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V

'vspec'

Guest
cheeky bastard, where you been hiding, I've missed you
 

MichelleShocked

Moderate ;)
Jan 7, 2012
2,310
1,021
Gladstone
Ooooo-er!! I spy Tim Minchin!! Einstein? And Stephen Hawking? Wtf?? Christians don't like Quantum physics now?? Where's Billy Connolly?? I refuse to enter Hell if he's not there too!!
 

Agent M

Member
Oct 21, 2011
3,536
1,586
Melbourne
I found out what Atheist meant when I was in my teens - someone said they were one so I asked them what their beliefs were, oops. :p
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
I found out what Atheist meant when I was in my teens - someone said they were one so I asked them what their beliefs were, oops. :p
Lol, and if they were in their teens, they didn't understand 3/4 of what they were dribbling either. Atheism is used fairly liberally considering what it was intended for.
If I'm in a hurry, I'll say I'm an atheist. That's only because my beliefs are far more complex but have some explaination for religion, they have no strict boundaries, and there's no "happy ending". I can't give it a different name without it looking like I'm starting a cult. A cult is a bit like a religion without enough followers and more obscure ideas. Always knew I was L Ron Hubbard re-incarnated. :D Oh wait, I'm not a science fiction writer. :p
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
DavidS can I join your cult?
Sure. Membership fees are on special this week. Join now to secure your introductory rate of 95% of your annual income fixed for 999,999,999 years*

* Compared with industry standard rates eg. Scientology's Sea Org - your committment into salvery will last 1 billion years with payment benefits not exceeding $50 per week @ 100 hours labour per week, 52 weeks of the year.
 

MichelleShocked

Moderate ;)
Jan 7, 2012
2,310
1,021
Gladstone
Sure. Membership fees are on special this week. Join now to secure your introductory rate of 95% of your annual income fixed for 999,999,999 years*

* Compared with industry standard rates eg. Scientology's Sea Org - your committment into salvery will last 1 billion years with payment benefits not exceeding $50 per week @ 100 hours labour per week, 52 weeks of the year.
LOLOLOL LMAO
 

Agent M

Member
Oct 21, 2011
3,536
1,586
Melbourne
I particularly like all of the Aussie Buddhists that are popping up with ever more frequency - does this mean you are really into Yoga and like burning incense or is their something more to it? I'd love to know! I've never understood the whole 'not wanting to talk about your beliefs' thing - a lot of people just say they are this or that without really thinking about whether the beliefs/evidence associated with it make any sense. I've always been taught to ask questions, investigate and not just believe something you hear.
 

MichelleShocked

Moderate ;)
Jan 7, 2012
2,310
1,021
Gladstone
Looks like most of the fuge is full of atheists lol.
I'm not Atheist but, like DavidS, my beliefs are complex and encompass the ideas of numerous religions/life philosophies (people wrongly call Buddhism a "religion". Buddha is not considered by Buddhists to be a "god") along with Quantum Physics that is impossible to distill down into a single ideological label.
If anyone has read The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra,
Johnathon Livingston Seagull & Illusions (both by Richard Bach),
The Secret Of Water by Masaru Emoto,
The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Thompkins and Christopher Bird
and the Celestine and Insight books by James Redfield
15 Lessons In Yogi Philosophy by a Master Adept
then spent 25+ years studying (as a hobby) crystal healing, feng shui, tarot cards, medicine cards, spirit photography, paranormal investigation, celtic mythology, Gaia theory, quantum mechanics, Buddhism, psychology, criminal profiling and other related subjects, they might begin to get an idea of what I believe.
I don't believe in the God that orthodox religions have made for themselves.
I can't say I believe in nothing either.
Its complicated......:D
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
I particularly like all of the Aussie Buddhists that are popping up with ever more frequency - does this mean you are really into Yoga and like burning incense or is their something more to it? I'd love to know! I've never understood the whole 'not wanting to talk about your beliefs' thing - a lot of people just say they are this or that without really thinking about whether the beliefs/evidence associated with it make any sense. I've always been taught to ask questions, investigate and not just believe something you hear.
The biggest problem with people not wanting to talk about them is that they either haven't really thought enough about them, or how to justify them over any other set of beliefs or they have, and they know how futile it can be trying to get a religious person to understand what they believe when it's completely contradictory to what the religious person believes.
 

DavidS

The Resident Loony
Jul 17, 2011
3,337
1,033
Ballarat, Victoria
I don't believe in the God that orthodox religions have made for themselves.
I don't believe religion's interpretations of a "God" is necessarily something that should be worshipped. Human understanding through history is a pretty fair indication that civilisations of different ages either treated things they didn't understand as devine or evil. Modern interpretation applied to it makes it something that we don't understand rather than inherently good or evil. I'd rather not discount the existence various beings that have been worshipped over the centuries - just refute their purpose and their devinity.
 

MichelleShocked

Moderate ;)
Jan 7, 2012
2,310
1,021
Gladstone
I particularly like all of the Aussie Buddhists that are popping up with ever more frequency - does this mean you are really into Yoga and like burning incense or is their something more to it? I'd love to know! I've never understood the whole 'not wanting to talk about your beliefs' thing - a lot of people just say they are this or that without really thinking about whether the beliefs/evidence associated with it make any sense. I've always been taught to ask questions, investigate and not just believe something you hear.

Well firstly, Buddhism is not a religion, it is a way of thinking. You can be a Christian Buddhist or any type. The tenet of Buddhism is that you change your world by changing your thoughts and becoming aware of the inner dialogue that goes on in your head. You master your world by mastering yourself. Most Buddhist philosophy has been brought to the West as Psychology.
Yoga is different again and separate to Buddhism though there's nothing stopping you practicing both just like there's nothing stopping you being Christian and practicing Yoga.
There are many different types, and you would be initiated into a practice, depending on your personality/interests - Hatha, Jnana, Kundalini, Mantra to name a few. If you are a physical person, interested in health and fitness, you would take the Hatha Yoga path. If you are more intellectual and live more in your thoughts, you might take Kriya Yoga. If you are interested in psychic phenomena, you might take Kundalini Yoga. And so on. Most people think Yoga is just a form of exercise without realizing there are profound philosophical reasons behind each movement and position. By learning the philosophy, you are opening your mind to new ways of viewing the world. By performing the yoga actions, you are reminding yourself of the philosophy. The Yogic traditions have been around for several thousand years and are very very deeply steeped in esoteric knowledge. As is Buddhism.
 

firechild

Member
Nov 8, 2011
354
188
Cromer, Sydney
Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities — the political, the religious, the educational authorities — who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing — forming in our minds — their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.
- Timothy Leary (1994)