Question time! Which do you follow? Truth or...

[jubilee131]

"But one thing I'm having trouble with is which should one follow if one finds happyness in many of them (or suitable) but cannot believe any entirely. Do you give them a "test drive"? "

A test drive is a good idea. Sometimes as you grow the things you didn't believe make sense and are acceptable at a latter time. Sometimes you find more problems and your problem is solved (try another).

 

[The Sum of Awe]

What I perceive as truth - Nihilism.


I am truly convinced through reason and arguments etc. and long thought, trying to struggle my philosophical views but have not moved anywhere, yet at least.

I know I'm not omniscient, but I think Nihilism is 100% right on but I won't force others to read my writing on why I think so.

I doubt I'm wrong but I do have that 1% chance yet, as we all do.

 

[Me Myself]

My only commandment is "do what you believe is right in this moment"

This being, I will do so in every moment the best that I can, and I prefer to answer only to myself in moral regards. I don´t like to feel tied down to any moral set of rules made by somebody other than me for taking my choices and to judge what I feel is best.

I mean, I barely even feel tied down by my OWN musts and musn´t

About truth, there is a verse in the vedas that talks about it (or so I´ve heard) :

"Truth is one, sages call it by different names"

I think in the journey of discovering the truth for yourself, you only got yourself, and while you may take a hold of of whatever you feel you may take a hold of, you would generaly want to keep moving forward after that, and leave whatever you were holding.

In that way, I don´t generaly like "truths" that exclude other truths. There is also another phrase by some philospher that goes: "Two oppositeexplanation can accurately describe the same phenomena" This also sounds true to me, so there, that´s why I don´t like to think myself as having one religion in particular (although maybe a lot of them in very irreverent ways )

 

[Iti oj]

Do you follow the religion you perceive as truth or something that suits you? Or perhaps you follow one in a happy middle (lucky you)! Which is more important?

I was wondering because I need to set my priorities right plus it might help other seekers look at the opinions and set their own priority.

all three for me. all three

 

[Breathe]

Personal truths such as I like pizza, and tomorrow I am sick of pizza? Are those really true? Beliefs may or may not be true. Beliefs are things you accept as truth but that doesn't make them true. You may believe in God, but that doesn't make Him exist and the exact opposite is also true.

Those are truths, yeah.
They are true. You like pizza, so it's true that you like pizza. If you don't like pizza, then it's true you don't like pizza. It wouldn't be true if you said you'd never liked pizza, but it would be if you said you once did but don't. People aren't in absolute truths, after all.

 

[jasonwill2]

It helps to first find a faith that suits you, and then go and test it out, see if it works for you. Not all religious truths are supposed to be literal. Also if you seek literal truths make sure that after you test out that truth that you research it and make sure you consider as many sides as you can.

Don't dive head first into any faith or it can really mess with your head. I was lucky enough to discover my true faith that both fully suited my nature and was well grounded in intelligence/objectivity, but I do not fool myself into thinking for a second that I have the entire picture.

Higher powers are just that, higher and out of our (current) reach. We may some day reach them, but I can't see it coming for ages. So for now we just need to test them out and see if they work in the same way we test out a hypothesis and see if it's true. It's a delicate balance of testing subjective truths through life styles that are backed up by objective knowledge.

Subjective truth being how it works for me or you in real world application, and objective truth being observations that either support or do not support the subjective truths. For example one may say "god is all powerful and all love", and it could prove VERY subjectively true for them, but objectively they will have to say "but yet there is so much hurt in the world", which stacks against their subjective claim.

You need to find out what both works with your own subjective Universe (your internal being) and the objective Universe (everything external of you) that we all live in.

That's the best advice I can give for finding a healthy spiritual path that will both suit you but also be the most true conclusion one can find.

As I sometimes say, there is not absolute truths, only less incorrect truths.

 

[Drolefille]

I want to find truth.

