"Spirituality"
I think there should be a spirituality tab to add topics to. I'm interested in what religions or non-religions people here practice. It seems essential to health to be spiritually healthy, as well as physically and emotionlly. I'm kind of at a cross-roads in figuring out how to go about that. Please share (without arguments here) what you believe to be a fulfilling spiritual life.
Tags: religion, spirituality
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TimG on -
Naturenut (I love your nickname!):
Very good topic and I'm glad there's an interest in spirituality. "Natural Cures" SHOULD include spirituality and mental health as both directly affect the physical health of an individual. However, spirituality is still a PERSONAL lifestyle choice, not to be dictated by others.
Religions over the course of human history have been a means to control the masses (usually enmeshed with politics), but as a personal lifestyle, it should be used as a GUIDE to greater awareness, beyond the "physical."
Yes, there is no doubt that organized religion can be "bad" and sometimes forceful. I was reading an article the other day where US Army Chaplains were encouraging soldiers to "pass the message of Jesus" to Afghanians. Whole Crusades and Jihads have been fought over religious beliefs. Violating personal choice is the crime of many organized religions.
But I honestly believe this is where religion is misunderstood, even by a religion's hierarchy. And what is misunderstood is the subject of "control" versus "freedom."
Religion is a guide to freedom.
How is this accomplished? BY PERSONAL CHOICE.
Let's say Christianity is against pornography (it is, but it's a good place to start). What traps could one fall into by advocating it in their personal lives? Hiding material from one's spouse. Jealously. Rationalization. Wondering what another sexual partner would be like. Committing adultery. Destroyed relationships.
How does one become free from these traps? By not accepting them in their lives to begin with.
This is ONE such spiritual trap. But it is far from the only one.
Spirituality is a characteristic of being human, what seperates us from animals. It is a way to increase awareness of the Laws of God and so live free from mental and physical pain. One such Universal Law is the Golden Rule, found in most religions.
To violate a natural law (or not know one) is to invite pain, anguish, anxiety, jealously, anger, fear, hate... not to mention getting ulcers. hehe
This is how you are free.
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Permalink Reply by Nyota1 on -
Regarding your statements: If man wrote the bible; no matter how divinely inspired as he or she may have been, and man has re-written that bible countless times since it's creation, and since man is so prone to use anything in his power to better his interests, it's a pretty safe bet that if we take every single word of that bible 100% literally, then we are not following "The Word of God", but in fact, "The Word of Man".
Man didn't write the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. Additionally, The Bible has not been rewritten countless times. It has been translated, not rewritten. Are you referring to translations? Yes, there are some problems with translations of the Bible. That is why it is important to use an accurate translation. Even so, the translations are not that far off to claim it has be rewritten. That is simply not true.
Man was the instrument used by God to record the Bible. The Bible contains literally thousands of prophesies in the Old Testament that were written centuries before the New Testament events actually happened. It is physically and literally 100% impossible for the Bible to have been written by man.
The Bible is the word of God, creator of the Universe, written and recorded by man.
http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/b_proof.shtml
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Permalink Reply by Robyn on -
Nyota,
I meant translations:
I don't know if you are referring to the King James version of the bible, but here's my thought on that:
The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was written in Greek.
The first translation of the English Bible was initiated by John Wycliffe and completed by John Purvey in 1388.
A few chapters of the books Ezra (ch. 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26) and Daniel (ch. 2:4 to 7:28), one verse in Jeremiah (ch. 10:11, and a word in Genesis (ch. 31:47) are written, not in ancient Hebrew, but in Aramaic. Aramaic is about as closely related to Hebrew as Spanish is to Portuguese. However, the differences between Aramaic and Hebrew are not those of dialect, and the two are regarded as two separate languages.
From which language was the KJV was translated. Here is how it came about: 54 college professors, preachers, deans and bishops ranging in ages from 27 to 73 were engaged in the project of translating the KJV. To work on their masterpiece, these men were divided into six panels: two at Oxford, two at Cambridge, two at Westminster. Each panel concentrated on one portion of the Bible, and each scholar in the panel was assigned portions to translate. As guides the scholars used a Hebrew Text of the Old Testament, a Greek text for the New. Some Aramaic was used in each. They consulted translations in Chaldean, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch. And, of course, they used earlier English Bibles—at least six, including William Tyndale's New Testament, the first to be printed in English. So what language did they use? Everything that was available.
The first American edition of the Bible was probably published some time before 1752. I'm not exactly sure on the year.
The Bible has been translated in part or in whole as of 1964 in over 1,200 different languages or dialects.
I guess the closet analogy I can come up with is: like when you play the child's game where everyone sits in a circle and passes a message by whispering in the next child's ear. By the time it gets to the last child, the message is different than when it started. Mind you, these are innocent children, what if you put someone in that line up that had an evil agenda for changing the meaning of the message.
Just so you don't misunderstand where I'm coming from, I do believe the Bible was the word of God and still is, but I believe Satan has corrupted the versions we have today. That doesn't mean God won't reveal the truth to you when you read it. Unfortunately the Bible( or men's interpretations of it) has become a divider among Christians instead of a uniter just as Satan has intended all along.
But, I am only explaining why I have the opinions that I stated earlier, and they are only that: my opinions.
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Permalink Reply by Nyota1 on
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Yes, I understand now where you are coming from, but I disagree. I don't think the translations are that far off from the original to claim that the Bible has been rewritten, There are some problems with the translations, but not to the degree where it distorts the meaning of the text drastically. I do think there are way too many translations. I do think some of them are needed, because the KJV is sometimes difficult to understand.
