What makes you differ from mainstream followers of your religion?

[Slaedi7324]

I am a Sufi Muslim. These are some of my personal-religious beliefs that differ from the mainstream Islam and followers:

• I accept evolution. I believe it is entirely compatible to Islam and according to a Pew survey, more than half of the Muslim population accept it. If that's true, Muslims are the largest religious group to accept evolution.

• I accept homosexuality, and once again, believe that my thoughts are entirely compatible to Islam, too.

• I believe that Buddha is one of my prophets, he was a Prophet of God. I have this belief due to the miracles that he performed and that he is mentioned in the Quran, under the title Dhul-Kifl, Kifl is an Arabic form of "Kapeel," which is a shorter form of Kapilavastu, which is where Buddha significantly appeared. We are also taught that God sent prophets all over the world; "And for every nation is a messenger. So when their messenger comes, it will be judged between them in justice, and they will not be wronged." [Q, 10:47]

Buddha did believe in a Supreme God, that God was called Brahman, which is the same as the Islamic God, just in the Sanskrit language, Brahman means the most supreme that no one understands well, that is God.

There are weak sources saying that he was polytheist, but Brahmas are usually monotheists.

He wouldn't have been a messenger or prophet in the sense that he preached what God told him, but I do believe he was considered to be a curious man that wished to understand why there were misery in this world and had questions to God and he achieved wisdom like no other person, since God had ordained him with divine knowledge and a compassionate universal message, that is very compatible with Islam and why he is a sage and in some sense a prophet as a prophet means to be divine or divinely inspired or having the ability to meet the divine. He met with the Angels through his asceticism.

Buddha never taught about this God, but he did believe in the same God. But, he admitted some kind of truths on that his teachings are not infallible, he admitted that his teachings has the capacity to change and be nullified and abrogated according to times, on what he will adapt to, which is somewhat him saying that his teachings will be changed to fit to Jesus and Muhammad's in the future, in my interpretation.

His purpose was only a messenger from God to make the people not to be wronged, which was his job and he did it well, he wasn't supposed to be anything more. He submitted to God by meditating. He was a Muslim in every way, he taught peace, promoted knowledge and submission to yourself.

Those are the three main differences that makes me differ from mainstream religious followers, what about you? Please, instead of having this just to be just us listing what we consider for our differences between each other, feel free (and please do) to comment on people's lists. This is meant to be a friendly and conversational, yet also some kind of loose debate.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Unlike most pantheists, I'm convinced that not only is the universe God, but the universe is conscious

 

[Lyndon]

Assalaam Alaichum, Slaedi, I really like your post, I always thought the Buddha was a prophet, but had no idea he was already in the scriptures.

I have been a follower of Buddhism and Islam for many many years, you are absolutely right that Buddha believed and received direct guidance from Allah subbana alla, But I strongly disagree that Brahma is ALLAH:

ALLAH, I believe, in Buddhism is referred to to in at least two ways, as the emptiness(ONENESS), and as the dharmakaya(heavenly body law truth) The Buddha clearly preaches that Brahma, a hindu demi-god, is a false God, not worthy of worship, and definitely not the Creator. In fact the Buddha goes to no small length to deny the importance, not existence, but importance of ALL the Hindu gods and goddesses known at the time. Then he goes on to preach the source of his wisdom, the emptiness, which means empty of physical form, full of spiritual form. It is my sincere opinion after years of study that the emptiness, the most difficult concept in Buddhism to understand, next to Nirvana, is indeed GOD, ALLAH, know also as the TAO in China, You don't have to believe me, but trust me on this issue Brahma is preached as a false god by the Buddha, Brahma is not ALLAH.

 

[Woodrow LI]

While I have had non-Muslims tell me I differ from mainstream Islam, I have never been told that by a Muslim.
I do my best to follow the 5 pillars and I believe that is the only thing all Muslims have in common.

I am not certain what one can call "Mainstream" Islam as we each speak only for our self and no living Muslim represents Islam.

 

[arthra]

I think I'm basically in agreement with the mainstream of Baha'is. We're encouraged to find areas in agreement with each other than emphasize how different we are...When I first became a Baha'i back in the sixties.. The Baha'i I learned the Faith from was a worker in a steel mill...about as different from me as can be...and yet we learned to get along. Although he's passed away from this earth I still am close to him.

