Sslee blog

My Take on World Religions

Sslee
Publish date: Mon, 24 Dec 2018, 06:03 PM
Sslee
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This is my blog

Dear all,

I often see Calvintaneng posted his religion teaching in i3 and as a result inviting many unpleasant comments on religion. Hence please allow me to post the below article By: Mr. Sharudin Jamal (A former Bipolar Affected Disorder Sufferer)

http://sharudinjamal.blogspot.com/2016/12/my-take-on-world-religions.html

My Take on World Religions

For the longest time, I was a religious scholar before I delved in philosophy, science, and mathematics.  I read the Bhagavad Gita, the teaching of mainstream Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism.  I also read the Bible and  I had eight different variations of the Qurans which include the Quran for the Skeptics and Quran with Sahih Bukhari Annotations.  I was so intrigued by various religions that I visited the Church of Satan website.  Click here for Church of Satan.  It was, however, the book Exploring Religion by Roger Schmidt that allowed me to look at various religions as an academician rather than as a practitioner.  It opened my eyes to the many questions I had about religions that were left unanswered.

The main thing about a religion is, all religions are based on faith; that is belief without evidence.  This is the reason why people like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss have a field day bashing the theists on their religious beliefs.  There were no rationalizations in religion.  If the religion teaches you that when a fly dropped in your drink, then dunks in the whole fly because the fly's wings both contain the elixir and poison, you believe.  If the religion says be weary of a passing black dog for it is the devil in disguise, you also believe.  If the religion narrates a story that says drink the camel's urine to cure blindness, that too you believe.  Why wouldn't you?  This is your faith.  Non-compliance means blasphemy.  The punishment is eternal damnation!

I had a whole array of research material on religions that I cannot table out.  All because religious zealots are a bunch of highly sensitive people.  They all believe they hold the key to the truth but in actuality, most of them don't even understand or even finish reading their holy books.  I, however, took the approach of a bewildered kid entering a library for the first time.  Once I asked a Hindu devotee why he worships cows?  To me, it's an animal that is inferior to us humans.  

He replied, "The cow had given humans so much.  Everything about the cow is sacred.  The cow gave its life to humans by toiling the land, its milk for feeding the infants and the dung for fuel and fertilizer."

And so, I gained a new insight towards Hinduism.  Animals are sacred.  Now I also understand why they revere Ganesh, the elephant God and why in India there is a temple, especially for rats.

I also often marveled by the stories of miracles.  Why was it that miracles happened in the past?  Why can't present day people meet with angels?  Why can't the modern man witness the burning bush or  see a man walking on water?   Carl Sagan offers an explanation.  He wrote in his book, The Demon Haunted World that some of these prophetic traits were signs of mental illness.  I can attest to that.  I had dreamt of a star bursting one night and I too had been visited by angels during my mania.  I can relate well to the story of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, who sees figures others cannot see. Click here for A Beautiful Mind.  

I can vouch that at least a couple of the prophets had these traits.  In a book, a psychography written about one of them, there are very clear pieces of evidence that this person was suffering from the illusion of grandeur, narcissism complexity, and schizophrenia.  However, due to the sensitivity of the topic, I present to you the cases of St. Paul of Tarsus, click here to learn more about St. Paul and St. Christina the Astonishing for comparison, click here to learn more about St. Christina.  

Having to understand the world religions and their idiosyncrasies does not make me less respectful of the existing religions. They are the foundation of human morality at large.  Though some of the teachings are no longer applicable to the mainstream, religions are the glue that binds the society together.  When the USSR collapse in 1991, the very first things that popped up like mushrooms were orthodox religions.  

Religions make us feel connected to the Creator.  When we are sad or distressed, the first thing for religious people to do is pray.  For those without religion, the first thing they do is hit the bottle.  Richard Branson claimed he is an atheist.  But when asked what did he do in a life-threatening situation, he replied, "I prayed to God to save my life."  Then he laughed at the interviewer.

There is a quote by Steven Weinberg, a Nobel Prize Winner in Physics: "Religion is an insult to human dignity.  Without it you have good people do good things and evil people do evil things.  But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

I disagree with his statement.  I know a lot of people who do good things through religion.  These individuals no matter which religions they belong will always be good.  The evil things done in the name of religions were done by the evil people.  These kind of individuals are forever evil no matter which religions they belong.

