Praying is a Superstitious belief.

Hare Krishna !




From Prismatism........

christianity is big... with a lot of different interpretations. but i think that god isn't judgemental in that it'd not give someone something that was asked for in faith that it would be given. if that makes sense. it wasn't very eloqeunt sorry.

what you said is true, but what about "living by the grace of krishna"? preparing and eating prasadam? i think it's the same as christian prayer; some do it purely out of love for their deity or higher power, and some do it to get the superficial benefits. hopefully the ones doing it selfishly will come to love that higher power through the process and through being submerged in that atmosphere...

there is a quote from one of the conversations with god books... that i can't remember precisely, but it said something like; when you have faith all the material things you've ever wanted will be yours to have, but the irony is that when that time comes they'll be unimportant and you won't want them.

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That is wonderful and inspiring. Thank you, dear !
When you interact with BBB the very best of everybody automatically comes out. BBB is such an inspiring soul. Glory to the Lord !

Lots of love,

Kumar.

 

I don't know about inspiring Dilip....


Thanks anyway for your kind words.
As you know, I've spent some time looking into christian beliefs, and I say what I say here as a result of a lot of quite painful soul searching on my part.

These days, I tend to see the big western religions as too limited and narrow. I think that if western people want a real spiritual life things like Yoga philosophy, Buddhism etc are much more promising. At least that's my conclusion.

 

Hare Krishna!


From BBB...

As you know, I've spent some time looking into christian beliefs, and I say what I say here as a result of a lot of quite painful soul searching on my part.

These days, I tend to see the big western religions as too limited and narrow. I think that if western people want a real spiritual life things like Yoga philosophy, Buddhism etc are much more promising. At least that's my conclusion.

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Dear BBB,

Well, I honour your conclusion but do not quite agree with that.

Talks are different, ways are different but it is the same one God that we, from all religions, talk about. Problem is we concentrate more on these talks and ways and much less on the subject matter, that is God.

Yogas, Buddhism, Hinduism all in many ways teach us only one thing and that is to remember God in every thing we do and in every walk of life. And if that is so I am pretty sure all other religions and faiths tell us the same thing.

I feel, one has to have the respect for all religions including his own and take the aids, if found suitable and helping, from other sources.

Our problem is, God comes later and the ambience comes first. The surroundings, the talks, the practices and so many other thoughts.... When shall we forget everything else and look up at Him alone ?

There is no difference between Lord Jesus, Buddha, Krishna or Rama. Whom to leave and whom to ask for refuge ? All converge into one point of all pervading consciousness.

Remember Him, only remember Him at all times, no yoga, no religion, nothing else is required. There lies how chanting works and does everything for you.

With lots of love,

Kumar.

 

Well praying is only Superstitious if the one you are praying to does not exist. I'm a Christian, and I have found sometimes when I pray that God will speak back to me. This does not happen all the time, yet it does happen from time to time. God once stopped me in the middle of my prayer and told me my wife was pregnant. I found that out even before my wife knew. Another time I needed a job, and God told me to pray for one. I did as instructed, and as soon as I said the A of Amen the phone next to me began to ring, and the person on the other end of the line asked me if I could start to work for their company at 8 o'clock A.M. the next Monday morning. Another time I was alone on a beach and I ask God if someone could come and talk to me about Him. As soon as I finished my prayer, two people walked up to the bench where I was seated and ask me if I knew Jesus. After they left another man came up to me and ask if I would like to talk with him about the Lord. Over my life, I have had many encounters with God, and I can assure you, that Jesus Christ has nothing to do with Superstition

 

what does God sound like?

 

It is a small still voice that speaks with purpose. When you hear Him, you can hardly believe it. Yet God is always there to lift you up, or to encourage you in someway. Sometimes He just passes on information. You have no control when He chooses to speak to you. And sometimes He will do this when I'm not even thinking about praying. It's kind of like He's always there, and then one day He just decides to say something to you. He is a God of wonder.