I have a really complex thought process that may have to wait for a day that isn't Christmas, but in short, while I'm trying something different by just sort of going with what works for me, I won't be satisfied until I find truth.

 

[YmirGF]

I follow where my heart leads. I am not overly fixated on truth as there is far too much I do not know. That's why I'm here, on this small rock, doing research.
Religion does not figure into that quest as I have outgrown the need for god.

 

[jasonwill2]

I want to find truth.

I have a really complex thought process that may have to wait for a day that isn't Christmas, but in short, while I'm trying something different by just sort of going with what works for me, I won't be satisfied until I find truth.

Well you have to test it out to see if it's true first. Also no one religion has the entire picture like some say. All faiths are founded by men who can fail. never believe anyone when they say they have the entire literal truth. they are lying through their teeth if they say that because how can we know that so and so spoke to god or if he just made it up?

You really can't. All we got is less incorrect guesses that we back up by observation and personal experience.

Hence I believe that religions are competing hypotheses that can have objective observations back it up with subjective experiences to reinforce those observations and hypothesis.

 

[Drolefille]

Well you have to test it out to see if it's true first. Also no one religion has the entire picture like some say. All faiths are founded by men who can fail. never believe anyone when they say they have the entire literal truth. they are lying through their teeth if they say that because how can we know that so and so spoke to god or if he just made it up?

You really can't. All we got is less incorrect guesses that we back up by observation and personal experience.

Hence I believe that religions are competing hypotheses that can have objective observations back it up with subjective experiences to reinforce those observations and hypothesis.

But this is your belief, and you have no more proof that it's the truth than someone who believes their scripture is 100% accurate in its representation of god's will.

Similarly I don't know what happens after one dies, I like the idea of reincarnation, but I don't believe in it. And if it's not true, then why believe in it.

I seek truth.

 

[jasonwill2]

But this is your belief, and you have no more proof that it's the truth than someone who believes their scripture is 100% accurate in its representation of god's will.

Similarly I don't know what happens after one dies, I like the idea of reincarnation, but I don't believe in it. And if it's not true, then why believe in it.

I seek truth.

Your response makes no sense to me. I didn't say anything about my beliefs but merely gave a healthy advice for seeking for the beliefs that you will make your own.

If you are looking for "the truth will all the pictures, diagrams and answers to god and all of life's questions", it doesn't exist. If it did, everyone would turn to that religion.

I was looking at it through the lens of science, only applying different types of evidence. In science you can't prove a theory, but only disprove one. This means that over time you come closer and closer to the truth but will never get the exact truth.

That's why I gave that advice; it looks at religions with a dose of salt and REASON AND LOGIC AS WELL AS ANALYTICAL SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT.

How else can you reach the truth if you do not use deduction and tried and true workings of scientific thought? The only difference is that your experiences and observations is the scientific data. Subjective data, yes, but research and those observations along with the reason and logic make sure that you can always put the subjective experiences in a better light.

 

[Drolefille]

Your response makes no sense to me. I didn't say anything about my beliefs but merely gave a healthy advice for seeking for the beliefs that you will make your own.

If you are looking for "the truth will all the pictures, diagrams and answers to god and all of life's questions", it doesn't exist. If it did, everyone would turn to that religion.

I was looking at it through the lens of science, only applying different types of evidence. In science you can't prove a theory, but only disprove one. This means that over time you come closer and closer to the truth but will never get the exact truth.

That's why I gave that advice; it looks at religions with a dose of salt and REASON AND LOGIC AS WELL AS ANALYTICAL SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT.

How else can you reach the truth if you do not use deduction and tried and true workings of scientific thought? The only difference is that your experiences and observations is the scientific data. Subjective data, yes, but research and those observations along with the reason and logic make sure that you can always put the subjective experiences in a better light.

You said:

Hence I believe that religions are competing hypotheses that can have objective observations back it up with subjective experiences to reinforce those observations and hypothesis.

