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I certainly don't. Where did that idea come from anyway, and how did that idea start? Does the old man have a white beard and look like Charlton Heston who played Moses in the movies? I think God is energy
Interesting. I think of God as 'power' or 'force'.
Do people believe that God is an old man living in the sky?
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Originally Posted by seethelight
I certainly don't. Where did that idea come from anyway, and how did that idea start? Does the old man have a white beard and look like Charlton Heston who played Moses in the movies? I think God is energy
That's hilarious. "This Old Man" is a nursery rhyme.
"This old man, he played one, He played knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack, paddy whack, Give a dog a bone......."
The Sky Fairy is no different, ergo "fairy". All religion is based on wishful thinking. I am not a believer, but when I was a believer and saw white Jesus pictures plastered all over my relatives walls I assumed, as a kid, he was a handsome white guy wearing a white robe with long flowing locks. Ridiculous.
Sure there is. One can say there's no escape from a dream until one wakes up, however that is not true. If one becomes lucid (wakes up) within a dream one has in effect escaped the dream while still in it. There's an enormous difference between being in a dream and thinking (hoping!) it's a dream and attaining lucidity within a dream and knowing it's a dream and one is not the dream avatar.
There's an intellectual understanding and there's an experiential knowing. This is a good presentation on the difference. https://youtu.be/Ku8cCrdh4Ic
Bolded = I have no idea what this means and I think you mean dream avasta - state. I know you mention this a lot and I have seen it mentioned in other places as well but I have no idea what lucid dream is. If one becomes lucid during a dream I can only think it is day dreaming! That can be quite vivid but it is not dream, your body and mind is still functioning as you are still in waking state.
As you may know, per Adaviata there are 3 states/avasta. That of being awake, dream, and deep sleep. It does not mention 4 avasta, always 3. I have never seen lucid dream mentioned in any of the texts. Perhaps it is a Buddhist term? Is there a sanskrit word for it?
Dream state is almost the same as awake, except your body is not aware but your mind and emotions are vividly alive, you can experience joy, fear, sadness etc. you can move from place to place, fly, experience drowning. In deep sleep your body nor your mind are aware, almost dead except for breathing, in Sushupti, blissfut state, the state in which the atma is the only illumined. It is only when you wake you know you experienced deep sleep, not while in it. And this perfectly aligns with what all humans experience.
Lucid dream seems not a common human experience.
Atma cannot experience atma. When you look in the mirror you do not see the mirror you only see your face. Atma can only be known, inferred, understood. The whole purpose of Advaita is inquiry and knowledge, not experience. It is this knowledge that sets you free of anxiety and fear of the unknown.
That's hilarious. "This Old Man" is a nursery rhyme.
"This old man, he played one, He played knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack, paddy whack, Give a dog a bone......."
The Sky Fairy is no different, ergo "fairy". All religion is based on wishful thinking. I am not a believer, but when I was a believer and saw white Jesus pictures plastered all over my relatives walls I assumed, as a kid, he was a handsome white guy wearing a white robe with long flowing locks. Ridiculous.
So, when you were a 'believer' you didn't see Jesus as ANY MORE than the 'handsome white guy wearing a white robe with long flowing locks."
No WONDER you're an atheist.
Do you SERIOUSLY believe that ALL Christians see 'God' the same way?
I certainly don't. Where did that idea come from anyway, and how did that idea start? Does the old man have a white beard and look like Charlton Heston who played Moses in the movies? I think God is energy
If there is a god, the whole notion of it as a human at all I just find ridiculous. Energy would be more palatable but some sort of informational hub to me would be most likely 'god' - not a form of us. In the vastness of just the observable universe we live in, there are likely billions of other beings that are intelligent who look much different than we do.
If we live in a simulation - perhaps god is simply an incredibly advanced civilization and we are the entertainment.
Summary
The Bible does not attempt to prove God exists or give any definition of God. Yet it does describe His nature in four ways: God is spirit - His nature is not flesh and blood. God is also light - there is no darkness in Him at all. God is also love. Finally, God's nature can be compared to a consuming fire. These four descriptions provide some insights into God's nature and character rather than giving us a definition of Him.
You left out pyromaniac.
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Originally Posted by ukrkoz
Scripture says that Ezekiel saw something like a platform supporting God’s throne, and on the throne was “a likeness with the appearance of a man” (Ezekiel 1:26).
He went on, “From the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around” (verse 27).
The schizophrenic wandering around Washington Park used to say the same thing.
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Originally Posted by Igor Blevin
The idea was generated from the Bible which says that Adam, the first man, was made in God's image.
Nope. It specifically says "our" (plural) image and "our" (plural) likeness because more than one god was involved. We can, of course, presume those gods look similar to us.
BTW, the original "god" in Judaism, Christianity is offshoot off, has no imaging. Just like in Islam, picturing "god" is blasphemy.
Also, "god" as and old man with white beard was depicted as such way before Michelangelo. East Roman empire was full of such images.
CB is right. Simple minds need an "object" of worship, not some vague philosophical concept, understood only by scholars. Human mind is very substantial, so to speak, as that's its function - junction between the physical and "spiritual" components of a human being. That need for objectification of "god" is fulfilled in all kinds of imagery and religious tokens, sold to public. Besides, it's rather a very profitable business.
There are no such depictions of God the Father as an old man with a beard in the Eastern Tradition.
So, when you were a 'believer' you didn't see Jesus as ANY MORE than the 'handsome white guy wearing a white robe with long flowing locks."
You apparently didn't catch the part where I thought that as a kid. The point is......there is no rendering of a "white guy in the sky" that a little child should be forced to look at and told "that's god" - no wait - that's Jesus - no, that's the holy ghost. Actually, it's all three!!
Yeah, that's a simple concept for a 6 year old to have to even be exposed to, much less expected to grasp. Fairy tales are not to be believed, are they not? I see no difference between gods, myths, fairy tales, religious texts or the 'handsome white guy wearing a white robe with long flowing locks."
THAT should NEVER be forced on a child. It's so wrong to portray a fictional character as a real person or persons, and then tell the innocent it's 'god'. Proof, please.
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No WONDER you're an atheist.
What does that mean? What is wrong with everybody tonight? Why are you taking things so personally?
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Do you SERIOUSLY believe that ALL Christians see 'God' the same way?
I didn't name names or point at any specific group or persons. GENERALLY speaking, in MY experience, and a whole lot of others, find that most of Christianity is hypocritical, forced from birth and generally just bad all around. I didn't say you, Mink.
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...and just call "him" God?
I don't get your vibe. It's like you've never talked to me.
Yes, i agree. However we live the non-duality while we KNOW (jnyan is knowing, after all) the non-dual. Advaita is a state that can be experienced in meditation, when the mind is controlled, as you say and describe. Ultimately though, Advaita is a Bhava, an attitude, an understanding that we realize through duality. We don’t escape duality until our breath leaves the body, and then there is no experience! Only Atma, Shivoham.
Nobody does its just an insult thrown out by a non believer to ridicule those who do believe and should be seen that way.Its not worth anyone's time.
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Do people believe that God is an old man living in the sky?
That's hilarious. "This Old Man" is a nursery rhyme.
