Page 1 of 12 1234511 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 115

Thread: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    October 2010
    Location
    Cradle of Civilisation
    Posts
    423
    Rep Power
    249

    Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Hi All,
    Having read a lot books on mind, evolution, science, watching documentaries of Stephen Hawking and experience in Buddhism I am becoming agnostic of God/Creator. I'm also becoming more convinced that as universe works on few cosmic laws - karma, birth, death etc., you don't need a God/Creator to carry out these duties of giving life or taking away.

    However I still feel there is some Supreme Intelligence which must have given first life in the universe in the form of consciousness.

    All these beliefs make me Theist or Agnostic or Atheist..I don't know and I'm confused.

    Any comments from experts here?
    ॐ महेश्वराय नमः

    || Om Namo Bhagavate Rudraya ||

    Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo Shankara

  2. #2
    Join Date
    February 2011
    Location
    st louis, usa
    Posts
    695
    Rep Power
    1519

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    As a non expert my first reaction is this.
    If you have not already explored then please go ahead and read up on Mimamsa darshana; authorless creation has been already emphasized in this school of hindu philosophy. Namaste.

  3. #3

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Quote Originally Posted by realdemigod View Post
    Hi All,
    Having read a lot books on mind, evolution, science, watching documentaries of Stephen Hawking and experience in Buddhism I am becoming agnostic of God/Creator. I'm also becoming more convinced that as universe works on few cosmic laws - karma, birth, death etc., you don't need a God/Creator to carry out these duties of giving life or taking away.
    The Vedic religion believed in Creation, Gods who controlled their circumstances, Pitru-loka - the destination of souls after death, etc. A different and parallel stream of thought believed in the law of karma which involved rebirth and liberation. Here, Karma and the soul were considered to be beginningless and therefore, this system did not require a creator or other Gods to maintain anything. This stream of thought eventually found its way into the Vedic religion (Upanishads, etc) and also gave rise to other system of philosophy such as Sankhya, Buddhism, etc.

    Inside Hinduism, due to the mix of these two streams of thought, there is the confusion of

    1. Having to reconcile the role of a God with that of a beginningless system of Karma (which requires no God).

    2. Reconciling the concept of rebirth with that of Pitru-loka, which contradict each other. We offer oblations to our ancestors and also wonder about its relevance if they have already been reborn elsewhere.

    My take on this is, choose the option that makes the most sense to you. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to religion and spirituality.
    http://lokayata.info
    http://shivsomashekhar.wordpress.com/category/history/

  4. #4
    Join Date
    January 2010
    Location
    tadvishno paramam padam
    Age
    38
    Posts
    2,168
    Rep Power
    2547

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    This is a problem of not being able to have satsanga among devotees. If your faith is weak you are easily deluded by nastikas, that's why Narada Muni says in the bhakti sutra's, dussangah sarvathaiva tyajya, keep away from bad company completely. Don't read these books by the so called new atheists who are on a crusade against religious faith, if you cannot handle it and lack the knowledge and experience to have an unshaken faith.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    February 2012
    Posts
    1,525
    Rep Power
    2741

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Namaste Real Demigod

    May be you are putting too much emphasis on reading too many books. And may be you are not interested in love which may be more profound than you think. Perhaps Buddha taught you to be detached, which is good, but some of the realizations around understanding that what is temporary is not real and what is permanent is real didn't ground you or even confused you about the permanence within your love. And thus,the other side of the coin which can actually see you found you too boring to embrace you, they may have even tried but you had your head in a book.

    Why don't you try this as a scientific experiment. Take a picture of yourself, put it in a frame, then meditate on it staring and saying I Don't Know.

    Then take a picture of any Deva or Devi that comes to your mind at this moment, put it in a frame, meditate staring at it and saying I Don't Know.

    You are may be too wrapped up in who or how you were created. But you know you are here. Do you think you are alone? There are souls reading your posts right now. You are not alone. Do you think you will be alone in the future? You will never be alone.

    Because there are two, then you will never be alone. Sometimes a great mystic may burst like an exploding star. From an exploding star, from the dust of this so-called dead star, the dust starts to spin and from that dust as it spins and heats up millions of new stars form. But each is an image of the first. There are many souls, too. Some go like that.

    You are not alone. That is the reason love exists, and will always exist. May be love is more than what some say. If you love your Lord, you will find something very interesting for you. At least you can try.

    I know, this is not an advanced point of view, and very simple in outlook, just like your basic Hinduism from the village if you will. I know this isn't the answer to your question, I know. But it is an invitation to some fun. You cannot imagine how fun it can be.

    Om Namah Sivaya
    Last edited by ShivaFan; 28 October 2012 at 07:39 PM.

  6. #6

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Quote Originally Posted by Sahasranama View Post
    This is a problem of not being able to have satsanga among devotees. If your faith is weak you are easily deluded by nastikas, that's why Narada Muni says in the bhakti sutra's, dussangah sarvathaiva tyajya, keep away from bad company completely. Don't read these books by the so called new atheists who are on a crusade against religious faith...
    With all due respect, is this good advice?

