/lit/ - Literature

>>15046114
kill yourself
I mean
the bible
i mean
valis

>>15046114
this sounds as a personal good which is the only valid version of god
in this case the less you read the better
just experience life and confirm your bias

unironically self flagellation

>>15046114
>yet I can only reach him through strong contemplation/reflection

This is called prayer.

Read the Bible, and pray the sinner’s prayer. There are a few different versions:

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/prayer/the-sinners-prayer-4-examples.html

>>15046114
>Any literature or tips for this, brothers?
Try reading this link OP, it's a fairly short read, also the Bhagavad-Gita is a timeless spiritual classic

https://realization.org/p/ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita.html

>>15046127
this

Reading the Bible is a good thing to do but if you just want to realize His presence just think about it a bit more. I used to be a really bad drunk and I would just get stoned all day and listen to music and stuff, trying to think about myself and the things in my life. After enough thinking you'll start to see His hand behind things

>>15046114
I’m in a very similar boat to you. Was adamantly atheist and a bit of a simplistic science fag (“I believe only what can be proven”). I’ve read the Quran (was a Muslim before atheist phase) and have read w decent bit of the bible out of general literary interest. Honestly my biggest recommendation isn’t to try to read to feel some sense of closeness to god but to remember him in moments of failure or success, when out appreciating nature and feeling overcome by that general sense of well-being, when thinking of all the infinite complexities of this world and how we came to be etc. I hope that all doesn’t sound pretentious or anything but seriously, it works. No amount of reading will make you feel closer it’s really just life experience and getting out there and appreciating life and nature that will do it. I don’t know what it is that made me return to believing in god or the concept of a “higher power” other than just “feeling it” and keeping him in mind during extraordinary times and even just the everyday things that make you appreciate life

>>15046114
It seems like you've come a good way by yourself, are you trying to ruin your good work by asking advice on this board?
Only take general advice on this matter, OP. Try prayer and meditation, read some sacred texts, and see what comes next by yourself. I trust that you can come to a healthy conclusion by yourself.

Is god the total being of everything that exists or a force that exists outside of our reality?

>>15046180
I would say outside between those two options but He could really choose to be inside it if He wanted. He's the only being that can exist without this universe.

>>15046180
The answers people will give you depends on their religion

Write down your uninfluenced religious conceptives or describe your intuitings as best as you can now and then compare that later to your conclusions after formal religious reading and make the posit that this metaphysics stuff is genomically patterned in a structurally recurring way. If you plan on taking up a religion just remember not to get too hung up on the source material because entry-level is filled with solipsism in every religion

>>15046188
I really want to form a solid opinion on this matter, I can’t convince myself one way or the other

>>15046188
That’s the point of discussion, no?
>>15046180
I would say god is undefinable, it’s not that he exists within or without our reality it’s that he, not to sound pretentious, exists everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Hard to explain but I guess imagine the universe is enveloped within a cloud and that cloud is god, exists without the universe but also exists everywhere in it. That’s my perception of the concept of god at least

>>15046196
study the Trinity as described by the Eastern church fathers

>>15046199
What’s outside the cloud then, tough guy?

>>15046114
>discovered
You have managed to bullshit yourself don’t pretend that it’s anything else

>>15046211
You are not the smartest being in the universe

>>15046208
A giant sack

>>15046192

Also if the Bible says that the world is mostly occupied by Satan and it doesn't say that this might truncate what information made it into the Bible through peer-review and covenantical approval, let's just say that abridged translations of these books might be worth more than their weight in solipsism, but also with that, note that the fact that the church of creation and its antithetical opposite could have had this discussion at all also means that good and evil do operate in a further regimented tandem than it would at first appear and maybe while things might be worse than you could imagine, they are also not as bad as that would seem... -somewhere in your consciousness you're the same you whether you're walking down the street eating an ice cream cone or whether you're leaning back in a chair and it's reached incline point on your way to the floor, and in that way you're back where you started out

>>15046219
Who said anything about that? I just not dishonest enough to claim I know something I obviously don't.

>>15046180
God is a Circle desu

Look, you "know" God exists the same way that a Marxists "knows" that the revolution is right around the corner. That is, you don't know shit, you believe. Use the proper word.

>>15046208
Nothing, the cloud is everything. Same question can be asked about the universe. What’s outside the universe? Where did the first matter come from etc. Literally the most basic questions you can ask about both the universe and god regardless of which you believe to be the “ultimate” form of existence

>>15046239

>>15046114
>Any literature or tips for this, brothers?
To be with God, is to be here, in the present mindful and aware. God surrounds you in his Love. Reach out, and you will be touched by his presence.

