Theology IV

[D.Sullivan]

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

Likewise man, and the reason I mentioned that part was because I think Buddhism manages what many other walks of life and religious faiths don't do, getting the message across of how to achieve inner peace, especially in the larger monotheist religions that get caught up in webs of intricate rules and can't-do's. At least that's my view of it.

I agree. It's one of the reasons why I'm Buddhist, really. Though many forms of Buddhism can(and do)get caught up into a rather long list of arbitrary dos and don'ts and develop a sense of strict hierarchy like other religions have, original(Theravadan)Buddhism teaches that one should have a fairly healthy dose of self reliance in their practice; and while it's perfectly ok to have teachers whom you trust and rely on to an extent, you would really be going against the grain of the teachings if you took anyone's word for it that something is true if you haven't experienced it for yourself.

Originally Posted by Coffeehouse

I think you're right. Many non-religious do that yeah, rounding up spirituality and religious faiths into one coffin, and dumping it out to sea in the name of reason.
They might be wrong, and it's also counter-productive because what I f.ex. am against isn't the belief in God or Gods, or a spiritual world co-existing with one's material world, but like I explained earlier, the ugly face that rigidly organized religion often exhibits.
It might not seem like it, but I think there's a certain spiritual level in my own life, though I'm still struggling to define it.

Sounds good to me. I've heard a definition of spirituality that I really liked, I forget where, that was much different than what you'd usually define it; it was that the whole point of being spiritual was not to decide what the truth was and, once decided on what was true, to stick to it through thick and thin. It was to ask what the answers were to all of life's big, seemingly unanswerable questions with a sincere heart and mind, and a willingness to hold those hard questions inside of yourself with poise and dignity. That's just one side of the coin, in my opinion, but a very good one to keep in mind, if you ask me. It's saying that there's a nobility to not knowing what the truth is but at the same time being willing to hear it out if it came your way. What they call in Zen "Beginners Mind".

That's where I'm coming from in our worlds wide collection of Theological standpoints.

Along with a bout a million other similar definitions and uses of "deities".

Rules of Linguistics: Synchronicity tops diachronicity; or, usage tops etymology.

My thoughts concerning that, as well.