I do not wish for this posting to be a religious polemic.  There are plenty of those debates going on in You Tube.  I just want to say that every religion is sacred to the believers.  I, however, celebrate all religions.  When I visit Ah Ho my mechanic, I will light up a joss stick at his workshop's shrine.  When I visit Muru, my pothead friend, I will leave some coins at the Ganesh's altar.  My family and I will normally have a special lunch or dinner whenever there is a religious holiday.  

Religion to me is like a multi-facade lamp shade.  Though the shade has various angles, the source of the light is all the same. It is this light that illuminates all the religions.  No one religion can claim the exclusivity of the Source. 

Thank you

P/S: Whishing all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. “Lead us from the unreal to the real: from darkness to light; from death to immortality. May there be peace and love everywhere.”

And for the i3 community, whishing all have more success in the coming year:

“You have your way.  I have my way.  As for the right way, the correct way,

and the only way, It does not exist”.

Friedrich Nietzsche

But there are sure way to Holland by not studying the FA and blindly following the crowd chase high, sailang and margin finance.

Discussions
1 person likes this. Showing 50 of 74 comments

hollandking

is it possible to connect with the creator? I believe HE knows and what is HE and what is us.If we are real, surely there must be other beings , the unknown, those that can't be seen or feel by our senses. Remember! Our world is perceived by our senses, if you can't breath in water, no matter how u try u can't. U no wings to fly, u not able to fly no matter how hard you try. It means our world that we are in is based on our senses and these sense made us feel real. What if there are senses we don't have? Is it possible? Very likely. Can colour blind ppl see colour? NOPE. There are certain sounds we can't hear and perhaps colours too. The first thing to understand is our world real, the one we perceived as solid? I really have doubts if is real bcoz based on what i read and experienced, is not as solid as we think. Let's look at this point, if world is not real, then what is real actually. If not real, then is most likely the simplest explanation is there' only 1 dot(abstraction), so it means we are all connected together just that we are separated by something making it looks as we are diff. Religion can be good and bad and is especially good for mass ppl, meaning to reprogram in a mass manner. It teaches us to be good, but it can be bad too, depending on the teachers, who are they, are they connected to the creator or purely blind on scriptures without the connection to the creator. I don't condemn ppl's religion, religion give them hopes, is true or not, I don't criticized them, i like to see them have hope in life. The spiritual journey is between u and the creator , not between u and others. There can only be a very very small group of ppl who will be successful at connecting to the creators and u can say is a privilege club.

2018-12-26 11:31

hollandking

As for the creator, what is HE, i doubt we will be able to understand what is HE bcoz our mind dont have the ability to understand him

2018-12-26 11:32

hollandking

Another thing, your ability to connect to the creator is not bcoz u r talented, rather is bcoz this gift was granted to you. So when u r granted that gift , use it, dont follow ppl blindly but link to the creator as you are in the religion,you will evolved more than just the religion bcoz HE will guide you. If you don't have the ability, then u can only be what the religion can offer the most.

2018-12-26 11:36

hollandking

Time is limited, is the same for everyone, get ready rather than wait for death to come

2018-12-26 11:37

hollandking

nicholas, it isn't universe within universe, those are illusions, nothing exist.

2018-12-26 11:43

hollandking

abc, r u real? What r you?

2018-12-26 11:56

hollandking

If i tell u r mind can be many and not one, do you believe it?

2018-12-26 11:57

hollandking

Some ppl say that we are trapped, perhaps it isn't trapped but rather we are not able to understand

2018-12-26 11:58

hollandking

The only way to understand is to acquired upgrades.

2018-12-26 12:00

hollandking

you sure whatever you experienced or learn is your doing?

2018-12-26 12:01

hollandking

This is why they used the word trapped/enslaved.

2018-12-26 12:01

hollandking

Do u know that they talked about meditation, where the mediation is to achieved the pure OBSERVER status, where you are no longer thinking, bcoz this thinking you think is yours but is not you actually. To be a pure observer is super hard.

2018-12-26 12:08

hollandking

Some talked about energy lvl, to raise the energy lvl through meditation, u think negative, u experienced negative, u absorbed ppl's negativity energy, some r diff from others, they can absorb or born ppl energy absorber, all sapu habis and this makes them in big trouble. When this type of energy of yours is low, u attract some unknown beings and so the cycle down start. So by right should be to cycle up, raising the so called energy lvl, when the energy lvl is raised, u slowly experienced diff thing. Well, this is their theory, I'm still testing it but to do so, you must be able to mastered meditation.

