The Old Testament/Tanakh/Qur'an(most of it anyway) would agree with you. The whole soul/heaven/hell thing was assimilated by all monotheistic faiths from other faiths seen as a threat.We all die and are broken down into teeny tiny pieces by bacteria.
About 659million, I believeHow many people do I have to get to say they believe something before we are given the protections religion gets?
Ultimately all religion was started by one person who made some stuff up and it snowballed from there.
An excellent bookSapiens,a Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Think a few on here would enjoy the chapters on religion in this book, cheers @Rascal for putting me onto it.
'God' for me is just a word, just a term that's expresses what might be called 'essence.' If it leads to arguments then feel free to drop. Rumour has that's why the buddhawhy do you think that? they are just questions
point out to me where the abuse is please or is just another attempt at obfuscation
and if you think the way i write is abusive i can think of some posters you wouldn't want to communicate with believe me
i'll try again
how do you know the feeling you had came from a god?
I've finally figured it out .'God' for me is just a word, just a term that's expresses what might be called 'essence.' If it leads to arguments then feel free to drop. Rumour has that's why the buddha
didn't use this term - to go beyond arguments of 'my God is better than yours.'
And perhaps 'abusive' was not the best term to use - perhaps it might have been better to suggest that it felt unlike the loving kindness that is the nature of our shared ('divine') essence.
Anyhow, I have found this thread helpful in exploring something that has brought me much conflict. Namely, this nagging feeling that football fan culture can be one expression of a way of thinking that perhaps isn't so great.
It like one decides to live in ignorance of an inner joy, so that I can con myself that 'this' makes me happy, 'that' makes me unhappy. City win - woohoo, am happy; City lose, ahhh what tragedy best demonstrate my loyalty by being miserable. In both ways, I forget the joy within. Maybe this is just a bit of harmless fun? Sure, this is possible and yet...
What of people were able to access an inner joy, for free? Would this make people less likely to hoard good and resources and so bring about their more equitable distribution? Would it make war less likely, as the financial gains that come from war naturally come to be less important? Would it lead to less sickness - the state of joy a perfect antidote to stress related conditions? Would it help with the environment - perhaps in joy fold might treat the planet with a little more consideration?
So, maybe this model is not so great -for football or society in general. But I am not advocating a ban on football or that people shouldn't support a team. More raising the possibility that the nature of the relationship can change to one that brings a deeper joy, a deeper felt sense of connection. Then, perhaps, this might spread into others areas of life (dare I suggest it, even religion?). Kind of like a beauty-full, empowering infection.
Or maybe just a 'language' you don't understand?I've finally figured it out .
You're speaking in tongues.
When the ball was played through to Dzeko at the swamp for our 6th, I can definitely say I felt I was witnessing a 'greater being' that I could worship. At that moment I felt at one with God...or David Silva to give him his full name. Does that count?Or maybe just a 'language' you don't understand?
Anyhow - here's a thought or two,if you want.
Have you ever felt touched by beauty, even if just for a fleeting moment?
Ever considered that, in that moment, you came to be 'infected' by beauty? One might try to control this beauty, or fight it, or deny it, or forget it...resist it, buy it or even steal it. No matter - yet it just starts off a process in which you eventually come to lose to it. 'Dying' into Beauty, so as to as to be 'reborn' a more empowered being. Going through cycles of this might be said to be a maturation process that some would call opening to 'grace.'
Jogo bonito. The beautiful game. What a wonderful thing.
Fucking great! Enjoy. Drop the religious dogma and heavy morality and life is as simply wonderful as this.When the ball was played through to Dzeko at the swamp for our 6th, I can definitely say I felt I was witnessing a 'greater being' that I could worship. At that moment I felt at one with God...or David Silva to give him his full name. Does that count?
I was watching the game with a rag, who felt sure he was witnessing witchcraft or the devil.
I have witnessed divinity. Unlike religious folk, I have video evidence to prove my god exists.
'God' for me is just a word, just a term that's expresses what might be called 'essence.' If it leads to arguments then feel free to drop. Rumour has that's why the buddha
didn't use this term - to go beyond arguments of 'my God is better than yours.'
And perhaps 'abusive' was not the best term to use - perhaps it might have been better to suggest that it felt unlike the loving kindness that is the nature of our shared ('divine') essence.
