Christianity is the Narrow Path. It is the ONLY religion that puts FAITH in front of WORKS.
Jesus put it best about the Hare Krishna's when he said....
Matthew 6:7
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
I was a Hare Krishna once!!! It is a religion that you are better off doing with hallucinogenic drugs for all the good it does your peace. You sit around and stare at a wall for two hours saying...
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
God is not some lame brain that wants you to say a name over and over. He wants you to talk to Him like a person not an wooden idol.
Jesus Christ is the only mantram you will ever need.
NP,
I'd be careful were you point that verse from Matthew, I've seen more than enough christians and particularly ministers that it applies to also.
Interesting you spent time among the HKs. Man, was there any spiritual path or cult/sect you DIDN'T get into for a while? No wonder you were so confused then, you were being pulled in every direction.
The thing I see here is you tried a lot of different spiritual paths before you found the right one for you, so it seems either you're intuition was guiding you and telling you when something wasn't right, or God's spirit really did give hints as to what would and wouldn't work for you. This doesn't necessarily make all the others wrong, it just makes them wrong for you.
Regards,
James.
Religious validity weights on a very personal and subjective scale, what makes a set of beliefs valid to one person could be totally different from what makes it valid to another. In Roman times, the validity of a god was determined by whether the army fighting under him won or lost. This is how Christianity became the valid national religion over Mithraism. Actually with that in mind you see how Christianity became dominant due to the stupid coin toss of which god would win the war.
Anyway, this brings up one of the most important validating principles in religious doctrine to me, origin. Where and what a set of beliefs came from is IMO very important in determining the validity of it. Christianity has the shortest straw in this game, being derived from sun and moon worship and Judaism, Judaism being at the time intermixed and indistiguishable from Zoroastrianism and Chaldean beliefs and in it's own way partially derived from phallic and sun worship. Tracing all the way, Judaism itself is little more than the Sumerian cosmogony compiled into a consummate deity. Going from there we simply have pantheism who's origins we can only guess (man personifying the forces of nature, man getting bored, aliens, or man (mis)interpreting the abstract as a literal). In that sense none of the theistic religions are much more than man's creation of god(s) in man's likeness, thus in my mind making them for the most part invalid and corrupt.
Quite to the contrary, mystic religions of the east, while having in some sense an exoteric brand of anthropomorphic deities to their own, also have since the beginning contained esoteric wisdom in the philosophies and writings. The wisdom in these writings/beliefs and the supposed age of them make a pretty good argument for the Aryan Hindus. Speaking of wisdom, the other largest factor in the validity of beliefs to me is sensibility. Logic.
Up until I was introduced to Theosophy, logic in religion was unheard of. I was taught that the Christian religion was truth, even though it made no sense to me in light of logic and science. I was never taught a shred of Islam, non-christian Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or anything else, much less mysticism. That said, when I did delve into the other religions, most specifically the Vedantic and Kabalistic doctrines, I was immediately swayed by how much sense they made, logically and scientifically.
Another important part ever since I've been introduced to astral projection and the occult is the recognition of such phenomena. Western religion teaches of no such thing, or at the very best restricts it to miracles or acts of satan. Our common septenary existance concept on the other hand is central to Hindu teachings.
Esotericism comes with the last two as well, of which very little exists in Western dogma today.
It seems to me that people are people no matter what religion they follow. Generally, the morals and behaviors are universal. In that way, I don't put too much in the practitioners (unless they're obscenely evil or something).
Those are a few good points concerning validity of any religious teaching as far as I'm concerned.
James and Tab,
I just got this from the Santanist website
[edited by moderator]!!!!Check it out!!!
Features of Satanist philosophies frequently include:
Emphasis on freethought, not
dogma or strict systems. Highly individualistic A distinct rejection of absolutes and moralism Personal, not universal. Freethought, Individualism and moral relativism Left Hand Path philosophies all have an emphasis on freethought; not dogma or strict systems. The
"rules" in LHP religions are frequently merely
"guidelines". The same attitude it applied to all knowledge, including that of the knowledge of reality and morals. Subjectivism and relativism are almost universally assumed amongst followers of the left hand path. [format edited by moderator]
Personal Belief, not Universal
Left Hand Path philosophies do not claim that they are the best religion for all people and frequently claim they are
only a valid religion for some people. "Satanists are born, not made" Anton LaVey. Satanism and the LHP is striking for the lack of missionizing. This is probably the result of the admission that no religion, philosophy or belief system is suitable for all people.
[edited by moderator] quote:
This doesn't necessarily make all the others wrong, it just makes them wrong for you.
quote:
Religious validity weights on a very personal and subjective scale, what makes a set of beliefs valid to one person could be totally different from what makes it valid to another.
quote:
It seems to me that people are people no matter what religion they follow. Generally, the morals and behaviors are universal. In that way, I don't put too much in the practitioners (unless they're obscenely evil or something).
Simply
[edited by moderator]amazing,
Universal,
Subjective,
Moral Relativism,
and that is just words/meanings you used in this post!!!!!
[edited by moderator]
quote:
Religious validity weights on a very personal and subjective scale, what makes a set of beliefs valid to one person could be totally different from what makes it valid to another.
My language must be too colorful or something, because what I said here has nothing to do with relativism or any of that copypaste satanist job.
