Re: Anyone been through this (phase) before?
Namaste Loving_Govinda
Originally Posted by
Loving_Govinda
I have spent the majority of the past few years as an atheist, not really giving any interest to the idea of a personal god, but also flirting with Buddhism and the more modern interpretations of Advaita Vedanta (often dubbed "neo-advaita"). I always thoroughly enjoyed reading the Upanishads, and with a background and interest in meditation I was left with (at best) this image of god as an all pervading force; the substance in which the world exists. ...
I would love to hear from those who were in a similar situation as myself and later found a path/practice that led somewhere.
I had pretty much the same experiences as you. I spent a lot of time, too much time, trying to understand philosophy and theology. For me it was not a good thing because I basically drove myself nuts. I eventually culled my bookshelves and packed away most of the philosophy books. I got back to going to temple and just devoting myself to bhakti, devotion. I'm drawn to several deities in particular, but I worship them all in one way or another, at some time or another.
When all is said and done, I agree with Eastern Mind when he says "Have you been to any temples? If not, I would suggest you explore that. The idea here would be to get out of intellectual stuff, the thinking mind, and more into the spiritual feeling side of things. That might help you determine more as to what you want out of it."
For some of us who came to Sanātana Dharma from another previous, or no religious tradition, we can become overwhelmed by information and the intellectual side of things. Philosophy, theology and study of them is great but it's not for everyone. It can be difficult but not impossible to sift and sort out the path we eventually take.
This is just my view and my personal experience.
śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ
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