From Pagan to Monotheist? - Page 2

[Teenytoona]

Kaleanani, mind if I ask what you identify as? Alot of what you say really resonates with me, too.

[Purple Sage]

Originally Posted by Kaleanani

For a while my big mistake was to try to incorporate stuff from ALL the religions into one big pile. I studied world religions in college and every time I dove into a new faith, I realized that there were so many things that resonated with me. But in the end it got to be pretty jumbled and I realized that just because each religion had one grasp on truth it would be silly to try to combine all of them into one.

I like what you described, and it sounds like it works well for you.

I agree that there is so much in each world religion that resonate with me, as well. I am definitely in a place right now where I'm seeing the truths that each religion hold, which is different for me because I spent so long looking at the aspects of certain religions that don't resonate with me. It's like I've taken off one set of colored glasses and put on another - everything looks totally different. I also don't want to jumble a bunch of religions together, but I would like to honor the underlying truth in all the religions while following the one that works the best at this stage in my own life. I'm just not sure what that is right now...and that's okay because I know that I will find it eventually!

[javilu]

life *is* a journey! i feel sort of lost sometimes, but i'm generally glad to be learning and always growing. i feel like a true "seeker."

[Theia]

Originally Posted by Purple Sage

I like what you described, and it sounds like it works well for you.

I agree that there is so much in each world religion that resonate with me, as well. I am definitely in a place right now where I'm seeing the truths that each religion hold, which is different for me because I spent so long looking at the aspects of certain religions that don't resonate with me. It's like I've taken off one set of colored glasses and put on another - everything looks totally different. I also don't want to jumble a bunch of religions together, but I would like to honor the underlying truth in all the religions while following the one that works the best at this stage in my own life. I'm just not sure what that is right now...and that's okay because I know that I will find it eventually!

On the part I bolded..... I just wanted to offer a different perspective. I'm a jumbler. I totally get that there is something to be said for purity of any given teaching. But at the same time, I think that different religions contain different pieces of the truth and because they create limitations within the religion, they also leave bits of truth out. So I jumble. I know that is not something that everyone would be comfortable doing. It took me a while to be comfortable with it. But whenever I would investigate a single religion and try to put myself in that box and set aside other beliefs that I had adopted that were outside of that religions particular belief system.... it just didn't work for me. Religion/spirituality is a very personal journey, and I don't think there is any single right way for all of us. So I just wanted to say it's OK to jumble, IMHO. If jumbling feels right, then feel free to do so. But if a single religion or uniform belief system feels more comfortable that is good too.

eta: I don't try to practice all things within the different religions I resonate with. I take what resonates and leave what doesn't. For me it is a very personal belief system. So I don't try to combine all of the religions into one. But a single religion world religion doesn't work for me either. I'm not sure if there is a label for what I believe, but that's fine with me, labels are highly over-rated IMO.

[Purple Sage]

Thanks Theia for giving me that to think about. You're absolutely right there's nothing wrong with being a jumbler. I mean, even the world religions themselves have elements that are jumbled from other religions.