Buddhism, Taoism, Meditation, and any other Non-Christian Journeys...

by exjdub 40 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  daystar

  Christianity has stolen the Jew's Messiah and turned it into as Daystar obviously knows a sham, a Greek pagan philosophy, or Trinity, or in JW's case a preexistent angel named Michael..

  Butters, I know no such thing. The messianic archtype by no means belongs to the Jews alone. There is nothing new under the sun. The Christians simply made it their own and pursued it how they best saw fit.

  It's common for a tradition to eschew "progression" away from their belief system and feel a sense of superiority over those that do so. Sumerian-Jewish-Christian-Muslim. You can split it into the aeons as some do, the aeon of Isis (matriarchy), Osiris (patriarchy), Horus (individuation). Earth sects, such as Wiccan, etc. eschew the patriarchal and find comfort in the old matriarchal practices. The patriarchal (Judeo-Christian-Muslim) tend to eschew the wholly matriarchal (with some grey areas such as is evident with Mary worship), and keep the individuated at bay. The more individuated are viewed with some amount of fear as being "satanic" or "godless". These appeal more to the god within than the god without. (Again, grey areas all around.)

  Anyway, I digress again. Nothing is new under the sun, Butters. Your saying Christianity stole anything is silly. From where did the Jewish tradition steal theirs? It's not like their beliefs sprang from nothing.
• 

  Butters

  Daystar, you quoted Kabballah in another thread. Kabballah is exactly this mysticism. Christianity is "Christo-Paganism" it is a mystery from Babylon. The idea of Messiah coming from anywhere other then Joseph and Mary's seed is not Jewish. It is a tale. Matthew 1 from the real Hebrew MSS doesn't include verses 18 and 25... Verse 1 makes the best sense!
• 

  Butters

  IN other words, the Jews expected a man from the seed of David. They never expected spirit from Heaven. They expected the male seed of Abraham through the male lineage in the bible before the Greeks corrupted the NT. Daystar where did you get your education on these other matters? You just combined two ascetic origin terms in that last paragraph. I have never heard any other scholar do such. Are you collegiate? You sound so.
• 

  Satanus

  Kabballah dates from the middle ages. It's a new kid on the block and probably zionist. It's far more complex than a path to enlightenment or getting to know oneself needs to be. Then again, most teachings have exteraneous stuff. The question is, does one want to be at the helm of his own ship, or just along for the ride. W a basic education on meditation, a person could likely find their own way. Taoism is even less religioussy than buddhism, imo.

  S
• 

  parakeet

  Satanus: "Taoism is even less religioussy than buddhism, imo."
  
  But that doesn't detract from its truthiness. (imagine a smiley face here. Danged Firefox)
• 

  daystar

  Daystar, you quoted Kabballah in another thread. Kabballah is exactly this mysticism. Christianity is "Christo-Paganism" it is a mystery from Babylon. The idea of Messiah coming from anywhere other then Joseph and Mary's seed is not Jewish. It is a tale. Matthew 1 from the real Hebrew MSS doesn't include verses 18 and 25... Verse 1 makes the best sense!

  I don't think we're on the same page here. I'm not referring to such specifics as they mean very little to me. Your opinion is that Christianity is a corruption of Judaism and thus, somehow, less. My opinion is that Judaism is also a "corruption" (though I'd prefer to say a retelling perhaps) of something(s) prior. So what's the diff.? There is no "pure" religion.

  Daystar where did you get your education on these other matters? You just combined two ascetic origin terms in that last paragraph. I have never heard any other scholar do such. Are you collegiate? You sound so.

  I have studied (all too briefly, sadly) with with a couple of western mystery schools, but I am an autodidact for the most part, and am no scholar by any means. For that I am both blessed and cursed. What two ascetic origins do you refer to that I combined?

  The "secret" of redemption is not new and did not start with the Jews. Christians may have built upon it, but I don't feel that it lessens the message all that much. And my point is that even should it, the messages of Judaism are not "pure" either.

  Is Christianity a mixture of Jewish theology and Pagan? It seems to me to be so, though many will wholeheartedly reject that. I'd have to research it to cite sources, but, as I've said, Judaism did not spring from nothing and was certainly influenced by earlier systems of belief. Leo probably has something to support or refute me.
• 

  Genesis

  I love Taoism ways of thinking, as Seeker4 said the Tao Te Ching is an excellent guide to leave in harmony with ourselves and the world. You take what you like and discard the rest !
• 

  daystar

  Kabballah dates from the middle ages. It's a new kid on the block and probably zionist. It's far more complex than a path to enlightenment or getting to know oneself needs to be. Then again, most teachings have exteraneous stuff. The question is, does one want to be at the helm of his own ship, or just along for the ride. W a basic education on meditation, a person could likely find their own way. Taoism is even less religioussy than buddhism, imo.

  How you can say it's "probably zionist" is beyond me. While tradition has its origin with Moses and later Abraham, it probably did originate in the 12th century AD. The zionist movement didn't exist until the late 19th century. Sooo... *shrug*

  The difference between the eastern practice of stilling the mind and the western of overloading it, is one of methodology, from my experience, and can be equally beneficial in their ways.
• 

  Butters

  It's probably all ballyhoo, but I chose Messianic Judaism for the sole fact that it is the only one with salavation, and eternal life as a human being, instead of some kind of spirit without eyeballs and a penis.
• 

  yaddayadda

  So you've 'seen behind the curtain' of Christianity huh? Sounds to me like you're just swapping one curtain for another. Swapping Christianity for a lot of nonsense about reincarnation, etc. Well, good luck.