4 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

Oh, do you believe in the devil ?

I am a bit surprised now ????

Devil is a synonym and symbol for everything thats bad and wrong in this world, thought you knew that ????

 

 

5 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Devil is a synonym and symbol for everything thats bad and wrong in this world, thought you knew that ????

 

 

That's your opinion, and it sounds simplistic.

Sometimes what appears to be good is bad in the future, and vice-versa.

Besides that, there are many sources of "good " and " bad" forces.

But anyway,  your above post was quite agreeable.

4 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

That's your opinion, and it sounds simplistic.

Sometimes what appears to be good is bad in the future, and vice-versa.

Besides that, there are many sources of "good " and " bad" forces.

But anyway,  your above post was quite agreeable.

 I personally prefer Yin Yang

13 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Oh, do you believe in the devil ?

I am a bit surprised now ????

If one believes in the devil one de facto believes in God of religion.

13 hours ago, Hummin said:

Devil is a synonym and symbol for everything thats bad and wrong in this world, thought you knew that ????

 

 

No it's not. The devil is the fallen angel in conflict against God.

9 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No it's not. The devil is the fallen angel in conflict against God.

Okay, back to the book I understand

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If one believes in the devil one de facto believes in God of religion.

That's my impression too, but he has been quick to deny it.

Words can be misleading, it seems that we have to live with it.

Personally, i accept the existence of evil forces with different names and shapes, the same with what i consider good forces or entities. 

However, burying one's head in the sand, so to speak, is not a solution, and the relief never lasts long. 

Thought this might be interesting for Sunmaster.

MDMA, psilocybin approved by TGA for psychiatric use in Australia (smh.com.au)

No one posted here for months but post and they will come. 

(A) Definition of God: Whoever/whatever the masses worship

 

A lot of people worship sports stars.

Lionel Messi (his name is even close to Messi-ah)

 

 

On 2/6/2023 at 2:51 PM, save the frogs said:

(A) Definition of God: Whoever/whatever the masses worship

 

A lot of people worship sports stars.

Lionel Messi (his name is even close to Messi-ah)

 

 

Unless Messi created the universe, he ain't god.

On 2/6/2023 at 11:01 AM, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Thought this might be interesting for Sunmaster.

MDMA, psilocybin approved by TGA for psychiatric use in Australia (smh.com.au)

No one posted here for months but post and they will come. 

Last I looked there were about 2 or 3 of us regular posters that support God's existence. The rest just kept bringing up things nothing to do with faith, so IMO this thread has died and gone to meet it's maker.

One amazing ride though.

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Unless Messi created the universe, he ain't god.

Yep, although someone could say that he's a football god.

2 hours ago, mauGR1 said:

Yep, although someone could say that he's a football god.

Hello there. This thread just won't die, LOL.

????

Anyone changed their belief during this tread? Modified their belief, changed their belief? 

 

I believe I have become more aware the roots of my belief, and stronger in my opinion. Not much change but maybe matured in my true faith.

 

Thanks to everyone involved, it have been a great tread, even alot of bickering and reputations, we managed to keep it civilized most of the time without to much modification.

 

 

43 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Anyone changed their belief during this tread? Modified their belief, changed their belief? 

 

I believe I have become more aware the roots of my belief, and stronger in my opinion. Not much change but maybe matured in my true faith.

 

Thanks to everyone involved, it have been a great tread, even alot of bickering and reputations, we managed to keep it civilized most of the time without to much modification.

 

 

I learned a lot, thanks mainly to two other posters and rediscovered my faith.

It reminded me that "there's nowt so queer as folk".

20 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I learned a lot, thanks mainly to two other posters and rediscovered my faith.

I learned that some fairy stories last a long, long time.

42 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I learned a lot, thanks mainly to two other posters and rediscovered my faith.

Everyone who contributed and had good arguments made me think twice and digg deeper, research more, and also look more in to more alternatives. 

 

 

On 2/6/2023 at 5:01 AM, Fat is a type of crazy said:

Thought this might be interesting for Sunmaster.

MDMA, psilocybin approved by TGA for psychiatric use in Australia (smh.com.au)

No one posted here for months but post and they will come. 

Yes, a small step in the right direction. 

2 hours ago, Hummin said:

Anyone changed their belief during this tread? Modified their belief, changed their belief? 

 

I believe I have become more aware the roots of my belief, and stronger in my opinion. Not much change but maybe matured in my true faith.

 

Thanks to everyone involved, it have been a great tread, even alot of bickering and reputations, we managed to keep it civilized most of the time without to much modification.

 

 

Thanks to this thread, I started to meditate regularly for the past 3 years now. I can see the benefits I got from it and the progress I made during this time. In the meantime, I also re-read all of Castaneda's books and am now reading more of Seth.

