Does it matters what spiritual teaching we follow

[mikkel_the_dane]

Yes, it is individual

No, there are some parts of the common everyday world, which are not individual down to the single individual . And you, I and everybody else can end up harming ourselves individually and/or others, if we don't look out.
Do your individual part as you, but also learn what is common to us all. That is my advice to you.

 

[Spirit of Light]

No, there are some parts of the common everyday world, which are not individual down to the single individual . And you, I and everybody else can end up harming ourselves individually and/or others, if we don't look out.
Do your individual part as you, but also learn what is common to us all. That is my advice to you.

oh

 

[Link]

You always word things to make Quran and his Messengers look bad. Not following truth and guidance after clear proofs has come matters, and the result is punishment forever if any person prefers anything but the religion of truth.

 

[Sirona]

Honestly, does it matter what religious beliefs or spiritual teaching we follow?

This is an extensive topic, but religion has been influenced and shaped by culture and nature, among other things. For example, in an area where plant food is hard to grow, pigs are considered as "competitors" for the same sparse type of foodstuff that humans eat, so keeping pigs (and eating pork) is/was considered "unclean". In other cultures where people depend(ed) on cows' milk to survive, cows were declared sacred and killing cows is considered a terrible sin.

So should we care if someone is a buddhist, Hindu, Christian, muslim or any other religious believer?

Globalization and "cafeteria style" religion and spirituality (you only pick out what you like) are recent phenomena. Putting people in "categories" can be useful to learn what to expect when you go to their countries, for example. I know this may not apply to certain individuals, but I think most people like to use such categories anyway. "Vegans", "Gothics", you name it.

Isn't the "goal" the same or very similar?

If you take a universalist approach, you may state so. If you look at individual religions, you may see differences, such as when (a part of) a scripture calls believers to war, for example.

The Hindu saint Ramakrishna, who was a devotee of the goddess Kali, claimed to have arrived "at the same goal" after practicing religions like Christianity and Islam for three days each. There is also this saying that all rivers lead to the same ocean, but one may wonder whether Ramakrishna arrived at a universalistic goal because he was a universalist to begin with, whether three days are actually sufficient to understand the essence of a foreign religion.

In my very personal view, I would answer the question (whether all religions have the same goal) in the negative because my denomination is concerned with how a religious experience feels like emotionally (this is called "rasa," "taste"). But I know that such perceptions are very personal and very hard to describe in an internet forum. So if you want to be a universalist, just be a universalist.

Maybe it is more important to spiritually just look at our own being?

Some people make the scream for introspection quite loudly and keep posting how much they are NOT concerned with other people's opinions. I wonder how deeply rooted they really are in their religion and whether they don't sometimes feel doubts creeping up that they feel they have to suppress and then possibly project onto others. But this is truly a question of introspection. If someone calls himself a member of religion X, the forum doesn't have a reason to doubt this statement.

Should it matter if someone does not believe or even refuse to hold any belief in spiritual teaching?

When I arrived here, I was most impressed by the posts of @Debater Slayer who seem(ed) to struggle to defend his atheist position while living in a Muslim country. @Conscious thoughts you may say this interpretation of the Koran doesn't apply to you because you don't live in a Muslim country like he does, but some time ago you declared to want to be starting something to protest against discrimination of Sufis in Muslim countries. So you too are concerned what other / "your own" people believe; it's just that the group you are concerned about is likely not as big as other religious groups that people may identify with.

 

[Spirit of Light]

You always word things to make Quran and his Messengers look bad. Not following truth and guidance after clear proofs has come matters, and the result is punishment forever if any person prefers anything but the religion of truth.

You always think you know the true answer to everyone else...you dont

 

[Revoltingest]

Honestly, does it matter what religious beliefs or spiritual teaching we follow?
Isn't the "goal" the same or very similar? So should we care if someone is a buddhist, Hindu, Christian, muslim or any other religious believer?
Maybe it is more important to spiritually just look at our own being?

Should it matter if someone does not believe or even refuse to hold any belief in spiritual teaching?

