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Thank you, my friend. You don't have to be a Christian to share in my practice of Christ's teaching as I understand it.
First of all, Jesus is not the Son of God. And God is not a deity of the afterlife. Heaven is not in another dimension attainable only after the body dies. Rather than be a Christian, it is better to be Christlike. This means to walk in Jesus shoes instead of worshiping an image of him from a safe distance.
How are we doing so far?
Not good...since you already told us there was no Christ, therefore there cannot be "Christ's teaching".
I suggest you do a simple Google search, where the target is atheism. But what you're saying is about the same if I said, "Frankly, I don't believe there is such a thing as christianity". Get real.
Not mainstream. No Jesus is way beyond "not mainstream". I think we could call it the Twilight Zone. If you don't believe in Jesus, and the resurrection, I don't see how you can claim to be a christian.
Great question!
First of all, claiming to be this or that is divisive. A Christian is not a Buddhist. A Buddhist is not a Muslim. Even among Christians, there are more divisions: Methodists, Protestants, Amish, Anglicans, etc. And as you pointed out, they fought against one another.
Divisiveness is a trait that must be purged from the human consciousness. This is why we must face injustice without revenge. Not believing in Jesus means not to cultivate a divisive relationship between two fictitious entities: me, and Jesus. Where there is division, a sense of separation, there is no oneness, no love. And love is not an emotion, a feeling you have for someone.
Not good...since you already told us there was no Christ, therefore there cannot be "Christ's teaching".
Of course, there is a teaching: The Sermon on the Mount.
The Bible is a story telling book. It could be Grimm's Fairy Tales for all I care. Can we learn anything of value from the story of Jesus?
What is compelling to me is the criticality of the message The Jesus Story imparts. It has protected me in this dangerous world, so far. Until the body dies, I am vulnerable because my world is filled with hatred, we won't let things go. One slap on the cheek deserves another harder slap until that mushroom cloud rises downtown while I am fixing dinner.
First of all, claiming to be this or that is divisive. A Christian is not a Buddhist. A Buddhist is not a Muslim. Even among Christians, there are more divisions: Methodists, Protestants, Amish, Anglicans, etc. And as you pointed out, they fought against one another.
Divisiveness is a trait that must be purged from the human consciousness. This is why we must face injustice without revenge. Not believing in Jesus means not to cultivate a divisive relationship between two fictitious entities: me, and Jesus. Where there is division, a sense of separation, there is no oneness, no love. And love is not an emotion, a feeling you have for someone.
1. There was no question. I made statements.
2. Well, you have claimed to be a christian. Therefore you were being divisive???
3. Who has been talking about revenge? I don't remember seeing that in the discussion. Which post was it in?
Of course, there is a teaching: The Sermon on the Mount.
The Bible is a story telling book. It could be Grimm's Fairy Tales for all I care. Can we learn anything of value from the story of Jesus?
What is compelling to me is the criticality of the message The Jesus Story imparts. It has protected me in this dangerous world, so far. Until the body dies, I am vulnerable because my world is filled with hatred, we won't let things go. One slap on the cheek deserves another harder slap until that mushroom cloud rises downtown while I am fixing dinner.
Think about that.
I am very well aware of the Sermon On The Mount, which is beautifully written and has some good advice for the next life...not necessarily wisdom for this life.
Thank you, my friend. You don't have to be a Christian to share in my practice of Christ's teaching as I understand it.
First of all, Jesus is not the Son of God. And God is not a deity of the afterlife. Heaven is not in another dimension attainable only after the body dies. Rather than be a Christian, it is better to be Christlike. This means to walk in Jesus shoes instead of worshiping an image of him from a safe distance.
How are we doing so far?
Great. Now let us hear about what is. I am with you on Jesus not being the son of god. So who or what is he?
What is God?
What is Heaven? Why Heaven?
What does it mean to walk in Jesus’s shoes?
Why do you believe your approach to being Catholic Christian different?
First of all, claiming to be this or that is divisive. A Christian is not a Buddhist. A Buddhist is not a Muslim. Even among Christians, there are more divisions: Methodists, Protestants, Amish, Anglicans, etc. And as you pointed out, they fought against one another.
Divisiveness is a trait that must be purged from the human consciousness. This is why we must face injustice without revenge. Not believing in Jesus means not to cultivate a divisive relationship between two fictitious entities: me, and Jesus. Where there is division, a sense of separation, there is no oneness, no love. And love is not an emotion, a feeling you have for someone.
Good stuff, thank you for sharing this. So what is love?
Of course, there is a teaching: The Sermon on the Mount.
The Bible is a story telling book. It could be Grimm's Fairy Tales for all I care. Can we learn anything of value from the story of Jesus?
What is compelling to me is the criticality of the message The Jesus Story imparts. It has protected me in this dangerous world, so far. Until the body dies, I am vulnerable because my world is filled with hatred, we won't let things go. One slap on the cheek deserves another harder slap until that mushroom cloud rises downtown while I am fixing dinner.
Think about that.
I do not believe the world is filled with hatred. There are many good decent people doing great many good things. That goodness will always sustain us. But if this world should end then it must, and a new world will come to be.
Buddhism states everyone can become a Buddha.
sounds like someone else may be saying that anyone can practice the teachings of this or that sage (in this case JC) whether they identify with or practice the religion which then later grew up around that person.
that is my understanding thus far, looking forward to readers sharing more on that.
Reverence for ancient wisdom, which is prevalent in most of Asia, does not have any conflict with Scientific theories. Hindus revere ancestors and ancient wisdom and at the same time have no problem with scientific theories and advancement in how we understand the world. This is because all knowledge, including science, is Divinity. There is nothing other than Divinity.
This dichotomy between science and spirituality is a unique western problem because science replaced philosophy which is tragic, and science has become a religion for some people, mostly fundamental extremists about religion. That did not happen in Eastern societies.
The avatars of Lord Vishnu, in Hindu mythology, begins with a fish and proceeds to a turtle, a boar, and then to a human dwarf, to half-lion half man, and so to the the man of perfection, the king Rama. Another avatar is yet to arrive.
The Chinese seem to have leapfrogged ahead of us in the modernization of China. It has become a digital metaverse. They have gone cashless, it seems. I have not traveled after making it home in December 2019 just ahead of the Covid outbreak. I fear I will have difficulty navigating through Beijing airport and finding my way into the city. The other option is to give up travel, move to West Virginia and spend my days talking walks in the woods with Jesus.
In my opinion, science doesn't help us understand the world. Science creates our world. Back in the days of Chuang Tzu, the moon was a yellow lantern following him and lighting his way in the night. It was our reality then. Now, science has turned the moon into a satellite 250,000 miles away. Existential reality keeps changing if we push it. Some of us think it is great because we are so damn smart. The more we progressively change, the less natural we become till we are entirely man-made artifices.
The dichotomy between science and spirituality is a human problem. I don't think the East (India and East Asia) has a choice but to discard their spiritually inspired cultures. They are cumbersome and out of place in a "brave new world". We are trapped in an ever faster moving world. Ted Kaczynski warned us 30 years ago. The guy is still in jail.
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