One Path , Or Many ?

[Feathers in Hair]

For me, if there is any path to the goddess, I would believe there would also be many of them.

 

[Quiddity]

For me, if there is any path to the goddess, I would believe there would also be many of them.

Just for my clarification, do you mean:

A) All paths are completely good.
B) All paths have some good.

 

[Booko]

One path to God/Heaven/Enlightenment or many ? and Why.

Many.

Although I view them as all parts of the same path, so in that sense, One.

Because humanity is continually progressing, and we need Divine Teachers to do that. From time to time one of those special persons turns up. Follow any of them, and you can find your way.

I happen to have chosen to follow what I believe to be the most "recent" chapter in the book, but that doesn't make the previous chapters "wrong" by any stretch.

 

[Booko]

"How often do we hear it said, 'It doesn't matter what we believe. By different raods, we are all heading for the same goal.'? What assurance have we that all the different roads, mapped out by mere human beings, lead to the same goal?"

- John L. Wade -

'Cause I don't think the maps are provided by "mere human beings."

 

[UnTheist]

'Cause I don't think the maps are provided by "mere human beings."

As I see it, humans created all the paths. And you can very well make your own path. You just need a little creativity

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Just for my clarification, do you mean:

A) All paths are completely good.
B) All paths have some good.

When I first came here, I would have said 'A', pretty much just from my fear of confrontation. After the first year or so, I would have agreed with "B"... But now I've seen some paths that seem completely destructive and that I've not been able to find any good in. Nowadays, I'm more leaning toward the option of "Most paths have the potential to be good, but it depends on the nature of the person on the path."

 

[Quiddity]

When I first came here, I would have said 'A', pretty much just from my fear of confrontation. After the first year or so, I would have agreed with "B"... But now I've seen some paths that seem completely destructive and that I've not been able to find any good in. Nowadays, I'm more leaning toward the option of "Most paths have the potential to be good, but it depends on the nature of the person on the path."

My wife is a libra, avoids confrontations, and is as gentle as a bunny. So I'm all too familar with what you mean. Although, I must confess that her hesitation to take a stand on things can frustrate me.... .

 

[opensoul7]

For me, if there is any path to the goddess, I would believe there would also be many of them.

I am learning the art of Hobbit-fu , lesson one acomplished ! Thanks for getting back to me , I can now begin dropping quotes like large hairy feet to the throat :yes: I will try lesson two tomorrow, but for now much thanks and my gratitude :clap ! Thank you Feathers thank you!

 

[Feathers in Hair]

My wife is a libra, avoids confrontations, and is as gentle as a bunny. So I'm all too familar with what you mean. Although, I must confess that her hesitation to take a stand on things can frustrate me.... .

Did you by chance marry a '79 model Libra? If so, you may have an extremely rare, collecters edition Libra Goat/Sheep. We've got all the balancing qualities of the Libra, combined with the indecisiveness of the Goat. If she's anything like me, her own hesitation to take a stand can probably frustrate her, too!

I am learning the art of Hobbit-fu , lesson one acomplished ! Thanks for getting back to me , I can now begin dropping quotes like large hairy feet to the throat :yes: I will try lesson two tomorrow, but for now much thanks and my gratitude :clap ! Thank you Feathers thank you!

*cheers you on wildly* Hobbit-fu is discipline many lessons in the making! (Interpretation: as many as I can make up at any given time.) Glad it seems to have worked!

 

[Quiddity]

Did you by chance marry a '79 model Libra? If so, you may have an extremely rare, collecters edition Libra Goat/Sheep. We've got all the balancing qualities of the Libra, combined with the indecisiveness of the Goat. If she's anything like me, her own hesitation to take a stand can probably frustrate her, too!

I can tell it does, so I rarely try to contribute to it. She is from 1980. Is there a difference? You can PM me if you want.

 

[may]

This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ. john 17;3

 

[athanasius]

One Path , Or Many ?

This is simple; One Path!!! His name is Jesus and according to him and his testimony he is the only way to the father and heaven!

 

[wizanda]

I make it one path....it leads to oneness....Ego leads to hell....the simplest i can make it in all levels is 13 dimensions/commandments/diadems that need to be removed as cloaks of enlightenment, you can’t really progress through all with out understanding the one before it.
Yet saying that it is very hard to understand the whole thing, until viewing it from heaven. Yet still it is possible to explain as one clear straight forward paths that all prophets laid out for us to explain like this in one go.

 

[jonny]

One path to God/Heaven/Enlightenment or many ? and Why.

There is one gate, but many paths to that gate.

 

[may]

There is one gate, but many paths to that gate.

i think the bible says that there are two roads , one is narrow and it is the right road ,and one is broad and it is the wrong road.
Jesus said: "Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it."—Matthew 7:13, 14.

