Many Paths to God

To take a view that there are many paths to God presupposes that there is a God in the singular. Most monotheistic religions teach exclusivity of their God, i.e. "if you don't believe in our god, then you are condemned".

Many outside of these religions see this as a form of control, in that everyone has their place and they've got to be happy with it because it was ordained by god. Some even go as far to say they were chosen by god and everyone else is condemned.

Now if there are many paths to God, people on those paths must believe in the same concept of god, but the process of reaching that god can be different. Therefore these processes must have some common facets because although the journey is different the destination is the same.

It all sounds a bit complicated to me and I think the truth is before our eyes if we really look, but that's a subject of a different thread.

Myarka.

"My life comes from the Sun, because without the Sun there is no life."

Thanks for reply i see what you are saying. I am not the best at explaining myself on such a complicated (to me) matter??!

In my experience i have found the church to be a controlling environment, where a lot of things you end up doing are more from guilt than because you genuinely want to and i found so many people who just don't practice what they preach but i like the idea of praying to God and i enjoy drawing close to God in other ways such as Yoga and Meditation. I guess i am just searching for the right spiritual path.

I totally agree with both your posts, Darcy. Well said!

xxx

Me too Darcy (lovely name).

I found the church too stifling and so opened up to primarily the eastern religions and now find Buddhism to be the comfortable path for me, although I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs. It just feels good.

Love

I guess i am just searching for the right spiritual path.

Hi Darcy,

I think you're asking the right questions.... It's not just Christianity, but in all religions you will find people who are spiritual giants and others who just tow party line. Many will condemn you because you want to question values and others will tell you to just believe what you want.

I believe the spiritual path to be personal and I don't want poeple, books or websites to tell me what to believe or how to believe it. But like you I need that spiritual connection with my soul and the expression it needs.

If we all practised what we preached then there would be no starving or homeless in the world.

Myarka.

Good posts Darcy!

To take a view that there are many paths to God presupposes that there is a God in the singular. Most monotheistic religions teach exclusivity of their God, i.e. "if you don't believe in our god, then you are condemned"....

It all sounds a bit complicated to me and I think the truth is before our eyes if we really look, but that's a subject of a different thread.

An oak tree looks quite different to a bird and a worm Myarka. But it is the same oak tree - it's all about perception.

I see our spiritual journeys like many paths up the same mountain. Some paths may be wide, but lead to dead ends (so, like in snakes and ladders, you have to go back to START) others might have unimaginable obstacles in their way. What I do know is that we will all eventually get there.

You speaking about the truth that is before our eyes - I see God as Truth itself. I love these words of Mary Baker Eddy's in a collection called Miscellaneous Writings (page 150) I’ve done the spacing – it sort of works well like that!

God (Truth)
is universal;
confined to no spot,
defined by no dogma,
appropriated by no sect.

I follow my branch of Christianity for one reason - it works, it can be proved through healing and other demonstrations. I have no time for religions or philosophies which promise (or threaten) something after death if you do (or don't) do something and then when you get there you discover it's all been one big con and the person who made these empty promises isn't around to take the blame!! 😡

I started a thread a while back called "Is there one absolute truth?" and quoted (with permission) from the letter my friend Tony had sent into his local paper in reply to that question. I feel it is relevant here:

Sir -

I think that there is an absolute truth, and I believe that absolute truth is God, good. I also follow a religious walk devoted to discerning, uncovering, and even demonstrating that Truth (with a capital "T") in healing. However, I genuinely respect the spiritual walk that others are taking in their own search for Truth, and I have found that I can learn from believers of other faiths and of none, as well as from literature and art.

I also respect those who conscientiously believe that there is no absolute truth, and I share their concerns about the attitudes of absolutists who are dogmatic in preaching that only their way has any truth to it. I don't think that the problem is with Truth being absolute, though. I think the problem arises when a denomination thinks it IS that Truth - rather than being a lens through which that Truth can be viewed - or that it has a monopoly on Truth.

Truth, to be Truth, has to be universal. Can you imagine if the laws of gravity applied only in one location? Or if you were only able to benefit from them if you happen to be a paid-up member of a particular gravity-believers club? Gravity-believers might feel that they can do a better job of harnessing the laws of gravity in their own lives and for the common good, because they are more focused on understanding those laws and are in discussion with others who have already proved their many wonderful applications. They can never, however, have more access to those laws than other believers or even non-believers.