 

i love this thread. everyone who is posting is someone who's posts i love to read.

my prayers get answered all the time, but i usually have big, general prayers about the course of my life. one funny thing that happened though, is i was thinking about god, and looking for something like a pen or something... don't remember what. but i said "hey god. where's my pen?" and immediately knew where it was. somewhere i had looked seconds before. it was like god was being a smartass. it was great. but i know that voice...

i guess i filtered christianity through myself and see it differently than most. this is how i always saw it:

adam and eve were put here, to give names and identity to all the things god created. and there was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and when adam ate from it, evil was born because before everything just existed as what it was. and so adam and eve were seperated from god, because it's impossible for god to judge a thing as good or bad, because god is everything. and the "curse" was that from then on every human would be born believing he was apart from the rest of god's creation.

then jesus saw that that was our experience as human beings, but it wasn't ultimate truth. and he said all of these things to the people that they misinterpreted, because they had the consciousness of seperateness. i see his death and resurrection as a show of love and infinity, of the ultimate truth that couldn't have been demonstrated any other way. which DID wipe away our "sins" by showing us that sin is a fabrication of our own minds, a tool to use in realization of truth.

the way i see it, jesus was basically saying "look how much i love you. you can hate me, you can even kill me, but i still love you. and i understand that love is all there is, and because i love you, i don't have to die. i know that you, at this time, can't love yourself as much as i love you. so if nothing else, love me, and what i stand for. love yourself, love god, and love all things, if no other way, than through me. love yourself because i love you enough to die for you." ... i didn't explain it very well , not feeling too eloquent at the moment.

it is all one god. seperateness is the source of all our problems, but it is also the neccessary tool to end all problems... breaking off chunks can help us concieve of the enormousness of the whole...

 

Hare Krishna!

Dear Campbell34,

Your posts are very inspiring and I know for sure that all that you experienced is so true ! I have had similar experiences so I know.

Love,

Kumar

 

Thankyou Kumar, I don't get to many compliments like that. Jesus Christ is truly a God of Wonder. He has proven Himself to me so many times, and I so look forward to the day when I will stand before Him, and we will be face to face.

 

So Campbell - can you tell us what is your belief as regards the followers of religions other than christianity. Buddhists and Hindus for example.

Do you think that they too will be 'saved'? If not, why not.

 

Yes, you haver filtered this through your self.
According to xtians, God is not only capable of judging, but will judge everyone on the 'last day'.
I can't see that our sense of individuality, or being separate from nature is at all derived from a mythic event in an obscure ancient text.
The sense of individuality is obviously neccessary in a world of relatively independent beings. It is the way we evolved. Other animals too have this sense of themselves as separate, dogs and cats for example, and they never 'sinned'
IMO c/anity is actually at the roots of the feeling of being separate from nature. In the bible, there is virtually nothing to encourage people to see the world in holistic terms, or see the interconnectedness of all life. Rather, the idea seems to be that humans have a right to do as they like with the world and other spieces of life, which are seen as both inferior and even 'evil'.

An interesting question would be this: if you're correct, then how come in other cultures, like for example the Native Americans and other tribal peoples, the sense of connectetness to nature wasn't lost?

 

No, I don't believe those who follow either religion will go to heaven and the reason I believe this, is because their religion was established to keep them from heaven. No one gets to heaven because they are on a path to enlightment, or by living a good moral life. There is an ultimate truth in the universe which cannot be side stepped by traditions of men, or religion. God sent His Son to this world as the blood sacrifice for the sins of this world. The world has rejected this gift, and now they are trying to get to heaven by other ways. God tells us, that if you seek Him with all your heart you will surley find Him. The religions of this world have been established to mislead and put man made rules and contitions that would lead people from seeking God on a one to one approach. Repeating prayers, or doing good works have replace Gods gift to mankind. The Bible clearly tells us that your best works before the Throne of God are nothing but filthy rags before Him. Nobody will ever enter heaven because they earned enought points. Heaven is A gift that was payed for in blood. All who embrace Gods son's sacrifice will receieve the gift of eternal life. Good works only show God your love for Him. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave us His Son, WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM (JESUS CHRIST) WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

 

Well that's clear enough.
I suppose a muslim would say the same thing about the koran.

