Religion Defined

Discussion in 'Comparative Religion' started by Cris, Sep 12, 2016.

  1. Yazata Valued Senior Member

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    5,902
    I'm not convinced that's true. Nor am I convinced that all religions are focused on whatever afterlife concept they might have.

    The ancient Greeks often seem to have imagined the afterlife as dull, grey and dreary. The Confucians don't seem to have emphasized it. Ancient religions were often focused on acquiring divine favor in this life, plentiful harvests, healthy babies and so on. The Buddhists emphasize escaping from the endless wheel of rebirth.

    Some concepts of an afterlife involve bodily resurrection. The Buddhists explicitly deny the existence of a soul.


    Even if that is arguably a common denominator of all religions (which I doubt), it still doesn't define what religion is.

    In point of fact, I don't think that anyone has ever produced a truly satisfactory definition of religion. It's still an open question in academic religious studies.

    What we have instead of a dictionary-style definition is something more descriptive: a whole collection of qualities that religions often exhibit. Religions are recognized as being religions by family resemblance basically, by their possession of a sufficient number of these qualities. (Nobody has ever determined what counts as 'sufficient' either.)

    But having said that, it's quite possible (even probable) that there's no single quality that all religions possess in common that somehow qualifies them as religions.

    I think that just about all religions involve personal and social practices. But religious practices needn't be focused on afterdeath experience. They can be focused on improving one's fortunes in the here and now. They can be focused on maintaining the order of nature. They can be focused on maintaining ideal social relationships between people. And they can be focused on psychological suffering and the end of suffering.

    Maybe, if we adopt a very narrow view of what religion is.
     
    Last edited: Sep 17, 2016
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  3. river

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    religion is defined as ;

    a mindset; which has Humanity below the deity that Humanity is controlled by .ยด

    and which this so called deity is above Humanity ; physcologically ; mentally ; and physically .

    more importantly ; does not make Humanity more important than this religion .

    inotherwords ;

    any god does not make Humanity the most important being .

    Humanity needs to understand that ; Humanity is above any god ; bar none .

    respect any god you want ; but once any god asks death of any Human in the name of this god ; this god has drawn the line . it is unacceptable action . To kill another Human Being in the name of any god(s) . PERIOD. NO exceptions .
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2016
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  5. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

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    Well, you can experience any reality you choose within the limits or your imagination, beliefs, and perceptions. What I'm saying is that whatever reality an individual experiences after leaving their physical body can also be experienced while still within the physical human body. The physical body doesn't limit conscious awareness from shifting it's focus into other experiential realities.
     
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  7. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    The word is "imagine" not "experience".

    Unsupported nonsense.

    "Imagined" not "experiential".
     
  8. Cris In search of Immortality Valued Senior Member

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    We perceive only the one common reality, we know of no others, or even what that might mean. As has been said, you are NOT experiencing another reality, you will only be able to imagine something else, or are clinically deluded that there is something else.

    There is no "separate" you and your body. You and your body are one and the same thing. It makes no sense to say "leave your body". The words you have strung together are simply gibberish.

    That is just imagination at work.
     
  9. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

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    If one reality is perceived incredibly more real than another why would I say the experience is not real. That's just silly. Truth is, they are all experiences. All experiences are real. How can one say any experience is not real when one just experienced it.

    I have a question for those here. Do you enjoy any or all of the following or something similar?

    Skydiving
    Hiking deep through the mountains
    Kayaking
    Glacier climbing
    Exploring ice caves
    Jet skiing
    Zip-lining
    4-wheeling through sand dunes

    I know I do. I enjoy the hell out of it.

    Yes, I agree. But I have to use words that the majority from today's society can understand. Because when I say the following:

    We never "leave" anywhere when we so-called "die" nor do we "leave" anywhere during a projection of consciousness. We are where we have always been. There is no space or time. Those too are an illusion and are nothing more than human concepts derived from how we perceive and experience this physical reality we are in now.

    Most in today's society will disagree or not comprehend.
     
  10. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    The major reason for disagreeing is that you're talking nonsense.
     
  11. Randwolf Ignorance killed the cat Valued Senior Member

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    4,201
    Why do I get the impression that your physical body has never enjoyed any of the following?

    • Skydiving
    • Hiking deep through the mountains
    • Kayaking
    • Glacier climbing
    • Exploring ice caves
    • Jet skiing
    • Zip-lining
    • 4-wheeling through sand dunes
    So please - humour the rest of us - have you experienced any of those according to the generally accepted definition of "experience" that the rest of the members use?
     
  12. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    19,252
    QED: if it happens in actual reality then - by definition - it's "incredibly more real than an imagined "reality".

    Exactly.
    But if it didn't happen in the real world you didn't experience it.
     
  13. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    364
    Yes, I have quite often. But I'm just wondering, if anyone came to you and told you that any of those events you experienced listed above wasn't real, would you care?

