I thought at one time you had said that Eckankar was also based on ideas of Christianity. That they believed in Satan and that Satan was behind the Bible somehow?

That's something I could believe.

But how did they fit that in with Hinduism?

Abra


As I was taught,


in the Hindu worldview all reality is MAYA (everchanging /illusionary/ dream).

Kind of like what Jeanniebean says is the true nature of reality.

Hinduism does not preclude the existence of other gods Its probably the same with Eckankar.

When God made me, He made me from the dust of the earth, and then GOD BREATHED LIFE into me.

But.....UNTIL that moment that God BREATHED LIFE into me, , I had NO awareness, consciousness,, perception ,Nada ,NOTHING....simply because I did not yet exist, or have LIFE.

So therfore, Life MUST come first, before awareness or perception or consciousness can come forth...and Life can ONLY come FORTH from God .

BUT, I believe once Life is formed, life continues outside of this physical form.....and so does consciousness ,AFTER life has already been formed.....meaning ,I will continue to be alive AND conscious, even after I leave this physical body.

So therefore, consciousness is not always dependent upon my physical body ALWAYS being there..but consciousness cannot be , without LIFE coming into existence first.

Now computers can imitate life, but can NEVER actually have Life.
Simply Cause Life comes from God...alone.
And to become aware, a computer would have to have life breathed into it first.

And as already stated, if my own life had to come first before I became conscious or aware, so a computer would have to be brought to life first, before it can become conscious or aware.......and that will never be....unless GOD HIMSELF, would breathe LIFE into a computer....something man will never be able to do.

Although man may try ......

Btw....GOD is NOT just some "God consciousness".

Well, they seem to think that at least some reincarnations come back into this world (this dream).

I'm totally with the panthestic view that life is a dream.

So yet, fundamentally you could say that my core beliefs are similar to Hinduism, and Buddhism, and all the other pantheistic religions.

I think everyone is aware of the biblical view.

We actually have that covered as option #3,

I dont know what I am anymore

Im a big fan of all religions

I like to learn about them all

Ive always been drawn to them

I like to explain the misconceptions (the best I can)

Learning a new religion ,for me ,is a very exciting thing.

Its strange that I defend them all when someone bashes them

I think religion is one of the most interesting things about us humans

I do know this

The future of the human race is tied to religion

By the way, the bible says......" even the very rocks will cry out, if man shall not praise God...."

Meaning....even the very rocks are AWARE......meaning...everything that has life is AWARE of God's Presence....... ...and are therefore able to Praise God.

Some more examples in the bible ...of everything being aware and therefore Praising God ....

" The stars sing......"

" the trees of the field shall clap their hands......"

Yep...all Life is AWARE of God..and All Life PRAISE their Creator.....in one way or another.

But all Life has been created ,and made ALIVE by God, FIRST..in order to be Aware...and to be able to Praise God.

There was a time in my life, when I was exactly where you are right now , Mirror.

Keep Seeking....and you shall surely find .

" If you Seek the truth , you shall Find the truth ,and the truth shall set you Free ."

Im not confused

I just like to study them

I dont believe in them all

I'll put it this way

I was raised in a Christian Church

If I get married it will probably be in a Christian Church

When I have my funeral, it will probably be a Christian funeral

So what does that make me ?

Why would be so important to God to be praised?

What's up with that?

That doesn't sound like such a great creator. His main desire is to be praised and he gets very upset with anyone who isn't willing to praise him?

In all honestly MorningSong that whole picture just sounds totally pathetic.

I sincerly hope that's not our true reality.

That's just plain sick.

I understand what your saying Morningsong

Your saying that conciousness springs from awareness which is linked to "GOD" the same way I was saying that conciousness springs from awareness in terms of Karma.

Sugmad is a pantheistic god described by Eck as "progressive Self-realization or God-realization." Eck teaches that God is all things, and more significantly, that God is not separate from his creation. Twitchell wrote: "There is nothing in the universe that is not the SUGMAD, the everlasting ECK." By this logic, then, Eck is forced to pin the universe's flaws and problems upon its own "God," and grudgingly admits that it is the Sugmad's "lower natures" that generate negativity. (In Twitchell's book, The Tiger's Fang, Sugmad is described as being ignorant, internally inconsistent, in need of wisdom and education, negative, unawakened, wondering, poor, unhappy, not content with "his" creation, and in need of assistance.) Eck tries to evade this dilemma by teaching that the dynamic which makes evil operative is a form of free will, which when abused, spawns "ignorance," leading to a lack of God-realization in the self.

That just means that you still are on the way .....to a place called there...but you will know when you arrive.

Rest assured Mirror....
You will know..that you know..that you know...that yuo know.....when you get there, my friend.
That is a promise.

The word is Willing and Wanting to Praise God, not HAVING to....

All Creation Praises God.
And God takes pleasure in His Creation.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/1987/578_The_Pleasure_of_God_in_His_Creation/

ECK masters are agents of God, vehicles of the Divine Spirit that guide people through spiritual learning, past life regressions, dreams, soul travel, and meditations. Past ECK masters include Socrates, Plato, Jesus, Moses, Martin Luther, Michael Angelo, Mozart, Einstein, etc. who all allegedly made astral journeys for their discoveries. There are different levels of heaven: "Astral, Causal, Mental, Etheric, and Soul" and eleven levels of the astral plane. Christ is a state of consciousness.
Dying is called ‘translating.’

Eckankar implies that the earth is the dominion of a god called Kal Nirangin who is both good and evil. Kind of like the yin and yang, positive and negative. That is the duality of this world ruled by a dual natured god.

This god is worshiped as both the creator ~ and is also the negative aspect ~ or the devil. If you worship the creator, as Christians do, Eckankar claims that you are worshiping Kal, the dual natured god who is also "the devil" which is the negative aspect of that god.

Eckankar's book "The flute of God actually was quite freeing in nature." If frees you from the Dogma of religion. I think that was Twitchell's intent. I did get a lot from the spiritual teachings he compiled.

JB

The way I see consciousness moving through all things, ~even rocks~ is very similar to the way you speak of spirit being in all things and that all life is aware of god.

I believe that without this consciousness (spirit or current) that moves through all things, these things could just disappear.

Sort of like someone unplugging the holodeck. No current, no program, no thing left inside the holodeck.

But of course its not that simple. The current of life is consciousness and Christians refer to that as the spirit of god.

JB

I understand what it means to "praise god" (as Christian put it.)

It is a feeling of inner joy and gratitude. For me, it is an unexplained joyful feeling, no matter what my life circumstances are. There is always the inner joy.

I can be angry, sad, happy, upset, busy, or anything at all but that inner joy is always there at the foundation of my being. The only thing that destroys that inner joy is a feeling of bondage and attachment. This is why you must follow your bliss and your joy and walk away from anything that causes you to feel oppressed and depressed.

JB