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Permalink Reply by Nyota1 on
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Where are you coming up with this information, if I may ask? Jesus is not a myth. He was a real live human being who walked the earth, and he was the son of God. The proof for the historical relibility of the Bible is there. In fact, one of the main people who writes books about the historical relibility of the Bible used to think exactly what you think, and he was an atheist. Where did you get these ideas, if I may ask? I am not pushing my beliefs on anyone. I was simply replying to the post by Robyn where she was talking about the Bible being written by men. The Bible is the word of God. As I said in the previous post, there are thousands of prophecies in the Bible that were written and recorded centuries before they actually happened. You can do your own research. I already did my own research. I don't need anymore.
What you are believing is essentially a man made argument for not believing in God. It is an argument of rebellion and a stubborn refusal about not wanting to admit there is a God. The Bible illustrates what will happen until the end of the world, including all those things you mention like wars, in addition to famine and earthquakes. God saw it all, beginning to end, before he even created it. You have to fully understand the Bible to understand what goes on in the world and why, now or previously, to fully understand why it happened.
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Permalink Reply by naturenut on -
Is there really an answer to "WHY" things happen in the world? The best answer I've heard was from a priest at my uncle's funeral when he said "Why ask why?". To me there is no acceptable answer to why a 14 year old girl dies of Leukemia, why a 52 year old dad and grandpa dies of early Alzheimer's after a miserable 8 years of suffering, why kids suffer and die all the time, why people kill each other and do evil things... I've heard all of the "It's just part of His plan", "Someday we'll understand", "Heaven must have needed her", "He was graciously relieved of his suffering" and on and on and on and on. How can people praise GOD for someone being healed while a child in the hospital bed next to them is getting worse or dies? Was the child "bad"? I know I'm rambling but these things bug me when it comes to religion as an explanation. Maybe there just is NO explanation, maybe it all just IS and HAPPENS and that's it. It's hard to accept and then if one does accept it, how do you make peace with it? What or who do you thank or "pray" to, the sun? stars? no one or nothing? The soul cries out for the divine, I feel it, all of you do too, but how that is manipulated or satisfied is the biggest question I think. It's almost as if life would make no sense at all unless you "believe" but what to believe in is the quest..........
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Permalink Reply by Shannon on -
I practice "following my own moral compass."
I am able to feel whole every night I can go to sleep knowing that I didn't do anything that day that I felt was "wrong" and that I did the things that I felt were "right."
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Permalink Reply by Starting a New Life on -
I second that! Because that is truly the only way to go... although a moral compass can only point you in the right direction, it can not make you choose it.
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Permalink Reply by KnowNow on -
I believe moral codes have been written in all of us, basically those listed in the commandments.
All religions have truth, this is why people are willing to following them, but I believe they are manupilated so that it leads us away from the Creator, and causes us to follow the principles of man (mostly evil men). This is why we can be conned in to killing our fellow men because we have been made to believe it is right, or taking what we know is not ours, etc.
I try to follow the codes given to me by the Creator, rather than myself, which is lucky for you all because I could be a mass murderer and think it is absoluely right to kill whenever I get ready :-)
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Permalink Reply by TimG on
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KnowNow:
I always knew you had "clocktower sniper" written in your moral code somewhere! LOL
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Permalink Reply by chúk on -
God created evil? I don't think so i'm more of a believer that god created free souls and in the world we live in we have free choice to be good or bad. I think religion is fine for people in the beginning but just as i've come to learn from many mentors that most religions are simply "tools" used to control the masses.While i used to be a christian and got baptized i noticed that i genuinely felt better and more at peace. However as i have come to learn that the bible is simply a way to tell you how to "think" and throughout history and even now it's simply used for more propganda but even worse is it's justification for war.
I'm currently just more into "spirtuality" as a whole and not piece of the puzzle via religion. Maybe soon i'll be looking in to scientology. I don't personally consider myself to be in one religion but i would rather just gather knowledge form the original source and then live my life with clarity and no DOUBT of the universe, god, creator or supreme being. One thing i don't like about religion is it KEEPS FEAR in your life. The constant division such as we are born sinners yet we come from god and we made in his image. Oxymoron? Also how it's always this division of Jesus vs Satan it's a never ending cycle which keeps your mind in fear of doing wrong because if you don't live a certain way or get your head doused in holy water(generally tap water >_>) your going to hell. This HELL is a bunch of bullS*** because how could a soul of light be effected by a physical place. I think the only "hell" you have is on earth by your own negative dark thoughts.
Rather interesting i'm in this topic right now because i'm watching angels and demons decoded on the history channel. I think once the world is Rid of religion and politics the world will be a better place. Because history has shown that these two ways of thinking have been used for so much divison, chaos and destruction which is against our dna which is to unite and harmonize with the other people and the planet. Appreciation for the gift of nature and the beauty of the stars and balance.
On a side note last week when i got home i was on a road trip for like 6 hours and had no sleep and i saw one of the most magical things in the sky. I saw the clouds moving and what i saw was mystical transformation, and angels creating and moving. Gathered i was tired but having opened my "eye" this was one of the best visuals i have seen. Another interesting note was it was slightly cloudy and kind of dreary and humid. Each cloud seemed to have a different depiction but all very similar. I also saw what seemed to be a battle between the "Dark rainy clouds and the white sunny clouds. Very Esoteric i know but definitely a sign that i'm getting closer and closer to truly understanding "what we are" beyond the views and self limiting beliefs of religion.
Don't get me wrong i'm not against religion but i simply don't affiliate myself with just one way of thinking. Paradox thinking "out the box" is what i like to call it.
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