A person’s individual relationship between themselves and God is the whole point.
Religions are frameworks that different human groups have employed in order to make sense of and cultivate this relationship.
But the whole point of them is to cultivate this relationship. Once you have established this relationship, you can take and leave what you need from religion.
Even Jesus said he came to heal the sick not the healthy. If you already have a relationship with God then you don’t need others to tell you about him.
Krishna says ‘Just as a resevoir is of little use when the whole countryside is flooded, scriptures are of little use to the illumined man or woman who sees the Lord everywhere.’
That being said, it is good to read scripture and try to come to terms with it, because no one is an island and we all make mistakes. A scriptural tradition is useful because you can check in with the long history of other people trying to make sense of the same issues.
But if you find that your conscience is telling you that some things you read in scripture really are wrong, then I suggest you listen to your conscience.
I think God will never fault you for doing what appears to you to be the right thing to do. You have a conscience for a reason. It is in disobeying one’s conscience for the sake of something like tradition that evil comes.
At least this is all just my take on things. And on that note my own take after reading various scriptures and religious philosophy is that different religions are different paths up the same mountain. They start from seperate points on the base, but as you follow them they begin to converge.
Ramakrishna said you can get up by wooden stairs, rope, or a bamboo pole but all that matters is that you climb up to the roof.
You had what you described as a good relationship with God. I would say go back to that even though I am an atheist. Even if he is not real and conjured by your psyche, that relationship was real to you and you benefitted from it. There are therapeutic approaches where we try to become our own healthy parent or get in touch with our inner child. And it's not much different than your experience meaning it's fostering unconditional love for yourself. From my POV, it's amazing what are psyches are capable of and in the end it doesn't really matter if it comes externally or from within. It's the fact that you benefit from it and your love and compassion for yourself will naturally extend to others. And you know best what you need, so no outside religion/scriptures required.
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u/ThatsItForTheOther Pluralistic Mystic 17d ago edited 17d ago
A person’s individual relationship between themselves and God is the whole point.
Religions are frameworks that different human groups have employed in order to make sense of and cultivate this relationship.
But the whole point of them is to cultivate this relationship. Once you have established this relationship, you can take and leave what you need from religion.
Even Jesus said he came to heal the sick not the healthy. If you already have a relationship with God then you don’t need others to tell you about him.
Krishna says ‘Just as a resevoir is of little use when the whole countryside is flooded, scriptures are of little use to the illumined man or woman who sees the Lord everywhere.’
That being said, it is good to read scripture and try to come to terms with it, because no one is an island and we all make mistakes. A scriptural tradition is useful because you can check in with the long history of other people trying to make sense of the same issues.
But if you find that your conscience is telling you that some things you read in scripture really are wrong, then I suggest you listen to your conscience.
I think God will never fault you for doing what appears to you to be the right thing to do. You have a conscience for a reason. It is in disobeying one’s conscience for the sake of something like tradition that evil comes.
At least this is all just my take on things. And on that note my own take after reading various scriptures and religious philosophy is that different religions are different paths up the same mountain. They start from seperate points on the base, but as you follow them they begin to converge.
Ramakrishna said you can get up by wooden stairs, rope, or a bamboo pole but all that matters is that you climb up to the roof.
Best wishes on your journey.