ex-believer
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has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
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Originally posted by koet:
has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
Disheartened ? You may wish to create another thread in either of the religion forums here.
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i did think of posting in a religion forum but didn't do so because this is a life issue in general.
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What religion did u give up?
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When I ceased being a buddhist I felt lost and wierd too. after sometime OK le.
It feels wierd when u one full day din chant, meditate, sutra recite, buddhist books reading... ...
It takes time to get used to it.
This is my experience when i gave up on buddhism. It took me quite some time to get used to.
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My experience is like u stopped playing mahjhong or poker cards then u felt wierd as u one day never play mahjhong or poker cards.
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Originally posted by koet:
i did think of posting in a religion forum but didn't do so because this is a life issue in general.
I treat religion more as a spiritual practice instead. Dont get too upset about things, religion mixing with money/politics is becomming common thesedays.
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Originally posted by -StarDust-:
What religion did u give up?
buddhism.
i don't chant or meditate regularly but i always had a strong faith in Buddha. out of gratitude because he saved me when i was in my darkest hours (long time ago).
i got out of sh*t with great efforts over a long period of time, to fall into another sh*t. i don't know why, my life seems to revolve between cycles of long suffering and short periods of happiness. no matter how hard i try, till i give up le
feel like converting to christianity. there were some years when i almost converted to christianity. but it always coincided with vesak day when i was reminded of my gratitude for Buddha. thus so far i hv not converted. this year's vesak day i didn't celebrate. maybe it's time ...
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Originally posted by koet:
buddhism.
i don't chant or meditate regularly but i always had a strong faith in Buddha. out of gratitude because he saved me when i was in my darkest hours (long time ago).
i got out of sh*t with great efforts over a long period of time, to fall into another sh*t. i don't know why, my life seems to revolve between cycles of long suffering and short periods of happiness. no matter how hard i try, till i give up le
feel like converting to christianity. there were some years when i almost converted to christianity. but it always coincided with vesak day when i was reminded of my gratitude for Buddha. thus so far i hv not converted. this year's vesak day i didn't celebrate. maybe it's time ...
It's up to you to decide which religion to chose. Free will.
You may wish to find out more abt christianality before u decide.
You should find a church to know more about christianality first.
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Good luck on ur spiritual path.
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Originally posted by koet:
has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
ya me.Found out it was just crap. Contradictions and empty promises, I was so cheated.
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Y u wanna give up on buddhism y dun u share here? Curious to know.
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Originally posted by koet:
has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
My suggestion is do some indepth study on what Buddhism and Buddhist practice is about, then decide for yourself what you want when you have a clearer picture.
Here's something my moderator Longchen wrote which I feel needs to be emphasized about the difference between folk ritual/superstition, and true Buddhism.
Hi Vexteen,
Just a sharing.
The main difference (to me) about superstition and the real practice is that the emphasis is entirely different.
Folk ritual is mainly about seeking protection from Gods and Boddhisatvas. In fact, to most people, this is their main concern. They are not interested in helping themselves.
For the real spiritual practice, it is about helping ourself, not seeking protection from deities. In fact, one's life may be even worst (on the conventional sense) when one is on the real path... that has been my own experience... at least. This is neccessary to break through the way we percieve life.
Hope this sums up things. :)
.........
To me, the more i walk the path, the clearer i see that there is no way to prevent difficulties in life. There will come a point when you just let go...
Rather than fight with reality, see through its illusionary nature... There is no self there in all the happenings... Self is the reaction to the happening... that is manifesting spontaneously. Even the anger, emotions, etc have no self-agent...
From my experience, it is very hard to see the illusionary nature in the midst of pain. The pain is too real to be illusionary...
p.s. you can check out http://www.jenchen.org.sg/ to find out more about what Buddhist practice is about. The articles are easy to understand. My Master (Ven Shen Kai) was once a Christian pastor, but he converted to a Buddhist monk after doing indepth study of Buddhism which totally changed his perspective and understanding about what Buddhism is about.
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Originally posted by hasene:
ya me.Found out it was just crap. Contradictions and empty promises, I was so cheated.
why you want to give up on christianity? please share your reasons here, thanks.
