First of all i would like to apologise about my name (bluediablo) I beleive in the father, the son and the holy spirit. I don't trust the bible, as it has been corrupted(to controll) and words have been lost due to translation, plus the fact it was written many years ago. I beleive that the father looks after us (his children) but we must not depend on him for everything (for example don't pray to god if you can't do your homework...) We communicate with god through the son and the holy spirit. What about the rest of you, what do you beleive? (this question was aimed towards those who beleive in God.)
I believe in God (Father Son and Holy Spirit). I do not trust the "words" of Scripture. The words (from a historical critical approach) are written by various communities for various reasons. They did not know they were writing Scripture. For example, the Acts of the Apostles (commonly thought of written by the author of Luke). I am starting to think that it was written later (way later) that Luke's Gospel in response to Marcion staking claim to Paul's letters. A number of churches in Greece and Asia Minor must have traced lineage to Paul through his letters (Corinth, Galatia, Thessolonica et cetera) and if the proto-orthodox church let Marcion have Paul, then they would loose any claim to those churches. The book of Acts was written (I think to "Theophilius" because Marcion seemed to use Luke to make his theological arguments too). So basically Acts is a community using Luke to claim Paul away from Marcion and to legitimize Peter (whom Marcion hated) as a leader. I will be researching this idea for a 4xx level Religious Studies seminar in University. Point of this: Scripture may not be historically true. Scripture is theologically true. I agree that we do not need to petition God for help with homework, but prayer can be a worship as well. You can, and should pray to the Father. As YHWH is the Father of Christ, he is also the adoptive father of all humanity. Christ is our brother, we are his sisters and brothers. The Holy Spirit is how YHWH and Christ work through us and with us to bring about the Kingdom here on Earth.
I gave up belief when my spiritual eyes opened. Belief is the seeing eye dog of the spiritually blind. To those who have been cured of their blindness, the dog is no longer needed. I could tell you what I see, but you wouldn't believe me. You have to see it for yourself. That was the whole point of Jesus' teachings. To cure this blindness. x
I believe that God is a construct, and our concept of God is influenced heavily by our wants and needs- ie: to feel special, to feel loved, to feel powerful, protected, etc. etc. It is a method of distancing ourselves from certain aspects of our existence, and at the same time, also a way of managing and interacting with those aspects. We choose this separation out of fear or humility-- and no, it is not necessarily solely a method of control keeping us from our full potential, because the interaction itself is essential to our development as human beings and our understanding of the world around us.
Since the Bible (and Church tradition) is the only source for belief in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, if you don't trust it then how can you trust the belief? Or is it only certain bits you don't trust?
In spiritual sight, there is no such thing as optical illusion, etc. This is how you actually see when the human mask has been removed. I had some trouble when it first began, because just like your physical eyes, there is some blinking involved when they first open after a long sleep. But the process was gradual enough to spare me any major shock. These eyes function outside of the mind, but the mind must interpret what it's being fed into something usable for the outside world. This is where ego will flavor that feed. Whatever strengths and weaknesses that person has will shape the message accordingly. I've been at this now for enough years that I'm stable in what I see, and as a person, I have grown in the directions needed to become better at translating it for people. This is one of the benefits this experience brings with it. Enlightenment comes like a Christmas traveler bearing many gifts. x
So - far from having no beliefs, you believe in your own insight, and in enlightenment,as well as your own communication skills.. That's ok. I myself am probably in a similar position. Although I dislike the term 'enlightenment' as it seems a bit amorphous, and many people think if you use the word you're a Buddhist of some kind.
That's the thing. It's hard to proclaim one's self as being enlightened, because the first impression you're going to give people is one of an inflated ego. People can read accounts of people who were reputed to be "enlightened" and have some understanding of what it must be like. But this is the most simplistic of understanding. You have to experience it to understand it. You won't until you do. You've heard it stated that it was all right in fromt of you to begin with. I couldn't agree more, now. But earlier in my life, I had the same blindness as everyone else. It IS right in front of you. Heaven and the kingdom is NOW. Always has been. It was belief all along that hid it from you. When I laid down my beliefs and stopped the chase (became an empty vessel) "God" came flooding in. Now I spend my days as a hollow flute. The personal self has few needs. The tune I play for others is based upon their needs rather than my own. If I push buttons in people, either in political or religious conversation, its because I see something in them that needs to come to the surface. Especially if they deny it themselves. I've provoked alot of hot discussion over "racial" issues. Not because I'm a racist, but because I see it in other people. Once I've made it come to the surface in a person, I can then help them trace it to the source. Belief. x
you don't have to attend church to beleive in God. organized religion is a mortal creation created by man, not by God, i think God is everywhere, whether you are in church or at home. also the bible was written by mortal man, and it was rather inspirations then true stories, plus it's been corrupted (things taken out and replaced with other stuff) and also certain words have been lost when translating the bible. the church/bible did not teach me about God, my freind did.
from his family, his family are deep belivers in God. i would tell you an other way he found God, but i doubt you would beleive me.
Please tell us, or at least me. Why light a lamp to hide it in a closet? In terms of the Bible, you are right it was written by men, but you have to realise that the books were still chosen by the Authority of the Spirit.
OK - Belief in 'God' goes across different religions and cultures. However, specific belief in father/son/holy spirit comes only from Christianity, for which the source is the Bible, like it or not. If your freind has told you about this - then obviously that's where he got it from. Directly or indirectly. I'm only pointing this out to you. I myself am not a church goer.
I wasn't saying you don't have any insight - I was saying that your use of language seems to me inaccurate. If you say 'I am enlightened' then you obviously believe you are. Thus, you can't say you don't have beliefs. I quite like John C.Lilly's 'beliefs unlimited' (quoting from memory here) - "in the province of mind what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true within certain limits to be defined experimentally and experientially'. We ALL have multitudinous beliefs - whether it's in our own abiblity to communicate, our lack of 'ego' ( a term which also probably needs some close definition),our own experience, or the fact that tommorrow we'll wake up in the same place we went to bed the previous night.
Inner experiences have to have an outlet into the world if they're to be talked about. They don't have to be stored in the brain in the way that beliefs are, but they still have to pass through that territory on the way out. You have to use the brain and the ego attached to it as the mouth piece. Translation is a skill I'm still perfecting. As far as grammer is concerned, I'll only apologize once for my Alabama education. Think of belief as something that's written on the hard drive. Direct perception is more like something that runs in the RAM without have to inscribe it on the hard drive. The ability to talk about this kind of perception, in real time, isn't going to make much sense until that person experiences for themselves. It's everybody's future, but they'll be dragged kicking and screaming, trying to hold on to belief. When you let go, things pick up speed. Eventually time itself disappears. You're just "on". But the human self will carry on almost like a pet on a leash. A well behaved one. We're all souls here, out walking our dog. x
Politically incorrect. For it refers to the metaphor on time after an impression is judged for It's knowledge. You give no aid to a right wing concept of How to believe in oneself. On the other hand, you artify the notion of ever being good to one's neaighbour. You are good to your negihbour for the knowledge present about indifference. Change Xexon to Leftie. Anyway, are you left handed by any chance? OP
I am left handed, with very poor math skills. Huge right brain. Shriveled little raisin of a left hemisphere though. It doesn't diminish consciousness, but it limits how I can express myself as a person. We all have our bandwidth problems. All brains are wired differently. All bodies are different. Only the animating spirit has commonality. Believe in oneself? That's the problem isn't it? The best way to move beyond that point is to believe that anything is possible. This is a beneficial kind of belief until you can realize it personally for yourself. Then the belief lets go on it's own because direct perception will displace it. x