As long as we have these foolish competing religions, we'll never have peace in the world, and I suspect that religious fanatics, filled with nonsense derived from primitive texts about apocalypse, don't really want peace anyway.

Those who hold such beliefs are enemies of the human race, and if they ever get the political power they seek, they'll take us all back to the middle ages.

 

I heard a joke that basically said that "God is an imaginary friend for adults." Whatever. If people want to believe in God and pray, that's fine. If it helps keep them happy without adverse effects to me, more power to them.

My own grandmother is a devout Christian. Years ago, she had a large tumor, and while in the hospital, she was watching one of those TV evangelists. She prayed, and the tumor disappeared. The doctors (and everyone else) were amazed. Strange things happen that I can't explain, and I'd rather have a living grandmother and attribute her healing to God and prayer, than try to convince people that prayer doesn't work.

 

I'm not very religious at all. I think prayer is just a thanks to all the things we have in life. I don't believe that if we pray for a certain something to happen, then it's going to. I know some people believe in miracles and everything, and anybody can believe what they want, but I think prayer is nothing more than just a way of thanking for all the things we have.

 

Prayer is communication.

It may be desperate, delusional, confused, resentful, pointless, respectful, submissive, hopeful, wishful, thankful, creative, inspired, enlightened, and so on. But whatever else it may be, it is, primarily, communication.

Peace and Love

 

Oh, I don't know... I tend to believe in prayer. Not necessarily prayer TO some higher being, but the idea of articulating your thanks and hopes, and putting the energy into concentrating on them - even for a couple of seconds. I definitely believe in the power of THOUGHT, and that's what prayer is really all about when it comes down to it.

I don't "pray" in a traditional sense, but I do try to silently do a quick meditation/breathing in order to concentrate on my thankfulness before I eat. And I try to spend even just five minutes every day, meditating on my world, my joys, my hopes, and my concerns. This is not something I was raised or taught to do. It's not something I've done forever. But I did notice a significant difference in the energy that surrounded me after I had made it a part of my life.

 

I'm glad your granny was ok - but I don't know about it being due to divine interevention.
If it were true, then we'd have to seriously question what sort of being god is, who saves an old lady, and allows thousands of children to perish or be seriously maimed in things like natural disasters. I expect that in 2004 when the asian tsunami struck, many prayed for deliverance but were killed anyway.
Why should god let one innocent person suffer, but heal another?

And when I hear some people attribute to the power of prayer that they've got a new job or something similar, it seriously makes me wonder if humans have any capacity for 'joined up thinking' or if the majority are not just emotional wrecks who are self obsessed to the point where their intelligence is baffled.

 

. You're right...I truly believe that is a great way to live a Christian life. Jesus is a very amazing person to want to be like and why shouldn't we? He was (and is!) truly a beautiful shining beacon example for us all. Love God and Love everyone? What a crazy idea? Keep peace? Pretty awesome if you ask me. Keeping Christ within your heart is truly, as you said, a good way to keep the faith.

I think its kind of true of all religions... faith and love can get you so far...as long as you're sincere (as was mentioned earlier I believe). God (however you see him) is bliss to the extreme factor, why wouldn't we reach out to the most amazing friend we will ever have...who is within each of us?

And as to the original question of the thread. Pray superstiticious? I don't think so, there's something so much bigger and grander to is all than superstition.... I think Kahlil Gibran talks about prayer is putting yourself in the living ether and being with people who are praying at the same time with you. Prayer is about communication and connection even more than it is about asking for things. Its about taking the time throughout the day to connect with your inner Self, to connect with what Yogananda has called "the friend behind all friends". I don't think you can write off something so powerful is just mere superstition. Faith means giving in with your whole self ....even if you don't know or are afraid... that's why they call it a leap of faith I suppose...

 

Hare Krishna!



That is very beautiful. Dear Nicole, I fully agree with you.

Love,

Kumar.