The long and winding path...

[Zeroa]

I've walked a little way down a lot of different paths-- Catholicism, Protestantism (Methodist, mainly), Wicca, a more generalized Paganism, Islam, my own homebrew monotheism/panentheism-- and I've done a lot of reading on many other things. I've been hovering around the edges of Eastern religions (Hinduism, mainly) for a number of years now.

I have some specific beliefs about the nature of God, the soul, etc, but that would be a massive wall-of-text... and I'll probably get to that later. I am ALWAYS open to hearing what other people believe though!

Where have your paths taken you and what are you drawn to now?

 

[fallingblood]

My path has taken me primarily along the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). I've also hovered around the edges of Eastern philosophy for years. It has basically led to me having a faith in a god/s, but as an agnostic theist who has a monist view of god/s.

 

[Promulgatious]

My path is very personal because it is heartfelt. Not really wanting to post it because it is mine, it doesn't belong to you or anyone else for their viewing.

Is the reason you post your confusion is because nothing you have seen is real to you and you are hoping for some answer to your search ?

 

[Thief]

I have become a rogue theologian.

I strongly suspect...the last hour of this life, is the first..of the next.

My handiwork is moving to that moment.
And I try to be careful what I say...what I do.

What stands over me...during that last/first hour...is made by such things.

 

[Zeroa]

My path is very personal because it is heartfelt. Not really wanting to post it because it is mine, it doesn't belong to you or anyone else for their viewing.

Is the reason you post your confusion is because nothing you have seen is real to you and you are hoping for some answer to your search ?

I have personal beliefs, but that's not enough for me. My search so far has clarified my beliefs and set my criteria for what I am looking for. I am not confused about that, myself.

For me, spirituality is an individual pursuit, but religion is a community activity, and the latter is what I am looking for. I have zero interest in going it alone; I've done enough of that already. I am looking for a practice and a community.

So, I am, of course, looking for an answer, and my answer has to meet a number of rather mundane, practical criteria. If the core beliefs run counter to my own or I have no hope of ever being accepted, for instance, that won't work. If having a husband who isn't interested or who is outright hostile is a problem, that won't work. And so on.

Everyone is seeking something a little different. I just think it is interesting to hear where people have been and where they are at.

 

[Storm]

I was raised nominally Christian, but much more heavily influenced by my deist/ Taoist father. Meaning, he taught me to think for myself, but since Christianity was culturally dominant, I put all my ideas into those terms. Looking back, I had panentheistic and pagan leanings even as a child, seeing God everywhere in nature. However, my primary concept was a loving, protective parent. I was taught that if you had faith, God would take care of you, and I believed it.

When I was about 10, my parents split up. At first, my mother and her new boyfriend had custody, and they were abusive. Because of this, I became an atheist. An infantile "I don't believe in God because He failed me" atheist, but an atheist nonetheless. Then I experienced an intense and transformative theophany. I knew with every fiber of my being, that that was God. I just had to figure out what that meant, lol.

I reverted to... not Christianity, but defintiely theism. In the afterglow of my "vision," I thought God would save me, but He didn't. When a miracle failed to occur, I got bitter again and became a maltheist. In the arrogance of youth, I assumed my theophany was due to a grand destiny, perhaps a Prophet or such. (I know, I know, but what can I say? I was a scared, confused kid. ) Anyway, thanks to my beloved father's careful nurturing of my independent streak, I've always had a bit of a problem with authority. God wanted something from me, giving nothing in return? Screw that! I decided to study religion and find a loophole.

In my studies, the first thing I stumbled across was neopaganism, eco-feminist Goddess worship to be specific. It was a revelation. Here was a concept of God I didn't have to hate. I embraced it wholeheartedly.

The Goddess worship wasn't a perfect fit, though, so after further study I settled on eclectic neopaganism. My defiant pursuit of knowledge became a nobler quest to refine my understanding. My ideas continued to evolve, and eventually I realized that I had outgrown* neopaganism, broad as that label may be. I had gradually gone from hard polytheism to henotheism, to panentheism and the belief that the Gods were simply beings not so unlike us.

Then there's UU. Some might say I'm no longer a seeker, as I have quite enthusiastically embraced an organized religion. (Screw them, too. ) Anyway, UU is a covenantal, not doctrinal faith. As colorful as my theological beliefs have been, when I sat down and looked at the 7 Principles, I realized that THIS was something I had believed all along. I started going to church regularly, and rejoiced in finally finding a loving, supportive community.

* As my use of the word "outgrown" has given at least one person the wrong impression, a disclaimer: I am NOT, in any way, saying that neopaganism is immature or a "stepping stone." It does not NEED to be outgrown. Quite the contrary, I found - I still find - it beautiful, compelling, and fulfilling. It's just that my beliefs gradually and organically developed into something different. I call that growing.

