Sirona Posted May 16, 2014 Posted May 16, 2014 Hello forum, I’m freeing myself from Christianity but I haven’t given up on God. I hope I am right in this forum with my question … so here we go: I became interested in Krishna at 18 but got baptized Catholic at 22 (well, my grandmother had had a great influence on me ...). I’ve been reading interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita, which, getting to the core, teaches that in essence all religions would lead to the same goal, enlightmenment. I’d also read the book of a former Catholic nun who stated she had found enlightenment, which ultimately led to her leaving her order. Out of curiousity I got myself a book on a certain brand of Catholic spirituality, called Ignatian spirituality. There I found Christ of being used as a kind of spiritual scarecrow against further spiritual development. Christ is the basis of it all, don’t go beyond Christ. The book was illustrated with lots of pictures of a sick-and-sorry looking Christ in all shades of suffering. I began to wonder what these texts and images may bring about in the minds of the “meditating” audience, and why they use Christ to scare off spiritual seekers. Hinduism, at least the part I’m aware of, doesn’t use such scare tactics.
Orbit Posted May 16, 2014 Posted May 16, 2014 Hello forum, I’m freeing myself from Christianity but I haven’t given up on God. I hope I am right in this forum with my question … so here we go: I became interested in Krishna at 18 but got baptized Catholic at 22 (well, my grandmother had had a great influence on me ...). I’ve been reading interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita, which, getting to the core, teaches that in essence all religions would lead to the same goal, enlightmenment. I’d also read the book of a former Catholic nun who stated she had found enlightenment, which ultimately led to her leaving her order. Out of curiousity I got myself a book on a certain brand of Catholic spirituality, called Ignatian spirituality. There I found Christ of being used as a kind of spiritual scarecrow against further spiritual development. Christ is the basis of it all, don’t go beyond Christ. The book was illustrated with lots of pictures of a sick-and-sorry looking Christ in all shades of suffering. I began to wonder what these texts and images may bring about in the minds of the “meditating” audience, and why they use Christ to scare off spiritual seekers. Hinduism, at least the part I’m aware of, doesn’t use such scare tactics. You may have already done this, but you might find Alan Watts (on youtube) interesting. He has a great talk about the Upanishads.
Ellinas Posted May 18, 2014 Posted May 18, 2014 In terms of any brand of Christian spirituality, I would be amazed if it said anything other than Christ is the source and goal of all spiritual exercise and thought, or centred on anything other than suffering as suitable images for meditation. That's just the nature of the beast. As to Hindu ideas, it's some time since I read any of the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads, but I recall being impressed by the sense of balance and acknowledgement of the idea of self knowledge which I thought came through them. I have also played, but to no firm conclusion, with the concept that "all is consciousness", which, if I recall correctly, is part of Hindu thought. That perhaps is the answer to the relative inclusiveness of the writings - they are not limited by reference to a specific concept of the importance of one discrete being (Christ) but rather to an investigation of how all of "being" is linked.
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