 

Arguing about spirituality here or with my friends was ultimately for my own benefit. I stopped doing that though. If the process of my own growth gave others new inputs or helped them somehow, than that's a welcome side effect. 

 

There is so much we don't know about ourselves, we should all be very careful how we use our precious time here. 

Finding and examining our core beliefs about ourselves and about how the world works, is in my opinion the most worthwhile think we can do.

HOW you do it is up to you.

 

There are over 10,000 worshipped Gods, so the question of believing in just one God makes no sense. The question needs to be corrected to read "Do you believe in any of the 10,000 Gods, which one and why?"

 

On 2/8/2023 at 1:36 AM, Sunmaster said:

I also re-read all of Castaneda's books

allegations that he was a fraud (plagiarized work, fiction passing off as non-fiction) and cult leader (with some followers committing suicide).

i don't know for sure though. 

On 2/8/2023 at 6:31 PM, xylophone said:

I learned that some fairy stories last a long, long time.

Which only goes to show you don't know the difference between religion and faith.

4 hours ago, Nemises said:

There are over 10,000 worshipped Gods, so the question of believing in just one God makes no sense. The question needs to be corrected to read "Do you believe in any of the 10,000 Gods, which one and why?"

 Just my opinion, but the way i see it, if God is everything, he/she can show countless shapes and faces.

Also,  being a follower of a particular cult, doesn't make one a true believer. 

Science, intended as an effort to unveil the truth, is barely scratching the surface of what seems to be an intelligent design which pervades every aspect of what we call reality. 

Just to think that life on this planet happened " by chance" is in fact a limited view , which has nothing to do with science. 

4 hours ago, save the frogs said:

allegations that he was a fraud (plagiarized work, fiction passing off as non-fiction) and cult leader (with some followers committing suicide).

i don't know for sure though. 

If some "journalists" managed to throw dirt on people like the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa (2 of the most compassionate beings ever walking this earth), you can imagine what they would do or write about C.C. 
The line that divides reality from fiction is very subjective and not a definite line at all. More like a blurry, fuzzy area. What might sound like fiction to one person, might be completely reasonable to another. Let's not forget that at some point in the past, heliocentrism was considered fiction and fought to the death. 

My advice...find out by yourself by reading his books and see if what he (or don Juan through him) says, and if it resonates with you. What others think or write about him is irrelevant.
To be honest, I find it often difficult to establish what is fiction and non-fiction in his books, too....but maybe that's what is appealing in his writings. He pushes the "line" so far out, that you are left with 2 choices: either dismiss everything as fantasy, or push your own line into new territories to see where it can lead you. I chose the second. The pebbles of wisdom and truth I found along the way, were far too precious not to be picked up.
 

That suicide thing is completely false too. As far as I know, there was one random reader who jumped off a cliff, trying to imitate a story in one of the books. Even if the story in the book were true, what she did was like trying to attempt a free diving record without any previous experience in free diving. And then someone blamed Castaneda for that, just like they used to blame rock'n'roll music for all the evils in the world. 

Castaneda's books are all characterized by one fundamental topic: the uncompromising struggle to be an impeccable warrior and thus attaining the ultimate freedom. 

3 minutes ago, Sunmaster said:

The line that divides reality from fiction is very subjective and not a definite line at all. More like a blurry, fuzzy area. What might sound like fiction to one person, might be completely reasonable to another. Let's not forget that at some point in the past, heliocentrism was considered fiction and fought to the death. 

Spot on. We are taught since childhood to see " reality " as an inescapable prison, while in fact every single person is creating his own reality, according to his level of consciousness. 

On 2/8/2023 at 11:57 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I learned a lot, thanks mainly to two other posters and rediscovered my faith.

Your faith in what please?

There is one important thing about humans, and it is our trust in our senses, and how we experienced the world through our senses.

 

Can we trust them, can we create things that is not there, and why people do not experience the same in realtime.

 

I have been reading quite alot about it lately, and it is a interesting study where more and more is related to how we create our own reality, especially under pressured times, and how easy we forget the real reality when having everything we need and nothing to worry about. 

 

Of course religion is a huge part of our existence, and even more when in need than not. Rich people see the benefits of the religion through their wealth, and also the control and also the connections it gives them personally. 

 

I believe in God coz otherwise I would be sad. I want there to be another life as this life of mine is not good and I work a lot to earn little. I don't want to grow old and die just like that. Also, I want to be reunited with my mum and dad coz when they died I cried a lot. If there's not God there would not be another life after I die would there? And I would never see my mum & dad again! I also want there to be another life so that the people who have all the money and can do whatever they want and have all the fun in the world go to hell while I can go to paradise, because otherwise it wouldn't be fair. This is why I believe in God, because if there is no God I don't feel good at all about myself and other people and that's why I'm sure there is a God and I believe in him.