Your belief of God

[Guest]

J

[Audiogen]

No belief

[tumbling.dice]

I'm agnostic. My opinion is that there is no creator and that the Universe (or a Multiverse that spawned what we call the Universe) is eternal.

I was raised in a Catholic family and was even an alter boy for a time when I was in forth or fifth grade. I also went to a Catholic school from grades 1-6. I didn't enjoy it but now that I'm older I am thankful for the experience. I learned what I didn't believe.

[Undies]

i'm technically agnostic, but that's just because i don't feel right saying that i know something that's not really provable. all my instincts point to existence being an awesome coincidence.

[Meliai]

I dont believe in God.
I think its possible we're apart of something so much bigger than us that we cant perceive it. But I dont think of that as God in the sense of a creator or an omnipotent being.

I believe in energy and interconnectedness.
and being in nature is often a spiritual experience for me, although there's no belief involved in that beyond what I can see, hear, and feel

[Tropical Breeze]

I am agnostic. My approach is that god is unknowable and the universe is mysterious. Simple as that.

I feel like terms such as god, nirvana, the tao, brahma, were originally meant to describe that which is unknowable. That which can not be expressed with words and later developed into something entirely fictional as an attempt to control others. Just my take.

I feel like i'm agnostic about most things.

[everything bagel]

I am agnostic. My approach is that god is unknowable and the universe is mysterious. Simple as that.

I feel like terms such as god, nirvana, the tao, brahma, were originally meant to describe that which is unknowable. That which can not be expressed with words and later developed into something entirely fictional as an attempt to control others. Just my take.

I feel like i'm agnostic about most things.

How is nirvana a term to describe something unknowable? I don’t understand.

Spiriually I was raised shinto but philosophically I was raised Buddhist. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of a practicing Buddhist... its a state of pure enlightenment. Youre no longer being reincarnated because you finally "get it."

If you said it was unattainable, Id disagree because Siddhartha absolutely achieved Nirvana., but id understand your point. But unknowable? The point is that it IS knowable... just that it is going to take us imperfect and flawed humans muliple lifetimes to know it. But its absolutely knowable. The whole point is that its knowable. So help me understand your point of view. What do you mean it's unknowable?

[Tropical Breeze]

How is nirvana a term to describe something unknowable? I don’t understand.

Spiriually I was raised shinto but philosophically I was raised Buddhist. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of a practicing Buddhist... its a state of pure enlightenment. Youre no longer being reincarnated because you finally "get it."

If you said it was unattainable, Id disagree because Siddhartha absolutely achieved Nirvana., but id understand your point. But unknowable? The point is that it IS knowable... just that it is going to take us imperfect and flawed humans muliple lifetimes to know it. But its absolutely knowable. The whole point is that its knowable. So help me understand your point of view. What do you mean it's unknowable?

Unknowable, that which the mind can not comprehend, grasp. Its just what i feel not what i know. In order for me to know i would have go back in time to ask Buddha himself what he meant. But our interpretations already differ in terms of awakening, nirvana (enlightenment). Which for me has nothing to do with reincarnation, nothing to do with achieving anything, nothing to do with knowing anything. More like the opposite.

What do you mean by "get it?"

[Jessica]

How is nirvana a term to describe something unknowable? I don’t understand.

Spiriually I was raised shinto but philosophically I was raised Buddhist. Nirvana is the ultimate goal of a practicing Buddhist... its a state of pure enlightenment. Youre no longer being reincarnated because you finally "get it."

If you said it was unattainable, Id disagree because Siddhartha absolutely achieved Nirvana., but id understand your point. But unknowable? The point is that it IS knowable... just that it is going to take us imperfect and flawed humans muliple lifetimes to know it. But its absolutely knowable. The whole point is that its knowable. So help me understand your point of view. What do you mean it's unknowable?

but it isn't knowable until you know it. so currently for me, "Nirvana" is a band. sorry i couldn't stop my fingers typing that. but seriously, Nirvana is a word for a state that I don't have proof exists. I can believe there is a state where I achieve spiritual enlightenment, which is to awaken to a higher state of consciousness than i currently have... but it's a belief, not a knowledge. it might not exist (i happen to believe it does), or it might not be what i imagine it to be.. until it happens, it is something unknowable.