2018-12-26 12:12

hollandking

it isnt

2018-12-26 12:14

hollandking

i'm not going to influence you, i'm just a mortal, what is in your mind is wht is influencing you, not me.

2018-12-26 12:19

hollandking

stop evil? You can't. There are so many ppl around, how many can you stop. Just 1 bad apple with power is enough to caused havoc to the world. I just want to discover the truth, no intention of influencing others, bcoz at the end of the day, is about me, I don't want to wait for death not knowing the truth. If you want to stop evil, do your part, whatever u can, u can't stopped all but do what is in your mean even if is insignificant at least you have tried but you never know it may rolled into a gigantic snowball

2018-12-26 12:26

hollandking

If you study history, start from world war one till today, u will discovered there is something arranging the orders of things. Focus on hitler, you will see it was arranged. What was the consequence of world war I and World war II? What was the consequence of the american's civil war?


Now let's go back to the near presence, if you have been following malaysian's politic, u will see why najib was needed to be in the picture. Ppl tried to pull him down before the election but all failed, and when the time was ripe, he was taken down without ppl expecting it. Just and Donald Trump rise which was unexpeced.

Do you know that there were ppl who tried to assassinate Hitler before but it failed, bcoz the time wasn't right, incidents not yet happened.

2018-12-26 12:33

hollandking

Find the truth

2018-12-26 12:35

qqq3

religion is sports

2018-12-26 12:38

hollandking

if you truly study history, u will see something there. I have already said what i wanted, some here will visit this episode in the future.

2018-12-26 12:42

qqq3

they cheer for their sports team

2018-12-26 12:42

hollandking

i hope what i have said today will be useful to some who may see or experienced greater things and I hope one day these ppl will tell me something that i want to know.

2018-12-26 12:48

Icon8888

calvintaneng eat shxt !

(my contribution to religion debate)

2018-12-26 12:52

freetospeak

wow holland king...u meditate...mus b careful oh...giv u piece of advice...train your pair of legs.....hav a strong body...lol..otherwise difficult...if your body is weak ...the best way of meditating is thru motion ... not sitting..but that is the most difficult..sitting is the easiest but also the mos dangerous...lol

2018-12-26 13:05

freetospeak

they talk so much about religion but in the end deep in their heart they r still lost...if not..they wont be holding to a belief so strongly...lol...so sad..when they only beleive on a belief..they r already lost..n away from the truth

2018-12-26 13:10

lcwin

In ancient times there is no laws. The elites and the powerful creates and use religion as a tool to control the ignorant citizens. Generally countries and communities that are religious are the most violent corrupt and backward . If I am a leader of a country I will force everyone to be religious as it will serve my purpose very well. Thou shall not question.....

2018-12-26 13:14

Sslee

Dear all,
The main thing about a religion is, all religions are based on faith; that is belief without evidence. I just want to say that every religion is sacred to the believers. So can we agree to disagree on the existing of higher being/God and respect each other views.

In i3 of course, people said no body point the gun to your head to buy a share and you need to judge by yourself. However, some very experience blogger can use a lot of convincing points to lure you to buy into their shares or vice versa.

If you are interest in alternative view how evil started feel free to read the below link.
https://klse.i3investor.com/blogs/Sslee_blog/177025.jsp
Equality: Garden of Eden where god walk among men as there are no sin and evil.
Original sin: The forbidden fruit form tree of knowledge of good and evil

Thank you

2018-12-26 13:16

freetospeak

your wish to attune to god...has the same destiny of your cell attuning to u...lol...no one single cell in your body succeeds...so this 60 billion cell on earth also cannot succeed...

2018-12-26 13:22

freetospeak

hav u listen to your cell like u wish your god is listening to u...if not..then u r not even qualified to talk about god...lol

2018-12-26 13:23

freetospeak

when u are attune to your cell as one...u r on the way to become immortal...but only the ancient china n indian succeeded..now all only craps...

2018-12-26 13:26

Up_down

The moment we engaged our actions in a mindfulness way, we would be more understand of ourselves...the chain effect of 貪-瞋-癡-昏沉-掉悔

2018-12-26 13:32

Nicholasming91

The truth itself that there is no god, an infinite universe with endless possibilities.. which ends up to be emptiness. The nothingness in everything , nirvana.