It matters most when it affects others.
For example...
Teachings followed by the Taliban

 

[Link]

You always think you know the true answer to everyone else...you dont

Everyone believes their own views. The believer is distinguished in that he believes based on insights, truth, clear proofs, and guidance from his Lord. People who prefer falsehood over truth and their own leaders over leaders God appoints - they will blame themselves though others are to blame for it as well.

 

[Link]

Also, everyone benefits from the light of Ahlulbayt (a). To take what you like from the light and equate it with darkness, and hate those who are the very light itself, how can that be accepted by God? How can that be met with anything but his wrath especially after clear proofs has come?

 

[Spirit of Light]

It matters most when it affects others.
For example...
Teachings followed by the Taliban

Yes, those guys are a bit off...

 

[Spirit of Light]

Also, everyone benefits from the light of Ahlulbayt (a). To take what you like from the light and equate it with darkness, and hate those who are the very light itself, how can that be accepted by God? How can that be met with anything but his wrath especially after clear proofs has come?

I have a problem...i dont hate people.

 

[mikkel_the_dane]

Yes, those guys are a bit off...

No, not if you just describe them and don't evaluate them. And even then to someone like me, they are not a "bit off", they just behave differently than me. Now I don't like what they do, but that is in me. As for what I am and they are, if there is a God, I leave to God.

 

[Spirit of Light]

No, not if you just describe them and don't evaluate them. And even then to someone like me, they are not a "bit off", they just behave differently than me. Now I don't like what they do, but that is in me. As for what I am and they are, if there is a God, I leave to God.

That's the right thing to do

 

[Link]

I have a problem...i dont hate people.

Seems like you hate believers though, just don't hate others.

 

[Windwalker]

What do you mean by "spiritual practice"?

Self development that primarily shifts the centers of gravity in the interior person in how we see or perceive the world, how we feel emotionally and psychologically, and in how it affects how we will, or the nature of our intentionality in life towards ourselves, to others.

Spiritual practices are about interior work. As Jesus emphasized in his teachings, "Make clean the inside of the cup first". As he also said echoing Proverbs 15, "For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of." Spiritual practice is about cultivating and nurturing "what the heart is full of".

Most societies have a system of law.
Nations are shaped by the people in them.
Somebody has to take responsibility for a society's welfare.
Problems arise when people are more interested in themselves than others.

You cannot force love upon others. You cannot force others to love at the edge of a sword. "Love others or die!", is only generating compliance to external rules out of fear. That makes it inherently selfish. Self-preservation is not love-based. A fear of punishment does not make a loving heart. Only love itself can do that. And love does not do violence towards others.

Yes, it is true society needs rules, but that is not spirituality. And spirituality is NOT selfishness. It is the exact opposite of that. Love is not selfish. Fear is selfish. The opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is fear. "Perfect love casts out all fear", is absolutely true. The key difference here to understand is between the external forms of religion, and the internal expressions of the the spirit.

You can think of these in terms of extoric religion; external forms, rules, beliefs, rituals, etc. And esoteric religion, internal spiritual development where the heart is nurtured and developed. And when the interior is the focus, the exterior happens naturally as a result. If your heart is filled with love, you will not act badly towards others. "Love works no ill". If you act badly towards others, you aren't acting out of love.

So the focus should be on fixed the source of the wrong action, and not treating the symptom with a sword or a hammer, or an axe. You cure the source first. And that's why spirituality is necessary, far more than upping the game on "law enforcement".

It's not external religions that save the nation. It's the soul of the people who live the law of love from the heart. And that's why 'spiritual practices' are far more important than compliance to external rules imposed by religious systems.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Everyone believes their own views. The believer is distinguished in that he believes based on insights, truth, clear proofs, and guidance from his Lord. People who prefer falsehood over truth and their own leaders over leaders God appoints - they will blame themselves though others are to blame for it as well.

I know I do not hold the full truth yet.

 

[Sand Dancer]

Honestly, does it matter what religious beliefs or spiritual teaching we follow?
Isn't the "goal" the same or very similar? So should we care if someone is a buddhist, Hindu, Christian, muslim or any other religious believer?
Maybe it is more important to spiritually just look at our own being?