>>15046114
>>15046160
Welcome brother.

>>15046428

>>15046114
I think I have seen you yesterday.

>>15046114
Bible (Psalms and Gospels in particular)
Guru Granth Sahib
I Ching
Tao Te Ching
Quran
Bhagavad Gita
Dhammapada
Yoga Vasistha
Tai Chi Classics
Art of Peace (Morihei Ueshiba)
A Course in Miracles
Carlos Castaneda books
Prometheus Rising
New Thought books newthoughtlibrary.com/archives.htm#New-Thought-Archives

>>15046114
Glad you found your jew on a stick placebo, op. Coping with a small penis is important.

>>15046823
why won't atheists ever be able to move beyond christianity?

>>15046114
"Muh fee-fees" is not rational grounds for believing in supernatural entities, fuckwit.

>>15046840
Because they’re still rebelling against mommy and daddy making them dress up for Sunday school

Which god? How do you know there aren’t multiple gods?

>>15046114
>on the way of salvation
>on a literature board
>does not read the bible
Walk with God, but walk away.

>>15046114
>>15046168
the fact is you're both me-ists. you seek some validation of what you "feel", rather than adhering to the strict rules of an organised religion. you don't believe in a god, you are just narcissists.

Read Brother Lawrence, fren.
You will find what you're looking for.

shit, i didn't realise this thread was going stale. i should have just left it to quietly slip away instead of resurrecting it

>Thread
>Produced by OP
>starring Anon, Anon, Anon, UTA, Anon, Anon, and OP as Anon
>Soundtrack by Kanye West
>Written and directed by Robert B. Weide

>>15046114
What kind of God are we talking about anon? If it’s a platonic or pantheistic God then that’s very based and I’m glad for you. If you start believing in Semitic desert cults you need to stop right now

>>15046114
>What I can’t seem to figure out is how to feel Him with me all the time instead of just in fleeting transcendent moments. I want to feel as though God is by my side yet I can only reach him through strong contemplation/reflection.

Read the gospels then the The Way of a Pilgrim for this question to be answered

>>15046180
His Divine Energies are everywhere present and fill all things, His Divine Essence is beyond all things, beyond being itself and utterly unknowable

>>15047396
>you have to believe in organised religion to believe in god otherwise you’re a narcissist
You’re retarded and groupthink cuck
>>15046823
>>15046842
Pic related

>>15047396
>rather than adhering to the strict rules of an organised religion
Why does anyone need to adhere to the strict rules of an organised religion to believe in god? Is not the search of being good and seeking to appreciate and accept all things under god sufficient? How is that narcissistic? Who says it needs to be some concept of god thought up by others to be valid? Do you even know what narcissist means

>>15046114
Christ is all you need but you have to be called to him, can't really force it, can't sell it, can't buy it. Christ says "come and see.." and "my sheep hear my voice".

>>15047671
>not bruteforcing to god through awakening
>good luck in next lifetime lad

>>15046232

Let me present an allegory.

There once was a pope and a cardinal who could never come to an agreement. One day the cardinal came to the pope and said, "Venerable Francis, for the love of God, turn a blind eye to this flute player. I know him! I know that he comes in every Sunday to your seminary and sings in the choir." The pope said, "Never mind him. He's just some careless preacher!" "No," said the cardinal, "he's a cardinal!" And he said, "Come, my lord, and have a look. See, he actually sings—it's a choir he sings in! Look at those bawdy tunes he sings!" And, for the first time, Don Pepin felt that he had become religious. He held out his hand to the cardinal, and said in a loud voice, "I'm religious! I am a Christian! I believe that Christ died and rose again! And I believe that the cardinal and Pope Francis are the same person!" His hands trembled at the suggestion, but the cardinal's eyes gleamed. "Don Pepin," he said slowly, "you understand the system of the church, as I know it. You have had no instruction in it, except the formal, scientific, wise teachings. What can I say to you but respect?" The pope seemed pleased with this answer. "Well," he said to the cardinal, "it's a good thing Don Pepin's flute." With that, the cardinal knelt on one knee and began to pray. Then he knelt on his other knee and asked the pope if he knew a man named Christophorus Donatia of Priena. "Yes, but he's an impostor," said the pope, "So am I, but I've been baptized in a church." The palace roared with laughter and Don Pepin was not executed that day.