How seriously do you take your religion?

[Unveiled Artist]

When you're just learning about religions and going to different ones, you may find one that in some parts are uncomfortable and then switch. When you find the religion you want to make your life, you embrace the uncomfortable parts because most likely at a deeper level they makes sense to other parts you already believe in.

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

Yes, it is a major factor in my life. I'm growing in it; and, it's a lifetime after lifetime commitment.

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

Both. There aren't many temples here and the ones that do the nuns and monks don't speak English. When I go to the yearly ceremonies especially January through May, I think get a little more insight.

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

It's not a burden. It actually lifts the burden. All the time.

4. How do things like creativity and personal challenges fit into your approach?

It's part of spiritual growth embedded in many faiths including my own.

 

[Jumi]

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

I pursue truth aggressively on matters I think are important.

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

I read and discuss. I don't have need for clergy or other middle-men, experience of God is enough.

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

I always practice when I can. I wouldn't call it a burden, more of an uncertainty if what I'm doing is helpful just for myself and for helping others or if it's also helpful "religiously".

4. How do things like creativity and personal challenges fit into your approach?

I don't see them as part of religion, but more of something to develop as a person.

 

[Sakeenah]

1.My religion is a major factor in my life. I don't pursue it aggressively it's a way of life.


2. I don't spend a lot of time studying. I try to read and reflect on the Quran daily. I study from books and video/audio lectures by Islamic scholars. I contact a scholar when I have a question. I personally focus more on practicing what I have learned and try to get closer to God that way.


3.Yes, my religion does fit into my lifestyle. I don't see it as a burden, I actually see it as something that gives me a sense of tranquility and comfort. Religion gives me the ability to stay thankful,and humble in the times that life is easy, and it helps me to stay patient in difficult times.
Islam is a way of life to me so I try to practice what I have learned such as the 5 daily prayers, fasting, giving alms, starting the day by thanking God,saying in the name of God before I eat etc,

4. I'm not really creative but in regards to self development, I think it's part of my religion, I try to overcome personal challenges through my religion/spirituality.

 

[Quintessence]

While it is not uncommon for Americans to view religion as something that can be compartmentalized away from the rest of their life, I have a more old-fashioned view of the practice which makes religion inseparable from culture, one's way of life, and who one is as a person. Thus religion as I view it is indeed something to be taken seriously - it is not supposed to be some sort of hobby or pastime dismissible upon a whimsy's notice. Humor and satire certainly has its place, though.

 

[Sanzbir]

How seriously do you take your religion? Some possible talking points:

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

Why take anything wholly seriously??

1. Yes. Given the two options "Aggressively" but that's not the word I'd choose.

2. Books. Having a clergy is absolutely haram.

3. I don't understand the first question. Second question: Frequently.

4. Very well. I prefer surrealism in my artwork. My religion influences my dreams, my dreams fuel my art, thus it aids my particular dream-based creative process.

 

[Laika]

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

It is a major factor in my life and often directly informs my own personal decisions.

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

Yes. There is a lot of reading in researching ideas for me beliefs. However, there are no "clergy" to draw on, although I may rely on specific authors as a source of information.

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

The ideal is certainly to put my beliefs into practice. At present my beliefs are undergoing a significant re-evaluation because it had become a burden and I need to make changes to be happier with it.

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

I play the piano and I would have liked to express my beliefs by been in a book as an author. My piano playing doesn't reflect my beliefs at all. From the perspective of trying to write the ideas have been so abstract it was often very difficult to translate into content for a novel. For a time there was a direct relationship between trying to imagine how I'd write a novel and making my ideas clearer, better informed and more vivid.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

How seriously do you take your religion? Some possible talking points:

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

1) I am quite serious about my 'religion.' I am working constantly to engage in it in all aspects of my life, as animism has always been practiced, regardless of culture. The terms aggressively or back burner (and such) simply don't apply...if I miss something, or slip up...it's not going to kill me...I don't think

2) I read a great deal, including RF...I talk with friends, as I don't really have any clergy...I found my religion on my experiences in life, and on careful reflection on what I learn from all sources...

