ajay0
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Post by ajay0 on Mar 3, 2019 7:11:14 GMT
Hello all,
I have come across some observations which depict an interesting correlation between God and light.... In Hinduism, the Vedas and Hindu scriptures considers the Shivalinga as representing a cosmic pillar of light. The Dharmic monotheistic sect the Prajapita Brahmakumaris consider God to be a point of light.In Islam, Allah has 100 name's, and one of them is Alnoor ( the Light). “God is light,” says 1 John 1:5, in the Bible in Christianity. In Judaism, Psalm 76:4 says of God, “You are radiant with light.” So this correlation between God and light, is a common denominator in these four major world religions. Imo, the fire worship in Zoroastrianism may be illustrating this correlation between God (Ahura Mazda ) and light as well,light being emitted by the fire. If you find any further proofs or evidences in this regard, please do share it here.
Thanking in advance.
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 3, 2019 13:03:54 GMT
Hi!
Manichaeism and Akhenaton's sun cult both come to mind. I think most ancient societies held the sun as a divinity, but their conception of divinity might have been different from ours. There wasn't a clear distinction (if any at all) between science and religion.
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Post by Elizabeth on Mar 3, 2019 15:03:13 GMT
Hello all, I have come across some observations which depict an interesting correlation between God and light.... In Hinduism, the Vedas and Hindu scriptures considers the Shivalinga as representing a cosmic pillar of light. The Dharmic monotheistic sect the Prajapita Brahmakumaris consider God to be a point of light.In Islam, Allah has 100 name's, and one of them is Alnoor ( the Light). “God is light,” says 1 John 1:5, in the Bible in Christianity. In Judaism, Psalm 76:4 says of God, “You are radiant with light.” So this correlation between God and light, is a common denominator in these four major world religions. Imo, the fire worship in Zoroastrianism may be illustrating this correlation between God (Ahura Mazda ) and light as well,light being emitted by the fire. If you find any further proofs or evidences in this regard, please do share it here.
Thanking in advance. Nice findings! I only knew the Christianity one. Did you manage to find out why all of them have this correlation?
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Post by Elizabeth on Mar 3, 2019 15:04:23 GMT
Hi! Manichaeism and Akhenaton's sun cult both come to mind. I think most ancient societies held the sun as a divinity, but their conception of divinity might have been different from ours. There wasn't a clear distinction (if any at all) between science and religion. Are you thinking it was the sun that started many religions?
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 3, 2019 18:00:40 GMT
I don't know. Maybe all religions bubble up from the structure of the human psyche, which is an aspect of the structure of the universe. That's my latest way of thinking about it, anyway.
What do you think?
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Post by Elizabeth on Mar 3, 2019 19:13:35 GMT
I don't know. Maybe all religions bubble up from the structure of the human psyche, which is an aspect of the structure of the universe. That's my latest way of thinking about it, anyway. What do you think? I think it's just similarities because each religion would use common religious words like God, light, spirituality, divine, etc. But some religions came from other religions so did take things from it to their religion. You believe all were from human psyche and none from God?
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 3, 2019 19:37:51 GMT
You believe all were from human psyche and none from God? I guess I'd picture God as being at the base of the human psyche. The way God shows up in our imaginations is shaped by the strengths and limitations of the psyche. If a culture is struggling to maintain stability, the people might reach for peace and order within themselves and from without. In their minds, God is a source of stability. In their philosophical moments, they might accept that God is the source of everything, including destruction and unraveling, but they don't think about that most of the time. So conceptions of God may vary. I would agree that the prevalence of an association between light and divinity often reflects transmission of traditions and communication, say across trade routes. But would it have to be? What do you think?
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Nicholas
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Post by Nicholas on Mar 3, 2019 19:40:55 GMT
Many possible quotes from many traditions. But more important than the visible light or radiance that seen, is the meaning of light as wisdom or goodness, as found in words or teachings.
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Post by Elizabeth on Mar 3, 2019 19:58:42 GMT
You believe all were from human psyche and none from God? I guess I'd picture God as being at the base of the human psyche. The way God shows up in our imaginations is shaped by the strengths and limitations of the psyche. If a culture is struggling to maintain stability, the people might reach for peace and order within themselves and from without. In their minds, God is a source of stability. In their philosophical moments, they might accept that God is the source of everything, including destruction and unraveling, but they don't think about that most of the time. So conceptions of God may vary. I would agree that the prevalence of an association between light and divinity often reflects transmission of traditions and communication, say across trade routes. But would it have to be? What do you think? So God is just a person's one psyche which means everyone has their own god leading to an infinite amount of them? So you don't think there's a being outside the psyche that is separate from us that's God? Or what about a god of all the psyche gods? But yeah everyone seems to have their own perceptions of God which can vary a lot.
