Exploring spirituality/religions other than Christianity

[ihugtrees]

I grew up in a very conservative Christian household, and the things I believed very strongly (I even attended a Pentecostal Bible college) no longer make sense to me. I am very curious about other religions and beliefs, and really want to learn more about things like Paganism, Buddhism, etc etc. Can anyone recommend some books and/or web sites where I can learn more about spirituality/other religions/ways of thinking in general?

[Subhuti]

Hi, I'm a buddhist. I can recommend a few good books to start learning about Buddhism...

The "Dhammapada" is an excerpt from the the Buddha's actual teachings 2500 years ago. It's very straight forward and quite profound. It should be inexpensive.

If you're really looking for something on the other end .... a very complete description of the actual practice of buddhism in modern life ... I would highly recommend "Genuine Happiness: Meditation as a Path To Fullfilment" by B. Alan Wallace. He was a western born Tibetan=trained monk, who now teaches in California. He explains the actual techniques of meditation and as well as the buddhist theories of consciousness. I am completely blown away by this book and I have been practicing for close to twenty years.

Finally, there is the lovely book "Touching Enlightenment Thru The Body" which is a deceptively simple book on meditation techniques based on the body (as opposed to simply the mind). The author is Reggie Ray, one of the most respected teachers of the day.

These three books are not from my own tradition, zen buddhism. We are much more of the "sit down and meditate" rather than talk perspective, at least at first. But I am learning that there is definately a time and a place for reading and study.

I hope these help.

Good luck in your exploration. I hope you find your very own path to happiness.

Liz

[Subhuti]

You know, I just reread your post. If you are also looking for just "other ways of thinking" ... let me turn you on to the Sun ... a splendid magazine. It is entirely subscriber supported and it is an exploration of life. It's got mainly people's brutally honest explorations of their lives and our world. You'll find some buddhism in there, other religions, too. It's very heartfelt and sometimes breath-takingly beautiful. It will definately fill in the blanks if you have been living a very sheltered, conservative life. It will show you there is a world of free0thinking, daring explorers right here along side you.

It's worth the price of the subscription....I think you can get a sample copy for free from their website. It's hard to find on the newsstand.

[Aubergine68]

Here is a link to a mdc thread with a list of online resources for various religious beliefs.

Thanks to pp for the book and magazine recommendations. I'm going to be checking them out, myself!

[doubledutch]

i've been learning and learning, trying to satisfy my spiritual hunger, and mdc is an awesome resource. i love reading old threads (i may have searched for "uu beliefs" or "liberal quaker" or "converting to judaism" at different times) because reading about someone else's thought process, questions and experiences is sometimes more helpful to me than reading a more factual book. the other thing i'd suggest is to try to connect in real life. it's okay that you just want to know a little more - nobody will think it's strange that you are looking for information and not trying to immediately dive in and be a part of something. and most people do like to talk about what they believe and practice, with the exception of people who have been burned in some way and are a little more guarded - but even then, many people will make time for you and be open with you.

(((hugs))) it's not a comfortable place to be, and i'm still here.

[umsami]

: I'm in JAX too.

You might want to try the good old Belief-o-Matic quiz. http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainme...iefOMatic.aspx

There's a really great UU church in JAX.... www.uujax.org I've even felt welcome wearing hijab. LOL They have some pagan Mamas there... as well as a wide spectrum of Christians.

There's also a really nice buddhist temple here as well.

There's a small group of Quakers that meet I think at the Bolles library on Sundays.

Lots of local resources.

[ihugtrees]

Thank you for the link-Belief O Matic couldn't help me because I don't know WHAT I believe about all of thoes things!

Thank you for the local resources as well. Unfortunately I am moving to Pensacola at the end of November

[ihugtrees]

I appreciate the responses. I am ordering a few of those books off of Amazon right now, as I was looking for something to spend some gift cards on any way

[OneLightLife]

I have diverse spiritual interests myself, after growing up in a stong, specific Christian (Catholic) tradition. One thing I've done to learn about other belief systems is attend a Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. It emphasizes a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning" and typically features sermons, workshops, etc. that emphasize different traditions. It won't necessarily help you pick a new tradition, if that's your ultimate goal, but will expose you to different ideas - and let you meat some new people.

[OneLightLife]

oops, I meant to say "meet some new people" in my post above. Funny Freudian slip.

[Unity9]

Hi,

I am a Baha'i Are you familiar with the Baha'i Faith?

This is a very short description of it:

"The most recent world religion. We believe in oneness of God, and unity of all the races and mankind. Our prophet is Baha'u'llah which means the Glory of God. He is the prophet for today with new teachings.

We believe God sends new prophets and messengers according to the time and the place. The basics of all the religions are the same (love and unity). But every religion has its duration. When that duration ends, God sends new prophet and new religion.

If you are interested to know more please visit the website at:

www.baha'i.org

Please let me know if you have any questions

[Collinsky]

Originally Posted by OneLightLife

I have diverse spiritual interests myself, after growing up in a stong, specific Christian (Catholic) tradition. One thing I've done to learn about other belief systems is attend a Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. It emphasizes a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning" and typically features sermons, workshops, etc. that emphasize different traditions. It won't necessarily help you pick a new tradition, if that's your ultimate goal, but will expose you to different ideas - and let you meat some new people.

When exploring outside traditional Christianity, the UU church was a wonderful resource and support. Many UU churches have people from a spectrum of beliefs and theologies who are open and respectful of other ideas. In addition, ours (like others) has small groups for Pagans, Christians, and Buddhists - they meet for holidays and occasions important to their beliefs, and to share in their significant rituals/meditation/etc. UU churches are extremely welcoming, and I've found it to be a great place to explore different beliefs in a nonjudgmental, accepting community atmosphere.