All religions (or lack thereof) are equally valid

Any faith that begins with loving God with all one’s strength and loving one’s fellowman as one loves himself, is valid. How the plate is arranged after that can vary–and does.

From his link:

“The challenge of different answers to a particular issue is not unique to the topic of religion. For example, you can sit 100 math students down, give them a complex problem to solve, and it is likely that many will get the answer wrong. But does this mean that a correct answer does not exist? Not at all. Those who get the answer wrong simply need to be shown their error and know the techniques necessary to arrive at the correct answer.”

What this example doesn’t take into account in 100 students can also come up with 100 different ways to get to the correct solution. Which one of the 100 is the “correct” way if all of the final answers are the same? The answer to this question is the question is invalid. All of the methods that result in the correct response are correct.

Nicely stated.

Thank you.

What if that God’s name is Odin?

What if a god exists but we have learned anything about him yet? Think about it. Perhaps the one true gid will reveal himself 100 years from now and his name is Dave.

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What if…it’s revealed only to the truly worthy. Would that awaken your seeking mind?

“It is like a powerful
Wheel-rolling king
Who to his war-distinguished soldiers Presents many rewards,
Elephants, horses, carriages, litters, Personal ornaments,
As well as fields and houses,
Villages and cities;
Or bestows garments,
Various kinds of jewels,
Slaves and wealth,
Bestowing all with joy.
[But] only for one heroic
And of rare exploits
Does the king take from his head
The [crown] jewel to give him.
Thus is it also with the Tathagata;
He is the king of the Law,
[Possessed of] great powers of patience And the treasury of wisdom;
He, with great benevolence,
Transforms the world with his Law. Seeing all human beings
Suffering from pains and distresses, Seeking for deliverance,
Fighting against the Maras,
He to all these living beings
Has preached various laws,
And in great tactfulness
Has preached these [numerous] sutras; Finally knowing the creatures
Have attained their [developed] powers, At last he to them
Preaches this Law-Flower,
As the king took from his head
The jewel and gave it.”

That’s an interesting idea. Did He reveal Himself to Gandhi? Are Christians worshipping the wrong God and instead should be Hindu?

But would that awaken your own seeking mind and cause you to practice for your own awakening?

There is no contradictions between the real teachings of Jesus, real Hinduism, real Buddhism. Explanations, histories and terminology may differ, but only superficially. In many cases the terminologies and histories can be discovered to be fully compatibl and arising from the same roots from humanity itself.

Faith, Prayer and meditation and good works is the practice, not the swirling of unenlightened dogma theories and schismatic behaviors within religious sects.

Real practice is the only way to become worthy and awaken. People of “incorrigible disbelief,” who imagine themselves informed or those with overbearing arrogance, fail on The Way and do not receive their own awakening.

Ok, so you don’t need to believe in Jesus Christ to obtain salvation. Do you need to believe in any god to get salvation? Is there a salvation? Can I just be a good person and let the God question be answered after death?

Those who fail on The Way in their current existence, due to their slander of the Law, lose their Rare opportunity as a human, fall into lower life states for long periods and eventually they aspire to the Way.

What Law do I need to be careful not to slander? If I slander, what lower form might I come back as?

Suffering in this world is real. Short lifespan, disease, death of loved ones, old age, animal-like body, total ignorance, etc. should lead you to determine to practice to awaken.

Like everything else in life, effort is required of you. Death will be upon you at any moment.

Even on ignorant person with faith, can eventually attain Salvation. Salvation is Enlightenment and Buddhahood. However, if a person has been slandering the true Law, they block their own awakening and throw away opportunity.

Not applying yourself has bad results, just as lazy people throw away opportunity, fail in their daily life, education, career, etc.