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 3, 2019 23:12:38 GMT
So God is just a person's one psyche which means everyone has their own god leading to an infinite amount of them? So you don't think there's a being outside the psyche that is separate from us that's God? Or what about a god of all the psyche gods? But yeah everyone seems to have their own perceptions of God which can vary a lot. It could be framed as Jungian, Neoplatonic, Schopenhauer-esque, Meister Eckhart, etc. It's along the lines of the so-called perennial philosophy. Imagine a clump of dandelions that are all sprouting out of the same spot. That spot is the ground of your being. Everybody has the same ground. It's just not in the intellect's skill set to describe that common source, but we try anyway. In other words, the idea is that nothing is really fundamentally separate from God. Do you imagine that the universe is separate from God?
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Post by karl on Mar 3, 2019 23:18:51 GMT
So God is just a person's one psyche which means everyone has their own god leading to an infinite amount of them? So you don't think there's a being outside the psyche that is separate from us that's God? Or what about a god of all the psyche gods? But yeah everyone seems to have their own perceptions of God which can vary a lot. It could be framed as Jungian, Neoplatonic, Schopenhauer-esque, Meister Eckhart, etc. It's along the lines of the so-called perennial philosophy. Imagine a clump of dandelions that are all sprouting out of the same spot. That spot is the ground of your being. Everybody has the same ground. It's just not in the intellect's skill set to describe that common source, but we try anyway. In other words, the idea is that nothing is really fundamentally separate from God. Do you imagine that the universe is separate from God?
Is this another way of saying that there is no personal God, but rather, that God is reality with everything in it, conscious beings included?
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 3, 2019 23:31:03 GMT
Is this another way of saying that there is no personal God, but rather, that God is reality with everything in it, conscious beings included?
Yes. God could be thought of as that common ground, or it could be thought of as everything. Isolation from God would be a sort of illusion. I think Rumi called it the Magnificent Lie. Somebody could correct me if I'm wrong on that.
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Post by karl on Mar 4, 2019 0:36:21 GMT
Is this another way of saying that there is no personal God, but rather, that God is reality with everything in it, conscious beings included?
Yes. God could be thought of as that common ground, or it could be thought of as everything. Isolation from God would be a sort of illusion. I think Rumi called it the Magnificent Lie. Somebody could correct me if I'm wrong on that.
The question is how useful such a definition of God is. If you define God as reality itself, then it's trivially true that you can't isolate yourself from God. It becomes merely a way of stating that reality doesn't include a God with any of the personal qualities described by monotheistic religions. Or, more simply put, one may just as well just declare: There is no God, just reality.
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Maggy
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Post by Maggy on Mar 4, 2019 2:39:04 GMT
The question is how useful such a definition of God is. If you define God as reality itself, then it's trivially true that you can't isolate yourself from God. It becomes merely a way of stating that reality doesn't include a God with any of the personal qualities described by monotheistic religions. Or, more simply put, one may just as well just declare: There is no God, just reality.
I wouldn't offer to define "God" because my only interest in the word is in understanding what other people mean by it. So, for instance, I can tell that when you speak of divinity, you're thinking of a personal God. I think you'd also be inclined to ignore the mystical versions of the Abrahamic religions. Would you call yourself a theist?
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Post by karl on Mar 4, 2019 2:53:38 GMT
The question is how useful such a definition of God is. If you define God as reality itself, then it's trivially true that you can't isolate yourself from God. It becomes merely a way of stating that reality doesn't include a God with any of the personal qualities described by monotheistic religions. Or, more simply put, one may just as well just declare: There is no God, just reality.
I wouldn't offer to define "God" because my only interest in the word is in understanding what other people mean by it. So, for instance, I can tell that when you speak of divinity, you're thinking of a personal God. I think you'd also be inclined to ignore the mystical versions of the Abrahamic religions. Would you call yourself a theist?
Well, I would be a theist by that word's general definition, since I believe there exists a personal God.
I ignore mysticism in general. That makes me a bit curious about how you reached that conclusion.
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