metis
aged ecumenical anthropologist
OK, for those of us who especially believe and/or who were brought up in one of the Abrahamic faiths, I'm gonna ask you to put that aside for at least this introduction and try to consider something from the eastern approach.
A phrase that would make sense to one brought up as a Hindu is "We are That". The "We" is obvious, but the "That" may not be, plus it is also even controversial in the east. In general, "That" can stand for "the Great Soul", namely "Brahman" in Hindi, or "God" in English. Unlike the Abrahamics, which tend to anthropomorphize "God" to a large extent, "Brahman" is generally not treated as such. Some may use terminology like "a consciousness that envelopes all", but even that is conjectural because how does one define such "consciousness" without slipping back into anthropomorphizing. Therefore, even in Hinduism, this is pretty much an open question.
So, what happened in Hinduism is more along the line of the "many paths to God" approach, namely that each of us need to study and contemplate that which we may conclude is the best path for ourselves, realizing that our path may not be the best path for someone else. This also tends to lead to pretty much a non-judgmental approach to other faiths, so if one feels more "spiritual", however defined", with their belief in Jesus and his teachings, that's fine, as well as the Muslim who feels more spiritual with their belief in Mohammed and his teachings. Etc.
What are your thoughts on this?
BTW, a Blessed & Happy New Year to you all.
A phrase that would make sense to one brought up as a Hindu is "We are That". The "We" is obvious, but the "That" may not be, plus it is also even controversial in the east. In general, "That" can stand for "the Great Soul", namely "Brahman" in Hindi, or "God" in English. Unlike the Abrahamics, which tend to anthropomorphize "God" to a large extent, "Brahman" is generally not treated as such. Some may use terminology like "a consciousness that envelopes all", but even that is conjectural because how does one define such "consciousness" without slipping back into anthropomorphizing. Therefore, even in Hinduism, this is pretty much an open question.
So, what happened in Hinduism is more along the line of the "many paths to God" approach, namely that each of us need to study and contemplate that which we may conclude is the best path for ourselves, realizing that our path may not be the best path for someone else. This also tends to lead to pretty much a non-judgmental approach to other faiths, so if one feels more "spiritual", however defined", with their belief in Jesus and his teachings, that's fine, as well as the Muslim who feels more spiritual with their belief in Mohammed and his teachings. Etc.
What are your thoughts on this?
BTW, a Blessed & Happy New Year to you all.