god help: Im a Christian, but im starting to believe some concepts of Buddhism. - Help.com

I see it this way. Religion or religious text vary by culture and area, however they all say the same thing. Regardless of what you follow they all have a god, an enlightened being. And you can’t go wrong with doing what’s right. You just have to look past the cultural references and learn the important and true lessions of enlightenment. Hope that helps. Take care.

http://zeitgeistmovie.com/main.htm

watch that and see for yourself.

its not pathetic. all the religion are kind of the same anyway. at least the same basis and beliefs. some religions are nearly exactly alike though.

I agree Sherooo.

THe problem is your seeing all religions as separate and that you must only choose one. That’s why you are in turmoil. If your parents like to be called Christian then be called Christian, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fallow all good teachings from all religion.

thankyou.

I’ve read many and from what I can tell they all have a “god”, and a profit or god made flesh that come back from the dead. SPirts and angels. They just have different names and stories to fit the areas and culture. But they all about read the same.

you sure? hehe

lol that’s just ritual. no different then a witch and her or his candles. It’s to help you focus and pay respect to your beliefs.

No, an ashiest does not believe in anything

bowing is just ritual. Like a witch and her or his candles.

That would be quantum physics.

jackbauer, i do the same thing.. about being a spectator.

I would suggest seeing the movie, “What the Bleep do we know”. I think that will spark your mind more in the direction your going. Something like that. ^^

I know odd name lol

nothing is the answer. well, not in the relative hugeness of everything.

It’s says we dont really exits we are all the same thing but and are nothing at teh same time. We exist nowhere and then we exist everywhere.

Things only exist because we believe they exist. It goes on and explains it better than me.

Very true. It may be unlikely but it’s never impossible. ^^

Remember to keep positive when examining the possibilities because quantum physics can also logically explain nothingness. Which I must say is deeply disturbing. There are many great books on this too. Time to go shopping, id say. Take care!

Thanks for the correction Ken. ^^ I was wrong on that definition.

^^

See, why am I single… I can admit to being wrong. lol

Actually, I would recommend you to read Thomas Merton. He is/was a well known theologian who discussed thoroughly the intersections between Chritianity and Buddhism. You can google him for more info.

I first read him when I returned from Asia, having come in contact with Buddhism and other eastern religions, having grown up as a Christian, and I must say his writing influenced my thoughts immensely.

Try Zen and the Birds of Appetite.

As far as family is concerned, it is very difficult when they are more conservative and “fear for your soul”…but your beliefs will not be beliefs unless they are yours. Good luck on your journey.

After reading Merton’s works, I highly recommend Frederick Beuchner’s Hungering Dark, Paul Tillich’s The Dynamics of Faith, Martin Buber’s I and Thou, and maybe a little Kirekegaard, if you are really brave….

I think it is healthy to be interested in other faiths. I was brought up a Christian, but I feel there are many faiths and non-faiths, both theological or scientific, that influence my overall beliefs. I don’t believe instilling fear or extremism should be part of any religion. A compassionate and loving God would want us to explore and learn about ourselves and the world around us (not build walls around ourselves and live in an unhealthy fear of it.) I see nothing wrong with developing an interest and exploring another faith or even combining beliefs or values of different religions.

Some great advice above. Now I am even more curious! :D

Check out Hinduism, you get to keep Jesus, but also follow a much more enlightened path. I’m an aethiest and the closest I ever came to being a believer was through the ancient teachings of Hinduism… I would first check out “Hinduism for Dummies” followed by the Bhagavad Gita and then the Upanishads. The first being a great way to get a broad over view of beliefs and history in an easy to understand manner, the second two being important pieces of religious text.

Yes some really good advice.
you can not ‘have’ or ‘be’a religion
Look we can go beyond religion. You cannot say you ‘are’ something, this will completely narrow your vision and keep you tied to one set of beliefs. Of course you can believe in conflicting ideas this is the way you grow and expand, bear in mind that none of these beliefs can be proved right or wrong.
I would say that you can liken us to a computer. you dont say that your pc is a word processor or spread sheet or games machine or any one thing, it is a multi function unit and will perform many multi tasks. We cannot say that we are one thing or have one belief that is rediculous. I find that i use many beliefs or religions throughout each day to allow me to keep an open mind on all subjects and accept all people from all walks of life. It allows me to socialise and take on board what people say without defending my point of veiw.

I’m an atheist and I don’t say religion is bad, but it tends to do more harm than good because it can be used as a tool to motivate poeple. In the wrong hands that tool can be destructive. In my beleif, religion or beleif fill the empty space between knowledge and realitity. Once you know how something work, how it’s made and how it will interact with it’s envrionnment, you have an answer based on facts. Therefore it’s knowledge. But when you can’t tell, human mind will by default try to understand. And when it can’t succeed in grasping the concept, human mind will create beleif. The biggest problem with that is that some people use beleif like knowledge. Beleif is personnal and subject to change asyou advance in life. Knowledge is something aquired, certain and confirmed by different event or people in your life. Your theory of saying that nothing exist but your own mind is a common phylosophical concept. I think therefore I am. It may be true, but to remain functionnal, I would add that since I must live in that illusion, I should define what is constant and mesurable as knowledge. Also, nothing is impossible, we agree on that, but not everything is possible at a given place and a given time. You might find contradiction here but if you really think of it, there isn’t any.