GOD Dwells Within Yer as Yer

[Bodineian]

Humans are spiritual beings , bottom line. Organized religion is nothing more than mind control. Mind control in that yer conditioned to not question religious authority nor the Bible for fear of Hell for even thinking out of line or for questioning "divinely inspired" doctrine.

Faith is a good start but that faith should transform into knowing.
The spititual pursuit, it is said should consist of 50% reading or learning the scriptures(of yer own choice)and then 50% experiencing, living what yer have read.

The life experience is where the knowing comes in.

An example would be sex. Yer can be told about sex , read about it, dream about it and believe in it to the max , but nothing can compare to the experience, the knowing for yerself.

GOD lives in the HEART CAVE of the individual, not in some mansion in the sky nor at the rev falwell's house.

Want proof of GOD? Try walking outside and looking around. Evidence of GOD is everywhere in Nature.

The GOD that dwells within Humans also dwells within all of creation, even a rock.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. An American mystic,

Samuel L. Lewis, was once asked about his concepts of spirituality. He replied, "Concepts about spirituality are concepts." "What is spirituality?" the reporter then asked. Sam said, "Experience."

If you have ever been in an intense inipi (sweatlodge ceremony) you have known and experienced the breath of rocks, which sing and help you remember the sacredness that is all around you.

The Third Sufi thought: There is one holy book: the sacred manuscript of nature.

What you said is right on--and may I add those who understand this are able to get along fine with others from a different spiritual path--there is no greater joy than being with those who know and understand and EXPERIENCE this, be they Christian, Pagan, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew, or whatever.

So nice to be greeted with this post this morning.

Namaste.

[I Have A Dream]

2. Welcome to DU, Bodineian.

I agree 100%!

:hi:

[SHRED]

3. Nice theory

I'll think about it.

For now I am having a difficult time with the "one God" concept.
Look at the state of this planet.
If God lives "everywhere in nature", then God surely must be asleep at the wheel.
IMHO.

[Meshuga]

8. God could be a "process"

Sort of like a force behind nature as opposed to a personal deity and still be "one". The state of the planet can be attributed to human beings who have the free will. Perhaps you have a problem with the idea of a personal god and not the oneness of god?

[SHRED]

9. food for thought...thanks

[ClintonTyree]

4. So sayeth Bodineian

You're entitled to your beliefs but don't EVER tell everyone that they're infallible or absolute. Everything is open to interpretation. When I walk outside I see no evidence of a god, I see evidence of billions of years of evolution and natural selection. You chose to interpret what you see as "proof" of god's existence. That doesn't make it so.

Anyway, have a nice day on the planet. :hi:

[Bodineian]

6. A thief that sees GOD sees only HIS Pockets.

The manifestation of GOD in an individual is as different as the individual is from other Humans.

That is the wonderment of it all , that GOD can manifest in so many different ways.

Material evolution only imitates our own spiritual evolution.

[ClintonTyree]

12. Yeah, OK, whatever....

I don't see humans as inherently spiritual, no more than I look at a snails and think of them as inherently spiritual. Biological? Yes. Spiritual? No.

Someone got up on the tub-thumping side of the bed this morning, huh? ;) I just have a hard time with people who absolutely KNOW the truth of all truths and then insist on force feeding it to everyone else.

Like I said, have a good day on the planet. :hi:

[Meshuga]

11. You can look at the world both...

...ways: poetically and scientifically.

You are looking at science and how the world around you came about. The original poster is talking about the beauty of it all and extracting his spirituality from his surroundings.

Two different approaches. Neither are wrong in my opinion.

The problem is the people who like to mix the two and you can see this on both sides of the spectrum:

- you see the religious nut trying to use the Bible as a historical book (i.e., people who believe in creationism) or,

- you see the people trying to use science to justify bad behavior (i.e., using social Darwinism to justify bad behavior).

Religion serves a purpose and science serves another purpose. At least in my opinion.

[davhill]

5. Humans are also Social Beings

And as such they often organize themselves into religions in order to share their spiritual experiences. Because the spiritual experience causes such strong emotions, it provides a tool for the manipulation of people by others who seek only to increase their own power. But to throw out the baby of faith with the bathwater of abuse makes no sense. It is like coming out against Love because spouse abuse exists.

