Is it ok to follow any religion?

[_Z_]

Dauer,



Yes it would certainly 'infer' theology, I don’t see the difference in one nature of existence to the next due to its dimension i.e. being of finite or infinite nature, it can still be experienced. I would say we all experience it all the time its just that zero doesn’t mean much to the brain as it concentrates on everyday tasks – the more subtle a nature of reality is, then the more it is not noticed!

then the more universal ones expansivity of mind, then the more of it we see. [just teasin' ]

Z

 

[wil]

I should have said nothing...the QM thought was right and the sniping was kept to a minimum to date...

For gosh sakes we all know if you are an ardent follower of any religion (read cult) you know that all others are infidels, goy, sacreligious, wrong, daft (since they can't see the 'truth' when it is right in front of their eyes) and going to hell or some other dire consequence..

There was a sect/cult discussion from the dictionary

cult (k

lt) n.

1. 1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
   2. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5. 1. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
   2. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

Notice we have to get to the fifth reference before we get to a definition that doesn't imply any of the 'major' religions.

I am of Celtic, Norse, English, gypsy & Greek decent. One day we will all just be worldish eh! Hopefully with no religion whatsoever. Yes I think any ideas of race are gone, I don’t think anyone has a specific racial pedigree or even if this was ever possible.

Sounds to me you could be descended from a number of the 10 lost tribes...

I must now answer "YES" I think it is ok and admirable and wonderful if you were to follow 'any religion' (in the context as you asked it). If 100% of the world followed, not contorted, but followed a religious belief, I actually think wars and governmental requirements on mankind would be reduced...now if we continue to dig out crap that creates battles between classes, rich and poor, white and black, muslims and christians, this side of the mountain and that.. rubbish the whole thing.

how about that love your neighbor and enemy hype? How about those 10 commandments? I'm to pull other quotes from various religions but you know what I'm getting at...

Praise Allah, Shalom, Aleluiah, Om, Namaste, and Blessings on all you family!

 

[Quahom1]

I should have said nothing...the QM thought was right and the sniping was kept to a minimum to date...

For gosh sakes we all know if you are an ardent follower of any religion (read cult) you know that all others are infidels, goy, sacreligious, wrong, daft (since they can't see the 'truth' when it is right in front of their eyes) and going to hell or some other dire consequence..

There was a sect/cult discussion from the dictionary

cult (k

lt) n.

1. 1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
   2. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5. 
   
   1. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
   2. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.

Notice we have to get to the fifth reference before we get to a definition that doesn't imply any of the 'major' religions. Sounds to me you could be descended from a number of the 10 lost tribes...


I must now answer "YES" I think it is ok and admirable and wonderful if you were to follow 'any religion' (in the context as you asked it). If 100% of the world followed, not contorted, but followed a religious belief, I actually think wars and governmental requirements on mankind would be reduced...now if we continue to dig out crap that creates battles between classes, rich and poor, white and black, muslims and christians, this side of the mountain and that.. rubbish the whole thing.

how about that love your neighbor and enemy hype? How about those 10 commandments? I'm to pull other quotes from various religions but you know what I'm getting at...

Praise Allah, Shalom, Aleluiah, Om, Namaste, and Blessings on all you family!

Looks like the only one losing it is...not us. And we stayed more or less on track with the original thought. I don't know about you, but I consider no one an infidel, just because they dance to a different drum beat than me. Maybe we are from the lost tribes...you have a better answer? (STIC).

No, we don't know what you are getting at. Love neighbor and Love God are pretty good rules to stick by.

Oh, and blessings on your family as well.

v/r

Q

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

Rich,

btw, Are you male or female? [always handy to add these things to one's profile - just so we know at least a little about each other]

I'm a man. I'm married with two little girls. I'm a carpenter, and I live near Phoenix, Arizona in the USA.

Chris

 

[_Z_]

China cat sunflower,



Hi, I am a married man too, with three kids, one daughter - bronwyn [beautiful of course] and two twin boys. I live near oxford England.

