RamaRaksha

One of the jokes that I keep making is that when it comes to religion we seem to be like Chimps teaching modern Humans - we know how ridiculous that sounds I want to scream whenever someone says, "What does it say in the Scripture?" - I feel like grabbing that person by the neck, shaking him and saying, "this scripture is nothing but ideas of people just like you and me, but living a long time ago. No, back then there were no Gods running around. They did not have any magic insight. That is why they thought the sun circled the earth. Had no clue about Evolution, the age of the earth or the universe" These people were not fools - they simply wrote down what they knew, which was not much We seem to be the fools - blindly reading something in a book and nodding our heads, unable and unwilling to accept new ideas A bunch of white guys got together and came up with these meanings in dictionaries or wiki - they are subject to change as people change We ARE allowed to change these things - they are not set in stone - in fact, many meanings are changed over time The Wikipedia page you referenced - I did try to change it - but someone keeps deleting my change "gloss over countless new lives that the notion of reincarnation promises" - Reincarnation was developed as a counter to the idea of Heaven - ancient Hindus saw such a notion as cowardice, the weak running away from REAL LIFE! Think of this logically - your kid or loved one says to you - I am thinking of joining this organization that says after Death we will get to travel the galaxy in space ships - that is what Heaven's Gate, the Death Cult, promises No more work, no more worries - just enjoy the easy lazy life forever! What would your reaction be? "how wonderful! can I join?" or "are you nuts?' It is against this backdrop that Reincarnation is to be seen. Of course they had to say we keep coming back Thank you - I heard but didn't know for sure To me Judaism does not belong with Christianity & Islam - simple primitive Master/Slave religions - obey the master & be rewarded - there is not much there Judaism, to me, with its multiple prophets is a Teacher/Student faith - and its stress on education is relevant here For me Hinduism, Buddhism are Teacher/Student faiths - many do not understand that our Gods are our Teachers Judaism belongs with Hinduism and Buddhism Have you not heard new parents saying their child is a Gift? Have you not heard philosophers say Life is a Gift? The world we inhabit is a wonder? To be cherished? Have you heard of Buddhism that says there is no God? Why is there any need for a magic controller? We are souls who decided on being born. We have free will - if life is seen as a burden, we are free to embrace Death, Eternal Death "about dead people sitting around idle, but you never explain your objection to the idea, or what they ought to be doing instead" - because that runs counter to the life that we have now - here you learn that no one GIVES you anything, nothing is FREE, you HAVE to WORK to make a honest living, PAY for what you eat, where you live, EARN what you desire Heaven runs counter to all the laws of life that ALL creatures on earth follow Heaven is unnatural, it makes no sense, it is but a fantasy of the weak, the lazy We have them down here - supporters of brutal dictators like Putin, Saddam - sing their praises, support them unconditionally and live the good life Prostitutes/gigolos/leeches/parasites use the same method - find a rich Sugar Daddy, sing his praises, tell him they "love" him and hope for a life of ease & comfort That is the mentality that Death Cults and religions exploit - the reason why the likes of Madoff are so successful - greed! Greed for the easy living the easy lazy way

Please speak for yourself And yes there are threads on Multiverse, String theory etc - none of which is backed by evidence And let me repeat again - Reincarnation is the idea that there is ONLY ONE WORLD! THIS ONE! It was developed as a counter to this idea of Heaven - ancient Hindus saw it as cowardice - We know of Death Cults like Heaven's Gate - Kill ourselves, we get to travel in alien ships across the galaxy Assume one of your kids or loved ones starts talking of ending his life so as to spend an eternity in this wonderful land that is promised him - no more work, no more worries - no more worrying about climate change, covid19, poverty, discrimination, drug wars, dictators like Putin(I am sure you are keeping up with all the bad news on Ukraine), health issues, job losses & so many more. A nice Sugar Daddy magic being will keep him in cozy comfort for eternity! Would you say, "How wonderful! Can I join you?" Or be shocked and angered? And it is against this backdrop that Reincarnation was developed I just got an idea - if a moderator is reading this - please see the highlighted in bold words - can I make that a thread? What would someone's reaction be upon hearing those words? Or does it fall under attacking religion again?