So it is, I feel, with God's goodness. It is available impartially for all and it can, and does, work through all people - whatever denominational label we wear, or even if we shun all such labels, or consider ourselves humanists, agnostics, and atheists.

I would have to admit, though, that studying the nature of God's goodness from sacred texts - the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" in my case - and learning from others who have felt and proved the divine presence and power in their own lives, have proved invaluable in seeking my own healing and in finding the motivation to take less selfish relationship and career decisions.

While the inspiration I have needed has most often come from my own prayer and study, and from Christian Science contacts, at other times I have glimpsed something new and true from preachers or lay members of other churches, mosques, synagogues, etc. At still other times I have attended a movie and got just the idea I needed to lift me from a particular challenge to the peace and joy of spiritual consciousness and its attendant well-being.

I would put that down to a conviction that absolute truth, God, is always finding ways to communicate itself to us right where we are, in ways in which we will perceive it. But I wholeheartedly respect those who would disagree!

Yours faithfully

That's exactly how I feel too!

Judy

In my experience i have found the church to be a controlling environment, where a lot of things you end up doing are more from guilt than because you genuinely want to and i found so many people who just don't practice what they preach but i like the idea of praying to God and i enjoy drawing close to God in other ways such as Yoga and Meditation. I guess i am just searching for the right spiritual path.

Hi Darcy, I can relate to your posts and I'm sure that there's many people that can. I personally believe that lots of people are instinctivly 'pulled' to search for their own personal relationship with God (by whatever name), i sometimes wonder if this is harder for someone who is born into a religion because religion {from my 'limited' knowledge} tells people 'what is'..without allowing room for people to 'feel' whats actually there...if you get me..lol..it is difficult to explain isn't it! I think that God (Divine) is within you, me, him, her, that over there & that here...'its' in everything..tho sometime to recognise 'Divine' in everything isn't that easy:rolleyes:

what a waffle:o...here's wishing you well on your path:)

Love
Amy
xx

I love these words of Mary Baker Eddy's

That's my point exactly, all the words of organised religions are the words of someone else. That's why it's so important to find your own spiritual path.

Myarka.

Some years ago, I attended the Alpha 10 week course. It was a time of much soul searching and removing my fears of God. One of the questions I had considering that born again christians believe there is only one path to God was exactly that.

Are there more paths to God?

That particular evening, they gave me a magazine to read, and there in big writing on the first page I opened were the words "There are many paths to God".

I did find it rather amusing that those that profess there is only one path, gave me the information I was after. The irony of it.

There are many paths to God and God speaks to us all in different ways.

Follow your heart and know that you don't need an intermediary to speak with God.

Some really interesting replies here, thanks Amelia Jane i know completely what you are saying. Judy i really enjoyed your post and these are great words:

God (Truth)
is universal;
confined to no spot,
defined by no dogma,
appropriated by no sect.

Well i also did Alpha some time ago and although i joined a church for a while after and had a nice time going along i did eventually get bitter, not so much from the unanswered questions which was quite frustrating but from everyone telling me how i should and shouldn't behave... arghhhh I consider myself well behaved enough. I found myself constantly feeling guilty for trivial things which cant be healthy and i am sure does not bring you close to God or the Divine.

The final straw was seeing my christian friends (a couple) getting annoyed because they had to host a large home group weekly when they were physically drained and in need of some down time so much so that there marraige was suffering and when i said why dont you tell the people at church you need some time out for a while they explained that they had better just get on with it (with gritted teeth) for the sake of keeping up appearances. I dont feel God would expect that and i dont feel that is a good way to live. You should do something because you really want to and open your home because you cant wait to see these people and enjoy their company and then you are open and relaxed enough to learn from the sharing.

I feel that doing my own thing and getting in touch with the Divine or God in my own time surrounding myself with more gentle, loving people is the way forward. I really enjoy learning about buddhism and generally being more open minded. That seems to be working better for me...

I agree that you can build your own temple or sacred space and don't have to attend a religious gathering, though having said this in my spiritual groups i.e. Kaballah more people can raise the energy to a higher level. One of the Christian teachings is "Where two or more are gathered together in my name, there am I".

I like most people started off with going to a Christian church and then when I was about 16 I started to explore Bhuddism. I now prefer to call myself spiritual and I have no strong connection to any particular religion. Along the way I have embraced many spiritual truths and there are basic spiritual truths particularly this gem "Do not do unto others what you would not have them do to you." This last phrase stuck in my head after listening to a wonderful women called Karen Armstrong giving a talk, which made a lot of sense to me. Here's the link to her talk

I would really like to see a future when faith instead of separating people became more inclusive.

