Eternity Thread

[Anonymous No.6668040]

Where should I start with spirituality? I want to find God...the real God

[Anonymous No.6668045]

>>6668040
>I want

Start there.

[Anonymous No.6668046]

>>6668045

I want God
not buddhist woo-woo

[Anonymous No.6668050]

>>6668046

Well, then you don't want spirituality, you want your own, already predetermined idea.

Everyone is trying to reach the mountaintop, the only idiot who is wasting his time is the guy at the bottom going around in circles telling everyone they are going the wrong way.

[Anonymous No.6668068]

>>6668050


I want God not buddhism, sorry if that contradicts your preconceived notions of spirituality

[Anonymous No.6668085]

>>6668068

I'm not even Buddhist. I'm trying to point out how you are a self-limiting individual. If that is what you choose, that is fine. Just remember, you share this world with thousands of other religions/beliefs, so I hope you cultivate some pluralistic realization along the way.

[Anonymous No.6668090]

>>6668045
>>6668050

what do you recommend? your posts seem antagonistic not very helpful

[Anonymous No.6668129]

>>6668090

You should read, of course, the Bible. After the Old Testament I would read pseudo apocrypha and the Dead Sea Scrolls. This will allow you to see how the messianic fervor was being cultivated with the onset of the Jewish Wars. Then start the New Testament.

At that point, you can choose whatever theologian you want, probably Thomas Aquinas.

I would also read Secular Religious Studies Scholarship theory. Such as, Emile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade "The Sacred and The Profane", Rodney Stark's work on "Religious Economy Theory", and Ninan Smart's "Worldviews & Perspectives"

Start to look at Eastern Religions and Compare them to Western thought/religions.

Tao Te Ching
Lotus Sutra
Dhammapada
Bhagavad Gita
Vedas

But most importantly, since you sound like you swing toward theology, I would recommend the Avesta, This is the Zoroastrian Holy book. Zoroastrianism predates Judaism. This is important because you will see similar religious concepts, myths, and themes that are found the old testament, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Furthermore, Avesta will give you an insight into the kind of religious cultural diffusion that occurred during the Jewish Diaspora, specifically with Daniel, and other Jewish elites who served Nebuchadnezzar, and later Cyrus. It is here you can see the influence Zoroastrian priests had on the Jewish Diaspora. The major reforms after Cyrus's Decree would be spawned from this major religious diffusion. Especially when you get to the Prophets in the Old Testament.

Lastly, Luther is a must. Just so you have a clear understand of the Schism that would take place with the Protestant reformation.

[Anonymous No.6668171]

>>6668129

To conclude, this approach demonstrates historical religious understanding, as well as understanding 3 major themes/concepts of study: Theology, Eastern Religion/Thought, and Secular Religious Studies.

It is important to know that, by secular, I am not talking about people who subscribe to scientism, like Dawkins and Harris. I am talking about real professional secular historical, textual, analytical, study of religion (Religious Studies). The secular approach to religion is multi-disciplinary, combining sociological, psychological, economical, historical, and anthropological theories to help understand the human phenomenon of religion.

I'm not saying any of this is going to help you "find God" but it will make you a very well read, well rounded educated person on the topic of religion.

You will have a beautiful insight into all major spheres of religion, as well as secular academic study on the topic.

Also, Max Weber "Traditional, Legal-Rational, and Charismatic Authority" is a fascinating read.

This approach I have suggested to you, is not for the lighthearted. I have been studying this for a great deal of my life.

Good luck on your journey though, I envy you somewhat.

>Everything always seems to come back to Descarte, doesn't it?

[Anonymous No.6668173]

>>6668040
The Book of Mormon

[Anonymous No.6668191]

>>6668173

[Anonymous No.6668194]

>>6668129
>>6668171
Great posts. Not OP, but will definitely check some of these suggestions out.

[Anonymous No.6668198]

>>6668040
> I want to find God...the real God
You cannot find him,he is hiding in his gap.
Why should you look for him when you have your life here and there is no evidence that he exists?
I expect some fedora pics.

[Anonymous No.6668207]

>>6668198

>Why should you look for him when you have your life here

part of life is the search for meaning and God...

>there is no evidence that he exists?

if you never search seriously and how do you know what evidence there is or isn't?

[Anonymous No.6668211]

>>6668050
Fuck off back to India and worship the void a little more.

