Haha, religion has fallen out of popularity but what about money? That too is belief based. Is the money in your bank "pure truth" or in the grand scheme of things, green paper with funny pictures on it?
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"reality" is not a dog telling the Son of Sam to kill people. Reality may be perceived differently, but is a constant and is not the product of mental exercises. Reality is pure truth.
Haha, religion has fallen out of popularity but what about money? That too is belief based. Is the money in your bank "pure truth" or in the grand scheme of things, green paper with funny pictures on it?
Meditation tends to focus inward on self. Prayer is focused outward on God.
Calling it a faith is so much of a stretch that the effort can be described as an intellectual dishonesty. ^_^
Thats interesting because it is actually only backed by faith. Thats a fact. You have issues with faith/fact like I would have figured. What YOU have faith in, you consider as fact. You are more closed minded than the very religious people you make fun of.
Meditation, at least in the Eastern philosophical sense, is more often geared around the concept of "non-self." If you are not familiar with that concept, I suggest you research it. I do not want to potentially misrepresent the concept by using words that help me make sense of it. What helps me make sense of it might be more confusing to others.
Having grown up as a Christian the first 19 years of my life, I found prayer and most forms of worship to often be self-centered (or centered around those we are close to, a form of selfishness).
In a nutshell, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, God! You are amazing!...but please bless X or make X better or help me through X...unless you don't want to, of course, but...really, please...please...*cough* Anyway, thanks for being God, and thanks for doing all the things I have faith that you did!"
I'm not saying all people did this or all forms of prayer or worship were like this, but the vast majority of Christians (including myself) preach worshiping God but are in reality focused on themselves, their family, and their friends.
Meditation, at least in the Eastern philosophical sense, is more often geared around the concept of "non-self." If you are not familiar with that concept, I suggest you research it. I do not want to potentially misrepresent the concept by using words that help me make sense of it. What helps me make sense of it might be more confusing to others.
Having grown up as a Christian the first 19 years of my life, I found prayer and most forms of worship to often be self-centered (or centered around those we are close to, a form of selfishness).
In a nutshell, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, God! You are amazing!...but please bless X or make X better or help me through X...unless you don't want to, of course, but...really, please...please...*cough* Anyway, thanks for being God, and thanks for doing all the things I have faith that you did!"
I'm not saying all people did this or all forms of prayer or worship were like this, but the vast majority of Christians (including myself) preach worshiping God but are in reality focused on themselves, their family, and their friends.
It's not the prayer that does the actual work, it is God or gods who do the work, prayer is just a way to get them to work miracles for you. With that being said, I am blessed. I have prayed for many seeming impossible things and God has made them happen.
Since prayer can only make someone feel better/good about themselves, and seems to do that all the time, except in cases of perceived failure due to unreasonable expectations, then prayer can be said to work every time. Or never. Weird question for a supposedly serious discussion section.
As for there being psychological benefits to delusional thinking... Well, possibly, in some sense, but it's hard to advocate for the deception of yourself and/or others because you think it might make us feel better. Do something else before bedtime instead, like jogging or reading a book.
Isn't there also the danger of ignoring real solutions to your problems when you're always relying on the supernatural for guidance or solutions? Any time spent praying could be used more usefully in other ways.
Well that's a fine how do you do. You never once considered, I bet, owing to the fact that you hate yourself, that you are a superhuman with abilities beyond your imagination that stupid naïve folk who pray may tap into in that way. Geez, your certainty in your opinions could just be the lock that seals off your door to mystery. Sure you're not playing a terrible trick on yourself?
Your rhetoric doesn't work on me, moonie. Not sure it works on anyone, actually, though it's sometimes fun to read. Wishful thinking is not very helpful in life, and that's all i meant. You can be optimistic or hopeful, but merely wishing for something, especially when you expect these wishes to be granted, by some totalitarian authority is, whose existence is unknowable or unknown is probably foolish and counterproductive.
Do something else before bedtime instead, like jogging or reading a book.
Alright, sorry. My bad. Wishful thinking is a good way to solve problems or get what you want. Thanks, you two!
Maybe you call it wishful thinking because you wish you could think that way. But you're a realist. There is only the cold dead universe and whatever happens in it, right. You can't change the fact that the world is dead by wishing it weren't like the nutty faithful. All they have to do is, pray and wish, to alter their mental state. You see, what you can't do, pray for God's goodness, they can do simply because for them prayer works a particular kind of magic, not of airy fairy dreams, but by changing their attitude. Those dummy people of faith can create hope where all you got is whatever mental state you're stuck in. Did you know that attitude is everything? Lucky is he who prays that God's will be done because when that happens the self disappears and becomes the will of God. But that's just for silly children, right? There's nothing quite like wishful thinking when you know for what to wish.
Alright, sorry. My bad. Wishful thinking is a good way to solve problems or get what you want. Thanks, you two!