Good vs. bad properties in religion

[cloudyday2]

@TheOldWay , there were a couple of other thought too:

(1) In a fractal the same pattern emerges regardless of the scale of observation. If you look under a microscope or stand back miles away, you see the same pattern. In your example of exclusively focusing devotion on a single divine plant it might not be a mistake. The pattern of the entire meadow might be contained in each individual plant.

(2) In the lectures I recently watched on Hinduism the professor explained how Hindus often choose a particular god such as Kali to be treated as the supreme God. In some cases Hindus might even treat a physical object as the actual manifestation of some god. And Hindus depict their gods with a mixture of human traits and inhuman traits (4 arms, elephant head, etc.). In Hinduism the specifics don't matter as much as making an effort. If thinking of God as Kali makes it easier to worship God, then do that. (That is how I understood the lecture and I might have misunderstood.)

 

[Proud Pagan]

Imagine someone took you out into a beautiful meadow and said 'Here is God! All of this! Go play and explore! Discover God!"

God is not limited to one founder or textbook formed a thousand years ago. Sanatan Dharma understands the truth lies far beyond what the mind can grasp. But at the same time this one god , one reality , one personality , can be revealed in any number of ways. If there is one thing we can conclude from creation is that Ishwara loves diversity . No two people are same , even if they be twins , there finger prints are different . There are millions of speices of life , plants animals and what not uwu . There are endlesss stars and galaxies .

The vast array of Gods and Goddessess are simply indicative of infinite nature of Divinity.

Now you struggle to comprehend this. There is so much to see and you can't wrap your head around it but then you see a plant that really strikes you as divine.

There is no proper equivalent of Sanskrit word Ishwara. I will give you a rough analogy -

Ishwar = God of Christianity minus the concept of Trinity minus the necessity to surrender to Jesus

Ishwar = Allah of Islam minus the necessity to accept Muhammad as final Prophet.

Now as for Gods , well the actual word is devatas . Devata refers to entities that are useful for us. But nowhere it is mentioned in Vedas that we should worship these entities. However we worship them to seek knowledge . Devata literally means one who gives / provides. Think of them as highly elevated intelligent aliens who live on a much higher plane of existence.
Many of us seek to establish beneficial relationships with them to aid us gain more knowledge. This has been branded demon worship by christians . Tbh I dont know why christians have branded demons as evil . Also as for this plant is god . Because Sanatan Dharma does not limit the concept and doctrines of God to a book . We all are individuals and one has the liberty to think of God as anything even if it seems funny .

 

[Proud Pagan]

And Hindus depict their gods with a mixture of human traits and inhuman traits (4 arms, elephant head, et

The way the gods are depicted is most of the time pointing towards an allegory .

In Hinduism the specifics don't matter as much as making an effort.

Yes.

 

[dlamberth]

I'm not sure if you mean this, but it almost sounds like you're suggesting that an "eat, drink, and be merry" atheist would be the closest to God?

Why not?

 

[TheOldWays]

(1) In a fractal the same pattern emerges regardless of the scale of observation. If you look under a microscope or stand back miles away, you see the same pattern. In your example of exclusively focusing devotion on a single divine plant it might not be a mistake. The pattern of the entire meadow might be contained in each individual plant.

You would have to observe the effects of the plant on your mind and heart and make a determination based on that.

 

[TheOldWays]

God is not limited to one founder or textbook formed a thousand years ago. Sanatan Dharma understands the truth lies far beyond what the mind can grasp. But at the same time this one god , one reality , one personality , can be revealed in any number of ways. If there is one thing we can conclude from creation is that Ishwara loves diversity . No two people are same , even if they be twins , there finger prints are different . There are millions of speices of life , plants animals and what not uwu . There are endlesss stars and galaxies .

The vast array of Gods and Goddessess are simply indicative of infinite nature of Divinity.



There is no proper equivalent of Sanskrit word Ishwara. I will give you a rough analogy -

Ishwar = God of Christianity minus the concept of Trinity minus the necessity to surrender to Jesus

Ishwar = Allah of Islam minus the necessity to accept Muhammad as final Prophet.

Now as for Gods , well the actual word is devatas . Devata refers to entities that are useful for us. But nowhere it is mentioned in Vedas that we should worship these entities. However we worship them to seek knowledge . Devata literally means one who gives / provides. Think of them as highly elevated intelligent aliens who live on a much higher plane of existence.
Many of us seek to establish beneficial relationships with them to aid us gain more knowledge. This has been branded demon worship by christians . Tbh I dont know why christians have branded demons as evil . Also as for this plant is god . Because Sanatan Dharma does not limit the concept and doctrines of God to a book . We all are individuals and one has the liberty to think of God as anything even if it seems funny .

Good info. Thank you.

 

[TheOldWays]

I believe something slightly different. I think it doesn't matter if the person is a Fundamentalist Christian or a Wiccan or anything else. What matters is whether that person is seeking God/gods or seeking to be a certain type of person or a member of a group. For example, when I joined an Eastern Orthodox church, I began buying and reading books about Orthodoxy. That was a mistake, because my goal became Orthodoxy instead of God. On the other hand, it can help to get advice from other people and try what others have found effective. It's a fine line between utilizing the group knowledge base to seek God and seeking the group as a proxy for God.

Truth be told I don't really even 'believe' what I posted there. The meadow was just an example. I am not a pantheist or anything. In terms of God I usually find the divine in the conscious and unconscious, not really in the current material reality.

 

[dlamberth]

In terms of God I usually find the divine in the conscious and unconscious, not really in the current material reality.

I find myself agreeing with you mostly, but not completely. That's because it's through this "current material reality" in which I'm aware of and see the Divine within the consciousness. It's also a reality where I experiencing consciousness as the fountainhead of Creation itSelf.

So for mySelf what this says about finding the Divine in "unconsciousness" that you also mentioned is that I'm unable to see that there is such a thing as "unconsciousness". The Divine spark of Consciousness runs through and within all of the cosmos, both the seen and unseen, or none of this physical world or even the non-physical world would even exist, with the addition of "as seen from my world".

Let's take a Tree as an example. I hope this makes sense. When a Tree is seen as a verb, not a noun, the Tree, from that perspective becomes alive, vibrant and conscious with spirit and with soul. And when the Divine spark is also experienced within the consciousness of that Tree, the added bonus is Divine within Consciousness being made known through what your calling the "current material reality" through that Tree. In that kind of way Human Beings are Consciousness being aware of Consciousness through the physical realm.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Christian faith is mere a salvation theology where there is an urgency to get saved.

Does God speak to you directly?

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

The way the gods are depicted is most of the time pointing towards an allegory .



Yes.

Why did you decide to adopt the Hindu religion?