The christain take on eastern religion and philosophy. (lordship, Buddhism, hell)
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Hello there. I would like to hear your take, as a christain, on eastern religion and philosophy. I am a christain and wish to pursue the eastern faith in hope of moving beyond what I have gained from my faith. So please give me your views, what ever they maybe.... I am all ears.
Hi Timothylogan, it's good to see you again. I am wondering, what might be attracting you to eastern faith. My belief is that although there have been many wise people that have lived and there are different insights which might broaden my understanding of the faith of different peoples/cultures, there is only one Truth, that being Jesus who said that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Colossians 2 speaks of all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being hidden in Jesus. He has it all. As I grow in my relationship with Him, I hope to discover those treasures and personally, He is all that I need and so this is who I as a Christian am focused on. Hope that helps. Take care and God bless.
To encourage
Ephe. 1
11in whom also we did obtain an inheritance, being foreordained according to the purpose of Him who the all things is working according to the counsel of His will,
12for our being to the praise of His glory, [even] those who did first hope in the Christ,
13in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth -- the good news of your salvation -- in whom also having believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
14which is an earnest of our inheritance, to the redemption of the acquired possession, to the praise of His glory.
15Because of this I also, having heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and the love to all the saints,
16do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,
17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of the glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the recognition of him,
18the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, for your knowing what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19and what the exceeding greatness of His power to us who are believing, according to the working of the power of His might,
20which He wrought in the Christ, having raised him out of the dead, and did set [him] at His right hand in the heavenly [places], 21far above all principality, and authority, and might, and lordship, and every name named, not only in this age, but also in the coming one; (YLT)
Hello there. I would like to hear your take, as a christain, on eastern religion and philosophy. I am a christain and wish to pursue the eastern faith in hope of moving beyond what I have gained from my faith. So please give me your views, what ever they maybe.... I am all ears.
Let me ask you one question. Have you thoroughly studied the entire Bible from cover to cover and learned/discovered all the lessons, etc etc that It contains?
If your answer to my question is, "Yes," then go ahead and add to your knowledge if that is what you desire ( I personally would stay away ). However if your answer to my question is, "No." The my advice would be to keep diligently, searching/rightly dividing the Word of Truth for it contains everything you need to know/understand about life.
Thanks Shana Brown for the beautiful words and the verses. I love Jesus Shana, I really do. Well what has changed in my part is the fact that I now I also love humanity. I am going through a phase where I need to know what it means to be human. I love the human soul, I love life. I am intruiged by it all. The beauty and the evil. I see it in me. I can not deny it. And I am at peace with it. I am at peace with me and with the world. I seek life Shana. Not just an idea or a theory. I dont regret Shana. No regrets. I have found the connection with Christ. But now I want to connect with me, with being human, with humanity, with life, with the universe. I hope that explains it.
Hi Timothy, you’re welcome and thank you for your openness and honesty. I believe that you love Jesus and I do sense a peace with you. I guess I am wondering why you might feel that love for humanity is separate from loving Jesus. Why do you believe that you will find humanity in eastern faith? Maybe I misunderstand. I can only share from my experience and this is that I did not come to have love for humanity until I learned of the love of Jesus for humanity, that Jesus loves us in our lost state. I was plagued by sin and Jesus loved me enough to bring me out. You know I use to hate people, because of hurt, but God healed me of this and brought me to another place. The human soul, Timothy, to me is to be loved, but are you saying that you love the sin in us? Maybe I am misunderstanding but true love to me is to help the lost human soul, the soul that is plagued by sin. Again, maybe I misunderstand what you are sharing, but I believe that God will help you to find what you are seeking. Thanks again for sharing with me. God bless, Timothy.
Tim..You are a curious young man with a strong belief in Christ..He will never leave you, and as long as you keep communication open the Holy spirit will continue to work with you..I say go and learn and satisfy your young mans curiosity
I searched the Eastern religions when I was younger and I am glad I did..It gave me a better understanding in tolerance and love which the Eastern religions are pretty big on, it also showed me that there are similarities among most religions..
Best of luck, Tim if you decide to make this journey and I will pray you gain much wisdom and will find that your Christian life will be blessed and enriched by the knowledge you gain..
Thank you all you guys for responding. I am really loving and enjoying the spirit your bringing to this discussion, I love all you guys. You know one of the main things that got me on this trend of thought is my faiths filtering system. Over the years I have grown increasingly aware of our intolerance of certain aspects of our life. There is this space betwen us and them. The sinners and the saved. The believers and unbelievers. And what is it that separates us? What we dont do and what they do. It is quiet funny. Because we are all the same. The only difference really is that we regret our sinful ways and reject certain aspects of being human. I dont regret being a sinner. Not anymore. I love Christ, but I also love myself. I dont love the me that the church wants to create out of me, all in His name. I think shakespear says love alters not when alteration finds. You see what I mean, I am not quoting the bible but shakespear. Somehow along the way I found the human divine.... I fell inlove with the human. I seek it, it calls me, a power beyond the I, something beyond the veil. Unfiltered. No space. No box. What did the Lord Almighty create? Who are we? Who is the I that calls I into His presence? Driven by these imperfection. And yet is human because of these imperfections. Weakness and strength. Fear and courage. Beauty in ashes. And always the deep seeks the deep. I am thinking of pursuing the eastern philosophy because I have, against my churchs wish, done away with our filtering system. No space. No us and them. No sinner and holy one. I have elevated the human to the divine realm, I see perfection in imperfection. Created beings, frail, but a wonder. And what blasphemy! Lol.
