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MysticalGypsi
30 January 2007, 09:00 PM
What are your thoughts on all these religions? Are they in some capacity all God, but people distort the truth? Does God always meet us where we are or does he ask more of us?

satay
31 January 2007, 02:05 AM
But, we have all these ancient teachings and guidance. I thought about the relationship between these teachings and spiritual maturity, growth. they must be divinely inspired.

What are your thoughts on all these religions? Are they in some capacity all God, but people distort the truth? Does God always meet us where we are or does he ask more of us?

Just questions I had today in my mind.

namaste,
You have to be a little watchful when reading OSHO. He can make a religious man (or a woman) an atheist with his simple logic!

There is only one 'way of life' that is eternal and dharmic, known as sanatana dharma. All other man made religions are due to the yuga we are in i.e. kali yuga. This is also the age of ignorance among other things.

GOD has explained nicely what he expects from us, in Gita.

saidevo
31 January 2007, 09:06 AM
I have to believe God meets us where we are.


Your belief, I think, is right, though it might need to be qualified a bit: God meets us where we are, but still we need to know and realize Him in our own way. Thus, there are potentially, as many ways to God as there are people in this world! This is the reason Sanatana Dharma has the concept of a Personal God, and lets you worship Him in whatever form you wish, but do it with sincere devotion. SD encourages you have an active relationship with God: be his servant, friend, child, or even spouse! Visualize a role for Him, a role for you, define the relationship and act it out! You don't need a middle man, even a relgion, for your communion with God. The religion that encourages this kind of a personal path is the right religion for you. The religion that restricts your spiritual freedom and puts you in a rut, you should shun.

God is very personal, your own. This is a wonderful and practical concept, but behind the facade of its intimacy, lurks the resonsibility of realizing Him with your own ways and means. The responsibility is yours, your own, and Sanatana Dharma says that the ultimate path to God is lonely and personal.

But how can a mere mortal, entangled in the web of karma and ignorance, know or seek God in a personal, intimate way? This is where Hinduism helps, with its Bhakti Yoga, its rituals, pujas and mantras and recommends it for the Kali Yuga, the Age of Ignorance. Before entering the Bhakti Yoga, you start with the Karma Yoga, to develop your spiritual capablities. In the Bhakti Yoga, you use them to chalk out a personal path to God. If you are satisfied with the fruits of your search, you stop there and enjoy your dual relationship with God, standing apart from Him but near Him. If you wish for the next step to merge in Him, then you would commence your Jnana Yoga and start meditating on the Absolute Truth that lies behind forms and names.

sm78
02 February 2007, 06:13 AM
Do they all have a common source that man has polluted; are some deceptive?

The "common" source is our inner space of the human being or anthakarana. This universe is as vast like the "external" universe and different ideologies base themselves from differenr centers of this universe.

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... many people think they have the one true way. ...

These types of questions, in relation to what I was thinking about at the time, was the way Native spirituality was feared and misunderstood and attempt to eradicate it. The source for this was the belief that this religion was evil, which was so far from the truth.


The centre in our inner space which makes us believe that we only have the truth is called Moha ... in simple terms "Attachment" and "Ego" ~ far from truth, these 2 centers are the main barrier to truth.

Some ideologies are heavily motivated by these centers of ignorance and have very little truth in them. Their main motivation is to project themselves as the only truth.


So, do most religious texts from other religions have a source in the Vedas?

Not sure, some scholars claim that before Abrahamism came into exitence in its various forms most of humanity shared a common religion which seems like our vedic religion. But it might be a moha I hold onto.

But under natural circusmtances all religions should look similar ~ the center of true religion is "PEACE"...things which don't have hint of peace in them have nothing to do with dharma or true essence of religion.

Our great God Shiva is just Peace personified.

sm78
02 February 2007, 06:20 AM
Sanatana Dharma says that the ultimate path to God is lonely and personal.

Very true ... not only Sanatana Dharma but all Dharmas outside the Abrhamic fold say the same ... religion as a means to group human beings into thought controlled societies is powerful and harmful man made invention.

Agnideva
02 February 2007, 06:47 AM
Very true ... not only Sanatana Dharma but all Dharmas outside the Abrhamic fold say the same ... religion as a means to group human beings into thought controlled societies is powerful and harmful man made invention.

Excellent point Singhi! Sanatana Dharma and all Dharma religions therefore do not have the "shepherd and flock" analogy. We are not shepherded unto immortality, but rather each create our own paths. We are not to conform our individual thought and engage in groupthink, but express our individuality fully to pursue religion is that intensely personal and meaningful. Ideologies that demand conformity and unquestioned submission are nothing more than means to control people.

atanu
28 March 2007, 01:05 PM
I think this just demonstrates the difference between religion vs. personal spirituality so well.

If you take [a copy of] the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our bible IS the wind." Statement by an anonymous Native woman.

And Vayu (wind, the breath) is the Pratyaksha Brahman in sanatana dharma. Immortal and sutradhar -- upholding all, visibly.

Om Namah

mirabai
28 March 2007, 11:10 PM
I think this just demonstrates the difference between religion vs. personal spirituality so well.

If you take [a copy of] the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our bible IS the wind." Statement by an anonymous Native woman.


I think it does too.
I have seldom read anything truer than this quote. It is very humbly beautiful.

All the books and scriptures in the world are just human interpretations. Good for inspiring and instructing us but alone can not impart wisdom or enlightenment.

Although I do recognize the Divine elements of BG and Vedas, still they are second-hand interaction with the divine.

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There are voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. American poet, lecturer and Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) who, disillusioned by Christianity, taught that God could best be found by looking inward to one's own soul.
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We didn't inherit the Earth from our parents. We're borrowing it from our children.

........Chief Seattle (1788-1866) Squamish/Duwamish chief
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