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No, it did not take something "special" to happen, which is actually my biggest issue with Christians and God having to appear as a man............. and on and on. Know that I grew up among people that were Christians (Church of the Brethern), not the Sunday/social kind though and that, and this won't make sense to most, I felt the presence of God in nature, saw the magic and wonder of creation, felt the spirit of God in the silence and beauty that surrounded me. I never feel alone and draw my emotional stability from knowing that God is there. My life has been an interesting journey, all of the 60 years of it that I remember.
"Lost", OK, they are on their own journey but with the opening of "just like we don't know if there is a God...........", not sure who "we" would be because I certainly know many people who know there is a God.
I separated from Christianity many years ago. Too many people tie God to just Christianity which says a lot about their knowledge of religion in the first place.
I know there is a God and, therefore, it is easy to understand the meaning of life which equates to "Why are we here?". I have always known God since I was a small child and am baffled by all those that are "lost" but I cannot find the answer for them; they must find their own answer.
You can only know god exists if you can specifically, coherently, and definitively answer these questions:
- Where is god located? Again, be specific. 'In heaven' (or some other undefined location) is not a real answer, unless you can specify where this is exactly. Everywhere is also not actually an answer either as it has no practical usefulness.
- What is god composed of? Again, specifically. Carbon? Nitrogen? Beryllium? Stating it (god) is anything and everything is also completely useless in practical terms.
If you can provide clear and definitive evidence-based answers for these question, then, and only then can you know god exists. If you can't then you can only intuit that it exists; intuiting is not equivalent to knowing.
I know how this sounds, believe you me ...but by the Grace of God
(I'm not Christian or anything else, btw)
I know exactly why we are here, aka 'meaning of life'...and have experienced
the Divine Presence, the Spirit of God, whatever you may call It, many many times.
And it's funny how simple all 'this' is. Haha, I can just imagine the eyerolls...
I know, I know...I completely understand the mind that has not had mystical experiences...never had the
Doors of Perception opened to another 'state'...
an altered or transcendent state of awareness....coined Cosmic Consciousness in
1894, by Dr. Bucke.
But actually many here on this forum have and do understand.
And believe me I know how few of us and also how many of us are out there.
Oh, and actually the human brain/mind and spinal cord is exactly made to understand and
perceive the Spiritual Realm, unlike any creature on earth.
To Westerners this is a new concept never taught in Sunday school or the Rabbi. Ha!
So I 'get' how it sounds nutty to people. And that's fine ... we each are given
what we are ready for at the perfect time.
What I'm saying may be exactly what one person here needs to explore more...others...not their time.
There is a perfect unfoldment.
Meher Baba sums it up perfectly...but it will take me a minute to find the quote.
Song lyrics:
"Don't worry, be happy, Meher Baba loves us all,
Illusions are many, but underneath them all,
There's one reality, that you and I are one,
That man is God and God is man and man and God are one."
I learned the lyrics to that short little song perhaps in 1970 (around a group of Meher Baba followers). How has it ever stuck in my head after all this time? It has no particular resonance or special meaning with or for me, but I suppose that Meher Baba followers and perhaps various other Eastern spiritualists take it to heart.
By the way, what city was he the meher (mayor) of?
The Meaning of Life
(From the 1980 mini-series : The Martian Chronicles)
Wilder : What is your secret of life on Mars?
Martian : Tir. This is the planet Tir.
Wilder : Tir, yes.
Martian : Secret? There is no secret. Anyone with eyes can see the way to live.
Wilder : How?
Martian : By watching life. Observing nature and cooperating with it. Making common cause with the process of existence.
Wilder : How?
Martian : By living life for itself, don’t you see. Deriving pleasure from the gift of pure being.
Wilder : The gift of pure being... !
Martian : Life is its own answer. Accept it and enjoy it, day by day. Live as well as possible. Expect no more. Destroy nothing. Humble nothing. Look for fault in nothing. Leave unsullied and untouched all that is beautiful. Hold that which lives - in all reverence. For life is given by the sovereign of our universe: given to be savored, to be luxuriated in, to be - - respected.
But that is no secret. You’re intelligent. You know as well as I what is needed to be done.
Now, I must go. My people are waiting for me.
We humans are not developed to know. I say let's just try new things, explore. Have sex, have fun, etc
Spend a lot of time in nature watching animals.
How groups of animals are.
And how different animals are towards each other.
The whole cycle of animals and fauna etc.
That helps me keep grounded, the meaning of life, and how it should be.
Humans can learn a lot from listening to nature.
We humans are not developed to know. I say let's just try new things, explore. Have sex, have fun, etc
We don't know if there is a God (or a Zeus or a Thor or a Quetzalcoatl - but, of course, those who plead that we can't possibly know if God exists never bother to make the same claim about deities for which they have no emotional connection, which tells anyone paying attention all he/she needs to know about such pleading) in the same way that we don't know if there are leprechauns. It requires such an obtuse concept of 'to know' as to render the notion useless.
As for meaning, there is no meaning. You exist. Your self-awareness is simply a product of a certain evolutionary niche (sufficient intelligence) with both upsides and downsides. Biologically, you are part of a process in which the filter of natural selection favors those organisms which help perpetuate the existence of the type of genes they carry (though not necessarily the genes they carry - see kin selection). I suppose this could be conflated into some kind of 'meaning', but that too requires warping the very word just to get to a pre-determined end.
The desire for 'meaning' is just neediness. One makes ones own meaning. Maybe it's being a good spouse, or a wonderful parent. Maybe it's being an author, or having the best darn collection of shot-glasses with little kitty kats on them on the whole world, or just having lots of money. Regardless, it's up to the individual. That's it. We're not cogs in some cosmic plan. It's too bad more people can't handle that fact, and instead have to make up grandiose roles for themselves in some universal kabuki dance in order to find some semblance of contentment.
You can only know god exists if you can specifically, coherently, and definitively answer these questions:
- Where is god located? Again, be specific. 'In heaven' (or some other undefined location) is not a real answer, unless you can specify where this is exactly. Everywhere is also not actually an answer either as it has no practical usefulness.
- What is god composed of? Again, specifically. Carbon? Nitrogen? Beryllium? Stating it (god) is anything and everything is also completely useless in practical terms.
If you can provide clear and definitive evidence-based answers for these question, then, and only then can you know god exists. If you can't then you can only intuit that it exists; intuiting is not equivalent to knowing.
Says you? It is not my job to convince you as you are responsible for yourself, your soul and your beliefs. I know God exists. Perhaps this might help you understand why at least some do not feel the presence of God: Separation from God (Forerunner Commentary) - Bible Tools as it does explain a lot to me and helps me understand some of those around me.
As much as you may be perplexed by my knowing that God exists, I am perplexed by what appears your denial that God could even possibly exist. And, you cannot tell me what I can or cannot know because you are a space alien from another galaxy or maybe you can prove that you aren't by using your scientific questions about about the existence of God. Convince me beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are a human from our galaxy. Science doesn't really amount to that much because one has to believe in things they cannot see. Yes, you can see the results or consequences of something but not necessarily can you see "it". You end up believing, which a few times or many scientists have been wrong, that something you are not seeing does exist simply because of the effect, results, etc.
Last edited by AnywhereElse; 12-27-2014 at 09:55 AM..
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