Religious links from Linklight

Religion

Religion

All religion is man made. The truth comes from God.

Why do I say this? Think of it this way. The great religions have usually evolved from the teachings of one man who came to Earth at a particular time, and told the local inhabitants about the teachings of God in a way that they understood at that time for that culture. The Teacher then moved on, but his teachings remained. However they were very often stuck in the tradition and culture of the time of original teachings. On the time of Jesus, the transport was usually a donkey. If he came now and taught us he may have been taken to his birthplace in a car. His father instead of being a carpenter may have been a software programmer. When he was curing the blind by mixing mud and putting it on their eyes, nowdays he may have some electronic device that people believed would cure their blindness by burning off the cataract that was blinding them. However the true master would have used miracles to make miracles happen. But now we do not belive in miracles, so it is easier to do something that can be explained.

The point is that we evolve and things change. But religion seems to get stuck. When the original Teacher stopped teaching, the followers would try to keep the teaching alive in the same way as they were taught. Rituals, and hierachy are born. Buildings for worship are created, and power starts to take over. The church starts to exist only because of the people coming through the doors. The building needs to be maintained to keep them coming. Money has to be found to maintain it and also to pay the keepers of the building. If everyone who came to that building found out that they could find the same God in a field or in a flower, or by asking questions within, then they would not have any customers. So teach them that they can only find what they are seeking by coming to this church, temple, or mosque. Also to teach by fear. If you do not do what God wants you will be punished. And the priests are the only link between man and God. In such a way, religion is created and becomes controlling, and very dogmatic. Interpretations of the words and sayings are made and these are often conflicting. Translations are made from language to language, and from age to age these have their meanings changed to suit the translators beliefs, or the commands of the church leaders at that time. The true power of the words becomes lost. This is particularly true of the Christian Church. It is said that the parables of Jesus have 7 levels of meaning. The most obvious would have been even more obvious to the people of the time they were said. Jesus was speaking to simple people, and the many refereces to seed and plants growing, and fishing reflect the main occupations of the time and place where they were said. However as the reader learns more, and more about the true meaning behind all religion, they start to find deeper and deeper meaning in the parables. Any true seeker can in time find these meanings without the church or the priests who want to have the power. We can become lost in the teachings if we rely only on the priests.

However it is not all bad. Some of the old churches have been worshipped in for centuries and the sheer energy of prayer leaves a wonderful sacred feeling in them. Although many of the meanings of the various rituals have been lost, just the remmnants of the ceremonys allow an ancient memory to come through to our consciousness and bring us closer to God. Millions of people pray and worship devoutly which brings huge benefit to humanity. It is not the words that matter, it is the intent. It is not the length of time either. A prayer said or thought with massive intent can be answered in a split second. Witness the many people who have never prayed in their lives, who when faced with death can suddenly pray "Oh God! Save me!" and they are. Prayer is very powerful, and we have to be careful what we pray for, we may get it.

In the muslim world the arabic version of the Koran has not been altered much, although the meanings of the words have been interpreted in very extreme ways. We are all aware of the extreme views of the fundementalists. Even the majority of the muslims in the world will accept these views are extreme and do not reflect the truth behind the words. The underlying beliefs of the followers of Mohammed are very similar to the teachings of Jesus. In fact for anyone who is not aware, Jesus and Mary are revered in the Muslim faith as great teachers. To me the only problem is that they say that the way of Allah is the only way. I cannot agree with that, there have been ways before and after Allah, and there are as many ways to God as there are people on Earth. The teachings of the Sufi's, the mystical branch of Islam are really beautiful, and encompass all time and types of people.

Both Christianity and Islam have followed the teachings of a great teacher or Master. What they have taught has been documented in the Bible and the Koran. The Jewish religion is a little different. There is no specific teacher, although they do have their book to follow, the Torah. The religion is very old and as Jesus was a Jew, then much of Christian teaching comes from the Jewish teaching, but updated to that age. There are traditions and rituals which are followed by this faith that distinguish them very forcefully. The black hats and overcoats the men wear, and the distinctive hairstyles mark them out immediately. But these are the extreme fundementalists. They are following traditions that are very very old, and the true meanings of them have been lost in time. I understand that when the Jews from Ethipoia moved back to Israel, they were not easily accepted there as their traditions involved ceremonies that still had animal sacrifice as a core. Yet which was right? Was the Ethiopian version more orthodox then the newer Israeli version? Had the Ethiopians remembered the ancient version and not changed it over the centuries, but back in Israel the traditions had been lost while the Jewish faith was scattered all over the world. Who can tell? Does it really matter? If someone follows their faith to the letter and follows the teaching as it is meant to be followed, then they will find their way in the way that suits them. The religion you follow is usually dictated by the place you are born and the tradition of your parents. Nowdays if you are born in Palestine you will become a Muslim, and yet a few miles away in Istael, you would become a Jew. Which is the right way to God? Fate is in charge except for the few people who look at the big picture and decide for themselves.