Sages of Brahmanism, and avatars such as Krishna, left laws, Moses left laws, Jesus left laws, Gautama and all Buddhas teach laws. The word “Buddha,” is a term that can refer to the greatest teachers, greater than saints or Bodhissatvas, and greater then Angels and heavenly dieties. These laws applied to the time and place and sequence of propagation to the people related to that time and place, The propounders of those laws all practiced and attained an awakening. In all cases there were those who slandered, doubted and created schisms. Today many in these religions still see things in a shallow way. This is human nature and the result of slanders over many lives.

The Mahayana Buddhist Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, left the teaching of the single Supreme Law, from which all multiple Laws emerge. This Supreme Law is finally taught at the beginning of the time period called in Mahayana Buddhism, the Latter Day of the Law. “The Latter Day” principle can also be found in Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity. because those awakened to the law during prayer and meditation, discover this principle of the Selection of the Time.

When a founder (Buddha, Messiah, Avatar) announces a true religion and spreads it throughout a country and spreads it to other countries, this “new” religion has a sequence of propagation. As time goes on new people born have less of a cosmic, mystic bond to the teaching, due to the inherent Law of karma and after a thousand years the teaching enters a period where it falls into corruption under the weight of schisms and misunderstandings. After another thousand years, the Law itselt becomes lost and becomes an empty shell compared to it’s former efficacy. In a mundane sense, one can understand this principle in terms of worldly interests and how times change. For instance, in a familiar sense, as time goes on, calling Elvis, “the King,” loses power and meaning and eventually future people even forget his name.

About Slander.

Here is a 13th century passage on slander, from the writing of the Japanese Saint Nichiren, quoting a 6th century Chinese Mahayana Saint, Chi-i, know as Tien-tai the Great:

“Hokke Mongu (written by Chih-I, ) states briefly, ‘Expound among the wise but not among the foolish.’ One scholar enumerates the types of evil as follows: ‘I will first list the evil causes and then their effects. There are fourteen evil causes: (1) arrogance, (2) negligence, (3) arbitrary, egotistical judgment, (4) shallow, self-satisfied understanding, (5) attachment to earthly desires, (6) lack of seeking spirit, (7) not believing, (8) aversion, (9) deluded doubt, (10) vilification, (11) contempt, (12) hatred, (13) jealousy and (14) grudges.’” Since these fourteen slanders apply equally to priesthood and laity, you must be on guard against them." --13th century Buddhist Saint, Nichiren

Nichiren went on to explain, his own severe suffering, due to extreme persecution from the Government, corrupt Buddhist sects of his day and other powerful people, was NOT due to slander of the lesser laws of the fourteen slanders, or even the “Five Cardinal sins,” *** but due to his previous slander of the Supreme Laws, which is the core of the Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, (Myoho Renge Kyo) which finally teavhes the Supreme Law as never expounded before.

(***The “Five Cardinal Sins,” were 1.Killing one’s Mother, 2. Kiliing one’s Father, 3. Killing a disciple of a Buddha, 4. Injuring the Buddha, 5. Breaking unity within the Order.)

Whatever wombs your karmic winds blow you into. Your inclinations.

To grasp this you should practice strictly so as not to waste time. You could study the meaning of the principle of Ichinen Sanzen, I touched on that in a thread on the Parables of Mahayana Buddhism.

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Wow. :smile:

Post #435.

It was not my intention to create an epic thread, just answer back to Meri’s thread. :sunglasses:

In any event, after all this, I stick to my original view. Religion is very personal and we must follow the path that suit our individual needs.

For some of you that is Catholicism, for others Protestantism, etc, etc.

I am a follower of Christ.

Catholics, Protestants, Mormons, Christian non-denominationals, and people who say they follow no religion but remain spiritual follow Christ.

I am of the opinion that no matter which religion turns out to be the truest, it only puts those believers a step closer to God. That means we believers who are a step back are still well within God’s reach.

What does it mean to follow Christ? How does one follow Christ? Why would one follow Christ?

The Spanish Inquisition, Salam Witch Trials, the Jewish Pogroms, executing heretics, to list a few…it seems his Christian followers never got the message.

All will be clear before the end.

What is the foundation of rational thought?