• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

The highest religion

Chisti

Chisti

Active Member
Doing good deeds ... that's the highest religion. Imagine a guy praying, meditating, doing all kinds of rituals etc., but he doesn't care about the poor. Imagine another guy doing little of these but helping people most of the time.

If there's a god (or some sort of justice like karma or whatever), who do you think will be rewarded?
 
waitasec

waitasec

Veteran Member
Chisti said:
Doing good deeds ... that's the highest religion. Imagine a guy praying, meditating, doing all kinds of rituals etc., but he doesn't care about the poor. Imagine another guy doing little of these but helping people most of the time.

If there's a god (or some sort of justice like karma or whatever), who do you think will be rewarded?
Click to expand...

i think we reward ourselves with either regret or pride in the things we do
 
Chisti

Chisti

Active Member
waitasec said:
i think we reward ourselves with either regret or pride in the things we do
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but I am talking about religious people who hardly ever talk of the importance of good deeds, how helping a person in need is far superior to following arbitrary rules and rituals.
 
waitasec

waitasec

Veteran Member
CynthiaCypher said:
Motive. Sometimes a good deed to done to further a evil purpose.
Click to expand...

i find that to be something that isn't very characteristic of humanity.

i don't think people generally wake up in the morning and say to them selves,
'hey, i'm going to manipulate someone today'
 
CynthiaCypher

CynthiaCypher

Well-Known Member
waitasec said:
i find that to be something that isn't very characteristic of humanity.

i don't think people generally wake up in the morning and say to them selves,
'hey, i'm going to manipulate someone today'
Click to expand...

Narcissist do that all the time. I know I used too.
 
8

839311

Well-Known Member
Chisti said:
Doing good deeds... that's the highest religion.
Click to expand...

I agree in part. I think that the highest religion would not be limited to good deeds, but would also include positive and virtuous thinking. Clearly, though, good deeds on the surface seems more important, but without a foundation of virtuous thinking and habits I wouldn't think that a person would be able to do too many good deeds, and would certainly be able to do a lot more good deeds with an excellent foundation of virtuous thought and habits.

Also, if it ever happens that ones reality is perfect, and no one is lacking anything, good deeds I think would be replaced by something else. Maybe a greater emphasis on enjoying life in a perfect world. But under the current circumstances I agree that good deeds come first.

Another thing, I wouldn't call that a religion. I think that it would be better thought of as a philosophy. Religion caries with it too much baggage that isn't concerned strictly with a desire to do good and to think virtuously.

Chisti said:
If there's a god (or some sort of justice like karma or whatever), who do you think will be rewarded?
Click to expand...

If God would be the kind of God I would expect, then I think that everyone would be in a sense rewarded in one way or another. For instance, if a criminal had a terrible and evil life here, I would expect that God would make things easier for him in the future. I would expect that God would not turn his back on anyone, even the worst criminals and mass-murderers, but would help everyone to grow and develop. Having said that, I think there are few scenarios where evil and suffering can be explained in a way that doesn't make God look like an evil being. I think that would be one of the first things Id ask God, if not the first thing - why does he allow suffering and evil? Hes got a lot of explaining to do.
 
CynthiaCypher

CynthiaCypher

Well-Known Member
waitasec said:
yes but is narcissism a common characteristic of people?
:shrug:

i really don't care one way or the other, but i sort think no....
since there are more followers than there are leaders...
Click to expand...

Not yet but I think it is epidemic. That's the problem people use a veneer of goodness to manipulate others.
 
F

Friend of Bill W

Member
Chisti said:
Doing good deeds ... that's the highest religion. Imagine a guy praying, meditating, doing all kinds of rituals etc., but he doesn't care about the poor. Imagine another guy doing little of these but helping people most of the time.

If there's a god (or some sort of justice like karma or whatever), who do you think will be rewarded?
Click to expand...

HH Dalai Lama reckons that everything we do, we do for one of two reasons:

1. To get pleasure.
2. To avoid pain.

So in a sense, we are all motivated by the same thing; we all want to be happy and avoid pain and suffering; everything we do is motivated by that.

The problem is that we fail to understand what really makes us happy; we don't understand the reality of the situation; we put our efforts in the wrong direction, maybe thinking money will make us happy, and we suffer for it.

But back to the original question, I don't believe there is a God of justice, if there was, I'd probably not be here right now, and neither do I believe karma is some cosmic form of justice either (Buddhism does not teach that it is, but karma is a complex subject and viewed differently depending on what Buddhist sect you follow).

However, there is a spiritual axiom I like which goes along the lines of, "We are not punished FOR our sins, but we are punished BY our sins!" That pretty much seems to accord with my overall experience of life.
 
F0uad

F0uad

Well-Known Member
One is not good or righteousness when he doesn't do justice or good towards a other.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top