Should it matter if someone does not believe or even refuse to hold any belief in spiritual teaching?

The best religion is the one that works for the person. There is no one-size-fits-all religion. And that includes people who don't see the need for a religion.

 

[Revoltingest]

Yes, those guys are a bit off...

And they aren't alone, eg,
Westboro Baptist Church.

 

[Twilight Hue]

It matters most when it affects others.
For example...
Teachings followed by the Taliban

Following and Taliban probably shouldn't be in the same sentence.

I'm more inclined to think subjugation fits better with these types of groups.

 

[Revoltingest]

Following and Taliban probably shouldn't be in the same sentence.

I'm more inclined to think subjugation fits better with these types of groups.

Spiritual teachings can be diverse.
Good...evil...both have spiritual origins.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Honestly, does it matter what religious beliefs or spiritual teaching we follow? Isn't the "goal" the same or very similar? So should we care if someone is a Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Muslim or any other religious believer? Maybe it is more important to spiritually just look at our own being? Should it matter if someone does not believe or even refuse to hold any belief in spiritual teaching?

It's interesting that you only list religions as paths to whatever your goal is.

I got my answers outside of religion, and got most of them decades ago. I don't think of myself as searching, nor following anything except my own conscience and my understanding of how the world works. My worldview is essentially unchanged in almost 40 years. Its metaphysics is still naturalistic, the moral values come from the application of reason to conscience, and the epistemology comes from the application of reason to evidence.

Notice that none of it comes from any religion or even other people. I may get ideas reading the thoughts of others rather than inventing them myself, but it doesn't matter where the ideas come from. They have to meet the same personal criteria to be accepted.

The mental map that I used to navigate life was sufficient to lead me to a life that I am happy with, which is why I say that I am not searching for anything except more of the same.

Isn't that the real definition of wisdom - knowing what to want to attain satisfaction? Knowing what brings lasting satisfaction and what doesn't? Intelligence is the ability to get what you want, but wisdom is knowing what to want to achieve equanimity. Should you go for wealth and fame, or love and beauty? Which will make you happier? Which will leave you content and which will leave you wanting and regretful?

Incidentally, when I say I got my answers, what I mean is that I got answers to what could be answered, like how to treat people and what kind of a life I wanted to live, recognized that the rest could not be answered such as about gods and afterlives, and am satisfied with that.

I've asked you in the past to ask yourself if you really are on a path of any kind, what you hope to achieve, and what you have learned about yourself and the world. The reason is because I suspect that there is no path, goal, or learning, just the playing of a part. If not, don't you want to recognize that?

The reason I even suggest this is because in my many years interacting with people who use that language - spiritual journey, spiritual truth - none can describe it at all. None can tell me where they've come from or gone to intellectually or intuitively, and none can give me an insight that isn't trivial. If you are actually accomplishing something, you ought to know what in concrete terms. If you do, great, keep up the good work. I'd love to hear what it was. If not, wouldn't you want to recognize that?

I think of my decade or so in Christianity, where we thought we were being transformed - filled with the Holy Spirit, born again, a new man in Christ. We studied the Bible assiduously in search of divine truths. Eventually, I noticed, that I had learned nothing of value. There was no growth there. There was no journey.

Growth didn't resume until I left that mode of thinking and believing. Had I not, I might still be stagnating in the same place, looking to a holy book for answers that just weren't there for me. I see these people on TV preaching occasionally, exhorting their audiences to go deeper into their faith and religion, to know Jesus more fully, followed by a story about how Elijah or Abraham had great faith and were rewarded by the Lord, as if there were wisdom or useful instruction there. Rinse, lather, and repeat year after year, and you can see what I mean about people who see themselves as on a journey of discovery who are doing no such thing as was I for those years.

That's why I ask you to consider what you have accomplished looking for answers the way you do. If something, as I said, by all means carry on. If nothing that actually gives you useful guidance or comfort, then shouldn't you recognize that? What do you know now of value that you didn't know five years ago that you learned through what you call spiritual practices?