Z

 

[Bandit]

Bandit,



The opposite happening? Everyone not following Christianity and Christ! Hmm perhaps then you mean that the path/religion would not be needed as you are there! Or do you think it will fade into the wind with everything else!

fade in the wind like everything else, tho i believe Jesus & the bible will stay alive in the hearts of some. -could be wrong here- i see a merge/compromise of religion(s) coming.

I agree a universal religion would not be superior [I am of course half jesting I am sure you know {the vanity is in the apparency – not the reality}], but you cannot have a universal religion – that’s the whole point! You just have people like many of us here who are a little looser.

Ha yes, there’s no path to follow anyway.




Z

i see a universal religion becoming very popular- i just dont see it lasting very long before the divisions & hootchie kootchie start.
i dont feel like i belong to any religion. when you get down to the nitty gritty of the bible (the 'ty' in christian, does not work real well for me)
i am most definately rejected by most of the denominations- so I really dont care about that.

but if you are holding something real loose, is not that like never buidling a foundation? & just blowing with any storm that comes along?

why do you say there is no path to follow? or is that just in general thinking from not joining an organized religion?

 

[wil]

No, we don't know what you are getting at. Love neighbor and Love God are pretty good rules to stick by.

I apoligize, it is only I that runs into people or reads posts that claim others are going to hell because they haven't sworn allegiance to this faith or that...

I've got to work on getting my unenlightened eyes to read betwixt the lines.

 

[_Z_]

Bandit, hi.



Yep, all things must change, yet some things never change! Like infinity, zero and universal spirit. So I would agree that Christianity, and all other religions shall probably merge [at least in some philosophical sense – remaining individual too] or fade, but there will always be the bible etc, [and Christ] as there is always ‘the book with no name’. i hope they all stay though - just in a more excepting and open way!

I think a universal philosophy [or at least a skeleton philosophy], would be better than a universal religion! In fact that is the whole point of it being universal – it incorporates all [even if in opposition to one another], only taking minimal individualism away – as there must be both.

Can one not have a universal foundation? Perhaps to all religions [not that they would except such a thing – but that would be irrelevant to the underlying philosophy].



The way I see it, if there is spirit then its interactions with the physical world are findable. There is a philosophical understanding of it somewhere out there:

If we don’t draw lines then where does spirit end? Do only humans have it? I don’t think so! For me animals have spirit – where then is the line? Then I would say vegetation and keep going until we arrive at single celled life-forms, from there I would go all the way to atoms then on down to the very quantum fabric of existence – there too we find spirit!



Respect



Z

 

[Bandit]

Bandit, hi.



Yep, all things must change, yet some things never change! Like infinity, zero and universal spirit. So I would agree that Christianity, and all other religions shall probably merge [at least in some philosophical sense – remaining individual too] or fade, but there will always be the bible etc, [and Christ] as there is always ‘the book with no name’. i hope they all stay though - just in a more excepting and open way!

I think a universal philosophy [or at least a skeleton philosophy], would be better than a universal religion! In fact that is the whole point of it being universal – it incorporates all [even if in opposition to one another], only taking minimal individualism away – as there must be both.

Can one not have a universal foundation? Perhaps to all religions [not that they would except such a thing – but that would be irrelevant to the underlying philosophy].

yah. philosophy could be universal easier than religion as long as everyone is seeing it as philosophy & not part of their religion. it allows room for missing data & answers to be resolved. i have seemed to maintain my individual beliefs in the bible while getting along with most Christians & those with other beliefs, because i dont make written dogma & i dont tell HOW i reach the same or similiar conclusions but have different reasons for why & how. well, i do on rare occasion, but i have to know the person very well first.

i wonder what the book with no name is? the book of life or something?

The way I see it, if there is spirit then its interactions with the physical world are findable. There is a philosophical understanding of it somewhere out there:

If we don’t draw lines then where does spirit end? Do only humans have it? I don’t think so! For me animals have spirit – where then is the line? Then I would say vegetation and keep going until we arrive at single celled life-forms, from there I would go all the way to atoms then on down to the very quantum fabric of existence – there too we find spirit!



