| Master Fan
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 20,391
| Quote: It does  but so does what is bad. | Well, that’s certainly true.
Yet, I could argue that, from a spiritual perspective, what is “bad” (which, honestly, is a matter of perspective and, I feel, shouldn’t be discussed as an absolute) arises from occasions where we don’t act in line with our “true/real” selves, i.e. souls.
And, even then, mistakes we make along the way, hurtful and disruptive though they may be, help us learn and move along and evolve. Hopefully, anyway.
I don’t know. I find that “good” and “bad”, for the most part, are a weird dichotomy to judge human action and experience by. Obviously, certain stuff falls pretty radically at one extreme or the other. But, for the most part, I find most things are mostly neutral, a little bit of both.
But maybe that’s just me. 
Quote: I understand, I think. Matters of the heart are not that easy to deal with in mind's way. But I think it is great that you are trying  | Oh, matters of the heart I could describe. I know my own feelings and emotions pretty well, even when they’re all muddled and confused.
Matters of soul? That’s another thing entirely.
Quote: | That brings us back to my question of what is the basis for religious reality. IMO religion is a strange mix between two sets of "realities"
In some way, it reminds me of fantasy-literature. a construction of a world consistant partially of ordinary, worldly phenomena, and partially of the supernatural. Written in a book that say it is so.
But unlike fantasy literature, religion claims to be describing our world, the world I live in. I love fantasy literature. But if I am to accept the existence of spirits, demons, angels and God in my world, then surely there must be some way to trace them? some signs in the world around us that they are there? | I don’t know. I don’t see any contradiction in “mixing realities.” After all, a lot of things we experience we experience in more than one way. Some events are physical and emotional. Some events are physical and psychological and emotional. Some events are cerebral and psychological…
To me, saying that we also live a spiritual life isn’t that much of a stretch.
Of course, if I was looking for supernatural creatures, it would certainly demand more in terms of suspension of disbelief. My personal spiritual beliefs are pretty simple. There is a God. I am a soul. That’s essentially it, in a nutshell. And I see evidence of that every day myself, but I suppose it goes back to that whole thing of: “To those who do not believe, no proof is enough; to those who believe, no proof is necessary,”
You really shouldn’t have to try this hard to believe in something. If you do, you do. If you don’t, you don’t. Either way, it’s okay.
Quote: That is a very comfortable thought. I wish there was a great force of the usiverse (The Powers That Be, which are mentioned in some fantasy shows, or the deities of religions or whatever) that could make sure that what's right gets rewarded ans what's wrong corrected etc. But I have not experienced it that way. There are good and bad coincidents, there are the regulations (legal, social and others) that are put in place by humans, and beyond that, I have yet to find something  The universe has shown itself to be atoms and magnetism, energy and dark matter etc. But in it's own physical way, it does of course give consequences to our actions (burn lots of oil, and release a lot of gasses into the atmosphere, and you will get global warming, sea levels rising, extra hurricanes etc) | Well, I don’t know what to tell you on that front. I see evidence of that greater force every day myself.
Of course, human actions… are human. That’s the beauty of them. It would very hard to evolve spiritually if everything was all wonderful all the time. We make mistakes, we hurt ourselves and one another, we take detours that create a lot of damage. It’s not pretty. It’s certainly not enjoyable. In fact, a lot of it sucks pure and simple.
But it doesn’t mean there isn’t a greater plan. At least, not for me. It just means none of us is perfect.
Quote: yes it is but the questions that then comes naturally (to me anyhow) is where this great plan comes from, and how did it come about? on how does it apply to us? | And, see, that brings to my mind the question of, why does it matter? I mean, I believe in a bigger plan (so to speak), but you don’t have to. Why would you have to? Even if there is one, how does that change your life?
To me, it’s like wondering why one person was born in Canada while the other was born in Norway. You can get lost in tracking the answer to that question if you want, but it won’t change the facts in the end: One person was born in Canada while the other was born in Norway. They both still have to go on with their lives. __________________  Sunny
"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." avie by Jessie |