[Anonymous No.6668223]

>>6668211

I'm not even Indian or Hindu. I'm just some dude who spent most of his adult life studying religion by reading primary texts and secondary religious studies scholarship/theologian scholarship.

My personal beliefs are irrelevant (to most people anyways) because they are unconventional. There isn't even a label/title for how I think on religion/secularism/God.

[Anonymous No.6668226]

>>6668207
A perfect god hides perfectly. You'll never find her.

[Anonymous No.6668229]

>>6668207
>part of life is the search for meaning and God
You see, both of these statements are wrong.
Part of life is not searching for meaning, it is anthropocentric and highly egoistic that you should think that your life has a higher meaning.
Searching for God is not a part of life, you could say the same for searching for tooth fairy or easter bunny.
>if you never search seriously and how do you know what evidence there is or isn't
There is no evidence, if there is, present it.
You cant, because there is no evidence.
By definition faith is the belief without evidence.

[Anonymous No.6668231]

>>6668223
That isn't very interesting. The fact that you've studied religious texts for a long time doesn't make your opinion that there is no true God sound.

[Anonymous No.6668232]

>>6668085
>EMBRACE MY DOGMA OF PLURALISM, THE ONE TRUE GOD

[Anonymous No.6668244]

>>6668231

When did I ever say there was no true God?
If you mean this>>6668232

Then again, I am sorry to disappoint. Religious Pluralism not in its full definitional sense. I don't even agree with that definition. I simply use pluralism in tandem with respect/tolerance/peace.

I'm most certainly not saying EVERYONE is correct, or EVERYONE is wrong, that would be ridiculous. I don't work in absolutes when I know I'm apart of a universe that has historical change and continuity in flux.

[Anonymous No.6668246]

>>6668229
>Part of life is not searching for meaning, it is anthropocentric and highly egoistic that you should think that your life has a higher meaning.

The search for meaning doesn't presuppose anything, it is simply a search to see what the case is...

>There is no evidence!

If you aren't willing to seriously search how would you even know?


>>6668226

That remains to be seen

[Anonymous No.6668249]

>>6668244
So you dabble with the Absolute but you don't deal with absolutes?
Basically, it seems like you're saying 'every opinion is equally baseless because I refuse to come to conclusions about my beliefs.'

[Anonymous No.6668250]

>>6668246

In this post, you said next to nothing. I just wanted to point that out. You danced around everything.

[Anonymous No.6668252]

>>6668226

>He's never read Matthew 7:7

[Anonymous No.6668256]

>>6668246
>The search for meaning doesn't presuppose anything, it is simply a search to see what the case is
>If you aren't willing to seriously search how would you even know?
You know that there is an entire discipline that examines origins of life, emergence of conciousness, origins of our cosmos. It is called science. People are searching for answers to questions from the beggining of time and because they were simpletons, they fund of knowledge (culture) was little ,they accredited God for many phenomena. You are advocating for God from a gap. It is a fallacy.

[Anonymous No.6668261]

>>6668250

I clarified your misunderstanding of what a spiritual search is. It doesn't presuppose meaning or lack of meaning, it simply asks the question and searches...

You've come to a conclusion about "evidence of God" without even conducting a serious search, in fact you're against a "search" even in principle. You don't even want others to search! And you call others egotistical for simply being curious!

I said plenty, you just don't know how to respond.

[Anonymous No.6668265]

>>6668261
That was not me.
>>6668256
This is me.
Also
>your entire post

[Anonymous No.6668266]

>>6668249

Again, you got it wrong. You are half there.

Everyone's opinion is equally baseless and equally sound. Because the indvidual, whether they be, Atheist, Agnostic, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Mormon, Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, etc, etc, is going to conclude absolutes and formulate social structures cultivating human needs: Social, intellectual, and psychological needs around those absolutes.

What I am, is the the guy who is in the third perspective fascinated with ALL of it, watching from afar.

[Anonymous No.6668271]

>>6668261
Also, nobody is forbiding you to search for spirituality, but that was not the case with religions when someone tried to find something out about the world that surrounds us and that defies dogma.
See Giordano Bruno, Gallielos trial, Copernicus ,Abelard etc.

[Anonymous No.6668274]

>>6668261
No, you're right. Just searched and found god under a rock. Well I guess that settles it.

[Anonymous No.6668279]

>>6668271
>Also, nobody is forbiding you to search for spirituality

I was responding to this fedora >>6668229 who got upset that someone was even bothering to search

[Anonymous No.6668284]

>>6668271
I am that fedora cretin. You have not responded to me.