Again, are we in a communist forum? We are not We are in a democracy and should be freely get rid of rules that make no sense or at least discuss better ways of doing things We do it all the time! Try the mask mandate that is raging on right now in Canada and the US. I am in favor of Masks but if someone has a different idea they should be freely allowed to speak You are shutting down all discussion with "membership rules" - these rules can be changed, they are not set in stone Sorry, that is a cheap shot Again, do you not understand of democracy and free speech? Amazing!

Sure, some guy called me a 5 year old on one thread - it happens, no biggie - we are adults here, unless one starts inciting violence, I think we should be able to speak freely and I don't think we are able to Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are meant for one purpose - to protect any criticism of Islam - so that the Mullahs get to keep power over the populace The Burkha is meant to keep women in a 2nd class subservient role - these things are very clear and we should be able to discuss them without being mocked as rants Am I doing that now? It depends on one's opinion does it not? That is not a very fair way to judge someone's legitimate point of view Let the members, the voting public, decide whether a thread should be closed or kept open - to me that is the fair thing to do Just one person, the moderator making the decision, acting like judge and jury with no chance of an appeal - sounds like just what happened to Galileo when he tried to change minds. How are we still stuck back there?

"Heaven comes as a reward after a life spent working hard" That is so crazy! There is no Sugar Daddy God nicely letting billions just sit around doing nothing for eternity! An idle, lazy, useless and pointless existence for eternity! How does that make any sense? How is it that you can't see a religion simply exploiting people? - you hear Death Cults like Heaven's gate making cheap promises of travelling in alien ships after death and you clearly see it but when it is YOUR OWN religion, do you get blinders? "reward at the end of it is still release from the physical grind" - er no, first of all Life is a Gift! It is not a trap second there is no magic Retirement Home in the sky being run by a Nanny God So basically this release is just Death, Eternal Death & no one would choose Death over life Reincarnation says there is ONLY ONE WORLD! THIS ONE! Reincarnation was developed as a counter to the idea of Heaven - ancient Hindus saw it as cowardice, running away from real life, building fantasy castles in the sky - see Peterkin's comment above - a reward for struggling thru life No such lands exist - there are no magic Nanny Sugar Daddy God keeping billions in cozy comfort And that is what Reincarnation is stressing - it is life down here or bust You mentioned Buddhism - and I am sure you are familiar with the Mahayana concept of Bodhisattvas No one is guiding us, WE are in control of our own destiny - we seek Life because we want to experience life And Reincarnation also says we can develop as human beings - it does not have to be spiritual development - one can aspire to be the next Einstein, the next Buddha, the next Mozart

Just simply do not care for personal attacks! That the lowest form of discussion, sorry Try being civil and let people speak freely

Is it just me or do I see a lot more locks on Religious subjects when compared to other areas in this forum? Is religion being treated differently, in other words, being protected from criticism? Over in Politics I saw a thread - Has the Republican party lost its collective mind? - that doesn't seem a nice thing to say about Republicans (FYI I am a liberal) It seems to me that in other areas of this forum, we are freely allowed to discuss issues with an open mind, after all we are all adults here But here, I feel like I am in Pakistan with all its blasphemy laws - one better watch one says about religion, and we know or at least I know since I keep myself up-to-date on what is happening in the sub-continent, what the horrible consequences would be if we did not But I am not in Pakistan, I am in the US where we are supposed to freely discuss all subjects But here again I see the same stifling communist clampdowns - the moderator makes the decision - good luck in making an appeal That does not scream democracy & freedom does it? Should it not be up to the members of the forum to decide whether a thread should remain open or not? What do members think?