    Why are atheists bad, considering most terrorists are highly religious people? The OP says he read books on evolution and science. What is your basis for claiming these books are a crusade against religion? Would you block your kids from reading science and evolution?

    Only a fanatic religious group will interpret the Narada quote to be referring to people who do not share one's religious beliefs.
    http://lokayata.info
    http://shivsomashekhar.wordpress.com/category/history/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    January 2010
    Location
    tadvishno paramam padam
    Age
    38
    Posts
    2,168
    Rep Power
    2547

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Stephen Hawking is a notorious atheists who makes statements like heaven is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark and that there is no afterlife, that the universe creates itself out of nothing. I am not talking about blocking anyone from reading the opinions of famous scientists, but if someone does not have the mental stability to remain unshaken in their faith, it is better not to get distracted with such rhetoric from people who did not have the insight to believe. Someone who has more mental stability and faith can read anything without problem. The mind is very adaptable to its environment and people think about the things that are fed to them by parents, family, friends, teachers, the media, leading experts, celebrities and everyone who speaks to you in any shape or form. I think its a good thing to get knowledge and information from various sources and think about all sorts of questions, but there is only one solution for someone who is afraid to lose their faith and that is satsanga. Binu satsanga viveka na hoi. Just like a recovering drug addict needs to find new social groups to prevent falling into old habits, someone who is losing their religion needs to spend more time among devotees and in service of Ishvara. Of course, this is not something that should be forced upon someone, but if a person has the proper understanding about the value of devotion towards the Supreme, satsanga is the only solution not to lose this precious gem when times are getting tough.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    December 2007
    Age
    63
    Posts
    3,218
    Rep Power
    4728

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Namaste RDg,

    Quote Originally Posted by realdemigod View Post
    [FONT="Tahoma"] you don't need a God/Creator to carry out these duties of giving life or taking away.
    There must be some intelligence of very very high order to ensure high quality order seen in this universe. You may call this intelligence as God, Self or Pure Consciousness.

    However I still feel there is some Supreme Intelligence which must have given first life in the universe in the form of consciousness.
    This comes from Abrahimic religion mind-set ... that there must be creator for the creation to exist. If that is a necessity then that creator must have another creator ... why ? as for everything thing to exist there has to be a creator. Now, you can keep searching for the creator of the creator of the creator .... ad infinitum ! There is no creator which is separate from the creation. Creator and the creation are not really different.

    All these beliefs make me Theist or Agnostic or Atheist..I don't know and I'm confused.
    You may read Advaita VedAnta, MahAyAn Buddhism or Jainism patiently. However, it may take quite a long time to understand the theory correctly. In my opinion, Advaita VedAnta is the best but I may be called biased due to my affiliation with Advaita.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

  9. #9
    Join Date
    June 2011
    Location
    NJ, USA
    Age
    66
    Posts
    1,674
    Rep Power
    1694

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Quote Originally Posted by Sahasranama View Post
    Stephen Hawking is a notorious atheists who makes statements like heaven is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark and that there is no afterlife, that the universe creates itself out of nothing. I am not talking about blocking anyone from reading the opinions of famous scientists, but if someone does not have the mental stability to remain unshaken in their faith, it is better not to get distracted with such rhetoric from people who did not have the insight to believe.
    Namaste.

    I cannot agree more with this. I saw the episode of Into The Universe wherein Prof. Hawking lays out is theory as to why the universe needed no creator. Yes, he is an avowed atheist. He couched his comments in the disclaimer "I don't want to offend anyone's religious beliefs". Too late, I'm offended. Just as I'm offended at Ancient Aliens: The Series claims that our deities were extraterrestrials, and the Mahabharata describes a war between various extraterrestrial factions. But I digress. The defenses made for Hawking's theory and comments are that he's not denying the existence of a creator, just that the universe needs no creator. To my simple mind, they are one and the same statement.

    While no one should be, nor is there any way to prevent people from doing and reading what they want, I further agree that if one's faith is tenuous, I think it's best to stay away from subject matter that will further shake that faith. Unless of course one is looking for a justification to reject their faith and put that proverbial nail in the coffin. I watched the entire episode and read articles with his comments, simply to hear what he had to say and why. What it did was show me even more clearly why I believe he is wrong, and why my beliefs are correct; to me his assertions are untenable.
    śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

  10. #10
    Join Date
    June 2010
    Location
    Kolkata
    Posts
    834
    Rep Power
    490

    Re: Theist turning into Agnostic or Atheist (confused)

    Do the cells of the body know that there is a human ? Their life cycle also is regulated by certain principles. They are part of the higher entity called human.

    Similarly these human, this ecosystem and universe and everything comprises of the super mind and body and consciousness. There is nothing beyond. The way IT behaves affects us and IT regulates our life.

    Yes everything is natural. You can call this as science or a higher, intelligent being.
    Love and best wishes:hug:

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •