Nerthus

Kids are poorly

I can understand what you are saying. I'm big on nature, but I'm a panentheist myself. I have some Pagan leanings though. Always have.

Religion: nature, eh?

So how long have you been rock climbing and playing the fiddle?

Welcome!

Ever see Kymatica? Yikes. I eat meat because I'm poor. If I could find a diet that I could afford, and wouldn't mess me up; I probably wouldn't eat meat. Fish, however, are not safe around me.

But I really believe there's gonna come a time (assuming we don't blow ourselves back into the stone age, that is) when humanity realizes that killing anything is just plain wrong.

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Yeah totally. One's religion should never affect another person. It's courtesy.

Yeah, definitely. Quran and Bible have a lot of condemnation of homosexuality. I'm not sure why that hatred/fear developed in the first place.

Yeah. The "Mul Mantra" (From "One universal creator God... to "O Nanak, forever and ever true") is one of my favourite scriptural things ever.

One of its fascinating parts is, Sikhism's scripture is absolutely silent on homosexuality. No Leviticus or Quranic style condemnations of it. Any stigma of homosexuality is purely cultural.

Long live hippies!

It's awesome you still have that which your friend gave you. I still have a Buddha-book that I was given as a present when I was about 12 or 13 or so. It's a little worn, very small, and the front cover thing is missing (not the book itself) but I still have it.

Did you manage to have a quick read through of the Sikh holy book by the way?

Hehe, same here.

My wife and I have a large number of Buddhas and pictures of the Buddha in the house for some reason.

I agree with you, I think the five virtues sound like things everyone should do. That's the benefit of Dharmic paths. Often there is a lot less emphasis on stringent rules, and more emphasis on being a good person.

That and I find their holy books to be much nicer. Abrahamic religious books do not speak to me at all. Not even slightly. Jesus' words do speak to me quite a lot, and that is the exception. I believe Jesus was a Buddhist or a Hindu anyway though.

Yeah, the term son of God will always have a Christian meaning, but like you I see it as meaning a good person. I consider everyone to be a "son of God" anyway.

Yep, another fellow syncretist.

I can usually understand why religions say "Do not eat this meat", for example, "Do not eat beef", because cows are useful. There are usually historical reasons for the why one may or may not consume certain meats, coupled with social reasons. The problem is separating them.

I follow Buddhist principles. Have for a long time. Follow and agree with four noble truths, five noble precepts, noble eightfold path, and even the three marks of existence; I just interpret them differently.


I follow the ways of many of the religions, I guess.

Sikhism's rules are:

Remembering God, helping others, meditating (on God), living honestly, sharing one's wealth

Replacing the five thieves (lust, violence, greed, attachment to temporary things, and egotism) with five virtues (truthfulness, compassion, contentment, humility and love).


And I agree with them 100% too.

I understand "son of God" to mean "good person" or "prophet", btw

Wouldn't hurt to go, I guess.

Well, that's a tricky question to be honest. I agree one hundred percent with Sikhism's theology. With regards to Hinduism, the only things I'm not so keen on are the dietary restrictions (if I want to eat beef, for example, why shouldn't I? I only eat fish and poultry and I'm trying to go to vegetarianism, but still), and the concept of avatars, as well as how some people still cling onto jati ("caste").

Sikhism, the only things that are not for me are the keeping of hair (I have curly hair and ingrowing hairs, for example, are a problem for me), and the idea of taking baptism into the Khalsa and acquiring a new name. I don't think one has to necessarily adopt a new (Sikh) name or anything. I like all of these things, but I don't think they are for me personally. Religiously, though, Sikhism is a great fit for me. I do not know if it is only egotism or not though.

Additionally, I like Buddhist practices. Oh woe is me, I am just so syncretic.

Looking into Sikhism may be good. You can find the holy book online, Sri Granth

What will you do tomorrow, may I ask, that you will see about? Or did you mean, the future as opposed to tomorrow specifically?

Yeah, definitely has some Neo-Pagan influence there. I think Hinduism is probably your best bet, still, though. Have you read anything about Sikhism, by the way? This is a Dharmic religion often ignored, sadly. It's a good path though.

Yeah, the Abrahamic ways don't stick with me very well either. If I could belong to an Abrahamic path (through some amazing change in personality, like a lobotomy ) I would probably go for Bahá'í or Mormon.

Do you believe in moksha as an 'end result' of reincarnation, and may I ask why you don't like the term God? Is it because God makes one immediately think of the Abrahamic style, or because it makes a personal God, or something else?

I'm one hundred percent with you. I love the Dharmic paths. I love Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Additionally, I love Taoism and Bön but I don't know too much about the latter.

Rules don't sit well with me, either. I've never been good with rules. I tend to completely ignore cultural values and such like that with religions, even though I know I probably should not. I also do not care about religious rules, such as on appearance, customs, diet, and so on.


May I ask what your views are, like on God, soul, afterlife, and so on, out of curiosity?

Aaah, I see. It can be difficult to continue going somewhere that an ex goes to.

Did you find any answers to your questions of faith, and so on?

I've not been for about a month. I went during the Navratri, which I quite enjoyed. When did you last go? How come you've not been, if you don't mind me asking?

Awesome The local Hindu temple to me is about an hour or so away, if one includes getting on buses too. It's two buses away from where I live. There is a Sikh temple about 15 minutes away, and another 30 minutes away though.

Oh wow, that must've been fun!


Do you live nearby to the temple? And what kind was it? Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, something else?