
It is one of the components, but it's not a necessary component, and if it is the primary component then it will more often than not act as an impediment
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Agreed it is one of the components. Also agreed it should not be the primary component. I will quibble that is not a necessary component. We humans have so few abilities to 'know' our reality, that every one we do have is important to exercise to make the most progress towards the ultimate goal.

And what is the ultimate goal to me, he asks?

Thomas said:
As Taijasi said, the word 'religion' comes from the verb ligare – 'to bind'. The 're-' meaning to do so again, to re-connect to that which was lost. This will be a component of most natural traditions because the observation of nature says the world works in cycles, not straight lines. If modernity could just get a grip on that simple fact ...

But within the dynamism of the word it's useful to contemplate that from the same root comes 'ligament' which is the connective tissue that binds. So the term means not only to reconnect, but also to continually 'work' the connection and by so doing to strengthen it.
Click to expand...

What awesome words! I completely agree with this portion of your post. Except the part about what it is we should be connecting to and working to strengthen. As a deist is not a connection to a divine as defined as a god; what was lost is the concept that our understanding of reality is as all that there is. And as far as that goes it is a portion of what reality is, but just a very small portion. Through exploration of our reality we have come to know that it is so much more than our simple senses can comprehend. I'm not a solid person, sitting in a solid chair, typing on a computer which sits upon a solid desk. On the quantum level none of that is true.

What we lost is the sense that we are but tiny pieces of a humongous massive whole that makes up the entirety of the universe in which we exist. Simpler cultures in the past understood this to a small degree as they at least understood the cycles of nature, the interconnection between man, animals, environment and the planet. Most of modern humanity has lost even that little bit our ancestors knew.

There is so much more beyond what our ancestors knew though. That down at the deepest level, we are all energy. A thing that can not be created nor destroyed. That matter is but one form of energy, and that we have come from energy and we will to return to energy. That is how we are eternal.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
We humans have so few abilities to 'know' our reality, that every one we do have is important to exercise to make the most progress towards the ultimate goal.
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There is the question if knowing anything is of any use for anything. I'm thinking that the Traditions if the world don't ask us to know or understand anything but to do or be, and to an extent to forget what we think we know.
 
Forgetting what we think we know is probably not far off the point. Not because it is necessarily wrong; rather that it is misleading. What we think we know needs to be reworked to be closer to whatever reality is. There are many traditions that promote disassociation. That we stop trying to understand as the way to understanding. This carries a certain amount of truth in the sense that if we are noncritical about what we accept as knowing, that must be done away with before real knowing can begin.

But it is just the first step, clearing away the old to make way for the new. New patterns of observation and behavior is required to move closer to any ultimate truth.
 
Are you saying reality gets in the way of spirituality...or some religiosity?

That adherence to some religious beliefs require one to suspend reality, knowledge?
 
Oh boy have you put me in a spot! Okay pushing ahead where angels fear, etc. etc. etc. I am not saying reality gets in the way of religiosity. Quite the opposite actually. I am saying that some overly fundamental versions of the world's religions completely block the path to reaching the Divine. Whether you define Divine in religious terms such as a God, or you define the Divine more spiritually as being one with everything else there is, which does not include the need for a God.
 
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Lol, no insult...based on what you've posted it was an observation..which it seems you verified.

I am closer to he on spiritual viewpoints...
 
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