Even beyond that this:

Also no one religion has the entire picture like some say. All faiths are founded by men who can fail. never believe anyone when they say they have the entire literal truth. they are lying through their teeth if they say that because how can we know that so and so spoke to god or if he just made it up?

that's your belief.

I'm generally one of the most logical people in a room. My desire to believe in something isn't particularly logical though. As much as I joke that the first deity to put up a billboard gets my attention, I'm not expecting that. However I know people with very specific experiences that cause them to believe (In Apollo, in Frigg, in God or the Goddess, or the universe as god, etc) and I haven't had those. I know it's possible to find 'truth' even if it isn't an 'ultimate' truth but a subjective one. I know it's possible to understand something as the blind men understand the elephant and only see one aspect of a greater whole.

But I'm the blind man and can't find the elephant in the room. So I don't even really have an impression. I can imagine what I'd like an elephant to be like, or get a sense of what other people think it's like, but I don't know. And I don't really think that testing out every animal to find out if it's an elephant will be much worth my time.

 

[jasonwill2]

Dang, I'm at a loss of words... huh, can't find the elephant? Never thought of that possibility in the terms of that metaphor. I have no idea then what to say then. I guess you could try 'feeling in the dark', but that's a bit of a hit and miss shot at finding spiritual connection with an idea.

 

[Drolefille]

Dang, I'm at a loss of words... huh, can't find the elephant? Never thought of that possibility in the terms of that metaphor. I have no idea then what to say then. I guess you could try 'feeling in the dark', but that's a bit of a hit and miss shot at finding spiritual connection with an idea.

Yep. I don't even know if there is an elephant. I'm willing to accept that there could be, I want to find one, and other people tell me that there is one (though some don't see it at all) but I got nothin.

It's not entirely true, I think there's something there, I just don't know if it's an elephant or not. There are a few times when my left brain shuts down enough that I think I may have noticed something elephant-ish, but I'm a) mentally occupied with something else and b) I don't have any other way to shut it down.

And now that I've beat THAT metaphor into the ground.

 

[Renji]

As of me, I follow the "path"/ religion that I perceive as the "truth" and not something that I follow just because it suits me or because my parents follow the same religion. But with regards to other religions, I leave the judgment to God.

 

[9Westy9]

I follow whatever seems most reasonable to me at the time

 

[Noguchi]

Do you follow the religion you perceive as truth or something that suits you? Or perhaps you follow one in a happy middle (lucky you)! Which is more important?


I was wondering because I need to set my priorities right plus it might help other seekers look at the opinions and set their own priority.

I didn't check how old this thread was but i thought my 2 cents could help a little.
I have to agree with everyone so-far (that I have read). Personally I believe you should follow what aligns with your priorities.

For example, I was raised Christian because of my family, however my ever present need for knowledge about the world and what makes people tick has led me to the belief that god or whoever is in everything around us and that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you have a belief in the end.

As Odin said, tastes and truths change so if you feel the need to label your religion and you perceive it as a truth than that is what you should do. As for me, my ever changing views on the world lead me to stay as a seeker for the time being, and a Christian when in the presence of my family.

all the best;
Noguchi

 

[oldbadger]

Do you follow the religion you perceive as truth or something that suits you? Or perhaps you follow one in a happy middle (lucky you)! Which is more important?

I was wondering because I need to set my priorities right plus it might help other seekers look at the opinions and set their own priority.

Hello Illykitty! Wow.... we're neighbours!
I just 'feel' that God is in everything I see. So for me, (1) the reason for our existence is God, and (2) everything is God. That makes me a cross between a pantheist and panentheist, I think. So I might be a mongrel, but I'm free of organised religion.

Many years ago (ahhhh, way back!) I joined a faith, only to then be told that this faith's founder was all 'perfect', and all I had to do was follow the instructions on the carton exactly! I found that I was imprisoned by (crazy, incorrect, stupid) rules.

I hope you enjoy your search.