 

[Twig pentagram]

I was taught christianity before I was taught to read. After years of church I was finally able to comprehend it. That's where it ended and Islam begun.
I think I started practicing islam because I was use to being religious. After years of practicing islam I decided that I no longer think the Abrahamic god is real.
Now I perceive reality through a gnostic / agnostic / pantheist view. I call it Neo Pantheism. I am divine because I exist and divinity is existence. I think the uni/multi-verse created itself and I'm agnostic when it comes to a holy God/s.

 

[xkatz]

I have only gone through conservative Judaism.

 

[Andywelikandy]

I've walked a little way down a lot of different paths-- Catholicism, Protestantism (Methodist, mainly), Wicca, a more generalized Paganism, Islam, my own homebrew monotheism/panentheism-- and I've done a lot of reading on many other things. I've been hovering around the edges of Eastern religions (Hinduism, mainly) for a number of years now.

I have some specific beliefs about the nature of God, the soul, etc, but that would be a massive wall-of-text... and I'll probably get to that later. I am ALWAYS open to hearing what other people believe though!

Where have your paths taken you and what are you drawn to now?

I was a Budhist at one time. Then I wanted to look at other religions and so I learned about them. Then one day I was at an Evangelical church listening to a itinerant preacher. He spoke about sin and how sinful all human beings are, no matter how holy we try to be. That hit a sensitive spot in my heart. The preacher went on to say how Jesus Christ, the God-Man, came down from heaven to teach human beings how to please the Creator God in our living. That teaching he said is in the Bible. So I started to read verses in the Bible that the preacher highlighted. That got me reading more and more of the Bible. To make a long story short, I began to believe what Jesus Christ taught in the Bible because I realized that Jesus was teaching the truth. The words of Jesus alone made me a Christian and as Jesus said to a very religious Jew named Nicodemus that in order to get into the presence of the Creator God one needs too be born again (John chap. 3). And that's what happened. I got born again. Ever since then I have had absoluterly no reason to look for knowledge about other religions.

Now I know for sure that when I die, I will be in the very presence of Al,mighty God.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Where have your paths taken you and what are you drawn to now?

Was a Hindu, became an atheist, again a Hindu but an atheist one.

 

[Baladas]

I apologize in advance for my text wall...

I grew up in a mostly nonpracticing (we did not regularly attend church) non-denominational Christian home. My mother always told me that God loved everyone, and I was brought up to see everyone as equal. We are really all the same. During one of my family's stints at a local church, when I was about 10, I officially "received Christ" and was baptized. It was my choice entirely. I just wanted to make God happy, and this seemed like the thing to do.

When I was in my early teens, I rebelled (like many do) and I had some very negative friends who I let drag me down. I ended up almost misanthropic. Depressed and angry, I decided that life was meaningless.

When I was 15 I had a profound mystic experience in which I felt a palpable presence of love with me as I prayed. This led me to turn to Christianity and to delve into it. After all, I perceived this presence to have been God, and the Christian God was the only God I knew about.

My parents were amazed at my transformation, as I sudden began to love life and people. Eventually, I attended church on my own (my parents didn't want to).
I became involved with youth ministry, and ended up a leader in the group. I led prayer groups and had a lot of scripture memorized, and I had many more mystic experiences. I took accredited theology courses through my church, delivered several sermons, and planned to attend seminary.

This changed eventually, as I delved deeper into the Bible and its history. After about 6 years of youth ministry, I found that I could not allow myself to not question the darker parts of the Bible any longer. Friends, and others I knew in ministry admitted to struggling with the same questions but had little advice. When I brought this up to my pastor, he as good as dismissed my question. I quickly discovered that most pastors that I could find online had similar evasiveness, or explained these things away. That was the beginning of the end of my Christianity.

Since then, I have been exploring Taoism, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Gnosticism as well as many other faiths.

My current view is that all spiritual paths have wisdom to offer, and that they all can help one to grow and to connect with the Divine.

 

[Vinayaka]

Just as a magnifying glass can be used to start a fire, my personal practice has gotten narrow and very concentrated. With this narrowing came great understanding and tolerance of all others. From that fire in the center of the focal point one can see out with understanding.

 

[ShivaFan]

I have always been a Hindu, albeit an adventurous one, a rascal, but met a lot of "well knowns" personally, and have been a Hindu "officially" since 8 years old, but probably from day one.

So why am I mentioning this in the context of a thread which probably has a theme of "I used to be this... but then I looked at that... and currently I am another"????

Because in my Hinduism of which no one generally can ever be the expert (outside of rare cases, but not common) but only different shades of "really good at it" simply because of the wonderful diversity in it, I also became pretty proficient in some others as well.