[Anonymous No.6668285]

>>6668274

Why are you so triggered by people asking big questions, looking for meaning and God in life? If you don't really care just shoo...go away

[Anonymous No.6668288]

>>6668284
Wrong post.
>>6668279

[Anonymous No.6668292]

For the record: This is me
>>6668266
>>6668244
>>6668223
>>6668191
>>6668171
>>6668129
>>6668085
>>6668068
>>6668050
>>6668045

Also, When I quoted

>I want

I was thinking along the lines of Descarte, not Buddhism.

[Anonymous No.6668293]

>>6668266
Nice. I'm also interested in that. Having a broad perspective on spirituality is very 'in' right now and has been for several decades, as anyone who's watched a Zizek talk knows.
Standing in the 'neither wrong nor right, neither supported nor unspoorted' zone is nice, but by your own logic yours isn't a perspective with more weight than the most convinced Christian's. Get off your high horse.

[Anonymous No.6668296]

>>6668285
Now you're just, admitedly in a limp wristed manner common to christians on /lit, brigading. /lit/ isn't for a particular group and asking people to go away is rude.

Especially over a perfectly defensible position.

[Anonymous No.6668300]

>>6668293
>Get off your high horse.

Maaaan. You are the worst.

I'm literally telling you to believe WHAT YOU WANT. I have absolutely no fight with you.

I am not some asshole in this thread telling you God isn't real, or don't search for God. I have been supportive to your theological identity, which is why I posted This:

>>6668129
>>6668171


Nobody in this thread even attempted to answer your question. I did. And this is how you behave? Like an immature child?

You are a sorry excuse for a Christian, and I personally know plenty.

[Anonymous No.6668304]

>>6668300
>Nobody in this thread even attempted to answer your question. I did. And this is how you behave? Like an immature child?

That isn't OP
I'm OP and I appreciate those two responses you made.

There are some butt-blasted fedoras here who have lost their minds at any sort of spiritual discussion

[Anonymous No.6668307]

>>6668285
You still have not responded to any of my points cretin.

[Anonymous No.6668310]

>>6668304

Good to know. I really appreciate you clearing that up. It made me feel a little better. Now I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to bounce out of this thread. Good luck on your journey. I really do envy whatever powerful religious/spiritual/academic inferences your mind discovers.

[Anonymous No.6668311]

>>6668304
Only butt-blasted fedora is you, you just ignored my posts and went on rambling nonsense
>>6668198
>>6668229
>>6668256
>>6668271
You have statements up for debate, come on then. I am waiting.

[Anonymous No.6668312]

>>6668307

>he thinks he made coherent points

[Anonymous No.6668315]

>>6668312
>tried to debate
>got BTFO
>ignores posts
>still thinks he is right
Autismus maximus ladies and gentleman

[Anonymous No.6668330]

>>6668315

see >>6668246
>>6668261

[Anonymous No.6668345]

>>6668330
I responded to both of them and yet you ignored my points.
Are you autistic?
Respond to my points and then we will debate.

[Anonymous No.6668355]

>>6668345

see >>6668312

[Anonymous No.6668359]

>>6668355
Explain why are they incoherent.

[Anonymous No.6668363]

This thread has deteriorated, as almost all of these kind of threads do, because of immature:
>>6668359
>>6668355
>>6668345
>>6668330
>>6668315
>>6668312
>>6668311

How about you stop having your petty debate, the same petty debate that is found in ALL of these kind of threads, and actually answer OP's question.

[Anonymous No.6668366]

>>6668359

I already explained why your: "hurr don't bother searching, it's a waste of time cuz there's no evidence..." is irrational and self-defeating.

The only other point you made was "religious people did bad stuff in the past..." which is irrelevant and doesn't require a response.

I don't even know what point you think you made. Do you?

[Anonymous No.6668372]

>>6668363
The debate is central to the question:

By what possible measure could you say 'you found god'?

If you can't come up with one, a search will never end, and OP's question can't be answered.

