define god...

[waitasec]

...No, I don't think it does.

If there was no God, I would be more or less the same as I am now. You wouldn't find me bawling about it or thinking my life was over or anything. I don't use my belief in the All-in-One as a crutch.

when i was a believer i thought my life would be over...tells you how fearful i was :sad:

Thanks for the flower

:rainbow:

Honestly though, it's not an Abrahamic God concept. I suppose I could explain but it's going a bit long-winded and off-topic, so I dunno how interested you and others would be.

actually that is what this thread is for...long winded explanations...
so feel free to let your hair down....
seriously.
i find it educational and inspiring when people express why they think about this god concept the way they do, because they actually thought about it rather than reacting to it...

 

[Breathe]

when i was a believer i thought my life would be over...tells you how fearful i was :sad:

Sadly that appears to be quite common.

actually that is what this thread is for...long winded explanations...
so feel free to let your hair down....

Okay, my hair is down. Literally too.

"God" is everything and beyond it all at the same time (panentheism). We are all aspects of God, we just don't know it. The All-in-One isn't a cosmic sugar daddy or angry sky man on a cloud. It is neither personal (sending prophets and interested in humanity, etc), nor impersonal (as a force like electricity); my idea of God is transpersonal, possibly Deistic - but it is sapient (it is aware of its own awareness).

It is beyond form, gender, colour, and creed. I refer to It as "He" usually because:

1) Custom and habit and influence from others
2) "She" can often seem as though one is trying to "rebel"
3) "It" usually makes It sounds like an object
4) I don't like the gender-neutral inventer pronouns like "Ey".

It does not reward, does not punish, does not hate. When something bad happens, it's not punishment. When there's an earthquake, that's not God - that's seismology.


To explain the next bit, I'll have to make it clear I believe in reincarnation/rebirth, and a "way out" of it (moksha). I don't believe in any form of creation: we aren't some special design. Just one species who got lucky with our ability to use our cognitive skills (which allows us, imo, to escape death and rebirth). It's why I say I go by atheistic evolution, as opposed to theistic evolution (since that usually implies God had something to do with it). As opposed to being a creation, we're an emanation of God, like raindrops to the ocean, or sparks of a flame. I don't think that we "cease to exist" upon joining with God or anything though, we keep our own "Base Consciousness" (long story, but in brief, a sort of "recollection of all events in all our lives that we have had).

We are all inherently good, because we're all part of the Whole; wickedness is not explained by evil but by selfishness and secular things: upbringing, mental illnesses, criminology, etc. I don't believe in any kind of "evil" as a nature or mindset or anything, but I know some things can be pretty damn evil things to do, like the babysitters who beat my brother-in-law's ex-girlfriend's toddler to death and mocked the child as he asked to go home to his mum, and then laughed about it as they were sentences. Scum.









Whoo.. anyway. Positive thoughts. That always hurts to discuss.


If there wasn't an afterlife, that wouldn't affect me, I'd just drop such a view.


As to how I came to this view of "God", well, that's private.

Hope that makes it clear. For the benefit of everyone: I'm not hoping to debate or argue my view, though. Was just answering a question.

 

[waitasec]

We are all aspects of God, we just don't know it...

It does not reward, does not punish, does not hate. When something bad happens, it's not punishment. When there's an earthquake, that's not God - that's seismology...

We are all inherently good, because we're all part of the Whole; wickedness is not explained by evil but by selfishness and secular things: upbringing, mental illnesses, criminology, etc.

these seems to resonate something within me...

Whoo.. anyway. Positive thoughts.

wow...i don't know what to say to that...
that is very sad.


thank you.

 

[Gaura Priya]

that makes sense to me too...

as a musician, i can see how human interaction brings forth art.
which makes me a keenly aware of human solidarity.

I'm glad that it does help you. Whether pantheism, or for my sense, panentheistic monotheism, or in Odion's sense panentheistic monism (correct me if I'm wrong, bhaiya!), we all can agree that the definition of 'God' is elusive, and should be so. I think that to discourage the reinterpretation of such loaded language gives more power to fundamentalist religionists to hold the bar on religion.

