What should I believe?

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant


Thank you. I actually think your statement is quite a lot deeper than you may have realised. The only small problem for me is

You must believe what you think is the truth, my friend.

If I may borrow an example from Walking fox above, if I think....

that rocks have souls and can speak to those who listen carefully

...is the truth should I follow that belief no matter what else I am told or discover?

We all have our own version of the truth on varying issues but does that mean for instance that mine is more correct than yours and I should convince you of that fact or is mine wrong and I should adopt yours?

I may have read too much into what you were saying but thats just how my mind works, which is quite possibly how I came to ask the initial question in the first place....

reply to post by TheWalkingFox


Lol, well when you put it that way...

I didn't come to my belief by somthing I was told to believe though, I researched things, a lot, like for many many years.

When I was young something happened to me that made me challenge my beliefs, I questiond the existance of God and everything, instead of going down the road most people go down that have this happen to them, I listened to the Holy Spirit and He guided me, even though my parents, youth pastor and pastor told me I was wrong, the Holy Spirit told me otherwise.

-Jimmy

reply to post by jimmyjackblack


And that is how it should be done. If you ask a C of E Pastor you are given C of E answers, if you ask a priest you get Catholic answers and if you ask a Buddhist you get told about Buddha. However, if you ask ATS you get EVERYTHING!!! Combne the EVERYTHING with what you have already discovered and you will find something that fits.

WalkingFox,
I would be very interested in you take on your beliefs. I have read a little about them since you told me about them a while back, but I would like to hear from someone who practices/studies them. I know you usually remain relatively neutral in these threads so here or PM is up to you. Ta

What should I believe?

Oh do I have a few things to say on that.

You should start by not believing that you are so weak minded that someone else has to tell you what to believe. You are better than that.

You should believe what your heart and eyes and mind have taught you this far on your journey, and believe that you can learn more and overcome the beliefs you hold today so that you may be better tomorrow.

You should believe in your own heart, and trust the creator of all things who dwells there.

You should believe in your own ability to form a loving relationship with the creator of all things, and not expect someone else to tell you how to do that.

Leave the teachings of man behind and trust God for once, and yourself. You will find more love and understanding than you have ever imagined.

Free the chains from your mind my friend, and the chains on your soul will vanish.

All great beliefs have taught to look inside for the answers. That is very true.

You won't find the answer you seek here. Not even from me. You must look inside and find it for yourself.

I hope this helps.

Love and light,

wupy

reply to post by mrwupy


Thank you for your realism. I have taken what you have said on board and it will be used in my quest.

You should start by not believing that you are so weak minded that someone else has to tell you what to believe. You are better than that.

I thoughtI had that sorted in the OP when I said

I know at this point many of you will be thinking that I should research and make up my own mind and not leave something like this to a bunch of faceless strangers. This is not the case. The reason I am asking here is because of the above mentioned diversity.

But to expand on it, I am not looking for something to believe I am curious at to other peoples perspective on things not to follow but to contemplate.

We all know we learn by asking but you can learn more by thinking about the answer and not accept it blindly. If you ask one person you get one answer, ask many and you receive many answers. The more answers I get the more I (and others reading) have to think about.

Edit: P.S. It has been bugging me for a while now and I have to ask. Is Mr. Wupy a New Zealander who sells Icecream?!?!


[edit on 14/5/2008 by VIKINGANT]

Does the answer have to be a religion? Why? Does God only work through religion? I have received more answers that have made the most sense - after I left religion. Don't let that block you.

Being confused is a good state to be in. I find that I am the most teachable and the most open in that state.

In all sincerity, pray for teachers, and then do as Solomon did; pray for wisdom. Then hang onto your seat!

reply to post by VIKINGANT



Viking...........
No one can tell you that.
Many most likely have and will continue to try. But they do that for largely selfish reasons and are in no position to tell you what YOUR path is. As they don't have to walk it. You do.
You cannot listen to them as they are not you.

You and you alone must pick your path.