    There are thousands of people that experience events that are way more exciting and magnificent than the events listed above. There are realities to experience that are much more amazing and fantastic than even the Christian's standard version of their so-called "heaven". And what I find so entertaining about this thread is that there are people here who are actually trying to convince me that my experiences aren't real, and I just can't help but laugh inside, but at the same time I can also understand given the current condition and mindset of today's society.
     
  14. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    There is - so far as anyone (and that includes you) can tell - only one reality.
    Heaven - so far as anyone can tell (including Christians) - isn't a reality.

    On the other we're laughing because you persist in making claims that are
    A) unsupported, and
    B) contradictory to what is known.
     
  15. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

    Messages:
    7,057
    I'm asking you why you think that would be true. While you're alive, the electrical signals and chemical reactions in your brain can go haywire, causing something that you might interpret as an out-of-body experience, etc. After you die, your brain decays and a whole other set of chemical reactions take over. Why would that produce the same results?
     
  16. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    364
    Actually what I think is irrelevant. I could tell you but it wouldn't mean anything to you. It wouldn't mean anything to anyone who has never consciously experienced it beyond nothing more than just a belief. You would need to experience it for yourself.

    The brain is just a physical device. It is a receiver and a filter. The brain going haywire can allow an individual to experience other realities. This is why a lot of people take substances to allow the same effect by inhibiting our physical senses to allow our perceptions to open up or become aware of other realities. Deprivation tanks also allow for the same effects. Inhibiting the brain's receptors or the brain shutting down because the physical body becomes no longer viable just allows us to shift our awareness from one reality to another. Consciousness is not contained within the brain. The brain doesn't produce these alternate realities.
     
  17. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    7,057
    The brain going haywire can allow an individual to have other experiences. Those experiences are not realities. You yourself mentioned "substances" that can cause other experiences. Drug-induced hallucinations are not realities.
    So you say. But you have given no reason why anybody should think it's true.
     
  18. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

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    364
    LOL should I? No offense but that is neither my intention nor my responsibility. Whether you think it's true or not is entirely up to you. Besides, that wasn't the question you asked me:

     
  19. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    How do you know?
     
  20. kx000 Valued Senior Member

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    5,134
    Religion is like fanaticism. It makes sense to non-transgression pacifism. Instill that virtue.
     
  21. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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    7,057
    If you don't want to convince anybody, why are you wasting your time here?
     
  22. ForrestDean Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    364
    Partly because this thread is interesting and entertaining, but mostly just out of curiosity. There are many people including myself that get to experience things that most can only dream of. What I find fascinating is that people are willing to dismiss and forego such an incredible experience because they are tightly bound and imprisoned by their beliefs. A lot of Christians believe it is demonic, and most skeptics believe it is nothing more than just visual images in the brain. No matter how much one tries to explain how real the experience is the skeptics just can't seem to comprehend it. They can't seem to get past that it is nothing more than visual images similar to someone daydreaming while sitting in their char. Even in this thread when I explain how incredibly real the experience is to the point that it is perceived to be more real than this physical reality there appears to be no comprehension or understanding of what I'm describing.

    In these projection experiences there is actual physical touch, there is smell, there is hearing, there is tasting, and there are incredible sights. I also perceive myself to be in an actual physical body that is just as real as I am sitting here typing this reply. A lot of times the experience is more real than this physical reality because the senses are extremely intensified. Everything appears to be more solid, more clear, bright and vivid. There is also 360 degree vision, there is telepathy, telekinesis, etc. Everything is also instantaneous. I can shift from one reality to the next at will. I've been to and explored other planets, traveled through the stars and galaxies, been under the ocean, flown through clouds, seen fascinating and amazing places, walked around as well as flown around in my back yard, or just walked around my house, I've jumped out of an airplane with no parachute, I've jumped off a mountain and floated down into beautiful valleys, and on and on and on. And I can literally feel these experiences with every part of my senses. I can feel the clouds as I'm flying through them, and I can feel the wind blowing around my body. When it's raining I can feel the water landing on my skin and the sensation of getting wet just as I do in this physical reality. Also, the feeling of bliss is beyond any word in any language to describe it. And everyone of these experiences are incredibly real, not just some visual imagery conjured up in my head. Anyone can do that at anytime of the day with no effort. Explorations of consciousness requires a tremendous amount of discipline and a LOT of practice. However, projecting into alternate realities is not something that is exclusive only to "gifted" people or someone with special abilities. Absolutely anyone can do this. It just takes a lot of patience, practice, and persistence.

    There is not a virtual reality device in existence that can imitate a full blown projection experience. They can be more entertaining than any movie Hollywood could ever hope to produce. You can literally experience anything you wished, desired, or could imagine. So again, I find it very fascinating that people would just toss the chance to experience whatever they wanted aside simply because they are shackled to their beliefs. But at the same time it is completely understandable considering the conditioning of today's society.
     
  23. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    You wrote this incorrectly: it should have been "There are many people including myself that imagine that they get to experience things that most can only dream of".

    But, on the other hand, such people aren't just believing that they get "incredible experience" are they?

    You persist in leaving out the pertinent adjective - imagined.

    Nurse! He's forgotten to take his meds again.
     

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