[Anonymous No.6668376]

>>6668366
>You see, both of these statements are wrong.
Part of life is not searching for meaning, it is anthropocentric and highly egoistic that you should think that your life has a higher meaning.
Searching for God is not a part of life, you could say the same for searching for tooth fairy or easter bunny.
>There is no evidence, if there is, present it.
You cant, because there is no evidence.
By definition faith is the belief without evidence.
>You know that there is an entire discipline that examines origins of life, emergence of conciousness, origins of our cosmos. It is called science. People are searching for answers to questions from the beggining of time and because they were simpletons, they fund of knowledge (culture) was little ,they accredited God for many phenomena. You are advocating for God from a gap. It is a fallacy.
>Also, nobody is forbiding you to search for spirituality, but that was not the case with religions when someone tried to find something out about the world that surrounds us and that defies dogma.
See Giordano Bruno, Gallielos trial, Copernicus ,Abelard etc.
Come on, respond to this.
I am still waiting. You ignore points and claim victory. If you are not baiting then you really are intellectually challenged.

[Anonymous No.6668379]

>>6668372

finding that measure is part of the search...if you never bother to look seriously, you can't come to a conclusion one way or the other.

[Anonymous No.6668385]

>>6668372
>>6668379

Both of you are two different sides of the same coin, and you don't even realize it.

[Anonymous No.6668387]

>>6668366
Also, all religions rely on dogma. Which is contrary to your "search for spirituality". Science works that you constanty change your theories, you constanty try to search for something new, you just gave a definition of scientific progress.
Religious people do bad stuff today, that shit has not changed.

[Anonymous No.6668388]

>>6668376

>don't bother to search or ask questions, just assume there is no evidence and God is like the tooth-fairy

that fedora logic

[Anonymous No.6668389]

>>6668385
>condescending tone
>thinks atheism and religion are on the same coin
Agnostic retard spotted.
Agnostics are even worse than religious believers. You will not search for the answer or try to give the answer because you think you cant. This is literally the agnostic stance, intellectual laziness.

[Anonymous No.6668391]

>>6668387

Science can't address the questions that interest me...

[Anonymous No.6668392]

>>6668388
Give me one evidence of either one and I will believe they exist. Protip; you cant.

[Anonymous No.6668394]

>>6668392

>show me evidence, come on, please

sounds like you're searching...you should stop that.

[Anonymous No.6668396]

>>6668391
What are those questions?Also, science did not have answers to periheal motion of Mercury before
Einstein came. Again, you are invoking a God from a gap.

[Anonymous No.6668400]

>>6668396

It's like you're 16 and just watched a Richard Dawkins video lol

[Anonymous No.6668403]

>>6668389

It must drive you crazy that you can't label me. I'm neither a theologian, atheist, or an agnostic.

You have such a two-dimensional brian. That is how limited you are. You can only see in black and white. It's okay anon, I used to think like you, but I grew out of it when I turned 25. I suspect you will do the same... maybe.

[Anonymous No.6668407]

>>6668403
>you can't label me
>You have such a two-dimensional brian. That is how limited you are. You can only see in black and white. It's okay anon, I used to think like you, but I grew out of it when I turned 25. I suspect you will do the same... maybe.
>can't label me

You're a prick.

[Anonymous No.6668409]

>>6668403
Then what are you?
What is your position?
>inb4 I am such a special little snowflake that I have no position

[Anonymous No.6668418]

>>6668400
I dont even like Dawkins and you fail to answer me again. There can never be a discussion if you are ignoring everything I say. Also,you still have not answered any points raised before.

[Anonymous No.6668431]

>>6668385
If you find argumentation distressing I don't believe 4chan is you.

>>6668379
This question isn't some everyone makes their own god hippy crap. Nor is it phenomological, as spiritual experiences can be induced with drugs. No, this measure must be verifiable, and if you were to have it, it would literally solve not only dissolve issue between atheists and theists, but also all issues between theists.

Obviously, this measure does not exist, and belief you've found the real god always requires irrationality.

[Anonymous No.6668442]

>christfag ignores statements and those he >chooses not to ignore get BTFO
>there is an atheist trying to calmy debate him
>there is a hipster who is too cool to take a stance
mfw

[Anonymous No.6668460]

>>6668442
>>6668431
>>6668418

you sound frustrated.
but keep jumping to conclusions without ever doing any searching, funny stuff.

[Anonymous No.6668462]

>>6668431
You did not argue man. Ignoring shit and being a little bitch is not argumentation.

[Anonymous No.6668469]

>>6668460
I am out of this thread. /Lit/ has once more proved that is a breeding ground for braindead christposters.

[Anonymous No.6668508]

>>6668462
There's no need to flame. Why don't you settle down squirt?