 

[jonny]

i think the bible says that there are two roads , one is narrow and it is the right road ,and one is broad and it is the wrong road.
Jesus said: "Go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it."—Matthew 7:13, 14.

We're talking about symbolism here. The gate is baptism. After you enter that gate, there is only one road, but there are many different ways that people will arrive at that gate. If there were not, everyone would have to be exactly the same. God didn't intend for us to all be the same - he made us different on purpose.

 

[wizanda]

The Gate is to follow all commandments and give up wealth; nothing to do with here or acts before man, yet those before God.

 

[painted wolf]

Creator made lots of everything, different birds, people, places..... why not different ways to reach Creator. Not everyone can walk the same path.

wa:do

 

[MysticSang'ha]

Many. There are many colors of the rainbow, but they are all part of one color spectrum.


To quote Thich Nhat Hanh from Jesus and Buddha as Brothers:

http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/buddhist_articles.html

Jesus and Buddha as Brothers

The dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity has not gone very far, in my opinion, because we have not been able to set up a solid ground for such dialogue. This is a reflection of the present situation.

Buddhists believe in reincarnation, the possibility for human beings to live several lives. In Buddhist circles, we do not use the word incarnation very much: we use the word rebirth. After you die, you can be reborn and can have another life. In Christianity, your life is unique, your only chance for salvation. If you spoil it, then you will never get salvation. You have only one life.

Buddhism teaches that there is non-self, anatta. Christianity clearly teaches that a Christian is a personalist. Not only are you a person, self, but God is a person, and He has a self. The Buddhist teaching of emptiness and no substance sounds like the teaching of no being. Christianity speaks of being, of existence. The teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas speaks of the philosophy of being, la philisophie de l'etre, the confirmation that the world is.

There is compassion and loving-kindness in Buddhism, which many Christians believe to be different from the charity and love in Christianity. Charity has two aspects: your love directed to God, and your love directed to humankind. You have to learn how to love your enemy. Our Christian friends have a tendency to remind us that the motivation of love is different for Christians and Buddhists. There are theologians who say that Buddhists practice compassion just because they want liberation; that Buddhists don't really care about the suffering of people and other living beings; that they are only motivated by the desire to be liberated. In Christianity, your love is grounded in God. You love God, and because God said that you must love your neighbor, so you love your neighbor. Your love of your neighbor springs from the ground of your love of God.

Many people, especially in Christian circles, say that there are things in common between Christianity and Buddhism. But many find that the philosophical foundations of Christianity and Buddhism are quite different. Buddhism teaches rebirth, many lives. Christianity teaches that only this one life is available to you. Buddhism teaches that there is no self, but in Christianity there is a real self. Buddhism teaches emptiness, no substance, while Christianity confirms the fact of existence.
If the philosophical ground is so different, the practice of compassion and loving kindness in Buddhism and of charity and love in Christianity is different. All that seems to be a very superficial way of seeing. If we have time and if we practice our own tradition well enough and deeply enough, we will see that these issues are not real.

First of all, there are many forms of Buddhism, many ways of understanding Buddhism. If you have one hundred people practicing Buddhism, you may have one hundred forms of Buddhism. The same is true in Christianity. If there are one hundred thousand people practicing Christianity, there may be one hundred thousand ways of understanding Christianity.

In Plum Village, where many people from different religious backgrounds come to practice, it is not difficult to see that sometimes a Buddhist recognizes a Christian as being more Buddhist than another Buddhist. I see a Buddhist, but the way he understands Buddhism is quite different from the way I do. However, when I look at a Christian, I see that the way he understands Christianity and practices love and charity is closer to the way I practice them than this man who is called a Buddhist. The same thing is true in Christianity. From time to time, you feel that you are very far away from your Christian brother. You feel that the brother who practices in the Buddhist tradition is much closer to you as a Christian. So Buddhism is not Buddhism and Christianity is not Christianity. There are many forms of Buddhism and many ways of understanding Buddhism. There are many ways of understanding Christianity. Therefore, let us forget the idea that Christianity must be like this, and that Buddhism can only be like that.

We don't want to say that Buddhism is a kind of Christianity and Christianity is a kind of Buddhism. A mango can not be an orange. I cannot accept the fact that a mango is an orange. They are two different things. Vive la difference. But when you look deeply into the mango and into the orange, you see that although they are different they are both fruits. If you analyze the mango and the orange deeply enough, you will see small elements are in both, like the sunshine, the clouds, the sugar, and the acid. If you spend time looking deeply enough, you will discover that the only difference between them lies in the degree, in the emphasis. At first you see the difference between the orange and the mango. But if you look a little deeper, you discover many things in common. In the orange you find acid and sugar which is in the mango too. Even two oranges taste different; one can be very sour and one can be very sweet.........

So, we're all just different kinds of fruity.



Peace,
Mystic

 

[MilkyJoe]

There are many paths (none of which are proven) to an end for which there is no evidence, only faith?