 

[HeatherAnn]

Hm...
I'll first state how I agree with the religion I'm affiliated:
1. Family as priority, including marriage between a man & a woman
2. Service
3. Sense of community-all involved, even kids, village to raise children
4. Prayer/personal revelation

Differences:
1. I don't pay tithes to corrupt organization (who disobey & hides Det 14:28-29)
2. I believe God cares more about heart than trivial things (like baptism, church attendance)
3. Scriptures are primarily for symbolic lessons not literal history
4. I strive to correct herd cognitive distortions (polarized thinking, jumping to conclusions, shoulds, personalization, heaven's reward fallacy etc)

 

[Katzpur]

Well, as my custom title says, I'm "not your average Mormon." Oddly enough (or maybe not), I have no real disagreement with any of Mormonism's core doctrines, those teachings I would describe as "pure Mormonism." I believe in the Mormon understanding of God, of Jesus Christ's relationship to His Father, and of our relationship to them. I believe in the "Plan of Salvation" as taught by Mormonism. Basically, when it comes to doctrinal matters, I'm on board.

When it comes to matters of policy or practice, however, I am considerably left of center. In writing for the Washington Post, fellow-Mormon David Mason said, "Some Mormons do hear the call of conscience more loudly than any political prescriptions from the church. In this way some Mormons are like many other religious people, who aren’t simply prisoners of their institutions." That pretty much describes me. For example, I'm for separation of church and state, and don't believe that any of us has the right to interfere with other people's moral decisions. And as the late LDS consumer and women's advocate, Esther Eggerten Peterson once said, “I’m as Mormon as can be; I just [don't] go in for all the folderol.” And as much as I love the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the Church there is a lot of folderol.

 

[Riverwolf]

Starting to think of Tiu (Tyr) as King rather than Woden (Odin), for one. Sort of a microcosmic example of the fact that I don't think of the Germanic Gods almost entirely based on Viking literature.

 

[Kolibri]

I use a form of Applied Kinesiology in my secular work. But not just the stress/non-stress response that comes from touching a sore spot on the body, like a chiropractor does. I work a lot with psychological stress as well. People of my religion as a whole shy away from it for fear of a linking to spiritism. While I strongly agree that it has been misused in that way by many, I ground what I do in scientific theory. I draw a line between accessing the body's own innate energy library and that of seeking/using superhuman knowledge.

Afaik, the vast majority of Jehovah's Witnesses avoid various forms of vibrational medicine that they are unfamiliar with. Sometimes it is due the cultural upbringing of a western medicine mindset, and sometimes it is because of people that have used this diagnostic tool have at times used it as a form of spiritism - something the Bible strictly condemns.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

This does not count, but I will add it anyway. Most agnostics that I know are what I call apathetic agnostics: they don't know if there is a god or gods or goddess or creator or whatever and don't really think it matters. To me it matters a great deal, and I spend an enormous amount of time devoted to studying such issues. Yet I have no answers. Agnosticism isn't a religion anymore than atheism is (even less so, in some sense, as the agnostic position is not a position so much as it is an inability to determine what position is likely true), yet as I have found this difference between how I identify myself spiritually/religiously vs. others who identify themselves likewise, I have chosen to include this response.

 

[fschmidt]

Unlike most Jews, I reject the Talmud. From this, my other differences follow.

I reject racist (ethnicist) definitions of who is a Jew. I consider a Jew to be one who follows the Torah.

I think the Hebrew Bible is reasonable and rational and compatible with science. This means that we can reason about the Bible.

 

[Zardoz]

As an Ebionite, I differ in that I believe Messiah ben Yosef, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, has already come, whereas most Jews believe he is contemporary to Messiah ben David; who has not reveled himself yet.

 

[Slaedi7324]

Assalaam Alaichum, Slaedi, I really like your post, I always thought the Buddha was a prophet, but had no idea he was already in the scriptures.

I have been a follower of Buddhism and Islam for many many years, you are absolutely right that Buddha believed and received direct guidance from Allah subbana alla, But I strongly disagree that Brahma is ALLAH:

ALLAH, I believe, in Buddhism is referred to to in at least two ways, as the emptiness(ONENESS), and as the dharmakaya(heavenly body law truth) The Buddha clearly preaches that Brahma, a hindu demi-god, is a false God, not worthy of worship, and definitely not the Creator. In fact the Buddha goes to no small length to deny the importance, not existence, but importance of ALL the Hindu gods and goddesses known at the time. Then he goes on to preach the source of his wisdom, the emptiness, which means empty of physical form, full of spiritual form. It is my sincere opinion after years of study that the emptiness, the most difficult concept in Buddhism to understand, next to Nirvana, is indeed GOD, ALLAH, know also as the TAO in China, You don't have to believe me, but trust me on this issue Brahma is preached as a false god by the Buddha, Brahma is not ALLAH.

