LG
Thanks for the eloquent reply. The reason I am probing is that you seem to display consistent and strong belief in your path and I am trying to understand what motivates you.
From my perspective, without assuming religious baggage, I have been on this planet long enough to fully appreciate the concept of gratitude (Osho style), but getting involved in any concept of supernatural retribution from an omnipotent being that causes pain, as in your version of karma, makes the whole shebang suck and nonsensical.
not sure what you are saying here
that notions of karma infringe on notions of gratitude?
(maybe you could unpack "gratitude", osho style or otherwise)
The overwhelming evidence, historic and present, of mind control, coercion, bloodshed, manipulation, ego, violence, nonsense, bigotry, close mindedness and dishonesty (the list is endless) coming from organized religions (Eastern and Western) makes me want to puke.
its the nature of institution (regardless of whether it is religious or not) to undermine the principles on which it was established
(for instance the formation of universities was originally meant to "unify" all disciplines of knowledge - now things are so impossibly diverse that even within departments there is practically no communication)
Consequently its the duty of institutions to constantly re-evaluate themselves
The standard response from the religious mob is - it`s not god`s fault, its man`s fault. Free will, blah blah blah. Bollocks, if god is to have anya credibilty, the "glorious" reflection of god should be seen in his adherents en masse, and it is obviously not the case.
the thing unique to religion is that it offers the highest opportunity for hypocrisy - the more higher the values, the less likely people (in general) will be able to follow them
from the vedic perspective, this degeneration of religious institutional leaders and their instituitions is due to a corrupted understanding of quality
(regarding the age of kali, or the current era of existence) .... A person's spiritual position will be ascertained merely according to external symbols, and on that same basis people will change from one spiritual order to the next. A person's propriety will be seriously questioned if he does not earn a good living. And one who is very clever at juggling words will be considered a learned scholar.
if you ask practically anyone what it means to be a christian/hindu/muslim they will simply give you answer that reflects externals ("their priests wear these sort of clothes, they worship in buildings that look like this and on tuesdays they this sort of ritual).
If such a state of understanding is the norm, small wonder that the congregations are the way they are and why there is no real impetus (aside from say issues of culture - birth, marriage, death etc) for appeal amongst educated persons
It should be that simple. However, it looks like god was created in mans image, with all accompanying mammalian atributes.
Hence the cynicsm.
What evidence in your life has prompted/enabled you to commit to your faith and discard the rational?
in short, I have had experiences that would make
not applying myself to religious discipline irrational.
The evidence that I came in contact with is the association of persons who actually embody qualities of god (not meaning that they could lift a rock that they created to be heavier than they could lift) and could answer my ethical doubts about religion, god, etc.
Associating with such persons is clearly indicated as the
final requirement for successful spiritual life.
And the absence of this element is what contributes to over 90% of the arguments against god (most atheistic arguments deal not with god, per se, but the people who represent him)