[Bodineian]

7. Faith is the Starting Point

Going to organized religion is only a reinforcement of yer own personal path i hear.

Strong faith can lead to blind belief or to experience and knowing , depending on yer progress on yer own path, i have read.

[cosmik debris]

10. Humans are also gullible beings

They fall for con games. And when they fall for con games they seem to react exactly the same way that people react when they are "saved". They denounce and deny all detractors. They believe things based on faith rather than fact. And they close their minds to all other rational thoughts.

No thank you. I'll stick with my skepticism.

[Bodineian]

14. Saved Is It's Own Con

There is no being saved for eternity by belief in a man that others have decided was GOD.

Jesus was a man and Human just like us all. Pauline doctrine tells a different story.

What i say is the result of my own experience. It has meaning for me and is not necessarily workable for another.

Yer walk yer own path and i guarantee representatives of GOD , Guardian Angels, Spirit Guides or whatever yer call them walk with yer and have since yer decided in Heaven how yer next "appearance" on Earth would be like.

A healthy dose of skepticism actually shows one is already advanced on the path and highly intelligent.

[cosmik debris]

15. That certainly sounds like a con game to me. n/t

[Bodineian]

17. Con This

It become a con when yer assured that i have the secret answer and it can also be yers for three payments of $19.95.

[cosmik debris]

19. No, it became a con when you asked me to believe

something for which there is no proof. It became a con when you replaced facts with opinions. It became a con when you interpreted your personal experience as universal truth.

No thank you, I'll stick to my skepticism.

[Bodineian]

25. Actually I Worked In a Jail........

Skeptics trump blind belief. Keep working Cosmic.

Like said before one has to walk his own path and it would seem that is exactly what yer doing Cosmo.

My deal is hardly Universal, it works for me and as said before, probably unworkable for another.

trust me Cosmic, yer on the path.

Ready to donate money Cos?(grin)

[cosmik debris]

28. How Smarmy!

One of the con's oldest tricks is to flatter the mark and pretend to agree with him. I'm not falling for it.

I've been an atheist since I was a teenager, close to forty years. If that is what you call "on the path" then I'm there. And along that path I learned to spot con men and BS artists from a mile away. You have the "come-on" of a guy who wants to sell me a used car.

I don't believe you about spirituality, God, heart caves, or about paths. And I certainly don't believe the nonsense about proof of God being everywhere you look. The path I'm on is leading me away from you as fast as possible. And that brings me great peace of mind.

[Bodineian]

33. Yer Con is Known

Yo Cosmo yer mistake is in thinking that yer can bullshit a bullshitter.

i never asked yer to believe anything Cosmo, why the defensive posture?

[Union Thug]

13. What does it mean to be "spiritual beings"?

First of all, I'm not sure if your post is a clever ruse or whether you are serious. I will assume the latter.

If 'spiritual' means that we sometimes wonder about origin and purpose, fine; I'll go along with that.

But the minute you drag 'god' in, you lose me. Many years ago, when I associated myself with Asatru, I looked at the world in what I think would be a way very much like you describe (although there is a singularity in your ideas that would contrast against Asatru's polytheism).

But later on I backed away from all spiritual ideas and stopped assigning meaning and animism to things that do not have obvious meaning. I don't see evidence for god anywhere. I see a complex natural world that is subject to processes that are knowable and free from magical origins or intrinsic meaning. But I don't see "god".

[Bodineian]

16. No ruse

It's the Great Mysterious, Union Thug. Origin and purpose as well as life after death.

Why did yer back away from Asatru? Yer telling me yer got nothing from yer association?

It seems that distancing yerself is part of yer path for now. Fact is however, once yer on the path there is no stepping off, only delays.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. So you think the natural world is evidence of life after death?

How does that come about?

I can see that what we see in the natural world can be evidence for its, and our, origin; perhaps purpose too (pointing out the important fact that much of what we see in nature has no apparent purpose at all - so we should seriously consider that our existence has no purpose either).

But how do you get from observing the natural world to believing in life after death?

[Union Thug]

22. Back in the day, I would have answered....

That we are all reborn as the plant and animal life consume our decaying remains and converts them into the nutrition that sustains them and provides them with the ability to produce new life.