Thank you and very interesting. Do you have some sources? I'm very interested in my prophet, I have only recently accepted him as one, I still like to read more that support the case that he was a monotheist.

On a side note that I forgot to mention: I don't believe in the Second Coming of Christ. I believe that Buddha already predicted that person, Maitreya, that Buddha was Jesus, Jesus has now died and fulfilled his promise.

As a Muslim, I believe Christian sources has been corrupted and they stole Hindu and Buddhist scriptures from India and made them into Christian bibles.

But Quran doesn't mention Second Coming of Christ, I think that is because it has already happened and wouldn't happen again. Buddha was the first, Jesus was the second. Not to be taken literally, of course. Only spiritually.

 

[b.finton]

... with a tag like mine, who knew?!

I believe the holy books and the religions of man, generally, are all saying the same thing: keep an eye out for that fourth pyramid. It intrudes within you and without you, the Torah written upon our hearts.

b.

 

[Desert Snake]

Hmm. "mainstream". Well, here is list of some of my beliefs that may not be mainstream. Just guessing to an extent, tbh.
1. I believe Jesus to be literally God. 'Man form' Jesus is a manifestation of Jesus the God. There is not really a 'trinity' here, in that multiple manifestations are possible, and it, 'He' is One Deity.
2. Baptism importance. Baptism is in some respect, a 'cultural' practice, think Mikvah of Judasim, and the fact that "Jesus" in the Bible was in Israel, John the Baptist was from a specific regional background, etc. Hence, not as important to me, as it is rather part of a narrative, imo, not commanded for Jesusists.
3. Jesus is just one name for my Deity. As I mentioned before, there is more than one manifestation of God/Jesus. When I say 'Jesus', I'm simply using one of His names, and people generally will know what I mean. lsho, in the context of discussion, is more for convenience sake as a 'name' rather than saying specifically ,;I worship a Semitic man named such and such. /hope that's clear./

 

[Valjean]

I don't buy into Hindu mythology. The gods and myths are as illusory as the rest of the material world.

 

[melk]

Some may say i'm not a christian, since i don't belong to any church. I don't follow this thougnt, even though I respect every church and try to learn with them.
Anyway, I'm not worried about labels. I just have Jesus as my saviour and master, and try to read the whole Bible guided by the two major commandements he gave us.
I also appeal to buddhism wisdom, mainly when dealing with my thoughts. Impermanence is a great concept that should guide religious people. Meditation,as prayer, is an important mean to bring light out of darkness.

 

[Asha]

Assalaam Alaichum, Slaedi & Lyndon

Assalaam Alaichum, Slaedi, I really like your post, I always thought the Buddha was a prophet, but had no idea he was already in the scriptures.

I have been a follower of Buddhism and Islam for many many years, you are absolutely right that Buddha believed and received direct guidance from Allah subbana alla,

I would realy love to here more about your beleifs, and how they are mentioned in your scripture.

But I strongly disagree that Brahma is ALLAH:

No disrespect intended, but Slaedi did say Brahman, not Brahma,

...Slaedi
Buddha did believe in a Supreme God, that God was called Brahman, which is the same as the Islamic God, just in the Sanskrit language, Brahman means the most supreme that no one understands well, that is God.

There are weak sources saying that he was polytheist, but Brahmas are usually monotheists.

This is correct according to the majority of Hindus

Brahman being the formless supreme, Brahma being one of the triad Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. who are all expantions of the Supreme.

 

[Muffled]

I believe the Qu'ran is the word of God. I believe most Christians do not or have not explored the concept.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I practice Bompu Zen or Common Zen by which it's holistic quality benefits the practitioner.
There is no particular structure, nor writings, or scriptures to speak of in it's engagement. Very very basic and simple.

It's a free flowing and unfettered form of Buddhism that contrasts the formal practices and disciplines one usually encounters in a Zendo under a transmitted teacher.