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SATCHMO · 10-06-2009, 01:38 PM

I chose self-defined.

I am a very spiritual person and very knowledgeable in the practices scriptures and beliefs of most of the worlds major religions, both eastern western, as well as New Thought based. I practice my own faith very actively, which includes prayer, meditation, and other practices that I can only collectively describe as shamanic in nature.

The foundation of my belief system is Judeo-christian simply because I believe that the interpersonal dynamic between the self and what is perceived as a guiding higher power, aka a spiritual father, is very conducive to spiritual and personal growth and insight. I did try living a fairly orthodox christian lifestyle for a while, which even included doing missionary work, but I came to find out that Christianity was a religion that I couldn't practice with the degree of intellectual honesty necessary for me to thrive and grow in such a religion.

I also disagree with most of the main tenets of Christianity as they are defined by the Nicene Creed, so I can't rightfully call myself a Christian, or at least i can't in the eyes of mainstream Christianity. Despite this I feel like I have a genuine understanding and relationship with Jesus as being both a prophet and a shaman, and I do try to live my life by his example and teachings.

I think the primary problem that we run into, or at least I do, from both the theistic and atheistic side of the debate is the perception of god being an entity, or an object that exists in time and space outside of our selves. I believe god is essentially the greater whole to which we and everything in existence are a part of. I also believe that god primarily exists as an aspect of our consciousness, our super-consciousness, and it's the practice of prayer, meditation, or whatever ritual or aesthetic lifestyle one may happen to be engaged in that allows us to tap into that part of our consciousness and develop as human beings.

I don't particularly entertain the big questions such as "Who created the universe?", "why is there evil/suffering?" "Is there a heaven/hell?", because I don't believe there will ever be adequate answers to these questions and I also believe these questions depict god as being an autonomous and independently judgmental entity. "He" is, in fact, only a greater extension of our selves and the universe at large, not that there's any difference between the two.

10-06-2009, 01:38 PM	#26 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	I chose self-defined. I am a very spiritual person and very knowledgeable in the practices scriptures and beliefs of most of the worlds major religions, both eastern western, as well as New Thought based. I practice my own faith very actively, which includes prayer, meditation, and other practices that I can only collectively describe as shamanic in nature. The foundation of my belief system is Judeo-christian simply because I believe that the interpersonal dynamic between the self and what is perceived as a guiding higher power, aka a spiritual father, is very conducive to spiritual and personal growth and insight. I did try living a fairly orthodox christian lifestyle for a while, which even included doing missionary work, but I came to find out that Christianity was a religion that I couldn't practice with the degree of intellectual honesty necessary for me to thrive and grow in such a religion. I also disagree with most of the main tenets of Christianity as they are defined by the Nicene Creed, so I can't rightfully call myself a Christian, or at least i can't in the eyes of mainstream Christianity. Despite this I feel like I have a genuine understanding and relationship with Jesus as being both a prophet and a shaman, and I do try to live my life by his example and teachings. I think the primary problem that we run into, or at least I do, from both the theistic and atheistic side of the debate is the perception of god being an entity, or an object that exists in time and space outside of our selves. I believe god is essentially the greater whole to which we and everything in existence are a part of. I also believe that god primarily exists as an aspect of our consciousness, our super-consciousness, and it's the practice of prayer, meditation, or whatever ritual or aesthetic lifestyle one may happen to be engaged in that allows us to tap into that part of our consciousness and develop as human beings. I don't particularly entertain the big questions such as "Who created the universe?", "why is there evil/suffering?" "Is there a heaven/hell?", because I don't believe there will ever be adequate answers to these questions and I also believe these questions depict god as being an autonomous and independently judgmental entity. "He" is, in fact, only a greater extension of our selves and the universe at large, not that there's any difference between the two.