• 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!

Beliefs you like

PoetPhilosopher

Veteran Member
I see light in atheism, I know atheists will remind me that atheism is just the lack of beliefs, because I think the ability to critically think and question things, maybe even suspend judgement, is more in line with a true God, if he exists, that isn't distorted by the writings of man.

I see light in Hinduism because I seem to think people who believe it often see their faith as something which can get followers without them having to tell everyone about it that they possibly can.

I see light in the Baha'i faith in terms of their prophet and the intricacy that, for lack of better words, the most prized leaders of the faith have tried to weave.

I see light in Judaism in that its followers can probably talk me under the table in terms of the Old Testament and what Biblical words and terms mean.
 

Vouthon

Dominus Deus tuus ignis consumens est
Staff member
Premium Member
The Jain belief in Anekantavada (many-sidedness of truth / non-absolutism) has, personally speaking, had a profound influence on my own understanding of life.

It is also found, in a different form, in the earliest strata of Buddhist literature from the Atthakavagga.

The teaching emphasises the limits of our ability to comprehend absolute truth and thus encourages moving beyond partisanship / fundamentalism / extremist doctrine towards compromise with the beliefs of other people. Its ethic can be seen illustrated in the famous Indian parable - found in Jain, Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi literature - about the Blind Men and the Elephant.

The earliest extant version of the parable is found in the Buddhist text Udana 6.4

220px-Medieval_Jain_temple_Anekantavada_doctrine_artwork.jpg


Each blind man discovers a different part of the elephant's body, but only one part. After touching it, they then describe the elephant based on their limited experience ("it feels like this, it feels like that!") and assume it means they know what it looks like better than the others. In some variants of the tale, the blind men suspect the other person is dishonest and ultimately start fighting amongst themselves. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on our limited, subjective frame of reference; all the while ignoring other people's limited, subjective experiences, which may be equally valid.

Its a reminder that all of us have only partial, limited perspectives on the truth - the elephant's leg, its tusk, its ears, its trunk, its head, its sides, its tail - not the whole, which is discovered through listening to, and engaging with, all the other limited perspectives / partial points of view, rather than assuming we know it all.

A similar idea was articulated by the Catholic mystic and poet Angelus Silesius, a Franciscan friar, in the 17th century, in his Alexandrines:


"...I know the nightingale mocks not the cuckoo's call;
Though my song apes not yours,
may I not sing at all?

The nightingale does not resent the cuckoo's song.
But you, if I don't sing like you, mock me as wrong.

Believing that you are so smart
and understand it all
condemns you to ignore your ignorance
— this is the meaning of the Fall
..."

- Angelus Silesius (1624 – 1677), German Catholic mystic & poet


I can't think of anything else, from any religion or philosophy, that is more important or necessary in the current political climate in much of the world, than this Jain / Buddhist belief. It is surely a belief for the ages.
 
Last edited:

Katzpur

Not your average Mormon
I see light in atheism, I know atheists will remind me that atheism is just the lack of beliefs, because I think the ability to critically think and question things, maybe even suspend judgement, is more in line with a true God, if he exists, that isn't distorted by the writings of man.

I see light in Hinduism because I seem to think people who believe it often see their faith as something which can get followers without them having to tell everyone about it that they possibly can.

I see light in the Baha'i faith in terms of their prophet and the intricacy that, for lack of better words, the most prized leaders of the faith have tried to weave.

I see light in Judaism in that its followers can probably talk me under the table in terms of the Old Testament and what Biblical words and terms mean.
I like people like you.
 

halbhh

The wonder and awe of "all things".
I see light in atheism, I know atheists will remind me that atheism is just the lack of beliefs, because I think the ability to critically think and question things, maybe even suspend judgement, is more in line with a true God, if he exists, that isn't distorted by the writings of man.

I see light in Hinduism because I seem to think people who believe it often see their faith as something which can get followers without them having to tell everyone about it that they possibly can.

I see light in the Baha'i faith in terms of their prophet and the intricacy that, for lack of better words, the most prized leaders of the faith have tried to weave.

I see light in Judaism in that its followers can probably talk me under the table in terms of the Old Testament and what Biblical words and terms mean.

Like you, I liked atheism, Hinduism (it's very enjoyable to listen to a priest chanting the 1,000 names of God, for example). And I like very much what I learned of Baha'i (interestingly, Baha'i has many things that are a good modern paraphrase of Christ).

My attitude was: Try Everything.

So I did for a great many things, in often at least many hours each, but more often dozens of hours each. I mean a lot. Over about 15 years. A lot of experiences, try outs, but really doing it, for real.

Sweat lodges (5), yoga, free dance (hundreds of hours actually for that fun stuff), Hindu temples and ceremonies, philosophies like Baha'i and dozens more. Meditation (lived in a community a year and a half). The Tao (that's wonderful). Seeking out the great thinkers of the millennia in order to hear their ideas. Dozens. Just a few notables: Lao Tzu, Emerson, Nietzsche, W. James, Rogers, and I'd go through big books of quotes to ferret out more thinkers and then follow up reading more from them. And I read many selections from various wisdom traditions, and just on and on, and also testing all sort of various ways of life., it's just what you say is what led me to listen to Christ, see. To collect what he said, just like I'd collected what others had said. Rumi, and on and on.
(It may be of interest that the Baha'i faith is in significant part, the best parts, actually giving good paraphrasing of things Christ said).

