Thief
Rogue Theologian
Out of the frying pan and into the fire!!!!!!
This forum is thick with ideas!
I hope you have hours of time on your keyboard.
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Seeking a belief....
- Thread starter American Wolf
- Start date
Out of the frying pan and into the fire!!!!!!
This forum is thick with ideas!
I hope you have hours of time on your keyboard.
Welcome to the forum.
wayward_teen
Beautiful Disaster
Humanism might be worth looking into. It's a good starting base because it leaves the whole God thing open to interpretation.
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
I have no idea what you believe regarding afterlife.
If you believe in reincarnation, look at Hinduism and Sikhism.
If you believe in one life, look into Christianity and Islam. If you don't like the doctrine of Hell, consider more liberal forms of Christianity and Unitarian Universalism. Judaism may be worth looking into, but one does not need to join Judaism - if you were to, I would suggest you look at Reform Judaism as opposed to, say, Orthodox, which is more traditional and difficult for one to follow.
If you don't believe God is active in humanity's life, consider Deism.
Hope this helps.
If you believe in reincarnation, look at Hinduism and Sikhism.
If you believe in one life, look into Christianity and Islam. If you don't like the doctrine of Hell, consider more liberal forms of Christianity and Unitarian Universalism. Judaism may be worth looking into, but one does not need to join Judaism - if you were to, I would suggest you look at Reform Judaism as opposed to, say, Orthodox, which is more traditional and difficult for one to follow.
If you don't believe God is active in humanity's life, consider Deism.
Hope this helps.
earlwooters
Active Member
wayward_teen
Beautiful Disaster
I have no idea what you believe regarding afterlife.
If you believe in reincarnation, look at Hinduism and Sikhism.
If you believe in one life, look into Christianity and Islam. If you don't like the doctrine of Hell, consider more liberal forms of Christianity and Unitarian Universalism. Judaism may be worth looking into, but one does not need to join Judaism - if you were to, I would suggest you look at Reform Judaism as opposed to, say, Orthodox, which is more traditional and difficult for one to follow.
If you don't believe God is active in humanity's life, consider Deism.
Hope this helps.
Odion gives wonderful advice. I wish you the best of luck!
Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
Or mine!i guess i wont advise you to look into my religion then
Secret Chief
nirvana is samsara
I think Belief O Matic is useful as an ideas generator but I'm not sure I'd put too much stock in the relative percentages.
Storm
ThrUU the Looking Glass
Of course not. I suggest it to newbies more to help myself than them, tbh.
swamplizard
Human
Hey wolf,
I think you can find what you truly believe by observation and reflection of your actions and relationships. What many call beliefs are really concepts, a quantity with doctrines designed past the best of legal scholar's agreement in interpretation. Someone suggested formless meditation; allow what you really "know" and what you have found you "believe" to illuminate the path you are already on.
just my boggy nickle,
swampy
I think you can find what you truly believe by observation and reflection of your actions and relationships. What many call beliefs are really concepts, a quantity with doctrines designed past the best of legal scholar's agreement in interpretation. Someone suggested formless meditation; allow what you really "know" and what you have found you "believe" to illuminate the path you are already on.
just my boggy nickle,
swampy
Last edited:
Bob Dixon
>implying
You need some entry-level religious texts:
Christianity: the Gospels (and not just the four canonical ones in the Bible). Also, read some scholarly opinions (the Gospels are all set up to portray a very particular picture of Jesus), as well as some Muslim and Hindu ones (yeah, attack me for this, I don't care). They'll help you, actually.
The Hebrew Scriptures can offer you a good bit of context, and they're the writings which Jesus based his own belief system on. He preached them, pretty much.
Islam: the Qur'an, but also the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Rumi's poems. Read up on historical context, too, and make sure you learn your maths and sciences.
Judaism: the Torah, but also the "Writings", the so-called "Ketuvim". They're the "Wisdom" bits of the Bible. As always, you need good historical context, so read up on that.
There's the Talmud, too, but it's a bit more advanced.
Hinduism: the Bhagavad Gita, though it isn't canonical. It IS accessible, though, so you'd like it. After that, read the Upanishads (with scholarly accompaniment, of course). The Vedas are last; they're super-difficult.
