81–90 of 115 posts
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What if there are easy paths to enlightenment and we just don't understand them yet? This is one reason that very well established traditions make me nervous.
If you find it, please let us know before you reach the state of Nirvana.
This looks like an attempt to monetize an evangelical Christian concept.[1] From the article: The ideal attitude is what she calls Abundant Thinking — a mindset that gives you the creative agency and grit to reach your vision — and, on a daily basis, to design your own life. When Verresen first meets most of her clients, they’re in reactive mode. It’s like they’re in a movie, acting in their job and life without know…
The religious version in fact seems more restrained in its promises, with the "arrested" bit at the end. (Not unexpectedly BTW; IMO comparing any such pitch to a religion is usually a compliment to the pitch, as religions of today evolved over many centuries and so are better debugged than many an age-of-reason attempt at scientific-sounding wisdom. And personally I'm deeply not religious, but still.) I did read that…
I picked one of the more conservative sites promoting "abundance". There are much worse. See "Prosperity Theology" in Wikipedia. That, however, seems to have declined since the 2008 recession.
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all goes back to the divine right of kings for me...
I guess you could call me a Calvinist, but I find Calvin's treatment of Severetus (burning him at the stake) appalling. I just think that he got a lot of what I believe about Scripture correct - the whole TULIP summarization of his theology I largely agree with. I just don't think that properity was ever part of his beliefs - if anything Calvin has been accused of being a gruel eating killjoy...
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Would you mind sharing how long you have done this for.
5 months. I started with meditating and running for 5 minutes each and increased it every two weeks or more whenever I felt like it. As mentioned doing 15 minutes of each now. Got my dad to do the same. I actually made him start with just 1 minute of each. He is upto 10 minutes after a month. Plus has started weight training. He is 60. I guess the main takeaway is do the smallest possible interval you can ( have no e…
2. Meditate - 15 minutes
3. Write - I usually write "3 things that I am grateful for" and "3 things to focus on that particular day"
I find what you do and what they do sound similar to some degree.
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What if you use that power to help other beings, though?
Using your power, whatever it may be, to help others is one thing. Deliberately, actively, perhaps even desperately seeking more power to help more people is another. The first is a form of compassion. The other is a form of pride. Why do these others need your help? Have they asked for it? Are you seeking that power to help or because you like power? Lots of questions that muddy the water there. There are certain th…
These concepts also work really well for dating and relationships. If you approach girls with a scarcity mindset, you tend to be a lot more needy, insecure and generally feel like a victim. If you approach girls with an abundance mentality, you're much less needy, more confident and you don't really care about the outcome. You're just there to learn about her, and if she's not interested, well, there's plenty of othe…
Or maybe if she isn't interested, she just isn't interested? If she was the last woman on earth and she wasn't interested in you would that make it somehow alright to keep approaching her? I mean really, I get what you are saying here, but it comes dangerous close to a guy viewing women as a "resource" and saying that he behaves better when he views that resource as unlimited.
If the usage of the word "scarcity" was what caught your eye (as an association with women being "resources"), it was simply pulled from the article, which labels the two contrasting types of thinking as "scarcity" and "abundance".
Dressed up Calvinism IMHO. You're poor? You just aren't tapping into the abundance of the universe.
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I guess you could call me a Calvinist, but I find Calvin's treatment of Severetus (burning him at the stake) appalling. I just think that he got a lot of what I believe about Scripture correct - the whole TULIP summarization of his theology I largely agree with. I just don't think that properity was ever part of his beliefs - if anything Calvin has been accused of being a gruel eating killjoy...
so basically you believe God chose some people to go to hell, some people to go to heaven, there's nothing you can do to change that, and there's nothing you can do to lose that, without the part that the Elect are showered in riches here on earth.
(You'll have to pardon my style, as I try to use He and Him when I speak of God, instead of he and him)
My own take on is that the things you raise are indeed a big part of Calvinism, and really wrapped up in the notion of predestination. A lot of people have problems with it, I understand why. They object to the fact that the elect are known by God before hand and He writes the names of those who will be with Him through Eternity into the Book Of Life and the rest He casts into eternal damnation.
But I've also been considering that God exists outside of space and time. In Psalm 90 it reads that "For a thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night." And in 2 Peter 3:8 he says "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."
So I've been wondering: if God sees the future perfectly, then He knows who loves him and who rejects Him. He knows who will ask for forgiveness for the terrible way we have lived, which He cannot stand.
I believe that God loves us, and gives us free will. He gave Adam and Eve the freedom to disobey and eat from the tree of good and evil, and they chose to commit evil. He wanted them to love Him as their creator, but they didn't. That love couldn't be given to an automaton, it could only be given to those who chose to give it freely.
So what I wonder is if in fact God doesn't intervene directly but looks at the free choices given in someone's life. I wonder if He chooses to offer his love and gives opportunities for all men and women to accept Him. But He knows who will accept His offer as He does exist out of linear space and time!
This wouldn't preclude God from carrying out His plan. He can still work though events, in fact He puts people into places and situations that satisfy His plans. Perhaps that plan is so perfect that He takes the rejection of mankind, the evil that we do and uses it for His good purposes. And that also means that He also stops evil acts, and takes down dictators like Sadaam Hussein, Adolf Hitler and others.
So then it makes logical sense that there is no conflict between predestination and free will! In other words, free will is still given, and offered, and humans gain agency, dignity and freedom - in other words, we are truly made in His image! But as God knows all our days, and all our actions because of His immense and powerful ability to manipulate time to His own ends, then that is how we are predestined to accept or reject Jesus, and through this action, God.
Of course, if you don't believe in the Christian God, then this is all nonsense, but I thought that as you treated my comment with honesty and at least respected my replies enough to respond I'd give a fuller response and try to explain my own perspective on the matter.
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I guess you could call me a Calvinist, but I find Calvin's treatment of Severetus (burning him at the stake) appalling. I just think that he got a lot of what I believe about Scripture correct - the whole TULIP summarization of his theology I largely agree with. I just don't think that properity was ever part of his beliefs - if anything Calvin has been accused of being a gruel eating killjoy...
so basically you believe God chose some people to go to hell, some people to go to heaven, there's nothing you can do to change that, and there's nothing you can do to lose that, without the part that the Elect are showered in riches here on earth.