as i can't post to the original thread started by nicolaou, i'm doing so here:.
hi fleur,but the part that really, well, frankly creeped me out for lack of a better term, is that he left his wife and child, then starved himself nearly to death before he realized that this wasn't the way to go, and he lived as a homeless person, begging food as he went on his path to enlightenment.
that's a rather simplified version of events.
Ian,
I am happy to hear that you are feeling better. I'm sorry that I was such a pest with my questions while you were ill. The explanation to the events over the past week was very interesting. I am looking forward to reading the books you have suggested.
Where I live there are so many different Buddhist temples. I have been curious about checking them out one of these days. Maybe I just will.
Thank you for taking so much time to help us learn about this philosophy.
Please take care
blackswan
my wife has been a jw for about 10 years (we have been married 15 years).
over the years i have tried various strategies to deal with this, which i won't go into here...except that i have agreed to "read the bible" with my wife...and i get to pick the translation.. what translation would be best recommended to help highlight the errors of the nwt and jw thinking in general?
i have seen here that today's english version has been recommended...anything else?
all the suggestions have made great points, personally, my questions were best answered by simply reading the interlinear.
Surprisingly, while I'm sure many will disagree with me, I found that though some verses in the NWT seemed off, when I compared other translations such as the King James, the New King James and the NIV, I found several verses to be "off" as well. Many references to the Holy Spirit seemed to be all over the board in their translations. This led me to have little faith in man's ability to produce an unbiased HolyBible.
You could try suggesting a look at the NWT, but using the interlinear. My husband had made me the same offer and I looked and looked for another bible, non nwt, and I settled on the Amplified Bible. However, later I found a copy of The New Jerusalem Bible and that was very interesting.
Oddly enough, the Catholic Living Bible is very interesting. It's a thought for thought, but I found it to be very helpful.
As Justin brought out, it would be extrememly helpful to learn Greek. Learning another language takes time, but it is well worth the effort. In fact....
Justin, do you have any suggestions for doing this?
jim,.
i tried to join chat but the box wouldn't work.
bye
i'll join
jim is a kind, kind man
Hope your New Years wasfun Jim
blackswan
my mom was born to a jewish family on staten island, new york 50 years ago.
she learned "the truth" from a group of sisters who told her that the jews were not god's chosen people and that she needed to be baptized.
she went through most of her life not following the society to a "t".
Going to the Kingdom Hall, you find people you like. Maybe you like the way they dress, they comment well. Perhaps they seem very zealous. But you never really get a chance to get to know them. Because, I don't know about any of you, but your private life has to remain so private, lest someone report you for watching that r rated movie. Or the big thing I have seen is watching Harry Potter kind of movies. THen you would be bad assosiation. Perhaps one might be fortunate enough to find someone they can trust. But more often then not, it's like Desperate Housewives. If we knew all the secrets that they had, would we still think of them the same? I have seen posts on this forum and most everyone seems pretty cool. But I truly don't know you guys. My perception of Preston for instance is like the Preston on that television show.... shoot can't think of it's name... Point being, if I met him face to face, would I still think he's a cool guy? If you met me and thought I looked more like an ugly duckling then a Swan, would you think I was a nerd and my posts silly? (perhaps you do already, just guessing)
People put up shields and they rarely reveal who they are. Even more when, you're afraid that for one weakness, you might become the class "loser".
Preston, good for your mom. My mom recently admitted to me, that she was wrong. She should have pushed me more in school so I would have better oppurtunities. It was probably so hard for her to be the "weak" one in the congregation. The reality is, she was one of the, if not The, strongest person.
I am learning so much from the posts that I read. Learning about things and places and people. My world is grown. Thank you guys for sharing your thoughts on such a great, open forum
BlackSwan
did it reinforce your dedication to the cause?
or did it burden and disillusion you?
I loved talking to people about God. I suppose that's why I like this forum. It gives me a chance to explore God with others who have been in my shoes.
What has always bothered me was the gossip. Slowly, I stopped wanting to do the field ministry because of the gossip.
When I was in highschool I dealt with a lot of cattiness and gossip. It pretty much destroyed my childhood. I know how damaging and hurtful it can be. So, when I would be in service and people would be using the time to drive around and say horrible things about people in the hall, I hated it.