2018-12-26 13:39

freetospeak

when u say there is no god ..u r already in a belief there is not god..which inturn trap u...lol..when u say there is god u r already trapped..lol

2018-12-26 13:42

freetospeak

the morale of the story is...if there is no god ..it can be created..when there is god..it can be destroyed...

2018-12-26 13:43

freetospeak

thats the power of samsara..the ultimate web of illusion...the only way to be freed is to gain enlightenment...while gaining enligtenment is also not gaining enligtenment...lol

2018-12-26 13:47

stockraider

Christian is the biggest religion in the world.

Why christian religion is the largest ??
Bcos this religion preach love to mankind loh....!!

2018-12-26 13:57

Icon8888

Nope....Because it is spread by the most powerful and rich group of people

2018-12-26 14:15

SarifahSelinder

Religion is the greatest creation of mankind

2018-12-26 14:25

calvintaneng

Christianity was first spread by Jesus. His occupation was a poor carpenter. His Apostles were mostly poor fishermen like Peter, James & John.

These disciples fled when Jesus was forsaken & crucified.
But Jesus was resurrected alive from the dead and showed himself to the astonished disciples. One absentee was Thomas the doubter who said he will not believe unless he sees the nail prints in the hand of Jesus

See

24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name (John 20)



Methodism was spread by John Wesley. John Wesley dies and left with less than Rm100 in his pocket

So is David Brainerd, J. O Fraser, Martin Luther, John Sung gave up a lucrative future, Many of US Missionaries I know live sacrificial lives

In China J. Hudson Taylor lived from hand to mouth. Thousands of people from UK & USA followed him in a life of privation and poverty to bring the gospel message to China. In the Boxer Rebellion of 1900s many were killed. Yet they kept on giving out the truth

Christianity there is a Cause for Truth & Righteousness. Because in Christianity and Christianity alone the Founder Jesus is alive!

2018-12-26 14:31

calvintaneng

History proved that Apostle Thomas later traveled to India as a Missionary

Some Indian Converts to Christianity took the name "THOMAS" as their surname. And today there are thousands and thousands of Indians with the surname "THOMAS)

See

Thomas the Apostle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas the Apostle (Biblical Hebrew: תומאס הקדוש‎; Coptic: ⲑⲱⲙⲁⲥ; Classical Syriac: ܬܐܘܡܐ ܫܠܝܚܐ‎ Thoma Shliha; also called Didymus which means "the twin") was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus, according to the New Testament.

Thomas is informally referred to as "Doubting Thomas" because he doubted Jesus' resurrection when first told (in the Gospel of John account only), followed later by his confession of faith, "My Lord and my God," on seeing Jesus' wounded body.

Traditionally, Thomas is believed to have travelled outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, travelling as far as Tamilakam which are the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in present-day India.[2][5][6][7] According to tradition, Thomas reached Muziris, (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in the state of Kerala, India) in AD 50[8][9] and baptized several people, founding what today are known as Saint Thomas Christians or Mar Thoma Nazranis. After his death, the reputed relics of Saint Thomas the Apostle were enshrined as far as Mesopotamia in the 3rd century, and later moved to various places.[10] In 1258, some of the relics were brought to Abruzzo in Ortona, Italy, where they have been held in the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle.[11] He is often regarded as the Patron Saint of India,[12][13] and the name Thoma remains quite popular among Saint Thomas Christians of India.


Mission in India
Thomas is traditionally believed to have sailed to India in AD 50 (but there is evidence of his being in Taxila in AD 43, where he did not have success) to spread the Christian faith, and is believed to have landed at the port of Muziris, (modern-day North Paravur and Kodungalloor in modern-day Kerala state) where there was a Jewish community at the time.[2][5] The port was destroyed in 1341 by a massive flood that realigned the coasts. He is believed by the Saint Thomas Christian tradition to have established seven churches (communities) in Kerala. These churches are at Kodungallur, Palayoor, Kottakkavu (Paravur), Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Nilackal (Chayal), Kollam and Thiruvithamcode (half church).[34] Thomas baptized several families, namely Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Kalli, Kaliyankal, Nedumpilly, Panakkamattom, Kunnappilly, Vazhappilly, Payyappilly, Maliakal, Pattamukku and Thaiyil.[35] Other families claim to have origins almost as far back as these and the religious historian Robert Eric Frykenberg notes that "Whatever dubious historicity may be attached to such local traditions, there can be little doubt as to their great antiquity or to their great appeal in popular imagination".[36]

It was to a land of dark people he was sent, to clothe them by Baptism in white robes. His grateful dawn dispelled India's painful darkness. It was his mission to espouse India to the One-Begotten. The merchant is blessed for having so great a treasure. Edessa thus became the blessed city by possessing the greatest pearl India could yield. Thomas works miracles in India, and at Edessa Thomas is destined to baptize peoples perverse and steeped in darkness, and that in the land of India.