These three religions are the religions of the book. What is followed is what is written down, and it has been written down by men, often many years after the event took place. I know that if I tried to write in detail what I heard from someone even 20 years ago it would not be very accurate. This teaching is open to interpretation. What I am writing now is my own brief interpretation of information that I have gathered over the years. But how precise is it? How right was it in the first place. The original teaching may have been really accurate. But again I know I can listen to someone and remember certain things, but someone next to me has heard and remembered different things. I have interpreted what I have heard into my understanding and so have they. But we can only interpret what we hear if we have some information to hang it on to. If we hear something really advanced we may not grasp it at all, so the lessons have to be diluted down into a form that can be understood by the masses. From this teaching someone may come along with a bit more knowledge and embelish the teaching into their own understanding, and so the teaching is becoming distorted. Years later the words may be changed again to fit into the times, or translated and in that translation meanings may be changed to fit the understanding of the translator, or even deliberately to fit the dogma of the organisation that has arranged for the translation. Who can really know the exact truth of the written books? This is the problem with the religions of the books. They are open to distortion and misunderstanding of the original truth.

In the Hindu religion, they have the vedas going back some 6000 years and these have not been altered by translation. But the huge variety of teachings and the various Gods make this unacceptable to many other religions. What is not understood is that all this variety is to cater for the hundreds of diffferent ways that the Hindus can find their way to God. There is always some variety of God that will please and be understood by somone who finds an affinity with that particular aspect of God. So there is only one God, but taking many different forms, and one form or the other will suit every aspect of the human psyche. For those who could not find their way in the traditional Hindu way, there have been many branches of Hinduism that have become seperate religions of their own.

Guru Nanak branched off and created the Seihk religion. As far as I can understand based on the Hindu teachings as interpreted by him. They have some traditions which are well known, such as not shaving or cutting their hair, and having their hair wrapped in a turban. But that is only a symbol of faith, in the same way as the Jews and Muslims are circumsised. What I do like in particular about the Seikh religion is the way they give and share. Hugh mountains of food will be brought to a temple to be shared out to those who have nothing. Share and share alike really has meaning here.

Another Hindu who branched off on his own path was Buddha. He took a different way and decided to seek the answers within by deep meditation. The Buddhists have many Gods and Deities as offshoots of the various aspects of God, but the essence is always meditation and self discovery. By entering that peaceful place within by meditation, then enlightenment is only just around the corner. The ceremonies are performed with great intent, but even though they are serious, there seems to be less dogma. I witnessed a Buddhist ceremony where someone make a mistake. Instead of black looks of retribution, all the monks burst out laughing and the person making the mistake began to laugh as well. Once this was past, the ceremony carried on, and the monk making the mistake became relaxed and the whole atmosphere of the ceremony became lighter and purer. Laughter instead of anger transformed the mistake into part of the ceremony. I believe that no war has ever been started by people of the Buddhist faith. Witness also the respect held by the Dali Lama by people of all faiths all over the world, they recognise his true wisdom.


So you see, that just in this brief summary, there are a lot of similarities with all religions and beliefs. So that similarity is the truth, and is universal. It is only the diverse ways of finding that truth that cause so many problems in our world. A kind of tribalism using religion to find differences instead of similarities. If we could all learn to see the similarities between us all and between our religions, then we may find peace. Just because someone has a different name to us, does not mean we have to try to get them to change their name to ours so that we can feel comfortable.We can all live in harmony with different names and recognise that that person with a different name may look different to us, but by looking closely they are more similar than they are different.

Look amongst the different religions linked to this section of Linklight and look for the similarities, and ignore the differences. You may learn a lot.

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