The problem, of course, is that people want to believe in everlasting conciousness, not life after death.

[Union Thug]

23. Why?

Because my experience has shown me that there is nothing out there waiting to help us in our times of need. "Yer" on your own, so to speak. All we have to fall back on is eachother.

[Dhalgren]

18. You rock! That's the funniest stuff I have heard in a long time.

Thanks for the humor. Too often folks take this "spirituality" crap so seriously that there can be no humor injected, at all. "Yer" have found a way to do so, and I haven't stopped laughing yet. Thanks again! :rofl:

[Evoman]

21. Response

"Humans are spiritual beings , bottom line. Organized religion is nothing more than mind control. Mind control in that yer conditioned to not question religious authority nor the Bible for fear of Hell for even thinking out of line or for questioning "divinely inspired" doctrine."

I'm not spiritual. I don't even know what that means. So no, thats not the bottom line. Its not that I don't appreciate nature or don't meditate. I do. But I just don't get spirituality. Is organized religion mind control? Not necessarily...it can be under many circumstances, I suppose. But no more than any cultural meme we are taught as child...i.e. "the authorities are always right...trust the police" and junk like that.

"Faith is a good start but that faith should transform into knowing.
The spititual pursuit, it is said should consist of 50% reading or learning the scriptures(of yer own choice)and then 50% experiencing, living what yer have read."

Faith is no start at all. Faith is believing something without evidence...if you start from nothing, you get to nothing.


"An example would be sex. Yer can be told about sex , read about it, dream about it and believe in it to the max , but nothing can compare to the experience, the knowing for yerself."

I like sex...but I also like my non-faith world as well. Really..I don't know ANY christians that are much happier about their lives than me. Heck, being able to have as much sex as I want, when I want without guilt probably helps!

"GOD lives in the HEART CAVE of the individual, not in some mansion in the sky nor at the rev falwell's house."

Not my heart cave. I am without a god hole, thank you very much.

"Want proof of GOD? Try walking outside and looking around. Evidence of GOD is everywhere in Nature.

The GOD that dwells within Humans also dwells within all of creation, even a rock."

Sorry, I've looked. Nada. What I see is the result of natural processes. It all fits together perfectly with what I know about evolution, physics and chemistry. What I don't understand, I don't need to attribute to god.

I see no god, because there is no god.

[Bodineian]

24. Shit From Shinola

Not having any reality on spirituality causes one to deny it. Been there and yer only denying yer true self.

Looked for GOD and found nothing? Ever see the pics of Jesus with the halo and whatnot surrounding His HEART? Jesus was pure love straight from the HEART. Puppy love leads to heartbreak cause it ain't the genuine real deal hollyfield.

Like i tell my son when he "looks" for something. I tell him what he is looking for is not automatically jump into his hands and be found, but he has to truly seek.

Seek and yer will find, i guarantee it. However there is no magic involved and it could take a lifetime or several lifetimes. As an immortal being yer really in no hurry my friend.

For every answer there is a question right past it. The more i learn the more the understanding that i don't know shit from shinola.

Spiritual law and the law of Physics run parallel.

By the way suffering and getting fucked over is part of the deal. Yer trouble starts when taking up yer own cross and starting on the path.

[Evoman]

26. Hehe...you gotta be pulling my leg.

I concede...I cry terribly at night because I'm missing the woo-woo type Jesus.

[Union Thug]

30. A friend of mine always said...

If god is so great, why are things so fucked up?

:-)

[Evoman]

31. If god does exist, we need to kill him. Kill him before he kills us.

I wonder how many nukes it would take to kill god...or at least maim or blind him, so he doesn't fuck things up quite as much. Maybe if, one Jesus comes back, we hold him hostage...do what we want, god, or we kill Jesus.

Mind you, it didn't help last time Jesus came to Earth.

[Union Thug]

32. You've just set the premise for a great new Cormanesque sci-fi film...

Earth vs. God!

Now you're talking hollywood blockbuster!

[cosmik debris]

27. deleted oops!

[immoderate]

29. Everywhere I look...

I see no evidence of god. :shrug:

--IMM