2018-12-26 14:38

calvintaneng

Post removed.Why?

2018-12-26 14:42

mach10

I strongly believe ET not god created human in seven days.the god mentioned in the bible is actually an ET.

2018-12-26 14:45

hollandking

freetospeak, what u mentioned sitting, the posture of meditation. There's someone they called the sleeping prophet, i forgotten his name, was it edgar cycee, he uses sleeping posture. Regarding what posture, i think it also depend on your health, if you have back pain, the sitting posture might be a problem, but the sleeping posture makes u sleep. The idea of meditation is to be somewhere sleep and awaken, i think. That is the hard part. But i think either posture will do but just need training using that posture.

2018-12-26 14:47

Icon8888

I strongly believe ET exist

https://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/737818/Aliens-drain-solar-energy-monster-UFOs-Sun-NASA-SOHO


mach10
14 posts
Posted by mach10 > Dec 26, 2018 02:45 PM | Report Abuse

I strongly believe ET not god created human in seven days.the god mentioned in the bible is actually an ET.

2018-12-26 14:49

calvintaneng

God Almighty created this world

ET is a figment of man's invention

See what God says in His Word

King James Bible
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

2018-12-26 14:50

lextcs

the early colonialist went into Africa and took for themselves negro slaves to be used for their agri industries. It was also in the name of Christianity that these 'white' people came to plunder the wealth of each nation they profess to spread the good news to the land. Time and again we see religion being used to justify each politician means. The Americans south were no angels either. The bible or better known as the written voice of God is the inherited right of the supreme white. Rapes, murder, torture, hell on earth unleashed suffered by the negro slaves are just examples of how each voice of God is being interpreted for their advantage. The story of Nat Turner during the early slave years is an opener.

Surely Christ is the new born King. He is the savior of the world but it a far cry from what the Father's intent. That each soul should taste everlasting life. But meanwhile while Santa's is having his ride, the world has yet to known this new born King or rather 2019 yrs King.

Merry Christmas .

2018-12-26 14:51

Icon8888

ET will transform Calvintaneng Ito a cow

2018-12-26 14:56

calvintaneng

Posted by lextcs > Dec 26, 2018 02:51 PM | Report Abuse

the early colonialist went into Africa and took for themselves negro slaves to be used for their agri industries. It was also in the name of Christianity that these 'white' people came to plunder the wealth of each nation they profess to spread the good news to the land. Time and again we see religion being used to justify each politician means. The Americans south were no angels either. The bible or better known as the written voice of God is the inherited right of the supreme white. Rapes, murder, torture, hell on earth unleashed suffered by the negro slaves are just examples of how each voice of God is being interpreted for their advantage. The story of Nat Turner during the early slave years is an opener.

Surely Christ is the new born King. He is the savior of the world but it a far cry from what the Father's intent. That each soul should taste everlasting life. But meanwhile while Santa's is having his ride, the world has yet to known this new born King or rather 2019 yrs King.

Merry Christmas .


The Slave Traders?

They were not Christians

In fact the trophy convert is John Newton the slave trader who got saved and later wrote that famous hymn called Amazing Grace (It was the Christian Churches that eradicted slavery from US. One great leader was William Wilberforce

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wilberforce

As for John Newton See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton

And see Newton

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDdvReNKKuk

2018-12-26 14:58

lextcs

allow me to qualify my comments in one summary. There are good Christians and there are equally bad christians. But all of them truly believe Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

2018-12-26 15:03

lcwin

The slave trade in africa is run by moslem arab and the buyers are christien european and then USA. A lot of African convert to moslem to escape being caught as the arab prefer to catch those non moslem african unless they have no choice.
USA only start to talk human right when machanisation of farm begins and the slaves become a liability to own as slave are not that easy to handle . Most slave are not religious. And yes USA population are quite religious thats why they are obsessed with violent and war to liberate other supposingly poor soul in the middleEast and africa.Hahaha...

2018-12-26 16:54

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