What is the ultimate goal of practicing your religion/philosophy?

[1137]

God, is that you?

Yes!

 

[osgart]

My spiritual path's ultimate go is climbing into higher, and higher levels of virtuosity. And within virtue to be pleased, joyful, fulfilled and content with those virtues. i feel that human nature and the natural predicament of all life puts serious limits on what can be achieved. Survival, hunger, thirst, health, economics force people to always be mindful of managing one's self in navigating reality. Competition, and domination seems to be what humans do best. At worst humans fall into all sorts of vices that are void, empty, heartless, and destructive to themselves and others. Somewhere in the middle of that scale humans must ultimately battle their own levels of unknowingness, ignorance, and lack of understanding, and knowledge of what's vitally necessary and important. Ultimately if the average person knows better, they'll be able to do better. Good natured purely innocent intentions don't always result in wonderful, productive actions. Blind innocence, fear and peer pressure can steer a good person off a cliff, or render one paralyzed. Everyone comes from a unique background, and we all fish for commonalities amongst others in our relationships. My path's ultimate goal is to recognize my own flaws, and shortcomings so that i can be a more productive, and beneficial human being.

 

[Aupmanyav]

My spiritual path's ultimate go is climbing into higher, and higher levels of virtuosity.

I would say climbing into higher and higher levels of reality when all your questions have been answered and you have no conflict with modern knowledge and you have at least some evidence for what you believe - That is 'moksha', enlightenment, jhana, nibbana, jivanmukti.

 

[Koldo]

For me it is generally to make a quality life for myself and the people I care about, and, if I'm able to, make people I don't know happy as well.

Quality of life not necessarily in sustenance, but in a balance of peace of mind and sustenance.

How about you?

I have absolutely no religion nor philosophy to practice.

 

[Heyo]

For me it is generally to make a quality life for myself and the people I care about, and, if I'm able to, make people I don't know happy as well.

Quality of life not necessarily in sustenance, but in a balance of peace of mind and sustenance.

How about you?

I, like many before, also think that (my) philosophy has no ultimate goal, just a continuous one. For Agnosticism that is best summarised with a Matt Dillahunty quote:

 

[Twilight Hue]

For me it is generally to make a quality life for myself and the people I care about, and, if I'm able to, make people I don't know happy as well.

Quality of life not necessarily in sustenance, but in a balance of peace of mind and sustenance.

How about you?

It's just a raft to help make this life as comfortable as possible until it's discarded once I die.

 

[Debater Slayer]

For me it is generally to make a quality life for myself and the people I care about, and, if I'm able to, make people I don't know happy as well.

Quality of life not necessarily in sustenance, but in a balance of peace of mind and sustenance.

How about you?

Living in the present moment so thoroughly and mindfully that the question of an ultimate future goal becomes pointless, difficulties and challenges cause me less (ideally no) suffering, gratitude becomes prevalent even for the most mundane aspects of my life, and maintaining compassion toward other living beings, in both thoughts and deeds, becomes constantly effortless for me.

 

[RestlessSoul]

I'm not sure I can do so to your or anyone else's satisfaction, but I'll do my best...

It's a realization that that the reality that I perceive is a manifestation of what I am in my true nature through the lens of time, space, and causation, and that all of this is a temporary appearance.


The best way I can describe it to someone is to compare it to a dream that spontaneously becomes lucid...

My dream character perceives a reality that is very real to him, with real people, real places, and real interactions with the dream world, unbeknownst to him that he is actually a the dreamer lying in a bed.

But the character starts to realize that the dream becomes oddly familiar through brief flashes of a feeling of oneness, and the character eventually finds such a oneness with everything in the dream, he realizes that he is not the dream character, but something else much more real and permanent.

At this point, the dream character becomes dispassionate to that which lies within the dream reality and holds no attachments because he knows that the dream is temporary and will ultimately end, but the dreamer remains engaged with the dream for other dream characters, which the dreamer realizes are identical to him in his true nature. But the dream character goes on through the rest of the dream knowing that he and his dream world are merely an appearance within that which remains unchanged from the perspective in the dream...the dreamer lying asleep in the bed.


This description is the closest I can currently intellectually convey the experience, but it doesn't come remotely close to what it actually is.

