Pitch your religion! (ritual, Earth, reincarnation, beliefs, experience)

[Green Gaia]

Originally Posted by Taegun

For all that my title is slightly silly, I really would like representatives of each and every religion on the boards to please pitch me the general idea, the rules, the law and any helpful websites that'll give me info which is easy to understand of their chosen religion.

All you need to know about what UUs believe is:

Unitarian Universalist Association Principles and Purposes

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote
-The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
-Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
-Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
-A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
-The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
-The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
-Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.


http://www.uua.org

So please, let me know why you're religion is the one.

Because it makes sense to me and has the values and beliefs that I hold.

[Master Vigil]

Taoism also believes that we are born with the power to achieve what we set our mind to, whether it be enlightenment, or just find something to eat for dinner. But we cannot do this unless we understand ourselves. For dinner, we must understand what we are hungry for, how much money we have. This is the easy part, but for enlightenment and peace, we must understand what makes life peaceful for us, how one is connected to everything else, and how one can understand everything without boundaries, bias, words, individual perceptions, etc... In ancient shinto worshipping ancestors was how they remembered them and let their wisdom guide them. They didn't worship them like one would worship a god, they just remembered them in very specific ways. Let me just say this. More than likely, everything you make up, has already been thought of before. Trust me I know, I too tried to start my own spirituality, but then I found out that I just stole a bunch of ideas from different religions and philosophies. Well, not so much stole them, but realized that they were the same. In another note, I don't believe that god is change, I believe change is change, and change has to come from somewhere. Can change come from itself? Is change the first cause, or is change the effect of that first cause? If it is the effect, what is that first cause?

[Brian Arbor]

I think all religions have many goods things to offer. No matter what your choice though, it is important to just be yourself. Don't let any one try to pigeon-hole you into conforming to uncomfortable beliefs or societies.

Although the community that is offered by any faith is important, don't let that be a primary reason for joining. Ask yourself, if you were the only person to believe in that system, would you be comfortable in holding that belief? If yes, then you have found what you are looking for.

I think it is great you are exploring. And no matter whether or not you find a religious community or system of your own, continue to learn and explore.

Try this website: http://www.grandarchive.org/forum/index.html

Let me know what you think. Who knows, maybe we could come up with something together.

-Brian Arbor

[godischange]

Master Virgil, the one thing you don't get, even though all you say may be true (I obviously didn't get the whole story on taoism) is that Earthseed doesn't believe in enlightenment. There is no such thing. What's your definition of enlightenment? Maybe the two ends don't meet.

Earthseed is just about accepting life and making the best of it. If your only goal in life is to live to see tommorow, than that's fine. Earthseed isn't a complicated thing. It just sort of is...it's hard to explain. Earthseed is saying that there is no other power. No spiritual force, no supream being...there's just us and what we can do. No one can help us and the end result is just to die.

[Master Vigil]

If you do not believe in anything spiritual, and that we just die. Than yes it is different. And I am dissappointed. From what you said before, it seemed to have a down to earth spirituality. Which I like, for I am currently studying to become a chovihani, or a gypsy shaman. But if you claim to believe in nothing other than what you see, than you have lost all ties with spirituality. And I don't believe you can call earthseed a religion. It is only a way of this world, a way of mortality, a way of death. But you never answered my question, what do you believe is the first cause?

[godischange]

The first cause? I don't think I understand. The first cause of what?

[godischange]

And I didn't make up Earthseed. Plus, how can you say Earthseed is not down to earth. If anything, the most down to earth idea would be that you just die. I compared Earthseed to Atheism in one of my posts, because there isn't really a god, we just call change god because that seems like it's as powerful as other religions define their god.

[Runt]

The first cause refers to the first cause of everything. Normally we think that for everything there is a cause, and a cause for the cause, etc. However, many find the concept of an infinite stream of cause and effect to be illogical, so they determine that there must be a "first cause" (sometimes referred to as the "belial point"--there is a thread on this somewhere) which was not caused by anything, which has always existed. Some call this first cause "God", others "energy", and some, like Master Vigil, Tao.

Also, you seem to believe that Taoism teaches that there is something after death. It doesn't. Religious Taoism, which developed after Philosophical Taoism, sometimes includes ideas of Gods and afterlives, but the original Taoism does not. Belief in an afterlife is up to the individual Taoist. If you read the Tao Te Ching, you basically get the impression that the Tao is Reality as it really is, rather than as we perceive it (with words, by dividing it up into a myriad of different things rather than as one unified, undefined whole). It suggests that we should go along with change rather than resist it, and that if we just kind of "go with the flow" we will be happy. Ancestor veneration (not worship... most religions do not WORSHIP their ancestors, but venerate them... there is a difference. One is a matter of respect and rememberance, the other--worship--involves feelings of awe or fear) is a part of Religious Taoism, and is not even brought up in the Tao Te Ching.

And the Taoist idea of enlightenment basically refers to the moment that a Taoist experiences oneness with everything (oneness with the Tao). Experiences it, rather than merely rationalizing it.

[Master Vigil]

I said down to earth spirituality, not a down to earth practice. You said you did not believe in anything spiritual, therefore it could not be a spirituality. Even a down to earth one. And still, change must have come from something. What did it come from?

[godischange]

I'm sorry if you can't understand my religion as I couldn't understand yours. My mother is a taoist, as I found out, and I am sad to say that you have misled me on the fundamentals of it. That is, unless you follow some different form of it which has nothing at all similar to what she is talking about. In response to all of your above questions:

Spirituality doesn't nessessarily mean it requires a believe in anything after life, or in a god or tao or anything of the sort. Spirituality can simply be being in tune with yourself, your surroundings, and your life, accepting what is and doing as you would do. Therefore Earthseed is just as spiritual as Taoism.

Change, in essence, is change. That's it. I have no idea what the first cause was, as it is meant to be. It is as unfathomable and unreachable a conclusion as there can be. If there is someone who claims to know the first cause, they cannot justify it by any factual means. Therefore, it can be argued against. So you can argue against Earthseed's principles 'till the cws come home, but it won't do you any good unless you can back it up. Which you can't.

Every religion has a similar principle or two to other existing religions. You can't adopt a new faith without finding an area where it has the same ideas as another. Christianity and Juadism are very similar. Hindoism and Buddism are the same way. Just like Earthseed and Taoism. That doesn't mean it isn't a religion at all though. All though Earthseed and Taoism have similarities, they also have differences. Therefore, I have grounds for calling it a separate religion.

Ancestor veneration or not, Earthseed is different from taoism. If you call yourself spiritual by only looking at things on such black and white terms, you lead a sad existance. If you see Earthseed for more than just another borrowed religion to crush, then so be it. But I want you to know it hasn't worked.

God is Change,
And in the end,
God Prevails.
But meanwhile...
Kindness eases Change.
Love quiets fear.
And a sweet and powerful
Positive obsession
Blunts pain,
Diverts rage,
And engages each of us
In the greatest,
The most intense
Of our chosen struggles.

Let you follow your way as I shall follow mine. But don't try to enlighten me about the errors of my ways when you can't except those of your own. Earthseed is as Earthseed shall be, and as long as there is blood in my veins I will keep it alive.