Thursday, March 3, 2011

So I've Been in a More Philosophical Mood These Days ......

And I picked up two books, the Dhammapada and the Bhagavad Gita. Smart stuff in there. Read it sometime. What was striking to me is that in the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna describes an entity that is practically with the same characteristics as the god of the jews.

I wen't to synagogue this morning. I mean if another scripture has the same thing as the Bible as a supreme being....

In Jewish lore, God is upset with the nations for rejecting the Torah, he gave each one a chance (a story that Islam kinda reiterates with Allah sending out prophets to everyone) so due to the circumstance of all the nations rejecting the Torah except for Israel, God appointed angels over them to take care of their needs while God deals with the jews directly. Could something like Krishna for example be among these entitles? I don't know....

Anyways the rabbi of the synagogue put tefillin on me. It was the first time I put on tefillin in God knows how long. It actually didn't feel too bad. Not bad at all. See, when you are a lil kid in high school, no one really tells you to not wrap on the tefillin too tight like a moron (not me anyways). I then ended up viewing the tefillin as an object of distaste and I parted ways with my own pair and other jewish articles I had; a couple of years ago when I was becoming an atheist and things in life were not good.

Do I regret parting ways with these things? I don't know. I wonder how many other jews departed from tefillin because of the same thought process as me. Probably a significant number.

Anyways why on Earth was I reading eastern stuff? I was & am attracted to the idea that if you are good enough, you don't come back to this dimension. In Judeo-Christian thought there are elements of reincarnation to concur with eastern thought. I would like to, um, not come back to this dimension if there is something better.

This world has its perks of course but it just isn't that great. Unemployment, sometimes angry/irrational parents, girl troubles, being broke, etc. (thankfully I have a job now of course). There has to be something better out there.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is absolutely nothing remotely like reincarnation (or "transmigration of souls" - I think that's the technically correct term you're looking for) in Christian doctrine. In Judaism, the idea does figure in the occult mysticism of Caballah.

SJ said...

Do google search.

Anonymous said...

AHAHAHAHA! Once again SJew doesn't know what he's talking about...

Reincarnation may be found in Kabbalist Judaism, not in Christianity. Once you're dead, that's it in THIS world, on to the next. There are disputes on the afterlife among Christians (Does everybody go to Hell except the saved who go to Heaven? does everybody go to Heaven (no Hell) as in Unitarian-Universalist theology? Is Hell temporary or eternal? If temporary, are the damned eventually forgiven and allowed into Heaven or are they simply wiped from existence? What about Purgatory? ...etc.), but Christians are virtually unanimous in their rejection of reincarnation or transmigration of souls. Such beliefs developed independently in Indic religions, or in Kabbalah, or in various aboriginal "primitive" religions. However, except for the Theosophy movement, an occult "alternative religion" which is almost certainly rooted in Jewish Kabbalah, nothing like it exists in Christianity.

SJ said...

http://reluctant-messenger.com/origen3.html


You shoulda done google search before you talked.

SJ said...

>> but Christians are virtually unanimous in their rejection of reincarnation or transmigration of souls.

again, should have done google search.


from http://www.pe.com/localnews/religion/stories/PE_News_Local_N_faithmix14.4d42a50.html A recent survey by the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Pew Research Center found that more than 1 in 5 U.S. Christians believe in reincarnation,"

Anonymous said...

Any third-rate apologist can debunk the alleged scriptural references to reincarnation.

Also, I am fairly sure that more than 20% of American Christians believe in astrology, so sure that I am willing to bet money. But that doesn't make astrology a Christian article.

[Though you can probably find a HELL (pun semi-intended) of a lot more evidence for astrology in the Bible than you could reincarnation. But if you want to believe that reincarnation is biblical or that the biblical deity is a Deistic type god or that Jesus was a Republican (who loved the rich, chewed Scoal, drove a pickup, and owned several guns including an AK-47), then you are more than welcome to believe so.]

SJ said...

You obviously think that reincarnation has nothing to do with Christianity. That's your right. The numbers show that reincarnation is believed among a certain percentage of Christians.


You're probably some gay liberal jew who is liberal on social issues. If you think liberalism is so great, may your wife have MANY abortions, and may all your liberal amigas have MANY abortions (it helps us conservatives ;D XD ) but chances are your wife is going to be a dude.

Of course I don't wish abortion for anyone, I am merely displaying exactly how off the wall stupid liberalism is.

SJ said...

Also one more thing you miss, it's not that we love the rich, it's that we love our chance to get rich.

Just because we make a buck does not mean that we are dying to give it to a gay liberal like Shmarya in order to redistribute.

Anonymous said...

>>You're probably some gay liberal jew who is liberal on social issues. If you think liberalism is so great, may your wife have MANY abortions, and may all your liberal amigas have MANY abortions (it helps us conservatives ;D XD ) but chances are your wife is going to be a dude.

Of course I don't wish abortion for anyone, I am merely displaying exactly how off the wall stupid liberalism is.<<

You are way out of line with this attack. How is this behaviour okay with you? I would *never* stoop to this level even with the most rabid Conservative. You owe this person an apology.

The only thing you've proven is how off the wall hateful people can be.

SJ said...

I'm not hateful. XD

Anonymous said...

Yes you are. You may not see it, but that comment is very hateful.

Now, back to the original topic: Anon is completely correct and you are completely incorrect.

You are not, nor were you raised, Christian (and by Christian I mean actually attending Church/being a member of Church, etc), but I was raised Christian so this is a topic you are just going to have to defer to others.

Googling is not the same as "being". There may be many individual Christians (my mother among them) that believe in reincarnation, however, there is not one single mainstream Christian Church whose creed/dogma/articles of faith/etc that states reincarnation is a Christian tenenat. Not one Sunday school classroom is teaching their children about reincarnation and not one minister/preacher/reverand is preaching it from the pulpit. Not one Bible study group, not one Bible summer camp, not one Youth Group is teaching this idea.

The official stance on reincarnation is that it is a "pagan" belief...and why, yes it is! I will happily claim it among my Pagan beliefs (capital "P" if you please). It is, however, NOT an official Christian belief.

And until you can name more Christian Churches that you've attended/studied/become familiar with than I have you will just have to bite the bullet and admit you are wrong. Let's face it, I've got about 30s of experience on you about this.

SJ said...

>> Yes you are. You may not see it, but that comment is very hateful.


Ok Yeah I was sharp with this anonymous dude but I deleted the comments where he was brash with me so I guess I could understand how I look like the bad guy here.

Anonymous said...

:) Thank you.

Now, will you admit that Anon was correct in the first place?

SJ said...

Partially.

Anonymous said...

No, not partially...wholly.

*Some* Christians may believe in reincarnation, but reincarnation is not a *Christian* idea. Just like *some* Christians believe in Karma, but Karma is not a *Christian* idea.

Oh, and earlier it was supposed to read 30 *years* not 30s because that seems like 30 seconds and that isn't a whole lot ;)