Now you may think that sounds crazy. But it is not. Colored in the stains, tinctures and potions of Hinduism as part of the adventurous stage and dynamics consisting of many "actors" and others playing "bit parts", not that I ever became one of another religion but came to envision and vision and pierce into others albeit just "because they were there" at the time.

Specifically, I think I can even be good enough at it to even pretend, speak like, and convince one of them or anyone that I am (1) a Muslim, (3) a Jain, (4) a Buddhist either Hinayana or Mahayana. I can do others as well but only at a limited capacity. There is only one pretty much I couldn't fake. That would be a Jew. I love Rabbis but could never pull that one off.

Anyway, the ONLY reason I could and can do this is BECAUSE I am a Hindu.

I could get into why it is so ... but that my friend would be ... another story. But if you want chameleon powers, then ... be a Hindu.

I was once called "one of the best Catholics I have ever met" by a priest.

 

[Sundance]

I was brought in a literalist, nondenominational Christian community to parents of different faiths (my dad was/is nonreligious and my mom was a Christian, now nonreligious). I was what one would call a “social" Christian. It wasn't until sixth grade, in my World Cultures with Mr. Hulka, that I began taking an independent interest in other religions and spiritual traditions. Wanting to know more about other religions had stimulated my heavy sense of curiosity, increasing my deepening appreciation for them. In eighth grade, I was watching a film version of the play Our Town, and I heard the stage manager make a mention of all of the different churches that were in or around Grover's Corners. One of them was a Unitarian church. Not knowing what Unitarians were, I quietly asked my English teacher at the time, Mrs. Dorward, “Mrs. Dorward, what's a Unitarian?" She gave a rather vague reply: “Unitarians believe in everything." So it didn't think too much of it until my sophomore year of high schooI, when I began to explore my own beliefs. I took the beliefs quiz, and my top option was Unitarian Universalism, so I read a Wikipedia article about it and checked Unitarian Universalism out (recalling the first time I'd ever heard of them, and thinking it was the same as the Unitarians) at the website UUA.org. When I saw the webpage, I loved the vibrant colours it had! I decided to check out the section called “Are My Beliefs Welcome?" I was surprised, awed at the diversity and inclusivity in terms of not only theological beliefs and identity (or lack thereof), but also race, national origin, gender identity, and sexual orientation! I thought, “this is definitely the right religion for me!" Though, I wondered, “how do I join this wonderful faith community?" The answer I got, I didn't expect from any religion that I was used to: “There is no formal conversion process, so becoming a Unitarian Universalist is simply a matter of self-identification. Membership in the faith is voluntary and does not require renouncing other religious affiliations or practices." So, I made the decision to become a Unitarian Universalist. Three years later in my journey from Christianity into Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age Spirituality, Goddess Spirituality, the Baha'i faith (which I think can be a force for positive world change), Agnosticism, Creation Spirituality and now into Neopaganism, I've learned so much about myself spiritually! Three years, and still rockin' and rollin' with the flaming chalice...and I got no regrets.

 

[Banjankri]

Where have your paths taken you and what are you drawn to now?

I was always looking for "better" explanation. More accurate and consistent. Chasing perfection. Last religion on my path was Mahayana Buddhism, mainly early Zen. Still it was far from perfect.
Finally I realized, that there is no ready recipe, and I have to start from nothing. But hey, nobody said that I need a big amount of it, that it needs to cover everything right away.

So, here I am, exploring reality, with no need to hurry. Finally, I am able to see who I am... and we are what we think we are.
Looks like a very good place to start.

 

[Straw Dog]

Where have your paths taken you and what are you drawn to now?

I don't consider any -ism or particular belief system to be a path in-itself. Every person is unique and every path is formed by life choices and actions. No single path fits all since our direct experiences differ. The next step of my personal path is taking place as it is right here, right now doing this...

 

[wintersolstice]

To DJ_sXe: I enjoyed reading your post. I find that in my own faith journey, I am going from belief in narrowly-focused dogma to a much broader sense of wonder with little black and white certainty and lots more varied shades of color! I find that the UUA affords me the freedom to explore and apply ideas that make sense in my life at the moment.

 

[Sundance]

To DJ_sXe: I enjoyed reading your post. I find that in my own faith journey, I am going from belief in narrowly-focused dogma to a much broader sense of wonder with little black and white certainty and lots more varied shades of color! I find that the UUA affords me the freedom to explore and apply ideas that make sense in my life at the moment.

Why thanks a million! I think that it's awesome that you're going somewhere new on your spiritual journey, and I wholeheartedly wish you the best of fortunes! Oh yeah, just remember making any sort of worthwhile change isn't easy, but its blessings are oh so sweet....