Topics Started by venus
-
5
Is true religion all about being serious?
by venus inamidst of many barriers such as no birthday celebration, no blood transfusion, no voting, no political career, no military service, no national anthem, no higher studies ….. i felt handicapped.
isn’t seriousness of the ego and joyfulness of egolessness?
isn’t true religion all about a celebration of life?
-
1
JWs are more at fault than those Bible writers
by venus inbible writers were somewhat naïve with regard to many subjects.
through old testament, bible writers paint a god who exalts one nation over others.
and through new testament, they paint him who exalts one of his children over the rest (something god cannot do—deuteronomy 10:17; romans 2:11).
-
4
Philosophy of religion
by venus increate a superhuman character performing amazing feats, make him speak very good proverbs and parables which find easy acceptance among people, thus make him an authority on spirituality, and then make him speak business: become rich through improper means (luke 16:1-12) and avoid going into hell by sharing a portion of the ill-gotten wealth to the poor (mathew 25:31-46; contrast luke 16:19-31) which resulted in many orphanages and similar institutions coming into existence with the rich sponsoring them and the management living in luxury while working on behalf of the poor.
or make him provide basis for adoption of rituals that ensures a luxurious living for the management..
-
37
Illogical illustration of “the rich man and the poor man Lazarus” (Luke 16:19-31)
by venus inillustration of the rich man and the poor man lazarus indirectly hints that the materially rich would go to hell and the poor ones to heaven.
if one reads between the lines, one can discern that this illustration is a later adoption intended to exploit the rich using the poor as a means.. i have friends who are extremely rich (net-worth in billions) and also who are materially very poor, and have found both are living in hell because of their attitude.
the excess the rich have prevents them from enjoying it (and even the affluent find a huge gap between income and desires, hence find themselves often in conflict and competition) and whereas the deprived compare themselves with the haves which prevents them also from enjoying their lives.. jesus would not provide an illustration that undermines his own most favored statement: “happy are those poor in spirit because kingdom of heavens belongs to them” (mathew 5:3) and his own explanation that heaven is the condition of one’s heart (luke 17:21) obviously he had in mind those who do not have the baggage of attachment and sense of possession, those few people of simplicity that belong to both the categories—the rich and the poor. simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, a stage where every possession serves a purpose living a life that is deliberate and intentional (not one that someone else has scripted for them) and wanting to feel more complete (not more objects of the world), at ease.
-
16
Creation account is the creation of Moses
by venus inthe word `intelligence' [from inter, “between” + legere, “ to read”] would mean ‘discern things as though reading in between the lines.
now read in between the lines of what moses wrote; his favored and frequent statement is this: ‘obedience to god means blessings, and disobedience means maledictions.’ (deut 28:1-68; 30:15-18) let us try to discern his motive behind this statement.. .
when moses wanted to present 10 commandments and other laws, he naturally wanted to prepare the israelites with a mind-set that ‘we must obey god, otherwise it is problem for us.’ the best way for this was to modify a well-known story of fall from other cultures.
-
18
Human element seen in 10 commandments
by venus ini appreciate 10 commandments because they try to ensure law and order in the society.
however, i have problem with introductory statements that say: “you shall have no other gods before[a] me… you shall not bow down to them or worship them; for i, the lord your god, am a jealous god, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (exodus 20:3-6).
1) this contradicts the characteristics of god described in mathew 5:44-48 where love is described as loving everyone without thinking whether others reciprocate or not.
-
9
Contrast Jesus and Einstein
by venus injesus did not use his (superhuman) skills to prove the existence of either god or immortality of soul.
further, he did not answer direct, important questions put to him (mathew 21:23-27; luke 22:70 …), and most importantly never defined ego—the root cause of all problems ….
however, einstein, whose business was not spirituality, still defined ego as “optical illusion of consciousness.” this definition helps a lot because when one internalizes the idea that ego is only an illusion, he knows how to effectively deal with it.. .
-
3
“Evil,” according to Jesus
by venus injesus defines “evil” in mathew 7:21-23: .
“not everyone who says to me, ‘lord, lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven.
many will say to me on that day, ‘lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ then i will tell them plainly, ‘i never knew you.
-
42
“Tree of good and bad” means what?
by venus inif “tree of good and bad” were literal, it would mean adam and eve would know what is “good and bad” only after eating of that tree.
however, even before eating of it, they would think “it is good for us to eat of this tree” which means they are already endowed knowledge of “good and bad.” that means “tree of good and bad” is symbolic of something.. since religious organizations interpret this differently, each reader has to adopt his own conclusion.
for me it looks like this: one thinks of good and bad in relation to himself—if something is beneficial for him he would say it is good for him, and bad for him if it is not beneficial.
-
10
Whether Jesus was a historical figure or not matters not
by venus inwhen i suffered some loss what jesus said came to my mind: “if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.” (mathew 5:40) principle behind this statement made flash to me: ‘here shirt is only a symbol of material things/comfort.
if you suffer a loss, have the mind-set that i have no problem even if i suffer some greater loss,’ and my worry immediately disappeared.
whether jesus was a historical figure or not matters not if what he (supposedly) said happens to be of great practical help..