I could tell you all the virtues of my belief system and make it sound like the greatest thing since sliced bread, but it could be a complete and total lie to you.

reply to post by VIKINGANT


The truth is subjective, what one man sees as the truth another man will see as ignorant lies.

That you thought so deeply on my response shows me that you can see the light of wisdom, and because of this i do not doubt one bit that you are following a path that for you personally is the path of truth.

You will find that the path of truth takes you across many junctions, all of which will seem appeasing to one who has walked a single direction for some time, but trust me - while you strive to learn the truth, all paths will eventually lead to the same destination.

reply to post by Anti-Tyrant

all paths will eventually lead to the same destination.

Over the edge of a cliff? LOL!

If the universe shows divine intelligence with a deliberate path without the helter-skelter that man is more comfortable with, could there be a Godly truth? One that is more definitive or conclusive? Is he fickle? Does he care what we believe? Or is he passive and non-committed? Does he want us to believe that we are gods, or is that just our desire?

Is God just a wuss or is he biding his time? Letting man fail?

reply to post by Osiris1953


A religion that really matched the beliefs that I had developed on my own and that religion just happened to be Shinto. Some say it's a dying religion, but it suits me. Find what suits you and run with it. You'll find what you are looking for..... just explore your options.


Im curious if you developed the beliefs on your own, who was there to guide you in having those beliefs and choosing your religion?

My point is that everyone needs a guide and it sounds like you picked between religions as one picks dinner menus. Guidance should help you pick what religion to go for and genuinely believe in what religion you are dedicating yourself to.

You dont just 'run with it' as you say, where is the commitment and dedication to what you believe. Its like your saying try it out and if you don't like it than try something else and with you own beliefs as guidance, who know what 'matches you preference' when it comes to religion.

There is nothing wrong with having a guide and I believe that without one people will pick and choose there whole lives.

reply to post by VIKINGANT
You should believe nothing you read here. We are all men (or women), and therefore fallible and imperfect.

Look inside, deep inside, and you will find what you seek. Step back and look at yourself as others may see you, look around yourself at this miraculous planet we live on. Never fail to question 'why?' and never ignore the answer when you find it.

I found a redneck, and a God that loved even him. May you be as happy with what you find.

TheRedneck

reply to post by WraothAscendant


I believe the total opposite,

If you and you alone pick what belief you want to have, how can you discern whether it the right or the wrong one?

I believe a guide is essential and is the only rewarding way to progress in life. I find there are hundreds of beliefs but which one of them stems from truth, thats the question.

How do you know everything you believe and others on here is absolute unshakable truth if you have come about it on your own. I used to be like that, believing what suited me but then I realized that there was no guidance, it was me alone who was deciding the truths and untruths.

All that gave me was confusion, all it gave me was a question of how do I know what I'm believing is absolute truth, because if its not and it cant be discerned whats the point in believing perceptions in stead of reality.

reply to post by TheRedneck


We are all imperfect, than who is perfect as far as I remember even Jesus himself regretted creating humans after the first murder of the two brothers. Hes not so perfect either he sinned by thinking that.

Thats why he vowed to let people live on instead of creating them all over again.

[edit on 16-5-2008 by Drakiir]

Difficult to answer. Your faith is your own.

From my understanding God chooses to remain silent and let the world run itself within the confines of the natural laws. Atheist and believer (what ever that may be) can live their lives without him (or her) imposing.

There is a pattern to the universe that follows the pattern of God in the bible. It seems that God is fixated with Law. What he says must be done. Everything in the physical universe is governed by some law. The micro world follows law and so does the macro world. God sees everything as a math equation.

The one part of God that is hard to define is his quality of Love. It is said that God wants to find you. If your born into a religion you must test your faith. If you do it out of routine then it probably has no value. The faith must be deep within your heart. Once you become true and selfless then God will seek you out. However, God must stick to his own laws which he set forth and you have to figure out for your self what that is.