Binah
x

Originally Posted by Principled
I love these words of Mary Baker Eddy's

That's my point exactly, all the words of organised religions are the words of someone else. That's why it's so important to find your own spiritual path.

Myarka.

Ahem – what if the words were not those of a person, but the words of God? What if they were the result of revelation, of spiritual intuition and enlightenment? What if there was demonstrable truth and spiritual laws behind the words? (More on that below)

And why re-invent the wheel? Sir Isaac Newton discovered the theory of gravitation, he didn’t own its monopoly, and people had been noticing for thousands of years that things fell down towards the earth, but he found the law behind it and was able to use those laws and teach others how to do so. Likewise, he wrote some ground-breaking books about mathematics. Yes, you could say, we don’t need anyone else’s words, we can all find our own way, let’s get rid of all textbooks from schools, colleges, universities, let’s not ever sell something with an instruction manual, let people find their own way, but the trouble is that most people don’t find their own way and get lost in the maze of confusion for evermore.

.. all the words of organised religions are the words of someone else.

I was on an aircraft once and was warned of severe turbulence ahead (I was cabin crew at the time) I grabbed my Bible, opened it to the 91st Psalm (the Psalm of Protection) and really reached for the truth behind those inspired and uplifting words. The result: all other aircraft in exactly the same airspace and height, just minutes in front of us experienced such severe turbulence that their pilots were unable to read their instrument panel, while our aircraft had not a ripple (and this was an experience of protection that was repeated again and again while I was flying)

What the Captain described as a “miracle” happening after reading the inspired words in a book (the Bible): “..the words of someone else” or the words of God?

Here’s an account of her healing on Amazon by a friend called Jo. Jo also wrote about this healing on HP (post 17):

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy has literally saved my life after being diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 27…….

Christian Science and this book are only showing people what is there already and every time I read it, I admire the time spent and how diligent Mary Baker Eddy was in putting this knowledge down on paper for the good of all of us. She is taking our thought to a more limitless place where you begin to see these ideas as understandable but this understanding comes from our spiritual self, not the human mind.
[url]This book saved my life[/url]

A book (Science and Health) that explains how Jesus healed, saves a young woman’s life. “..the words of someone else” or the words of God?

[url]Organ trafficking - another view] Kidney failure healed[/url]

After returning from Southern Africa in February, I was diagnosed with cerebral malaria, which the doctors told me had led to acute kidney failure. They told me that if I didn't get treatment, I would die. They could help keep me alive, they said, but had no way of jump-starting my faulty organs. "You're going to have to heal yourself," one doctor told me, finding out that I was a Christian Scientist. "There is nothing we can do."..............................

Within a week I was fully healed of all the symptoms related to the disease.

For people diagnosed with kidney failure, the choice often seems to be transplantation or a lifetime of dialysis.

My experience shows there is another way.

Healed through the ideas in a book. “..the words of someone else” or the words of God?

[url]Now my heart sings[/url] A tumour dissolves and a still-born puppy is restored to life, through the truths in a book.

[url] Chronic colitis healed through reading Science and Health[/url]

[url]"I just kept reading the book"[/url] (Healing of hepatitis C)

At the back of Science and Health is a chapter called
<a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="FRUITAGE">FRUITAGE which has 100 pages of testimonies of healing sent in by the early readers of the book. Here’s part of one:

CATARACT QUICKLY CURED

…I had been troubled periodically for many years with sore eyes, and had been to many doctors, who called the disease iritis and cataract. They told me that my eyes would always give me trouble, and that I would eventually lose my sight if I remained in an office, and advised me to go under an operation. Later on I had to wear glasses at my work, also out of doors as I could not bear the winds, and my eyes were gradually becoming worse. I could not read for longer than a few minutes at a time, otherwise they would smart severely. I had to rest my eyes each evening to enable me to use them the next day; in fact gas-light was getting unbearable because of the pain, and I made home miserable. A dear brother told me about Christian Science, and said that if I would read Science and Health it would help me. He procured for me the loan of the book. The first night I read it, it so interested me I quite forgot all about my eyes until my wife remarked that it was eleven o'clock. I found that I had been reading this book for nearly four hours, and I remarked immediately after, "I believe my eyes are cured," which was really the case. The next day, on looking at my eyes, my wife noticed that the cataract had disappeared. I put away my outdoor glasses, which I have not required since, and through the understanding gained by studying Christian Science I have been able to do away with my indoor glasses also, and have had no return of pain in my eyes since. This is now a year and a half ago.--G. F. S., Liverpool, England.