After all, there are religious atheists as much as there are religious theists.

since i can remember the abrahamic ideal of god has been implanted so deeply in my psyche that it really took me years to change my perception because i struggled with the division religion provoked. it seemed so individualistic, especially when we "worshipped"; eyes were closed, hands reaching towards the heavens... i could never quite reconcile the companionship and responsibilities people innately feel towards one another while 'preferring', for lack of a better word, being alone with this god who demanded being revered...

i accept a pantheistic world view however i cannot accept a deity who is concerned about how i perceive it.

Very good. So one can believe in God; just not the conventional sense of the term! I call it 'legalistic' monotheism because monotheism is only a concept... religions, spiritual paths, organisations, institutions, etc. attempt to define it.

I understand, as I myself am an ex-Christian. My grandparents would always lovingly bring me to the local Catholic parish, where I was taught traditional Christian doctrine and to interpret the Bible according to the traditions of the Church and the Church Fathers. And yet, I never let go of monotheism, because I found it too precious, too loving a doctrine that aided me throughout my entire life.

Although I do have a liberal Baha'i paradigm on my personal lifestyle, ethics, morals and practice, I do know and understand that everything possesses value, worth, and unconditional love. And if a person who is an atheist can accept that and poetically call it 'God,' that is alright with me.

Not all religionists are in your face... although personally I don't know about me.

 

[Gaura Priya]

We are all inherently good, because we're all part of the Whole; wickedness is not explained by evil but by selfishness and secular things: upbringing, mental illnesses, criminology, etc. I don't believe in any kind of "evil" as a nature or mindset or anything, but I know some things can be pretty damn evil things to do, like the babysitters who beat my brother-in-law's ex-girlfriend's toddler to death and mocked the child as he asked to go home to his mum, and then laughed about it as they were sentences. Scum.

"Praised be Thou, O Lord my God! Graciously grant that this infant be fed from the breast of Thy tender mercy and loving providence and be nourished with the fruit of Thy celestial trees. Suffer him not to be committed to the care of anyone save Thee, inasmuch as Thou, Thyself, through the potency of Thy sovereign will and power, didst create and call him into being. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Knowing.

Lauded art Thou, O my Best Beloved, waft over him the sweet savors of Thy transcendent bounty and the fragrances of Thy holy bestowals. Enable him then to seek shelter beneath the shadow of Thy most exalted Name, O Thou Who holdest in Thy grasp the kingdom of names and attributes. Verily, Thou art potent to do what Thou willest, and Thou art indeed the Mighty, the Exalted, the Ever-Forgiving, the Gracious, the Generous, the Merciful."

-- Baha'u'llah

Thanks, brother, for sharing... :kissbette

 

[waitasec]

we all can agree that the definition of 'God' is elusive, and should be so. I think that to discourage the reinterpretation of such loaded language gives more power to fundamentalist religionists to hold the bar on religion.

absolutely true.

Very good. So one can believe in God; just not the conventional sense of the term!

of course

I call it 'legalistic' monotheism because monotheism is only a concept... religions, spiritual paths, organisations, institutions, etc. attempt to define it.

unfortunately that is where i find myself getting into it with the 'morally superior' types who make me want to
:banghead3:

 

[Gaura Priya]

So, in effect, "god" can mean whatever one wants it to mean and if it is indeed transcendent then it's not like anyone will be any the wiser, as they will never really know.

Pretty much! I think the great American transcendentalists were spot-on in this particular idea of the divine transcendent singularity.

 

[Gaura Priya]

unfortunately that is where i find myself getting into it with the 'morally superior' types who make me want to
:banghead3:

Of course. It's the same when dealing, as a theist, self-proclaimed atheists who boast that they do not believe in God and seem self-invincible because they have metaphorically captured one single idea of God as preposterous and nonsensical, when internationally there are many interpretations of this same subject.

Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti... the Absolute Truth is One, and the wise ones know it by many names.

 

[waitasec]

Of course. It's the same when dealing, as a theist, self-proclaimed atheists who boast that they do not believe in God and seem self-invincible because they have metaphorically captured one single idea of God as preposterous and nonsensical, when internationally there are many interpretations of this same subject.

Ekam Sat Vipra Bahudha Vadanti... the Absolute Truth is One, and the wise ones know it by many names.

but god doesn't exist...
:flirt:

in all seriousness,
i get it that...
i think it's more of a personality flaw more than anything else.
one likes to tweet what they are doing while the other type likes to keep to himself/herself