Anyhow, I have found this thread helpful in exploring something that has brought me much conflict. Namely, this nagging feeling that football fan culture can be one expression of a way of thinking that perhaps isn't so great.
It like one decides to live in ignorance of an inner joy, so that I can con myself that 'this' makes me happy, 'that' makes me unhappy. City win - woohoo, am happy; City lose, ahhh what tragedy best demonstrate my loyalty by being miserable. In both ways, I forget the joy within. Maybe this is just a bit of harmless fun? Sure, this is possible and yet...
What of people were able to access an inner joy, for free? Would this make people less likely to hoard good and resources and so bring about their more equitable distribution? Would it make war less likely, as the financial gains that come from war naturally come to be less important? Would it lead to less sickness - the state of joy a perfect antidote to stress related conditions? Would it help with the environment - perhaps in joy fold might treat the planet with a little more consideration?
So, maybe this model is not so great -for football or society in general. But I am not advocating a ban on football or that people shouldn't support a team. More raising the possibility that the nature of the relationship can change to one that brings a deeper joy, a deeper felt sense of connection. Then, perhaps, this might spread into others areas of life (dare I suggest it, even religion?). Kind of like a beauty-full, empowering infection.
The easy answer to this would be to say that essence is the indefinable that can come to be expressed, known and even enjoyed throughso then what is the essence?
and once again i'll say there is no my god is better than yours, i treat them as one and the same
In this state of inspiration one might start to 'see' the beauty of the original message... ...So, a question - why is it seemingly so offensive to suggest that life can come to be experienced more and more enjoyably this way?
The easy answer to this would be to say that essence is the indefinable that can come to be expressed, known and even enjoyed through
the definable. But am pretty sure that you will tell me that this is me 'speaking in riddles. Soooooo, is there another way? Possibly not, right?
But can I suggest that that which is called 'mourning' in the beatitudes is also know as 'confusion' in other traditions. In short it is a process
of moving from a certainty of 'knowing', through the confusion of 'not knowing' so as to come to know a deeper clarity of thought and/or
connection.
sort of...as we are willing to let go of the certainty of 'just mind,' then we can open to the 'mysterious heart' that can come to be expressed
through the mind...though maybe in a different way from before...like Art?
You want people to just enjoy life. I like the peaceful and respectful idea.
I suppose that goes for any of us 7.6 bn (still rising) humans on earth, and - talking about enjoyable life - same goes for all animals as well, no?
Well, it seems like it doesn't really work too well, looking back and around.
Before everybody and his dog can enjoy life with a big fat smile on his face there is quite a job to do out there.
Or do you just care about your individual happiness, ignoring the rest?
Are we responsible for anything?
I'll give you a nice song as well:
I'll let you decide what you think my motives are. What I might share is that, in my experience, In have found that my desire to be happier than others (whether through having more money, more status, more 'knowledge' etc) actually ends up being something that gets in the way of being able to share the sheer simplicity of joy with people. Now, if you read through this thread ,then it probably doesn't take a genius to realise that this is not something that I am very good at. But I try - and if that means failing time after after time, then so be it. If, through this, I learn how to genuinely connect with people...then, well that would be a blessing for sure, right?
ps thanks for the vid
The easy answer to this would be to say that essence is the indefinable that can come to be expressed, known and even enjoyed through
the definable. But am pretty sure that you will tell me that this is me 'speaking in riddles. Soooooo, is there another way? Possibly not, right?
But can I suggest that that which is called 'mourning' in the beatitudes is also know as 'confusion' in other traditions. In short it is a process
of moving from a certainty of 'knowing', through the confusion of 'not knowing' so as to come to know a deeper clarity of thought and/or
connection.
sort of...as we are willing to let go of the certainty of 'just mind,' then we can open to the 'mysterious heart' that can come to be expressed
through the mind...though maybe in a different way from before...like Art?
Ah but proof denies faith according to The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. The whole point about religion is that faith is what matters; proof is for the real world.When the ball was played through to Dzeko at the swamp for our 6th, I can definitely say I felt I was witnessing a 'greater being' that I could worship. At that moment I felt at one with God...or David Silva to give him his full name. Does that count?
I was watching the game with a rag, who felt sure he was witnessing witchcraft or the devil.
I have witnessed divinity. Unlike religious folk, I have video evidence to prove my god exists.
About sums it up.Religion has often been taught using a mixture of indoctrination and threats. Those methods wouldn't be needed if it wasn't a con.