Millions of healings over more than 130 years. Many were considered terminal or incurable diseases and disabilities. Christians had lost the ability to heal after the church was organized in the AD 300s, (though of course there have been individuals throughout time who have glimpsed the light). It was not until Mary Baker Eddy discovered spiritual laws in the Bible and then, through years of struggle and persecution, gave them to the world in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures that this lost element of healing was restored to Christianity.

[COLOR="Blue"]The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind. (S&H 162)

If we can all “find our own spiritual path” why had there been almost no healing for nearly 2,000 years? This sentence in one of the testimonies in Fruitage says it all to me:

I had been a Bible student for twenty-eight years, but when I commenced reading Science and Health with the Bible I was healed in less than a week.--Mrs. M. B. G., Vermilion, Ohio.

Love and peace,

Judy

I have been told many times by many that I have got it wrong.

This is me.... I get obstinate sometimes....
oh......so I am wrong......
and then when I do think something then I am told it is wrong for others tell me I am wrong.

So then how I feel is wrong...
being me is wrong...
but,,,,,,,
but no one walks in my shoes other than me.

I am the sum total of me.

Here..... I can choose to follow an organised way, a different way, a stupid way, a way that thrills my heart or I can strive to carve my way with my fingernails through bare solid rock.

None of this, none of these choices that I make will alter what I believe I am and you are too. Love.

That's my point exactly, all the words of organised religions are the words of someone else. That's why it's so important to find your own spiritual path.

Those two things are not at all incompatible. I think of the examples of people like Jesus and Buddha: they had the wisdom to know that many (most, even all arguably) people need help, guidance or inspiration to do better spiritually. We aren't spiritual islands. So if Jesus, Gautama, etc., had thought, "Everyone should find their own path", they'd have been wise enough never to have even opened their mouths to inspire others.

Examples who have gone before us are a great aid. "The mountain-sides to the Summit of Life are strewn with the carcasses of those who tried to go it alone", as one teacher I know said.

It's not "either/or" that one has a religion or teacher or goes it alone. I think everyone trying or thinking that they're on their own path has in fact been inspired by other examples, if just in a book; and those with a teacher/Guru or in a religion are also all doing it to their own extent in their own individual way. There are no cookie-cut Christians or Buddhists, all exactly the same. They are in a sense on their own path and have free will in the end.

The subject of Guru/religion vs. "find your own path" has often come up on HP. I don't at all see it as either/or. Everyone has their own destiny to fulfill, but great examples, living or of the past, help so many people to actually find themselves. Then, if they want to be subservient and held back by a limiting dogma, that's their free will and character trait: to take Catholicism as just one example, it was simply a spring-board for such luminaries as St. John of the Cross and St. Francis of Assissi to reach so very, very high, effectively creating their own sub-'path'.

IMHO, Judy sums it all up in, "There's no point in trying to reinvent the wheel". I've examined, borrowed, and joined in with numerous paths in my life, then settled upon one (which is not a single path but one held in communion with others), yet still do it all my own way, as does everyone involved. 😮

V

Well said V! (It's a subject we've often discussed before - hey?) 🙂

Ultimately, we are all one and there is just one absolute truth - it's there for everyone to discover. No one religion or philosophy has the monopoly on it (as my friend Tony said in my first post above - a Jew, Muslim, Christian, atheist can all use the laws of mathematics.)

I know sometimes when people come into the CS bookshop I work in and I describe our beliefs they have said "Somehow I know this is true, somehow you are saying what I have always believed deep down but have not been able to put into words." Truth is the core of our being and we have a memory of it and when a spiritual leader can articulate it and can lift and enlarge the lives of their followers through these words, isn't that better than everyone thrashing about in a sea of uncertainty?

Obviously I have written above from my own background, which is scientific Christianity, but I feel that Jo's words above (copied below) could apply to any religious teaching that has this redeeming effect on us:

Christian Science and this book are only showing people what is there already and every time I read it, I admire the time spent and how diligent Mary Baker Eddy was in putting this knowledge down on paper for the good of all of us. She is taking our thought to a more limitless place where you begin to see these ideas as understandable but this understanding comes from our spiritual self, not the human mind.