Law and Love must be joined harmoniously.

reply to post by lostinspace


The one part of God that is hard to define is his quality of Love. It is said that God wants to find you. If your born into a religion you must test your faith. If you do it out of routine then it probably has no value. The faith must be deep within your heart. Once you become true and selfless then God will seek you out. However, God must stick to his own laws which he set forth and you have to figure out for your self what that is.

I partly agree with what you are saying and that devotion must come from the heart for it to mean anything and is the case with all things spiritually related, especially in religion. I find however that letting us figure out our own journey is a two way street, as we do learn for ourselves yes, but we should be adjusted or guided by God interceding.

Contrary to most beliefs I think God should intervene and guide people directly as in face to face, as he did when he first rose again. I think he should have continued what he did when he first rose and proved to people of that day that he was alive. I find that totally lacking today, as if he walked out of humanity and let us go by our own devices.

I do believe Jesus was a prophet by the fact that he said we could do greater works than him, which if he was a God he wouldn't say as we couldn't better a God and thats why I believe him to be a prophet. And the thing is its not just my thought that makes me believe this, its guidance and research and proof that does.

In summary I think a guide is essential because if its left entirely up to us alone we are vulnerable to deception and we wont be able to discern whether the influence is of our own or from a good or deceptive spirit. Its guidance which helps us discern these things for the best source we know which isn't ourselves, because if that were the case Christians wouldn't need the Bible.

We could determine everything ourselves and that as all Christians know is 'going at it alone' means no guidance, which is precisely my point. Im spiritual and I get guidance, Christians get guidance from the Bible but not by Jesus himself, and leaves them to interpret any questions they have in stead of being answered directly,

For example it would be better to ask Jesus questions face to face with him beside you than deciphering 6 different interpretations of verse and chapter of the Bible. Its almost impossible to do it alone, which is why beliefs based on what we reckon are almost always inaccurate, and I think a guide is always essential.

reply to post by Drakiir

We could determine everything ourselves and that as all Christians know is 'going at it alone' means no guidance, which is precisely my point. Im spiritual and I get guidance, Christians get guidance from the Bible but not by Jesus himself, and leaves them to interpret any questions they have in stead of being answered directly,

For example it would be better to ask Jesus questions face to face with him beside you than deciphering 6 different interpretations of verse and chapter of the Bible. Its almost impossible to do it alone, which is why beliefs based on what we reckon are almost always inaccurate, and I think a guide is always essential.

Totally agree. I prayed for teachers to come into my life. It is essential. But at the same time - we outgrow our teachers. Or we should, as we learn to develop a one on one conscious contact with God. Often though, we tend to put the teacher on a pedestal. A transference of our devotion from our religious leader to our teacher. It is a fine line spiritually, but one to be cognizant of.

God naturally trains his people and the ones he uses as teachers. He is ultimately the best guide. I had to learn to not use the Bible as a crutch as I did when I was in religion.

I am so glad there hasn’t been many ‘this is what you should believe’ responses. The common theme appears to be ‘look within yourself’ and trust your own judgment’ type comments. This is correct. Up to a point any way.

Drakiir has it right I think in that we need guidance, be it of a spiritual nature or otherwise. We can search our selves for years and not get the answers we are looking for. We must still rely on external influences, but we just need to be able to determine what is right.

In a way I am looking here not for answers but guidance, and by guidance I mean concepts for me to contemplate further. There have been suggestions made of things I had never heard of but have and will explore further.

You might say that in asking here, God (or the surpreme being if you prefer) is providing me with some direction through the answers given. I hope this is the case otherwise it is just a bunch of people with their own agenda leading other people astray whether it is intentional or not.

It has been said here that much of our faiths is determined by our own interpretation and this is also true with the posts here. They may have been written in order to convey a certain message but I and other readers may see something completely different and will only take out of it what we need. I may even read this again in coming months and have a different understanding of what has been written.

This thread is not only for the benefit of my personal search. I truly hope that others searching can take something from this as well.

I always say; look for a ring of truth. Even if it goes against your training or upbringing. It is very possible that those around us were misled. Our parents could only pass down what they were taught or what their experience is, which may not be much!