who is your god? what is your religion? what spiritual path do you practice?
I'm a born and raised Episcopalian. Since going raw and leaving a long term spiritual discernment process organized by the church, I am wishing to explore other paths. I was telling my partner last week, my Higher Power has changed. Its no longer a judgmental god but a compassionate all loving encompassing god and yet still makes me accountable. I have been hurt by the church, mostly of my own making, and had some poor email exchanges with our local bishop where I called him self-centered and disgusting. (I may owe some amends there).
I've been looking at the Essene Way, Kabbalah, Buddhist, Surfi and Roman Catholic-if I think I need more structure.
The raw way of life has enabled me to open to other possibilities and leave behind the critical/judgmental god.
I've been looking at the Essene Way, Kabbalah, Buddhist, Surfi and Roman Catholic-if I think I need more structure.
The raw way of life has enabled me to open to other possibilities and leave behind the critical/judgmental god.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by AwesomeUniverse!!! on -
Adom! I really appreciate your honesty here! LOL Gay bashing!! Yeah someone had to say that - it took balls - thanks.. =)
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Permalink Reply by Natasha on -
Hi Bradley,
My "god" is the Universe. I am a spark of that divine essence. I am a child of the Universe. And nature is my goddess. I do not buy into any religion as I am not fond of dogma (except maybe the movie). My ethnic background is Hebrew, but the Jewish patriarchal god holds nothing for me. I don't believe in "power over" anything. Empowerment is not bad. Love and compassion are pretty good too. I've also been a Wiccan high priestess. Practicing magick. That nature thing again. :) And
I've studied quantum physics (just enough to be dangerous) which explains magick and visa versa. Science as spirituality.
peace
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Permalink Reply by Lightlover on -
My god is not religion but spiritualism and mysticism, because I find my own believes not so important but am
more interested in taking away the seperation of the people in thousends of groups, it is a matter of hierarchy between the personal and the total society, and what is most important to you.
It is a matter for me of something which unites ALL people and not seperate groups, after thousends of years of seperation.
You can say ANYTHING about god (and SO do people do..!) so I will never talk about god for religious reason, but always for reasons of spirituality, philosophy, nature (qunatummechanics) etc...
You will never hear me say " I am ", because that is dividing, not uniting and to me a big reason
for historical disasters...
I never read " We are", it is always : " I am "....
What Mr Eckhart says: about god I want to be silent (only in religious cases...), that is mysticism
That he writes a whole book with this title is unplanned humor I suppose...
But everyone is free to believe..
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Permalink Reply by Natasha on
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Hi Nichola,
Trust me, I never said anything about black magic rituals. The tenet I live with is Harm None. Nor do I believe in Lucifer. Science is part of god. It is all about energy and light. In my 58 years, this is where my ideas have led me. And I'm very comfortable with my path as it's continually changing.
Thank you for the compliment.
peace
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Permalink Reply by Mera Magic Meraa on -
I like the way you decribed 'your god'... "yet still makes me accountable" is a great sentiment, I will keep it in mind.
For me, I am mostly a yogi, my leanings spiritually include the Essene, Sikh, and Rastafari teachings, but beyond that I feel everything comes from the same place and leads to the same place, so my 'god' (don't particularly prefer that word) is life itself, I choose to experience life by going down a few different paths, but I see them all as connected and merging with each other... I only use the names, to explain it easier to people. When I am living life, none of those words come into my being. Kundalini Yoga has opened all the doors of possibility for me, including raw foods and that is the foundation of my spiritual practice. However as I grow, everything I learn becomes a part of my spiritual life, so I think diversity is beautiful when it comes to PERSONAL spirituality. Practicing with others is great and I love sharing, but for me, true bliss and power come about when personalizing my path.
P.S. I think I should add that I see religions/spiritualities as important and I have learned much from many over the years... the reason I lean to the three I mentioned is because they incorporate the beliefs I have that history, present and future all create each other, and every religion/spirituality is apart of that paradigm. I believe that only the positive traits of each were natural to each movement, the rest I feel is not apart of the true source.
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Permalink Reply by Meditating on -
Although I don't like to think of the highest power as having a name, I usually refer to it as the Source, since this word is spiritually vague and does not seem to limit the definition of the Source. How can you define something that is so beyond what any of us can understand? I do not see the Source as having the human qualities bestowed on it by humans. If I could conceptualize it in any way, it may be closer to the Nature God worshiped by Native Americans or Wiccans (assuming I do see it the same way they do). I think the Source is directly reflect in the natural world, which is the greatest proof of its existence.
Based on my religious experiences, God is a dirty word and I cannot for the life of me understand why any moral, ethical or loving person would want to worship the God that I learned about or see represented today. I do realize other people conceptualize that word differently than I do but, based one my experiences, it seems to have more in common with the devil. I was so tired of the hatred disguised as love that is transparent in organized religions. I just don't know why so many people fall for that.
I don't want to lie to myself because I encountered a belief that makes me feel good or provides an unrealistic comfort. I only want a belief system that is rational. The only thing I have found that includes any of these traits is Buddhism and if I would call myself anything it would be a Buddhist. It is so settling to hear a teaching that says not to rely on a teaching to be true just because a teacher said so but only if it proves to be true. Buddhism is more a philosophy than a religion as there are no gods but only iconic representations of positive characteristics. Also, much of it has already been validated by science and more of that seems to be happening every day so it isn't a mythology.
To me, perhaps the most beneficial aspect of Buddhism is there is no hatred aimed at those I don't consider to be like me. There are no evil people vs. good people and you are not taught to be invested in your own self-righteousness. We are all the same and I have come to think of us all as the same mind living in different bodies and having different experiences. It is much easier for me to find and hold compassion and love for all others when I see the world this way.
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Permalink Reply by Meditating on
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Oh my, I bet the Catholics freaked over that one! Kind of makes the Virgin Mary on the cover of Playboy look tame.
Having attended Catholic schools and had that religion forced down my throat, I though the clip was dead on.
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Martin on -
Whatever that was, it was disgusting. Though maybe Bradly can relate, I don't know. If he hates religion and the leaders.
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Permalink Reply by AwesomeUniverse!!! on
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Suvine. Holy sh*t! What the?
Ok the word for this Christms is officially "balls" Once it was fart- hey is this sack-religious?
When I watched this at first I thought it was a terrorist ninja- but then when it said Jesus- I was like Jesus? What the?
But I think the problem with this world is we just need more "balls." I don't like the idea of killing off religious leaders- I don't like violence per say or movies like that- but I do think there is a level of disrespect for the pope for instance because certain people don't think he has balls or any power to speak of-
That's why people like Obama and even Bush. They like to represent the idea of blowing things up to solve problems and that appeals to people on a very primal level.
I would like people to feel like they could blow the hell out of a situation but in another sense. Like Ghandi- he had the ultimate balls in the civil protests and social change he devised. Ultimately, this is what will change the world- balls- in the good sense of the word. =)
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Permalink Reply by telefunken on -
Currently none. And feeling very good about it! How can there be so many thousands of various religions and yet we have to pick one and call all others wrong in some way? Many people would have a completely different god/religion if they were simply born in another country.
I think there is a mystery to our existence and I feel I may never know, for sure, much more than this. I'd rather feel this way (I'm a happy optimist most of the time!) than invest my energy in a "canned" explanation to supposedly give me comfort.
In no way is this a judgment on anyone's beliefs. I respect the varied choices. But please don't knock on my door to convert me to___________. *smile*
----tele
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Permalink Reply by telefunken on
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; ) Maybe I need the good word!?
No, Suvine, is this a movie? Do you recommend?
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