Sacred texts have been with us for millennia and they have healed, inspired, comforted, guided and lifted thought to the divine when understood in their spiritual meaning. To simply dismiss them as worthless and unnecessary is very sad and limiting.

Love and peace,

Judy

Those two things are not at all incompatible. I think of the examples of people like Jesus and Buddha: they had the wisdom to know that many (most, even all arguably) people need help, guidance or inspiration to do better spiritually. We aren't spiritual islands. So if Jesus, Gautama, etc., had thought, "Everyone should find their own path", they'd have been wise enough never to have even opened their mouths to inspire others.

Interesting point V, but you miss my point completely.

Jesus did not write anything, all his words are second hand, in that they were reported by others, i.e. the gospels. What complicated things more was that during the passage of history men have decided which of those reported words were acceptable and which weren't. Then various churches went on to interpret them in their way claiming divine guidence.

Now a common theme of religions is that there has to be a man or woman between humans and the godhead. Although protestants would strongly argue that all have access to god.

So the "reinventing the wheel" agument doesn't wash, because it's saying the only way to god is through the words of another fallible human being. Therefore if there is this concept of a personal god, why do we need to have the words of others to access him/her?

Myarka

Now a common theme of religions is that there has to be a man or woman between humans and the godhead.

We can lay that one to rest and move on, TBH. It's quite untrue. A pretty minor number of paths believe this. Most Christians today, also most who think they need a shaman... Very broadly it's not true.

Gnostic Christianity of the past and esoteric Christianity of the present believe in our own innate potential for Christhood that you attain with no intercessor. In Hinduism, most styles of it, it's up to you to do it yourself. In raja yoga you do it yourself. In Buddhism you do it yourself. In Taoism you do it yourself. In Sufism you do it yourself. In Theosophy and following New Age paths you do it yourself. And on, and on. (All with the rider that a teacher is a great and ofttimes-considered essential aid.)

-----------------------------------
Back to the first post:

Many Paths to God

I used to be a regular church going lass (Christian - Anglican) but i have always had an open mind and wondered if anyone else feels the same as me. I really enjoy church and have had some great moments reading the bible but i cant believe that this is the one and only way to God. I do believe in Jesus and that he was sent to teach us, just as Buddha was a great teacher.

I have an idea that there are so many religions/belief systems because we are all so different and we have to find the right one that resonates with us and brings us to God. As long as the path you choose teaches you to live life in the right way i.e. as per the 10 commandments, buddhist Eightfold Path etc. Who are we to say which one is right or wrong but merely to pick which one brings out the best in us and makes us feel close to our creator. I think they all have their place. Does anyone else feel the same? Surely if i dont go to church and read my bible and prefer to sit and meditate and do yoga that does not mean i am no longer part of Gods family?

Another discussion which perhaps precedes this is along the lines of: "What is the goal of life?" Once we've decided what we believe the goal of life is, then we can more clearly decide on how to go about reaching it: whether we need community or can do it alone or a bit of each; whether we need or can do without a teacher or helper along the way ...

I think another vital thing here is to decide upon method. If we accept that there is a spiritual path to be trod, IMHO you don't get far along it without putting time and inner focus aside to use a method - prayer, meditation, chant, pranayama, whatever - albeit all told it's the whole day and also the whole life that counts too. If there's a spiritual goal in life, then simply knowing it, without a dedicated method or more than one to get there is usually considered almost useless. But having decided what we feel the goal of life is, the seeking or choice of a method of reaching that goal then also enters in.

V

We can lay that one to rest and move on, TBH.

Unfortunately you side stepped my point, I did not say it was common that all religions needed an intercessor to access god, and you should have realised that from my reference to protestant theology.

The common factor is that the authority of most religions is based on the writings of man, hence the example of the gospels. Just because a religion that mankind has direct access to the godhead, it's not actually true. Most religions have writings of one sort or another, and followers of that religion follow the words or writings of another person. Therefore my point still stands.

Now before you suggest that I'm an atheist, I'm not. But it's important to be honest with seekers so they can find their own spiritual path. At the risk of contradiction I love the "Pilgrim's Progress" because it illustrates my point very well. On our spiritual journey we walk with many people of varying degrees of spirituality, but we shouldn't let them pull off the path of our calling.

Myarka.

