Forgive me?

[Mr. Happy]

Hey all, I am new to this forum, but here is my little input into the conversation:
If everyone could look at every person they encounter as part of themselves, can you imagine what that world would look like? (I feel like breaking into a John Lennon song, now). "Love thy neighbor as thyself" could mean to really love that other person because they are part of the universal whole (whatever you want to call it... Universe, Brahman, Consciousness, Energy, God) just the same as you. In that world, there would no dualism; no right/wrong, good/evil there would only be peace. But also remember, that the peaceful world exists inside you. The heaven or the hell that you live in is created by your state of mind, and you can access it at any time. When you view the world this way, peace and forgiveness overflow. You no longer are waiting to receive joy, you radiate joy. You love every being, forgiveness is no longer discriminatory (even over the most difficult things in life), and you are completely at peace even sitting in rush hour traffic.
Yes, it is difficult to keep this state of mind, somedays I feel like I stronger than others. But once I started viewing my world this way. All my problems which use to shackle me to my depression suddenly were released, and it was liberating.

Well, that's my little input. Thanks for listening.

I feel the same way. I still have a lot of rage in me that I need to forgive and stop projecting it onto others and blaming others for my inner pain. I need to work on forgiving my self for every false belief I hold about myself. When I can do that, I think it will get easier to forgive others. But honestly, it is easy most of the time. Thanks, MH

[ArgoSG]

Mr. Happy, your honesty in your starting post is admirable. The problem I have is due to the knowledge that you are almost certainly wrong in your belief. It's clear to me that your intentions are good. You're making claims that you simply cannot back up with evidence. Your claims are loaded with metaphysical baggage. Objective observation of the world entails a position of agnosticism towards the supernatural. God is possible, but so far there's simply no sign that he's there if you care at all about what the smartest people in the world have to say. Intelligence goes up, belief goes down. This is documented. 90%~ of Nobel prize winners do not believe in any gods.

The moment you realize that a child is being raped either as you're reading this post or within moments of completing it, you should have a strong argument against a loving God existing. I make the claim that not even the rape of a single child, and the fear involved in such an experience cannot ever be justified. A being that allows something like this to happen is evil, period. More than likely, this being doesn't exist, because we have quite a lot of goodness to look at on the planet earth. We have love, acts of kindness, acts of self sacrifice. Think about it.. good deeds are bigger than any culture or religion. Christianity is just as likely to be true as Islam is. Both are highly, highly unlikely. Those are the facts, as disappointing as it may be to some. I hope people have the courage to criticize themselves.

[Mr. Happy]

Mr. Happy, your honesty in your starting post is admirable. The problem I have is due to the knowledge that you are almost certainly wrong in your belief. It's clear to me that your intentions are good. You're making claims that you simply cannot back up with evidence. Your claims are loaded with metaphysical baggage. Objective observation of the world entails a position of agnosticism towards the supernatural. God is possible, but so far there's simply no sign that he's there if you care at all about what the smartest people in the world have to say. Intelligence goes up, belief goes down. This is documented. 90%~ of Nobel prize winners do not believe in any gods.

The moment you realize that a child is being raped either as you're reading this post or within moments of completing it, you should have a strong argument against a loving God existing. I make the claim that not even the rape of a single child, and the fear involved in such an experience cannot ever be justified. A being that allows something like this to happen is evil, period. More than likely, this being doesn't exist, because we have quite a lot of goodness to look at on the planet earth. We have love, acts of kindness, acts of self sacrifice. Think about it.. good deeds are bigger than any culture or religion. Christianity is just as likely to be true as Islam is. Both are highly, highly unlikely. Those are the facts, as disappointing as it may be to some. I hope people have the courage to criticize themselves.

Thanks ArgoSG, well...I respect what your saying and I have taken the same position some years ago. Not to be a smartass or anything but I am very happy that I believe you are mistaken. What changed my mind was "A Course in Miracles," "Kabalah" along with my studies of other said religions. What changed was my conceptual understanding of what this world actually is and represents and most of all who it was who created the evil in this world.

Was it the Devil who created this world? I don't believe in a devil. The devil is a fictional character who conveniently allows us to project our sense of guilt onto someone outside of ourselves. I recognize that all people have an internal program called the ego which seeks salvation through materialism. The ego is what created the body and the body is its alter to its god called "death." The ego is what strives to become a god itself and deny Truth exists.

Organized religions have invariably misrepresented the love of God because we don't understand unconditional love. I know there is a God not through science although there are many more brilliant people who believe in a God than you might think. Thanks for your thoughts, respectfully yours MH.