3) Not a burden, but a constant effort and intent to better understand and practice what I believe, so that my belief and practice are congruent with my experiences.

4) There is a Great Mystery that we all experience in our own ways...some of these experiences overlap with those of others, and we therefore call that 'reality.' Science is the investigation of that mystery; Religion is the recognition of and interaction with that mystery; Art is the appreciation and interpretation of that mystery. The three are intertwined, affecting our experience of the mystery. Personal experience and growth are thus central to my religion.

 

[Jainarayan]

How seriously do you take your religion?

Seriously, but not stiff or without humor.

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

I'm not a fanatic, but it's a major factor in my life.

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

I'm somewhere on the scale closer to reading. There's a big language barrier between me and our priests. Their English is not fluent, and I speak no Indian language. Conferring with them is really not much of an option.

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

I try to live it, though I admit I fail miserably at times. I mostly have a problem keeping my cool and not letting things bother me:

One who is not envious but is a kind friend to all living entities, who does not think himself a proprietor (thinks he's a snowflake with special entitlements) and is free from false ego, who is equal in both happiness and distress, who is tolerant, always satisfied, self-controlled, and engaged in devotional service with determination, his mind and intelligence fixed on Me—such a devotee of Mine is very dear to Me. He for whom no one is put into difficulty and who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me. Bhagavad Gita 12.13-15

The bolded verses are the ones I have a problem with.

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

Not really relevant.

 

[sun rise]

How seriously do you take your religion? Some possible talking points:

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

1. Yes a major factor.
2. My knowledge comes from trying to live the principles, seeing when I fall short and trying to improve. Books and people can help but not substitute for experience.
3. As #2, I try to live it every moment.
4. They fit neatly. Anything can be a mode of expression - service, art, science - it depends on the motive.

 

[Vee]

Since religion is not mandatory and nobody is forced to have a religion (in the developed world at least), for me either people should be serious about their religion and practice what they believe/preach, or they should simply not have a religion at all, which seems more honest to me than pretending to be be something they're not in order to please other people.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Since religion is not mandatory and nobody is forced to have a religion (in the developed world at least), for me either people should be serious about their religion and practice what they believe/preach, or they should simply not have a religion at all, which seems more honest to me than pretending to be be something they're not in order to please other people.

yet in much of the world, one must pretend to be something they are not in order to please other people...and not be killed...

 

[SabahTheLoner]

How seriously do you take your religion? Some possible talking points:

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

1. It is a major factor but not my entire life. It defines me, and I don't have to change myself to fit into it, rather it helps me change to become my better Self.

2. I'm quite a bibliophile. So most of my sources are written, usually in books.

3. I try to practice at least every week, if I'm busy, and I try to find ways to practice what I have learned.

4. I'm told I can be quite creative in my personal practice (others from different communities say this to me) and creativity is a form of personal development I cherish. I don't feel like I ever need to stop developing. I practice in order to develop.

 

[Sundance]

How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

My sincerest apologies for an earlier lack of a response, @Onyx.

Me, I am very poetically-inclined in my approach to creative expression, and I think of short stories that could serve to tell people about my faith; I also keep a physical journal which facilitates my scripture study (that I'm thinking strongly of making a daily thing).

 

[Twilight Hue]

How seriously do you take your religion? Some possible talking points:

1. Is your religion a major factor in your life? Do you pursue it aggressively, or keep it on the back burner?

2. Do you spend a lot of time studying books, or prefer to obtain your knowledge from clergy or other sources?

3. Does religion fit neatly into your lifestyle or is it more of a burden? How often do you put what you've learned into practice?

4. How do things like creative expression and other forms of personal development fit into your approach? (Edited to be more clear.)

I use it in a practical way.

I regard and treat my zen practice as a "raft" that serves it's purpose in traversing shore to shore. It's only useful while I'm alive, and then abandon and let go when I die as there will be no more use for it.