That's all what prepared me to later discover how certain testable things Jesus said to do, actions to do as the way to live -- testing and putting those ideas into practice, to see what happens. That's when I discovered Jesus is more than just a famous personality, but really knows what he is talking about see. It's from the freedom of thought. Freedom led me to find out more about him.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
The Jain belief in Anekantavada (many-sidedness of truth / non-absolutism) has, personally speaking, had a profound influence on my own understanding of life.

It is also found, in a different form, in the earliest strata of Buddhist literature from the Atthakavagga.

The teaching emphasises the limits of our ability to comprehend absolute truth and thus encourages moving beyond partisanship / fundamentalism / extremist doctrine towards compromise with the beliefs of other people. Its ethic can be seen illustrated in the famous Indian parable - found in Jain, Hindu, Buddhist and Sufi literature - about the Blind Men and the Elephant.

The earliest extant version of the parable is found in the Buddhist text Udana 6.4

220px-Medieval_Jain_temple_Anekantavada_doctrine_artwork.jpg


Each blind man discovers a different part of the elephant's body, but only one part. After touching it, they then describe the elephant based on their limited experience ("it feels like this, it feels like that!") and assume it means they know what it looks like better than the others. In some variants of the tale, the blind men suspect the other person is dishonest and ultimately start fighting amongst themselves. The moral of the parable is that humans have a tendency to claim absolute truth based on our limited, subjective frame of reference; all the while ignoring other people's limited, subjective experiences, which may be equally valid.

Its a reminder that all of us have only partial, limited perspectives on the truth - the elephant's leg, its tusk, its ears, its trunk, its head, its sides, its tail - not the whole, which is discovered through listening to, and engaging with, all the other limited perspectives / partial points of view, rather than assuming we know it all.

A similar idea was articulated by the Catholic mystic and poet Angelus Silesius, a Franciscan friar, in the 17th century, in his Alexandrines:


"...I know the nightingale mocks not the cuckoo's call;
Though my song apes not yours,
may I not sing at all?

The nightingale does not resent the cuckoo's song.
But you, if I don't sing like you, mock me as wrong.

Believing that you are so smart
and understand it all
condemns you to ignore your ignorance
— this is the meaning of the Fall
..."

- Angelus Silesius (1624 – 1677), German Catholic mystic & poet


I can't think of anything else, from any religion or philosophy, that is more important or necessary in the current political climate in much of the world, than this Jain / Buddhist belief. It is surely a belief for the ages.
The Blind Men and the Elephant expresses it for me as well.
 

Left Coast

This Is Water
Staff member
Premium Member
I see light in atheism, I know atheists will remind me that atheism is just the lack of beliefs, because I think the ability to critically think and question things, maybe even suspend judgement, is more in line with a true God, if he exists, that isn't distorted by the writings of man.

I see light in Hinduism because I seem to think people who believe it often see their faith as something which can get followers without them having to tell everyone about it that they possibly can.

I see light in the Baha'i faith in terms of their prophet and the intricacy that, for lack of better words, the most prized leaders of the faith have tried to weave.

I see light in Judaism in that its followers can probably talk me under the table in terms of the Old Testament and what Biblical words and terms mean.

I like the pragmatic elements of Buddhism that teach mindfulness, non-attachment, and loving-kindness/metta.
 

SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
This is a cool idea for a thread.

I admire Christians for their selfless love. To them, the greatest aspect of god is his love, and most Christians I have known strive to live by that mantra.

I admire Budhists for their desire to know themselves. The Buddhists I have come to know are very keen and introspective people, and they give me a lot to think about when I talk to them on a deeper level on subjects.

I admire the Bahai folks I've seen here on this forum for their positivity and optimistic input. I wish I knew some Bahai folks personally so I could sit down and have a beer with em. That's the best way to pick people's brains, IMO.

I admire Wiccans for the way they view the world. Every Wiccan I have met has been an artsy kind of soul with a creative and unique perspective that brings color to their surroundings.

I admire Heathen folks for it's love for the past, and for their starker viewpoint of the world. To me, what we say and do, good or bad, matters. The Heathens I have come to know exemplify that.

I would add more, but I haven't really come to know very many other religious groups. I hope to change that as I spend more time here, though. :)
 

Straw Dog

Well-Known Member
I like the belief in free will. I don’t know whether or not it’s actually true, but I find it useful-to-believe.
 

MonkeyFire

Well-Known Member
The problem with dis-belief you can be skeptical and not get cheated on to let alone dis-believe in God and straight get sent to hell for cheating LOVE.
 

SigurdReginson

Grēne Mann
Premium Member
The problem with dis-belief you can be skeptical and not get cheated on to let alone dis-believe in God and straight get sent to hell for cheating LOVE.

Isn't this supposed to be a thread about what you like about other walks? Seems you dislike atheism, but is there something positive you could say about it?
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
I like aspects of some religions even though I don't like the religion itself. E.g. Jehova's Witnesses, who I don't like for what they do to themselves but they have some very thoughtful theology, they are pacifists and they are secular (though they overdo that a bit).
I like UU for their radical openness.
I like Buddhists for their mindfulness and pacifism.
I respect everyone for taking their religion serious. E.g. Muslim who refrain from alcohol and drugs, pray five times a day, fast, etc.
 
Top