Respect



Z

i dont think the spirit ever ends, except maybe if God wants a spirit to end.
i think this is where we share some common ground in druidry & spirit is connected to the physical, though temporarily, at least while the flesh is alive. even after one person or animal dies, i have found there is still a connection! i dont know how, but there is.

i have a hard time leaving a tropical plant out in its pot for the winter, but i just dont have room for them all.
Respect to you also.

 

[rdwillia]

Hello,

Just found this thread, don't know how I missed it. Great ideas by the way...

Although I largely agree about the positive qualities of having a 'universal foundation', I can also see the benefit of settling down with one group. It would seem to me that if I were only (ha!) looking at everything, I'd be constantly searching for something. Constantly searching doesn't allow much time for one to practice something. That's a large part of the reasoning behind my 'settling down'. I was frantically searching and didn't get a chance to relax and reflect. I didn't know where I stood on anything. There is something to be said about 'settling down', although it's not for everyone. Some people are much better at balancing universal ideals than I. But this way, I have one teacher, one place to go to speak with like-minded people who are following the same path, one set of goals, etc. Yet I have my 'universal foundation' to fall back on so that I'm not 'brainwashed' by the 'cults'.

Actually, I saw a trend of conformity so I thought I'd mix things up a bit.

Quahom1 and wil...

For gosh sakes we all know if you are an ardent follower of any religion (read cult) you know that all others are infidels, goy, sacrilegious, wrong, daft (since they can't see the 'truth' when it is right in front of their eyes) and going to hell or some other dire consequence..

Will you please kiss and make up? I despise fighting, it's such a waste of time. Quahom, from my understanding, I think you might have misunderstood wil a bit. I could be wrong. Wil, I gather that you were being a little sarcastic and a little more cynical, you have to realize people aren't going to react well to this. You've always seemed to have such a calming presence. Also, please understand that the majority don't feel this way, especially on these forums? I think perhaps you've had a run of bad luck recently? It can get heated but we generally work it out fine. Can't we all just get along? Take care.

 

[wil]

You've always seemed to have such a calming presence.

many thanx, always nice when one wanders off the path to have someone gently nudge them in the right direction.

Reverting to old thinking and ways...no one to blame but myself.

namaste,

 

[_Z_]

Bandit, hi.

I see what you are saying, let us then continue: consider that on a sub-quantum level, ‘thought’ or mind spirit and everything are as one but not yet formed – ‘a blank sheet of paper’. Then there is subtle reality, [the sub-design] where what we consider the physical and the spiritual [mind, being] are formed into gross reality. They are still elements of the one thus we could say that; the physical is in fact also a form of spirit! If we think of the foetus, then from its very first point of creation it has spirit, it then develops within the Ether - so to say - until it is fully human [a reflection of that universal nature = the humanative!]. If we imagine the snake, it has a backbone thus probably has chakras or spiritual centres, then as we go through more complex beings then the spirit develops with the form! We arrive at human, being the most developed, yet it has at its heart the same universal ‘atom-self’ as a single celled life-form!



Wil, hi.

The thing is we wont ever arrive at one religion! It is like tribes and countries, you get some end and some begin, then with waves of importance, e.g. I was talking to an American Indian chap, and he said how they were a subculture and people, I then pointed out that the American Indians were of Mongolian decent, and that such was the force of the Mongol migration and influx throughout the Indian subcontinent the middle east and eastern Europe, that the Mongolian peoples had actually become a major world race! A balance is usually kept that not one culture and religion shall be dominant, thus we will probably only ever arrive at a universal philosophy to reduce the duality between faiths. In the middle ages the tides of eternity drove humanity towards extremes of religion, the crusades etc, now I feel on many levels that there is a merging process going on, hence everything is becoming more universal – culturally politically and religiously.



Rdwillia, it is easy to miss threads here isn’t it!