Who’s dream is it though? Are we characters in something else’s dream, are we the dreamers, or are we both? And how do each of our dreams interact with each other’s ?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Who’s dream is it though? Are we characters in something else’s dream, are we the dreamers, or are we both? And how do each of our dreams interact with each other’s ?

Multiplicity is merely an appearance. "We" and "the dream" are a product of Maya, just as the dream characters and the dream world in my example are a product of the mind. There is only Brahman. Thou art that (tat tvam asi).

 

[osgart]

I would say climbing into higher and higher levels of reality when all your questions have been answered and you have no conflict with modern knowledge and you have at least some evidence for what you believe - That is 'moksha', enlightenment, jhana, nibbana, jivanmukti.

I don't believe all questions will be answered. Modern knowledge is a useful aspect of life and I don't consider it infallible. What is evident to me may mean nothing to others as I have abstract values. I'm not merely a passenger of existence, but an active participant, with limits, and means of freedom within. I take the perspective that humanity comes from a place of totally not knowing reality and in having to learn from the ground up human knowledge is either useful or subject to being updated drastically the more is learned. Firmly established facts are accepted by experience. I don't always have faith in academic experts nor do I believe that scientific testing is fully free of limit and error.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Remembering my place in the Universe.

 

[RestlessSoul]

I, like many before, also think that (my) philosophy has no ultimate goal, just a continuous one. For Agnosticism that is best summarised with a Matt Dillahunty quote:

How will Matt Dillahunty know if what he believes is true, and what he rejects is false?

In other words, in what is he placing his faith?

 

[SalixIncendium]

I, like many before, also think that (my) philosophy has no ultimate goal, just a continuous one. For Agnosticism that is best summarised with a Matt Dillahunty quote:

Why does he want to believe false things?

 

[Heyo]

How will Matt Dillahunty know if what he believes is true, and what he rejects is false?

In other words, in what is he placing his faith?

You'd have to ask Matt.

For me there are a few indicators:
1. Internal consistency.
2. Broad consensus among experts.
3. Performance measured by successful predictions.

 

[RestlessSoul]

You'd have to ask Matt.

For me there are a few indicators:
1. Internal consistency.
2. Broad consensus among experts.
3. Performance measured by successful predictions.

That sounds a lot like passively accepting the mainstream view; or else receiving the word from trusted sources. Which is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t really break new ground imo, or allow for much of a personal journey. Each to their own though.

 

[Vinayaka]

For me it is generally to make a quality life for myself and the people I care about, and, if I'm able to, make people I don't know happy as well.

Quality of life not necessarily in sustenance, but in a balance of peace of mind and sustenance.

How about you?

For me the ultimate goal is moksha, as per being a Hindu. In the meantime, the goal is improvement, via living by dharma.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I don't believe all questions will be answered.

It is like this.
Do I know why things exist?
Science says: We do not know why?
Religions say: Goddidit.
Religions, do you have any evidence of that.
Religions say: It is evident. No proof required.
So, what do I say: Wait and search, leave the question for future generations.
Question answered. Mind at peace.

 

[Heyo]

That sounds a lot like passively accepting the mainstream view; or else receiving the word from trusted sources. Which is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t really break new ground imo, or allow for much of a personal journey. Each to their own though.

I had the illusion (and hubris) that I had some original thoughts only to learn that others had that thought before, sometimes hundreds of years before. And that they had expressed that thought much more eloquently than I ever could.
There is still much we don't know but investigating in a garage lab to make discoveries has become difficult. Without being a professional scientist or investing loads of money, you'll have to wait for and trust the experts.

 

[osgart]

It is like this.
Do I know why things exist?
Science says: We do not know why?
Religions say: Goddidit.
Religions, do you have any evidence of that.
Religions say: It is evident. No proof required.
So, what do I say: Wait and search, leave the question for future generations.
Question answered. Mind at peace.

I don't believe in God myself. I believe in an eternal source of intellect. God implies Omni attributes that I don't consider to be real.

 

[CharmingOwl]

Lavenderism can have a lot of goals. The faith does not define one but many possibilities are hinted at in various ways. There may even be some that I haven't thought of that someone might come up with in the future.

The most obvious and the most common I think is also establishing socialism. Others exist like developing supernatural abilities or using magic or the help of gods to improve life circumstances. Some of them have expressed to me they practice ascetism in order to gain self mastery as well. Theoretically they could also attempt to break free from the cycle of rebirth, but I am unsure if many are attempting this.