Many paths...one God?

Coyote

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Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought.
 
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Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought. Many paths to us ( God ).
 
Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought.
There can be Hundreds of religions.......Common sense and logic dictates that All could be wrong.........but not all could be true. There can be only 1 truth.

The Holy Bibles teaches Christians there is only one true path that ends in salvation......one must accept and follow the will of God. True religion is not "picked" by the person as if you are going down a lunch buffet to pick and choose what part you like and what part you wish to ignore.

What is God's will? Its revealed in the Holy Scriptures......you either accept or reject that will. But the scriptures are clear with no ambiguity whatsoever when Jesus (God incarnate) said, "......I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." -- John 4:6. Its repeated by the Apostle Peter, "...........Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no name under heaven among men by which we must be saved." -- Acts 4:12

That there is only one way, one path, one truth is again illustrated by the Christ, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction.............." -- Matthew 7:13-14. There is only 1 system of belief established by the God of Creation......no one can by themselves choose their way into heaven.
 
I mostly agree. . . except for your perspective on Abrahamic faiths.


. . . nor do I think all spirituality equates punishment for loss of innocence, or a separation from nature. How can that be so? Isn't true wisdom in finding balance, and integration with nature?

But, indeed, there are many paths to wisdom, and many ways to view the divine.
For what sheer arrogance it would be, to think that the divine creation would only grace divine love to one culture, or one people, with a prophet or culture with a true path, and leave all the others to wallow in ignorance and spiritual poverty.


The one point on spiritual enlightenment I have struggled with, is the one that has always caused the most clashes between major civilizations, and within religions, IMO.

. . . it is this, the will of the divine. This brings us to our own ego and our own agency.

Are we part of a divine plan, are our choices predetermined, and is there really nothing we can do in this life to change our fate. . . or do we indeed have agency?

The original Catholic Church struggled with this for many many years, and Christians debate this to this day.

It caused HUGE conflict when Catholic Anglo-Saxon England was invaded by the deterministic naturalist Viking culture. Warriors who believe in fate are much more fearsome than Christian warriors who believe that their actions may have an affect on their immortal soul, than warriors who believe that their destiny has been written since the time of their birth.

. . . this is not to say the some Christian theology does not have this same POV. It is not the majority view though.


. . . and so it goes throughout the planet. Agency vs. determinism? Which path has creation led humanity toward spiritual enlightenment? Can science hold for us the answers? Sometimes it seems so, but then I will read some really weird articles on quantum entanglement. . . and quantum physics advancement, and the answer becomes yet more elusive.
 
Religion fascinates me, in part because there are so many common threads in all the faiths. Perhaps we are like the tale of the blind man and tbe elephant, each of us only able to discern a small portion of what is God. For some, we need an intermediary... like a prophet to show us a path. For others, it is a self-paced journey.

For commonalities...we all know the Golden Rule, and all religions seem to have some version of this. It makes sense, if we followed it, we would be a better society.

But another commonality exists that is interesting: the acquisition of forbidden knowledge.

In some, this is represented by the acquisition of fire (which in actuality was a major turning point in human development. The Greek Promethius defied Zeus and stole fire to give to man. Across the world, a continent away, Coyote, Rabbit and Crow stoke the fire.

For the Abrahamic faiths, it was Eve and the Apple...which you have to admit kind of sucks, forever blaming Woman for Man’s inability to control himself.

In all cases though...there is a punishment for loss of innocence and it usually involves a seperation from the divine even as it separates humanity from his fellow animals.

Food for thought.
I like to use the analogy of the habitrail.

Some religions have more reliable value and truth then others, all have some of the same visions in their own cultural wording, some more then others, all at different degrees.
So say the prize at the end of the journey is that Shalem (stability, completeness, & wholeness), the reward of paradise that comes from being all we could & should be.
Then the best route is the direct tube in the habitrail leading straight to the food box.
The more you obey the rules of the approach to the prize(follow the word's directed path) without straying the direction then the straighter more sucessful quicker the path.
But those who disregard the directions from that which already knows (sits there waiting), then the longer more winding the path. The habitrail tubes that guide you all over the place sometimes further from the prize winding back around to eventually getting there.
Some paths (religions) get you lost and back where you started and others are like the hamster wheel going round n round thinking you are going places when you haven't even left the starting gate. Most paths somewhat get you there but there can only be one that gets you there quickest and best. Then there is always that one hamster who is always in their own private corner with the built up pile of wood chips sitting in their own urine, oblivious to what the world smells like outside their own fortress and feces.
 
Many paths and they all lead to the One God. People just don't know it because those are very meandering paths, and comfortable for the one on it.

One beginning. One end.

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Many paths, one physiology...?
[...] A belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain, which is programmed for religious experiences, according to a study that analyses why religion is a universal human feature that has encompassed all cultures throughout history.
Scientists searching for the neural "God spot", which is supposed to control religious belief, believe that there is not just one but several areas of the brain that form the biological foundations of religious belief.
[...]
The search for the God spot has in the past led scientists to many different regions of the brain. An early contender was the brain's temporal lobe, a large section of the brain that sits over each ear, because temporal-lobe epileptics suffering seizures in these regions frequently report having intense religious experiences. One of the principal exponents of this idea was Vilayanur Ramachandran, from the University of California, San Diego, who asked several of his patients with temporal-lobe epilepsy to listen to a mixture of religious, sexual and neutral words while measuring their levels of arousal and emotional reactions. Religious words elicited an unusually high response in these patients.
This work was followed by a study where scientists tried to stimulate the temporal lobes with a rotating magnetic field produced by a "God helmet". Michael Persinger, from Laurentian University in Ontario, found that he could artificially create the experience of religious feelings – the helmet's wearer reports being in the presence of a spirit or having a profound feeling of cosmic bliss.
 
One God, No Path.

I believe in a single Deity, a Universal Power without human traits or emotions.

I don’t believe there IS a path. No easy road to getting it right. Instead there is a starting point and an end point. Your job is to get between the two while maintaining the Proper Way of Life.
 
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One God, No Path.

I believe in a single Deity, a Universal Power without human traits or emotions.

I don’t believe there IS a path. No easy road to getting it right. Instead there is a starting point and an end point. Your job is to get between the two while maintaining the Proper Way of Life.
That in itself is a path right? Sometimes you find a path, sometimes a path is shown to you, and sometines you just have to hack it out of the jungle yourself.
 
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I like to use the analogy of the habitrail.

Some religions have more reliable value and truth then others, all have some of the same visions in their own cultural wording, some more then others, all at different degrees.
So say the prize at the end of the journey is that Shalem (stability, completeness, & wholeness), the reward of paradise that comes from being all we could & should be.
Then the best route is the direct tube in the habitrail leading straight to the food box.
The more you obey the rules of the approach to the prize(follow the word's directed path) without straying the direction then the straighter more sucessful quicker the path.
But those who disregard the directions from that which already knows (sits there waiting), then the longer more winding the path. The habitrail tubes that guide you all over the place sometimes further from the prize winding back around to eventually getting there.
Some paths (religions) get you lost and back where you started and others are like the hamster wheel going round n round thinking you are going places when you haven't even left the starting gate. Most paths somewhat get you there but there can only be one that gets you there quickest and best. Then there is always that one hamster who is always in their own private corner with the built up pile of wood chips sitting in their own urine, oblivious to what the world smells like outside their own fortress and feces.
That is a great analogy!
 
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One path:
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

One God:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
And that is Faith. Problem is...a lot of religions insist that theirs is the only path.
 

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