As for coffee breaks, I thought they were a waste of time. I figured we should have went through the drive through and keep going. But why keep driving around with people who are tearing you down? Finally, I started going out on my own. Making my own return visits. Until, I stopped.
is the universe and life both the same thing?
i mean is there really duality in life and universe??
a crude examlpe of what i mean is like take your body it is made up all kinds of specialized cells and even aminals like bacteria and virus not to mention molecules etc.. yet you veiw it all as "you" what if the whole universe is like that,,and we only think we are seperate.
Ok, well...
What is consiousness?
What is life?
Ok, I asked this on another thread, but bare with me.
Do you believe in ghosts? Why? Consiousness and life, is it reliant on things we see? If it is not, then anything is possible because there is so much we cannot see and are notaware of at this time. Frank brought up Atoms and such. There was a time when man had no clue what an atom was or did. Now, we have molecular biology.
In a hundred years, if we haven't killed ourselves, what will know about awareness?
Maybe you guys are pioneers of something that will be mainstream thought....
scary
is the universe and life both the same thing?
i mean is there really duality in life and universe??
a crude examlpe of what i mean is like take your body it is made up all kinds of specialized cells and even aminals like bacteria and virus not to mention molecules etc.. yet you veiw it all as "you" what if the whole universe is like that,,and we only think we are seperate.
Maybe the fact that everything is interconnected could be the answer to life after death and things that happen within nature like the tsunami. My husband read an article about what the varying religions thought about the tsunami and one religion, eastern of some kind, made the point that the balance of negative and positive energy was off. If we really are interconnected it seems like that would be valid. I know nothing of physics, but it sounds like you guys have some awesome points that reminds me of the eastern philosophies. I know it's probably a "duh" moment.
It's practical, because if you guys are right, then indifference to life could be the deciding factor in life or death. If a plant is conscious and we are interconnected to the plant and we needlessly senselessly kill this plant to build another mall, then we are killing ourselves.
i just had a rare moment of clarity and i wanted to share this idea with you all.
i plan to pass it along to everyone i know, hoping that it might, just might, catch on.
i am proposing a totally painless way for people to reach into their hearts, and wallets, to help those so desperate for aid following this weekend's tragedy in asia.
Good idea. You figure a decent bottle of champagne costs quite a bit and all the snacks if you got 3 different groups of people to do that or even 2, think about how many people that would affect.
as i can't post to the original thread started by nicolaou, i'm doing so here:.
hi fleur,but the part that really, well, frankly creeped me out for lack of a better term, is that he left his wife and child, then starved himself nearly to death before he realized that this wasn't the way to go, and he lived as a homeless person, begging food as he went on his path to enlightenment.
that's a rather simplified version of events.
THANK YOU!
You made a point that I have been trying to get figured out for so long.
JW's believe that their's is the only group of people who do not get involved with war. However, I had read much of Buddhism for Dummies some months back and when I came to chapter 7 reverance for life it made me wonder how serious Buddhists take this.
Are most Buddhists vegetarians?
Where can I get the books you mentioned?
through research over the years, it seems to me that aliens do exist, and even it some of the alien abductions are "demonic" or "ginn activity" as many claim, there are still many tales of humanoid beings from other planets that have been seen on earth.
this is something i've struggle with for years, because jw and mainstream christians alike write it all off as demonic etc.
anyone have thoughts on reconciling belief in god with aliens, even humans on other planets?
I have been to the site your post had suggested a few different times and wow, I was amazed.
About 6 years ago I stepped outside to let my dog out. It was about 11:00 or 11:30 at night. I looked up to the southwest and saw the funniest thing. There was this bright red spot that looked like Mars at first, then it darted to the west for a short space and was gone. Now, I am NOT claiming this was a UFO. But I have seen shooting stars. I think there are several rational explanations. Funnier, that about 2 years ago I saw a documentary about UFOs and a few people had seen something remarkably similar to what I had, yet, much closer. That's when I started to care more. I actaully do have a book supposedly of documents from the US gov. somewhere in my house. I got it from a clearance bookstore.
I'll try to find it and see if there is anything interesting.