[Jessica]

God to me is synonymous with Source, Creator, Love, The Force, Omniverse
it/he/she is everything that exists, including us.

[neonspectraltoast]

I believe in a higher order to the universe than we ordinarily perceive. And a much higher order of intelligence. As human beings we are aware of very little, but if we had global perspective, I think we would immediately recognize existence as miraculous. Everything works in tandem; everything is connected.

[everything bagel]

What do you mean by "get it?"

Sorry, like attaining pure enlightment. I feel like there is a lesson to be learned and until we learn it we will be reborn over and over.

Now I don't know how accurate literally being reborn is, but people always ask things like "whats the point of life?" "why are we here?" I would guess the person who can answer that question has attained true enlightenment

[everything bagel]

but it isn't knowable until you know it. so currently for me, "Nirvana" is a band. sorry i couldn't stop my fingers typing that. but seriously, Nirvana is a word for a state that I don't have proof exists. I can believe there is a state where I achieve spiritual enlightenment, which is to awaken to a higher state of consciousness than i currently have... but it's a belief, not a knowledge. it might not exist (i happen to believe it does), or it might not be what i imagine it to be.. until it happens, it is something unknowable.

To me it's not a belief. For example I once heard a story about a zen Buddhist monk who said that goldfish have 3 second memories. They can't remember anything that happened more than 3 seconds ago. And because they have such simple brains they are not capable of forethought. So they literally can't dwell on the past or worry about the future. Monk says, "I've been training my whole life to think like a goldfish."

And thats basically zen buddhism in a nutshell... to always be in a constant state of nowness always be in the present. Think about it when you're upset 90% of the time its because of what happened earlier or because you're worried about what will happen later. At any given moment, you're usually fine and happy. How many times have you heard someone say something like "it ruined my whole day" or "it put me in a bad mood" or something? Goldfish don't do that. So if you can stay in 3 second bursts of consciousness you'll be in a good mood. So i don't see it as a belief because even goldfish can do it! Its possible. I like to think a human being can accomplish this.

Then again it totally ignores all the memories that make us happy. How something that happened this morning puts us in a good mood this afternoon but no religion is perfect

[Audiogen]

To me it's not a belief. For example I once heard a story about a zen Buddhist monk who said that goldfish have 3 second memories. They can't remember anything that happened more than 3 seconds ago. And because they have such simple brains they are not capable of forethought. So they literally can't dwell on the past or worry about the future. Monk says, "I've been training my whole life to think like a goldfish."

Zen Goldfish sounds like it should be the name of a band.

[Jessica]

To me it's not a belief. For example I once heard a story about a zen Buddhist monk who said that goldfish have 3 second memories. They can't remember anything that happened more than 3 seconds ago. And because they have such simple brains they are not capable of forethought. So they literally can't dwell on the past or worry about the future. Monk says, "I've been training my whole life to think like a goldfish."

And thats basically zen buddhism in a nutshell... to always be in a constant state of nowness always be in the present. Think about it when you're upset 90% of the time its because of what happened earlier or because you're worried about what will happen later. At any given moment, you're usually fine and happy. How many times have you heard someone say something like "it ruined my whole day" or "it put me in a bad mood" or something? Goldfish don't do that. So if you can stay in 3 second bursts of consciousness you'll be in a good mood. So i don't see it as a belief because even goldfish can do it! Its possible. I like to think a human being can accomplish this.

Then again it totally ignores all the memories that make us happy. How something that happened this morning puts us in a good mood this afternoon but no religion is perfect

(that was a bad use of comment, moving these words into a quote and post : ) )

I believe in the concept of Now being all there is. But actually goldfish having three second memories is a myth, so "even goldfish can do it" is incorrect ; )

Also, the point is that something that happened this morning ISN'T the reason you're happy this afternoon. You just draw those links and conclusions after the fact. You don't have to remember the thing that happened this morning in order to be blissful in the now.