In my hiatus from RF, I've been contemplating, studying, and trying to put things into perspective. Some of you will recall that I found myself hung in Buddhism, which prompted me to expound my horizons.
In the time I've been away I've gradually come into Vedantic practice. Because Anatta had...
My world was shaken so to speak when I concluded that Buddhism might not be where I wanted to remain. I made another thread about factors that prompted this conclusion, so I won't expound further here.
It was a big step because I was a practicing Buddhist roughly ten years and my entire adult...
In my on-off hiatus from RF these past couple of days, I've been thinking about a lot of stuff. One of them that I briefly thought over is how Christians and Muslims both claim to have the truth about the way things are.
There are some hard differences to overcome between the two, however.
I...
I've kind of been having a crisis in my Buddhism for the course of a month or so. I've been advised not to act fast on it, so I haven't.
I have taken time and thought about a lot of things. I still identify with Buddhism, I'd say about 80%, but I find more and more that it probably isn't where...
Source: SCOTUS rejects GOP plea to block Pennsylvania maps - CNNPolitics
Do you think the ruling was fair? Do you buy the claim that districts have been unfairly gerrymandered in several states? Was this ruling appropriate? Was it out of bounds? Explain.
It seems like people were more willing to give this response when asked a controversial question in the old days, but I still deem it appropriate sometimes.
Do you ever see questions on this forum and say to yourself: nope! I'm not touching it.
An example would be the incest thread for me...
My premise for this question stems from the fact that most human beings are not asexual and need fulfillment from a relationship as a part of life.
There are among the religions of the world and their sects, a view that homosexuality can be accepted- just not acting on it.
My view is that this...
Simple question really. Since Catholics have a clear idea of what a Christian is that they work from...
If one doesn't have a well-defined idea of what makes a Christian, but stops short of including Catholics in a general definition- what informs that decision?
As opposed to all the times Christians thought in the past that the end was upon the world.
We even see from the New Testament seeming indication that the apostles thought the end was near coming. Perhaps even Jesus himself:
Matthew 10:23, Matthew 16:27-28, Luke 21:22
1 John 2:18, 1...
Before science told us that we were all made of the same star stuff, or contemporary psychology said that we play on one another's consciousness as external factors- there were humans that concluded we have always been interconnected.
Hinduism and Buddhism tend to non-duality. That we are all...
I have some questions I'd like to ask you. All of you.
The answers may prove useful in future discussion. I thank you for your time and input.
1) What does your religion/view of the world say about the beginning?
2) What does it say about humans in relation to everything else?
3) What does...
As much as I admire Baha'is in some senses for believing in world unity and peace- I think personally there are some significant issues with their theology.
The religion teaches that every world religion was revealed to a time and place, so might seem different. I find that a somewhat curious...
An example of folks doing this is Jehovah's Witnesses teaching and arguing that hell is a pagan concept.
Is hell being a pagan concept indicative of it's truth or falsehood? I'm not sure what saying hell is a pagan concept is supposed to prove about it's being true or false- unless we're to...
I've noticed a rather odd thing that some Christians seem to do. They say that people reject their faith because of intolerance, extreme ideologies, because they want to sin, or something like that.
While I don't discount that may in fact happen. There may be people that reject Christianity for...
Source: House Republicans try to calm GOP fears after apparent upset in Pennsylvania's Trump country
Paul Ryan attempted to blow off the Democratic victory as the result of Lamb running on a conservative platform.
This is hardly the case, as Lamb is not any less liberal than Tim Kaine for...
I think Poseidon would be considered the deity that keeps the entire earth realm, and not only the land and sea as literal concepts? Yes? No?
Since it is said Zeus keeps the heavenly realms or celestial- and Hades keeps the departed/nether realms, whatever their destiny may be.
I've often...
I own a book called Gods of Veda. The book contains essays about the Devas, including by thinkers like Aurobindo.
In one of the chapters it is claimed that Indra, Varuna, and Yama used to be seen as a Trimurti in ancient times by some people.
Is that so? I'm really curious.
Bonus question: If...
Donald Trump has announced the latest firing from his staff since turning the Executive Branch into a Reality TV stunt. Rex Tillerson is out! (Is it just me, or is our president only good at firing people?)
Source: Trump ousts Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, replaces him with Mike Pompeo...
The point of this humor thread is to say things you know don't work the way you say they do. It's for the laughs.
I'll start:
If you rub cheese on iron it'll take the rust out.
If you put peanut butter in your car's tailpipe, it'll stop the burning smell.
[On Sunday night, Trump unveiled his proposal on guns in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting that left 17 people dead. Guess what was left out of that proposal? Yup -- nothing on raising the age limit on the purchase of some types of weapons.]
[Tweeted Trump of the proposal: "Very...