Thank you all you guys for responding. I am really loving and enjoying the spirit your bringing to this discussion, I love all you guys. You know one of the main things that got me on this trend of thought is my faiths filtering system. Over the years I have grown increasingly aware of our intolerance of certain aspects of our life. There is this space betwen us and them. The sinners and the saved. The believers and unbelievers. And what is it that separates us? What we dont do and what they do. It is quiet funny. Because we are all the same. The only difference really is that we regret our sinful ways and reject certain aspects of being human. I dont regret being a sinner. Not anymore. I love Christ, but I also love myself. I dont love the me that the church wants to create out of me, all in His name. I think shakespear says love alters not when alteration finds. You see what I mean, I am not quoting the bible but shakespear. Somehow along the way I found the human divine.... I fell inlove with the human. I seek it, it calls me, a power beyond the I, something beyond the veil. Unfiltered. No space. No box. What did the Lord Almighty create? Who are we? Who is the I that calls I into His presence? Driven by these imperfection. And yet is human because of these imperfections. Weakness and strength. Fear and courage. Beauty in ashes. And always the deep seeksthe deep. I am thinking of pursuing the eastern philosophy because I have, against my churchs wish, done away with our filtering system. No space. No us and them. No sinner and holy one. I have elevated the human to the divine realm, I see perfection in imperfection. Created beings, frail, but a wonder. And what blasphemy! Lol.
Wow!
Try Buddhism. It enables/facillitates unity, non-duality. (Which you've alluded to, above.)
June doesn't tend to regard people's inquisitiveness as being a bad thing. In fact, she's willing to bet that it would enhance that which you already posssess.
P.S. It was the bolded line, above, from Psalm 42 that caught June's eye...
The only difference really is that we regret our sinful ways and reject certain aspects of being human. I dont regret being a sinner. Not anymore. I love Christ, but I also love myself
Hi, Timothy, thank you again for sharing. In light of what you have shared, I would like to ask why you believe that Jesus died for us? Why is He our Savior? What are we being saved out of? When you say that you don't regret being a sinner, are you saying that you want to continue a life of sin? Do you believe that the lives of believers are not to involve change? Just trying to understand. I understand some of what you are saying... I think I believe that everything that has happened in the creation is the result of God's plan and I believe that sin and evil are a part of the plan. In this respect I believe that God intended for us to experience sin and its consequences but for a higher purpose, to lead us to Him. We come to know Him as Savior, and we cannot do this if we don't understand that we are in need of a Savior. Our imperfections drive us to Him, but I believe that thsi is His plan. His plan is for us to be transformed into His image and this involves change. I don't see this as believers being better or superior to those who don't believe but that we are saved to be a blessing to others. I once was lost but now am found and if I love others, I share to want others to be found, not to elevate myself above them, if this is what you mean. Thanks again and God bless.
Yes our weaknesses drive us to His arms. Sometimes I wonder if it is not this need that has created our religions. That what we believe in is nothing by the work of our imagination. Lol. The human soul is a wonder. But never mind that. I believe change for the sake of change should be discourage. We do not need religion to change. Goodness is within each and everyone of us. We human beings are in a journey. We are evolving. We need not change ourselves or be changed by a system. We are change. We are moving towards something. Wether we are aware of it or not. Jesus expects the change to come from with in. The church wants to change us. It wont give Him a chance. He loved sinners. The church is the modern day synagogue of Jesus's time. He came to save the world. Not just sinners. We are all one and the same. He died for all men. Not just some. So why the space? Why the them and us? We are all work of His hands, seeking enlightment. To be enlightened! Not conformed. Needing to be saved from the hell of living the I that is not I. Not following my path. Changing for the sake of the system. And not being true to the me that He has created.
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I believe that everything that has happened in the creation is the result of God's plan and I believe that sin and evil are a part of the plan. In this respect I believe that God intended for us to experience sin and its consequences but for a higher purpose, to lead us to Him. We come to know Him as Savior, and we cannot do this if we don't understand that we are in need of a Savior. Our imperfections drive us to Him, but I believe that thsi is His plan. His plan is for us to be transformed into His image and this involves change. I don't see this as believers being better or superior to those who don't believe but that we are saved to be a blessing to others. I once was lost but now am found and if I love others, I share to want others to be found, not to elevate myself above them, if this is what you mean. Thanks again and God bless.