‘Constantly searching’ that is the whole point! That we don’t just say ‘I know the answer and it is… [The bible for example], if we remain continually open, this removes the dogmatic approach! Time changes and we should find new interpretations. I do know what you mean concerning joining groups of others similar, as long as they remain open that’s ok, but whenever religion reaches a peak – and the authority that goes with this – it tends to show its ugliness! I would like to see all religions remain – for the diversity etc.

respect and thanx for interesting replies!

Z










.

 

[smkolins]

The thing is we wont ever arrive at one religion! It is like tribes and countries, you get some end and some begin, then with waves of importance, e.g.

There are limitations to extrapolating from the past. Ultimately all you can predict is the past. However, within that context perhaps some exceptions to the past are worthy of note - the United States hardly started united - each state had people arguing with every other state - and ultimately required a most painful war to settle its most grievous outstanding issues. In more recent times we have the European Union going through the early stages of these issues, with even greater barriers long in place.

Perhaps unity is more than possible.

 

[rdwillia]

Smkolins,

Ah, but who's to say the United States are truly united?

That's a very political and subjective uniting that's taking place. Such a uniting of religions might not work out as well.

 

[_Z_]

Smkolins,



What happens if your religion became the one and only? Does humanity stay the same for a thousand or a million years? I think when given such time spans it becomes obvious that nothing shall remain so, and that all things must change!

It is not truly universal, to follow paths or a path [or religion]! There is no right way. Perhaps the only way for humanity to arrive at one way is to have no ways!



Respect,



Z

 

[rdwillia]

Perhaps the only way for humanity to arrive at one way is to have no ways!

I tend to agree. It would seem that we must go through a period of chaos before we get where we're going... which is of course, nowhere in particular.

 

[Bandit]

I tend to agree. It would seem that we must go through a period of chaos before we get where we're going... which is of course, nowhere in particular.

ha ha . i have been thinking that for years. everyone thinks we are going faster faster faster- when we are all going the same speed & going nowhere real fast.

i would like to start a comparative study one day on, progress VS regress.

would any of you guys be interested in that?

 

[_Z_]

Rdwillia

It would seem that we must go through a period of chaos before we get where we're going... which is of course, nowhere in particular.

, yep, for me it seams obvious that when you mix everything up, you arrive at soup! hmm actually if we mix sweet savoury etc. it would be more like vomit! Hope for the future yet then eh!





Bandit.



Progress vs regress, hmm I suppose if humanity gains in one area then it looses in another, which is why we are more materialistic today and perhaps lesser in spirituality.

sounds fun!

 

[rdwillia]

Hey Bandit,

Ha ha . i have been thinking that for years. everyone thinks we are going faster faster faster- when we are all going the same speed & going nowhere real fast.

I'm getting a really good visual from this. I wish I was more of an artist, or perhaps an animator. I could make a great cartoon. We'd be in a race with a common start and finish line, we'd all be in Flinstones-esque cars paddling our feet with all of our might, travelling at 5mph, thinking we're just flying. We're all taking different, equidistent paths which we all think are short-cuts. Then we all get to the finish line at the same time and get really confused when we realize we're back at the beginning. I'm getting an image of an Oscar-short!

i would like to start a comparative study one day on, progress VS regress.
would any of you guys be interested in that?

Of course! Assuming you didn't target any group(s) in particular and weren't too critical on certain specific topics, though I'd still read it. My two cents would be that there's a difference between regression and chaos though. Chaos might just be a stepping stone. But who's to say what regression is anyway? Maybe you? It's all perspective really.

Take care!

 

[hand]

In fact all religions teach about God.

i.e. Buddahs, Allah, Jehovah,ect... all refer to one person that is GOD.
They teach differently, have different ways of meditation and so one but they all talk about God's Will (intention) and practice similar way of life.
They all teach about the way of life and all that.

Well I'd say it is ok to follow any religion.
They can't harm you. RIGHT?

That is what I think, read in a book and what the preachers (teachers whatever you call them) my religion teaches me.
Hope you understand.