What I said, in "mind as a child" terms, was this. Different people have different ways of deciding whether a certain religion is right or not. Some choose based on the laws of the system. Some choose based on the ethnic background of the system. Some choose based on the scientific probability of the system. Not that hard to understand, I'd think, different people see different aspects of religion more or less important. That's no satanist feature®, that's simple psychology.
quote:
It seems to me that people are people no matter what religion they follow. Generally, the morals and behaviors are universal. In that way, I don't put too much in the practitioners (unless they're obscenely evil or something).
Again here, this is far from being related to that satanist junk. It's obvious, simple truth that everyone is different. Christ, if you think people being different is a satanist concept, you're definitely not living in my society o.O
Thus, there are christians who molest children, there are buddhists who.. well.. there are.. uh..
Okay, to be honest, you don't hear of too many hindu and buddhist atrocities. So let's stay corrupt west for the sake of the point. There are Jews who rape kids, there are Christians who rape kids. There are Jews who are infinitely kind, there are christians who are infinitely kind. No belief system has a specific set of nicer or worse followers, people will be bastards anywhere they go. Simple fact.
What IS the true religion? I researched it-many say its Christianity, many say its Islam, many say it is their religion, but they seem to be religious fanatics that only know about there own religion. If you only see one side of a square, you are absent to know of the other 5. One article wrote that the true religion is the religion that makes you grow closer to God. Religion is really how you express that faith, but faith alone is the trust you have in God. We each see him in a different way and eachmuch see the other 5 sides of the square and we will realize the one side we see is not the only one. I was raised a Catholic, and suppose I technically am, but I engage in some occult practices and electrokinesis. I simly put it this way for myself-- There is God-the beginining and the end, time and space, everything and nothing. That is who I see God as plus a friend.
Interesting thought but nonconclusive and lacking. I lived in India for many years . Once witnessed a lady get hit by a car and get internal bleeding and becoming unconsious. A group of Hara Krisnas nearby ignored even the most basic first aid saying she was a low caste and left without even seeming to have a moral dilemma. (she was helped but died within short time)
I also lived in Afghanistan and met people from the worst tribes , Pathnas, were invited to dinner at their home and they emmanated nothing but peace love and tranquility.
Regards Mustardseed
Mustardseed,
that story of the lady being hit by the car it terrible!
No religion should ever deny basic humanitarian aid to people in need, doesn't matter who they are. What those Hare Krishnas did is not bringing people close to god, it's moving them further away! How dare they presume who is worthy of aid and who isn't! "Enlightened" people should value all life.
Sorry for sounding emotional, but the idea of people using thier religious convictions to excuse themselves from helping someone in need, especially in the case of that poor lady, really makes me angry. [:(!]
James.
There is no "right" religion because religions are made up by or translated by Humans, therfore, there are errors. Errors are not compatible with the refusal to change when new information is found. That does not mean to change to make the new information appear to be lies.
hello good people :D
i have some ideas which i think defines what makes one religion more valid than another, it basically revolves around the kind of atmosphere or aura the follower radiates.
for example, i met 2 hare krishnas in the street one day and they seemed to radiate such a loving, non-judgemental, peaceful aura that i could have been anyone and they would have treated me with the same love and genuine human respect that they are taught. *i found them to radiate serenity*
Now, where i work (a bookies) my shop is in a muslim area- so 99% of the customers are muslim. they are muslim because of there clothes and the fact that they are at prayer on friday and the shop is quiet. So far, ive found them to be rude, impatient, arrogant, inpolite and generally unpleasent people. *i found them to radiate hostility*
So which of the two examples above is more valid as a religion?
which one is closer to what we think heaven is?
i think with islamism the problem is race, most of the punters in the shop where i work stink of racism- and most muslims in my city are middle-eastern. I seldom see white muslims. It seems to me that islamism doesnt like outsiders.
But the hare krishnas are all different colours in my city, this to me suggest that they are closer to understanding UNITY between people than are muslims.
This isnt some islam bashing post, and i dont want to offend anyone but with my experiences of these two, i find the hare krishnas to be closer to the truth about what all religions encourage- peace, love, freedom, unity etc.
all religions have there faults i think i think the main one is tradition e.g. rituals, dress code, terminology etc.. which really dont matter when all they are encouraging is to be nice and caring to people.
in my opinion Yoga is the ideal lifestyle- it is everything religion is but instead of relying on faith it gives *PRACTICAL TECNIQUES* to experience the trancendental which all the saints and mystics of all religions have no doubt experienced and hence tried to help people experience the same thing.
now i read a lot on yoga and i cant help but be drawn into its sheer depth and wisdom. since i began meditating i have a strong intuition that what Yoga teaches is real, the state of "samhadi" - (ultimate bliss/ union with the source) for example, i can see logically and instinctively that if you were to meditate long enough without your mind distracting you, you would trancend time and space.
To me this really does make it more valid than some other religions/lifestyles.
another example....
i was in a christian chat a while back and i questioned what christianity thinks of Astral projection- ive asked this quite a bit, and usually i either get kicked from the room or called a fool for dabbling in magic- usually when i question why god would give us an ability we are not meant to explore or use i get kicked. To me this says that they dont want to hear my views, and they dont want to agree with me and question there beleifs. to sum up, it doesnt teach you to work upon and know your own mind as buddhism does.
when this happens, i think that christianity doesnt teach openmindedness, freedom to explore what we want to, TOLERANCE..
to me, christianity doesnt really sound like a religion that would genuinly teach us true awareness of who, what and why we are.