. Most religions have writings of one sort or another, and followers of that religion follow the words or writings of another person. Therefore my point still stands.

I see your point, but in the paths I listed, the writings are not too paramount. Take Sufism, (I just did off the top of my head): it's basically a number of paths or schools passed down orally or to be even more specific, from one teacher to another, to another by example more than anything else. Same with Theosophy as lived today: books aren't as important as knowing the Mahatmas; esoteric Christianity is not book-based and I doubt Gnosticism was. Hinduism has much scripture but it's often little read: it's a living tradition. In that case one might say it's the ceremony which continues - but this also is always altering over generations. Kabbalism doesn't have any one essential Bible. Etc., etc. It's an experience-based and mystical path. It's not as if every religion has a Bible-type book, as important to it as the gospels or whole Bible are to Christians.

Further, IMHO the "writings of man" would hold no sway over peoples' hearts were not the basic tenets of mysticism true. God is in our hearts, we are a part of God, and we can become more of God. People the world over have huge or more modest mystical experiences. These are the core and origin of religion and spiritual belief, and the reason that spirituality continues. It would continue without any books: it's contingent not upon books, but upon at least that flicker of mysticism in the heart of even a Christian singing a hymn on Sunday.

BTW, you wrote earlier that Jesus didn't write anything. He was certainly a literate man and well-educated as we know from his scriptural quotes. It'll more-like be that he wrote but it hasn't survived, and wasn't a 'gospel'. I raise that to make the off-topic comment that most scholars so far as I know do accept a letter as having been written by Jesus! It's in a book not at this address I'm at: I quoted it years ago on HP and I'm amazed it's not better known. It's inconsequential, not a big teaching; nevertheless it purportes to be by Jesus in reply to a distant ruler asking Jesus to visit and heal him. Jesus actually dictated it to someone who penned it down. Maybe I can look out the book. Probably he wrote many letters indeed - why wouldn't he?

V

Hi Darcy

You're certainly not alone! I was raised CofE christian, so learnt about Jesus and the bible teachings from an early age. I got disillusioned with it when I was about eight - I started to wonder on how a benevolent, loving God could possibly allow so much suffering in the world? If God loves everyone equally and we are all his children, why was I taught it's only those who beleive in Jesus who would be saved? These were my questions and I lost a little faith, but I still beleived in something, some meaning to life...

So I went off and read an awful lot about Buddhism, hinduism, animism, spiritualism, Islam and other belief systems. Then I learnt Yoga, martial arts and meditation and have had a few personal insights and experiences into what God might be. I cannot put it into words, they simply do not describe it adequately and it is personal to me, but I know it is possible to have direct experience of God. The opportunity to experience is around us every single day! I just look at all of creation, cells, plants, birds, the weather systems, the complexity of everything and how it all works so neatly together to maintain life... and that to me is experience of God, through creation. Have you ever stopped on a beautiful winter morning to just look at the frost on the trees and hear the birdsong, and then felt such a deep sense of peace, happiness and being at one with creation? To me, that feeling is like tapping into God's love.

A sensei in my martial arts classes once said that we should listen to the words of the wise, and take whatever we see as good as our own. So when it comes to organised religions, that is what I do. I think there are a lot of good truths to be found in most religions and belief systems, so it is always worth listening to what others have to say, we do not have to buy into it all with blind faith and obedience though. There are many paths up the mountain, but only one summit - love. Different paths will suit different people.

I think both the teachings of others and our own direct experience both count for something when it comes to the search. I have to say though, through my own direct experiences, I have found a lot of strength, joy, faith and hope in the beautiful Bigger Picture of life that I do not think an organised religion could ever 'teach' me.

Thanks for your interesting post Curious George. I feel the same when i go to the mountains near where i live, its so amazing and invigorating you feel at one with the universe and a sense of peace/closeness to the divine or God (or just something way bigger than i can fully comprehend) when i sit there and look at the beautiful vast landscapes with the sun beating down on my face or chilly frosty mornings. It awakens your senses.

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's opinions on this subject 🙂 Very very interesting. Thanks

Darcy.....

I feel the same when i go to the mountains near where i live, its so amazing and invigorating you feel at one with the universe and a sense of peace/closeness to the divine or God (or just something way bigger than i can fully comprehend) when i sit there and look at the beautiful vast landscapes with the sun beating down on my face or chilly frosty mornings. It awakens your senses.

... thank you for sharing.