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Let him/her chose what he/she wants.
I just wanna share some bible quotes here
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3 :16
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies
John 11 :25
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
John 3 :36
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Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
John 10:9
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I just wanna let him/her know that Jesus died for your sins on the cross. To be saved from hellfire, u should accept Jesus as your personal saviour.
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Perhaps the question that needs to be considered is, if one assumes a stance that God created the earth and so on so forth ... who created GOD?
Insanity is the the delusion of one and religion (organized) is the collective delusion of many!
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Originally posted by Fugazzi:
Perhaps the question that needs to be considered is, if one assumes a stance that God created the earth and so on so forth ... who created GOD?
Insanity is the the delusion of one and religion (organized) is the collective delusion of many!
No one created God. God always existed. -
Originally posted by koet:
has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
Life is truly perplexing; but among many of these deep questions, the point of existence often worries men the most. In our respective ways, we always try to make sense of the world we live in. Hence we will attempt to provide meaning to our experience, being part of our process to decipher the code of life, through the paradigm we chose to view from. Since you have posted in AA, I would take it that you probably want a secular response since it’s mundane to talk about any particular faith here in AA. Hence, allow me to share about the philosophical aspect of your question.
Because looking through the religion’s paradigm is one of the perspectives we could employ to make meaning to our experience and reveal (in some sense) the point of our individual existence - surely, one’s understanding of what’s life and the point of existence will definitely differ from others. But why should it stop us from trying to find the answers we need to appease our insatiable spiritual hunger?
All religion claims that they hold the ultimate truth, but in reality, like what Protagoras said: man is the measure of all things.
Therefore, depending on the nature of your spiritual dissatisfaction, you might not actually need to do a ‘either or’ selection; like between religion X or religion Y.
Understand the nature of your dissonance and what exactly you are disturbed about your present belief would help you to decide what you really want.
Because at the end of the day, we want to choose a religion that is relevant to our life - since the definition of relevance is relative to us.
Aside to TS: if you need to clarify religious beliefs, values, thoughts, question, perspective, etc, please do so in the respective forum/s - AA is secular.
Cheers
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I was lured to the dark side of the force, now they call me a sith.
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Originally posted by koet:
has anyone been a staunch believer of a religion, but later give up on your faith due to your getting disheartened ?
how did you feel ? do you feel that suddenly a gaurdian angel or the protector (whom you used to pray to) is now gone and you don't have the feeling of being protected anymore ? does your life get any better ?
Instead of immediately thinking of a religion as the answer to your current state of mind, why not spend some quiet time on your own, with no one else to influence your thoughts. Go somewhere peaceful and quiet, where you can be relaxed. Personally, I would recommend meditation to help relax your mind, to think better. (Meditation is not exclusive to any religion, regardless of what anyone says. It can be used purely as a non-religious relaxation technique.) Think about what sort of life you want to lead, and what will make you truly happiest and most fulfilled in life? Think long-term, not short-term.
Since you didn't mention what your current "life issue" is, I presume you're thinking more deeply into your own life. If you're currently perplexed because you just broke up with bf/gf, quarrelled with parents/friends/colleagues, pet died, or you currently can't afford to buy some fancy gadget or car, then you'll really need to reflect even deeper into what you want in life to feel fulfilled, as these are just temporary events. :)
Once you've sorted out your thoughts, then consider how you can make what you want happen, on your own, with your own abilities and strengths. Identify and eliminate your weaknesses, so that you have even more strength within you. You can do it, if you believe in yourself, then you'll be more confident to face your future. :) Too many people look to a religion for the wrong reasons.
Rainbow Jigsaw of Life
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Is it you ling shi bao fuo jiao thats why buddha no save you?
Anyway, if you face difficulties in life, praying only provides momentarily comfort. It is your own effort and actions that will ultimately pull you through. Do not entirely shift the blame onto these spiritual assistance. What about your family members and friends? These people are not god, but they can provide equally good encouragement too. =)
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If threadstarter wants to know more abt christianality he/she can go to a church to learn more abt it.
