I only became interested in mysticism after having a spontaneous mystical experience. Prior to that experience I was an atheist and a materialist. This and subsequent mystical and visionary experiences prompted me to re-examine some of the theological and philosophical arguments for the...
I guess you aren't familiar with the writings of atheists. I can't really help you with that. I was an atheist for 15 years. I am quite familiar with atheist literature and what atheists actually believe, thank you.
The various interpretations of God are interesting and sometimes profound. But...
Life is not a debating society.
Because you refuse to see. If scientists want to know if Jupiter has a moon, they look through a telescope. If you want to know whether God exists, you follow the steps and instructions to attain enlightenment. Arguing about it will not get you anywhere. Not...
Yes, "disbelief in the existence of God" is some highly esoteric and unconventional definition that no one has ever heard of.
Anyway, I am not going to make any further responses to obvious trolling. I am discussing this in order to come to a better understanding of the issue at hand, not in...
You're missing the point entirely.
Reducing everything to semantics (a common tactic of obscurantists and dishonest debaters) never gets us anywhere. I've defined atheism as disbelief in the existence of God. This is not some unusual or exotic definition of the word. I'm sure you'd like to...
I'm not interested in playing semantic games.
OK, an infant is "not a theist" in the same sense that a dog or a rock is "not a theist". The infant has no concept of God in the same way that it has no concept of space or time, which are nonetheless within its consciousness.
But this is pure...
The infant is not yet conscious of itself as a separate entity. The "default position" at birth is a kind of oceanic awareness in which the self has not yet differentiated itself from the cosmos; there is no separation between the inside and outside, subject and object, body and environment...
Why do they doubt? Is it really because of a lack of evidence, as they claim? Should we take their word for it? Or is the existence of God something that is so obvious that everyone knows it in the back of his mind even if he will not admit it to himself? Is not the real reason for doubting...
I didn't imply that materialism and atheism are logically or necessarily related to each other. I am talking about popular atheism as represented by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. These individuals disbelieve in the existence of God because they are true believers in conventional...
I don't see what you are getting at. I guess I'll wait until someone addresses my actual argument (that atheism implies a materialist worldview, etc). The above comments seem unrelated to my argument.
I find that people adopt a sceptical posture merely because it gives them a better footing in an argument, not because it reflects their true beliefs. For example, Holocaust deniers often say that they don't deny the Holocaust, but merely doubt the extermination story because in their mind...
If you understand Buddhism only on a verbal or philosophical level, you would think it has nothing to do with the God of Christianity; but if you understood it on an experiential and profound level, you will know that it has everything to do with God. The 'emptiness' of Buddhism is the 'God'...
At the mystical level, all of the major religions are one in substance. Religious differences are at the popular level of myth and symbol.
The reason for religious differences is that no direct description of mystical consciousness can ever be possible. It must always be symbolic...