Thread: A Crossroads

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

I've seen many arguments that attempt to show Christianity as a misguided sun worshipping religion; the movie Zietgeist being the least of these attempts. I really don't care to argue that point here. It can be easily simplified by saying where we once turned our prayers down towards the earth, now we turn them up to the 'heavens'.

I think that is a severe semantic distortion. Praying to the sun is nothing like praying for the Light of God. I'm not sure why you consider this unimportant.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

I'm not much of a doomsday prophet, but I can see the signs. Nasa has openly predicted a dangerous weakening of our magnetic field within the next 4 years

Isn't that part of a natural cycle though? If not, what do you believe such an event will entail?

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

What religions do you think have resisted change? Being able to "see" goes beyond our actual visual sense.

The spiritual context of religions has always been beyond the material, perceivable world. I don't think it is that religions "resist" change, but that there is no need for them to. Resting on the solid ground of Truth, the only change is in the way it is expressed.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Catholics are saying its okay to believe in aliens. Buddhism has gone from only one buddha at a time, to many possible buddhas, to Lamas that can control their reincarnation, to the Dalai Lama saying there is a chance he may be the last. Jews and Christians no longer think its okay to stone people. Some of them still hate gays but many of them don't.

This seems pretty mixed up. I wouldn't take this too seriously, as there are many things people believe that are not concordant with their religion. Zealous obsession obviously exaggerates a belief system in preference to a benign devotion to its foundation. Peoples minds can get caught up in dogma and dates whilst ignoring the essential point.

What about the Dalai Lama? He could be the last human re-incarnation because "he" is basically on the edge of enlightenment anyway.

I don't see anything wrong with believing in aliens, either, catholic or not.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

The scope of what we perceive is constantly expanding, and our religions as well as our sciences, philosophies, arts, etc. reflect that. thousands of years ago, we had no concept of a god that was anything but the ground beneath our feet and air that we breathe.

Some of the oldest religions were to do with nature, yes. They were of the astral realms, however, showing projections of the human ego. "Thunder and rain - God is angry, we are being punished!" Far in the past though, the animal-mind/ego was much more primitive. Today the world is more benign, hatred and killing is still present, but despite its extremities, it is less present overall.

Consciousness research show that the collective consciousness of mankind took a significant jump in the 80's, which was a critical turning point of spiritual awareness. It may increase faster, and perhaps have an exponential effect, as you referred to as the "tipping point", which I believe is a strong possibility however far off it may be.

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Now people say that god is omnipresent across the whole of the universe, even without really understanding what that means.

This is nothing new, actually. Buddhism has probably been the easiest religion to see and convey this (the "void"), despite the lack of the term "God". All-present and all-loving/peace are timeless qualities. Funnily, because timelessness itself is also a quality.

The problem with other religions is, they tend to set up an image that God was "out there", and before time. He kick-started the Universe and will see you on the dreaded judgment day. To simplify in contrast, God is just the source of existence; which can be experientially confirmed upon enlightenment and given as much validity as the awareness of existence itself. Of course, people think there is no evidence for God, because it is presumed to be the objective content of the universe - when actually God is the absolute context thereof. Ignoring the infinite context of Reality for the sake of an intellectual proof is unconsciously narrow minded, yet it is a natural propensity of the human species and the intellect.

How can man's consciousness be so ignorant? It's supposed to be! Otherwise man would die! How is a human being supposed to understand that God is all that exists? Man is oblivious to it! Here is a limited hypothetical analogy: Live your entire life underground without going above the surface (you've never done that), and you are oblivious to the sky, and thus you are oblivious that you are underground. A "hippy" outside from "above the surface" says to you "Dude, wake up, let's go see the Sky! The Sky has no limits - no celing!" You think he is mad; but really you cannot comprehend the Sky. This is inherent ignorance.

Man cannot be aware that he is ignorant, unless he intends to find out why. In which case, he is no longer ignorant, but his universe becomes illuminated with enormous clarity. Man can discover his ignorance, and move beyond it into higher awareness.