Buddhism: real truth can only come from the inside. You must seek the path of Awakening yourself (i.e. I don't know which book is the best, most reliable one).
Sikhism: the Guru Granth Sahib. No need to read the whole tome, just some. They're beautiful, very brilliant.
Jainism: the Agamas, I guess, but... I don't know.
Remember: always get historical context and always read scholars' writings to help you along (at least at first). Either that, or just come to RF often.
These will get you started on the most mainstream of religions but there are thousands of other religions and traditions. Good luck, my friend, and follow the advice of the other posters, too!
Christianity: the Gospels (and not just the four canonical ones in the Bible). Also, read some scholarly opinions (the Gospels are all set up to portray a very particular picture of Jesus), as well as some Muslim and Hindu ones (yeah, attack me for this, I don't care). They'll help you, actually.
The Hebrew Scriptures can offer you a good bit of context, and they're the writings which Jesus based his own belief system on. He preached them, pretty much.
Islam: the Qur'an, but also the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Rumi's poems. Read up on historical context, too, and make sure you learn your maths and sciences.
Judaism: the Torah, but also the "Writings", the so-called "Ketuvim". They're the "Wisdom" bits of the Bible. As always, you need good historical context, so read up on that.
There's the Talmud, too, but it's a bit more advanced.
Hinduism: the Bhagavad Gita, though it isn't canonical. It IS accessible, though, so you'd like it. After that, read the Upanishads (with scholarly accompaniment, of course). The Vedas are last; they're super-difficult.
Buddhism: real truth can only come from the inside. You must seek the path of Awakening yourself (i.e. I don't know which book is the best, most reliable one).
Sikhism: the Guru Granth Sahib. No need to read the whole tome, just some. They're beautiful, very brilliant.
Jainism: the Agamas, I guess, but... I don't know.
Remember: always get historical context and always read scholars' writings to help you along (at least at first). Either that, or just come to RF often.
These will get you started on the most mainstream of religions but there are thousands of other religions and traditions. Good luck, my friend, and follow the advice of the other posters, too!
I know you've already said that you feel that there are gods, but you could also try looking into non-theistic belief systems, like Taoism. The "Tao" roughly translates as "way" and refers to the way of nature or the cosmos. It's a naturalistic philosophy and religion. The aim is to live in harmony with nature. This is achieved by diminishing excessive actions and desires in order to become more grounded in what is called "the original self", that is the more primal state of one's being. In such a state, sometimes called the "uncarved block", one is able to put their inner nature into harmony with outer nature. One no longer feels detached from one's natural origins and can instead rejoice in being a part of the cosmic flow of things. It's about letting go of the ego to let nature freely flow.
It has many similarities to pantheism and could be seen as a precursor to it, so that might be worth checking out to if you wish to maintain a sort of god-belief.
strikeviperMKII
Well-Known Member
When I find that I'm unsure of where to go next (which is a lot more than I'd like), I find it best to be aware, rather than make any decisions. Usually, it grants one small insight that I was missing to address the issue at hand. It is very much like solving a problem on a test. If you don't know all of it, let your brain munch on it while you do another problem.
The thing about spirituality is that there is no wrong answer. It also seems never provide any right answers either. If you think you've waited too long, try something that keeps coming back into your head or a very strong idea. It may not be the right answer, but it might give you want you need to get a...righter answer.
Truthfindme
New Member
I'm new to this forum and their is stuff I want to ask but I'm not sure if this is the right place so bare with me.I know someone who has special gifts and has helped me out of some nasty situations for this reason I believe whatever he says even if I don't want to but I really want to see things better and more balanced than the way he sees it so in this case can such a person really know answers to questions about the fate of souls after death, is their a final judgment where all creatures need to wait for and none can be with god before this(cuz he told me this is how it is) and also after many births and deths if you choose evil over and over on that judgment day you can be separated from god forever? I don't need to know the answers for these, I just need to know that even if you have powerful gifts of discernment and communicate with spirits etc you cant know the answers for these. By the way he is not a bad guy he just truly believes these things and I don't want to and I know no other person like him.
Absolute truth is impossible to know without divine intervention