No Poll: What is God?

Originally posted by Captain Falcon
well, I want it to stop. And these questions I'm asking can't be answered by religion, therefore they're going to look stupid and then it'll stop. I hope.

making someone look foolish won't stop them it puts them in defensive mode.

Originally posted by Echuu
Bingo

Could you explain why He should be sent there too?

Originally posted by Soleran
God's already there he is omnipresent🙂

Originally posted by leonheartmm
[B]if i had a choice{n if he existed} id like to think of him as a gentle cloud with no high thought processes

God is the Creator and Savior. God is Love. But he is also something can can never comprehend. We're too pea-brained.

Originally posted by Echuu
Yes, but what did Jesus say would happen when we judge others?

I tend to judge people who break into my house with the intent to hurt me and my family. I could run around being some hippie who doesn't judge a soul, but then I'd wind up dead and I don't want that.

Everything that has ever been, or ever will be is part of God. God is everything + all of the nothingness. All thought and non-thought; to list everything would not be enough, you would have to also list everything that is not.

So the crap my neighbor's dog left on my lawn is a part of God?

Originally posted by Janus Marius
So the crap my neighbor's dog left on my lawn is a part of God?

Yep, not one of the better parts, but a part. 😛

I know some people who act like the devil, but are part of the whole of what would be god too.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
Yep, not one of the better parts, but a part. 😛

I should say that when my neighbor complains.

"Dude, it's God. Don't be hatin'!"

Well, going by what the bible says.... God is a physical being of immense power and foresight who has a soft spot for the downtrodden and anyone who loves him and is willing to do what he says.

The Hindus believe that There is a main god - Brahma, I think (been a while since I took that world religion class) - who is sleeping and all the other gods are part of his dream, in fact we are part of his dream. Apparently someday he'll wake up and everything will once again just be part of his consciousness. I'm not really fond of this idea as The end means we lose our individuality.

I think the Islamic Allah is similar to The Judeo-Christian God. I could be wrong, I didn't actually read the entire Q'oran, just a few Chapters.

Then there's this Hellenistic version of the Christian God that many seem to believe in; an essence that is everywhere and nowhere, omni-everything. There are of course some variants on this one. There's the God isn't involved in the affairs of men, God is nature(ie doesn't actually have a personality) These things are non-biblical, but have taken root in many Christian denominations.

My bet is with the first description I gave. (Of course it is only possible for one of the above to be correct, the only other possibility is that none of them are)

Originally posted by Janus Marius
I should say that when my neighbor complains.

"Dude, it's God. Don't be hatin'!"

If god was jello he'd be much more fun...

God is what ever is the meaning of your existence. If you are connected to your meaning, you're connected to God. God is the big, mysterious EVERYTHING of the universe - the unifier of all being.

Originally posted by docb77
The Hindus believe that There is a main god - Brahma, I think (been a while since I took that world religion class) - who is sleeping and all the other gods are part of his dream, in fact we are part of his dream. Apparently someday he'll wake up and everything will once again just be part of his consciousness. I'm not really fond of this idea as The end means we lose our individuality.

The Dreamer-Dream metaphor is my favorite: it's simple, it's natural; and the lucid dreaming corollary is a bonus way for understanding what the beginning of "enlightenment" might mean.

As for losing one's individuality: this is a common misconception. The ego does not dissolve; all of reality does not become a featureless mush. Individuality is not eliminated; it simply sees itself for what it has been all along: a whole, a distinct entity, which is simply part of a greater whole. A cell does not cease to be a cell simply because it is part of a larger organism. If anything, the cell is empowered by its connections. Remove the cell from the whole, and it dies.

Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. Dreamer-Dream.. 😛

Originally posted by Mindship
The Dreamer-Dream metaphor is my favorite: it's simple, it's natural; and the lucid dreaming corollary is a bonus way for understanding what the beginning of "enlightenment" might mean.

As for losing one's individuality: this is a common misconception. The ego does not dissolve; all of reality does not become a featureless mush. Individuality is not eliminated; it simply sees itself for what it has been all along: a whole, a distinct entity, which is simply part of a greater whole. A cell does not cease to be a cell simply because it is part of a larger organism. If anything, the cell is empowered by its connections. Remove the cell from the whole, and it dies.

Interesting analogy.

I like the analogy as well, but still feel that I should have some control over my destiny beyond being part of a dream. Also, in the end it seems a tad unjust that everyone becomes part of that whole whether they lived a good life or not.

I feel what might be meant is god is bigger than our thoughts....We cannot imagine what god or what ever you would want to call god would be.....god is the dreamer.....we are the dream........Whoooooo sounding metaphorical........

I don't exactly agree with the metaphor, and I think trying to argue free will is akin to trying to say you have the right to resist burning while on fire. But all the same, nicely said.

Yeah, and as I've said on another thread, it's either true or it isn't. I'm hoping the more christian version is right (not exactly the harp playing and clouds, more like heaven is like what we have here, only perfect... no crime, no disease, etc.)

I believe in free will..........We would be nothing without it, though we don't know anything beyond this physical existence, so who's to really say what our free will really constitutes.....