"Believe in me, Support me & be rewarded. If not, you will suffer" "Our dear, loving _______ loves us all. He gives us great joy & happiness. We are soo happy to serve him. We believe and serve only him. All those who are not with him are evil, misguided and must suffer" Ok fill in the blank - Putin, Kim Jong-un or God? It is that easy

Any fool can make promises & that means we don't let greed take over and invest with Madoff or vote for a Putin Life teaches us that nothing is free, no one GIVES us anything, we have to WORK for anything we want & it is those who don't have a stomach for hard work that fall for cheap ponzi-schemes - some steal, some turn to crime & others become prostitutes, gigolos, leeches, parasites - why work for anything when all we have to do is sing some rich guy's praises and tell him we "love him and he will keep us in nice comfort? And when we ask what people DO in Heaven they tell us that they will be singing God's praises, they "love" him so sooo much Religion is just exploiting these people - Sugar Daddy lands with easy living simply do not exist This is it! THIS IS ALL THERE IS! Can you explain the life that you have now? We don't know what consciousness is - we don't know where thoughts are coming from If life can happen once, why not again? And again you missed the main point of Reincarnation - it is not saying we move from life to life - it is saying if we want life, THIS IS IT! This is all there is And is that not what Science says? There is no evidence of any spirit worlds, zero evidence of any Sugar Daddy lands with billions sponging off him & living a life of ease & comfort

It's a simple cheap claim - a Sugar Daddy God keeping billions in cozy comfort - does it make any sense? That is why I ask these questions - Can you please describe a DAY - just ONE DAY & the run! But using this cheap promise they have managed to divide and preach hate & that has in turn led to so many mass killings - we can ask the Mayans or Native Americans about it Much killings going on in Pakistan today - someone is accused of blasphemy & a mob starts killing. We are not there in this country, thank God, but in stressful times, like if Climate Change comes true, I can see a lot of killing of unbelievers I always say if the Buddha had been born in Christian or Muslim lands he would have been branded a heretic, an apostate & been lynched to death! His writings burnt, his followers killed - there would be no Buddhism today Christianity has killed off the largest number of small religions all around the world - you can google it & of course wherever Muslims gain a majority, no other religion is allowed to grow This shouldn't be happening in the 21st century As for being a scary dude, lol, I guess i am - ideas are scary, aren't they? Hindus don't teach our religion to our children - you can ask a Christian kid about the Bible, he might say a few words from it. A Muslim kid might quote the entire Koran A Hindu kid would have no idea about the Gita - they know our Gods and some stories because they are exposed to it but not much As for Reincarnation - i keep stressing this - these are ideas! Heaven is the idea that we can run away from Real Life and hide in a Fantasy Reincarnation is the idea that there is only one world! This one! This one! That is what Reincarnation is saying "more cozy, attractive reality"??? Really? In Heaven no one mentions any work being done. Everybody gets to just sit around doing nothing, while a magic Sugar Daddy Nanny keeps everyone in cozy comfort No more having to worry about climate change, poverty, discrimination, covid19, job losses, health issues, Dictators like Putin - based on what is going on today, the market might take a big hit tomorrow - drug wars......the list is endless! Reincarnation says this is where you belong - how exactly do you see a "more cozy, attractive reality"?

One guy called me a 5 year old! Now that's resorting to personal insults, which this forum should not allow We are not kids here - I am not personally insulting anyone, just dismissing this idea of a Sugar Daddy God in the sky and billions getting to sit around doing nothing all because they joined the right religion - seems crazy to me Every time i have asked theists - What does one DO in Heaven? And Why would an all-mighty God need anything to get done? And need our help in getting it done? They run away - EVERY TIME! If a Madoff comes around making claims, you would be using the same dismissive language as well & that is what all Death Cults do - cheap easy claims of a wonderful "life" AFTER Death. They know and the sad thing is that the followers know as well, that there is zero evidence of such lands Which is why they stress belief so much

There are rational, down-to-earth explanations to all ideas Basically there are no Gods - there has never been any evidence of such beings All ideas of God came from life - Christianity & Islam molded their Gods in the image of their local King/Dictator - get down on our knees, swear loyalty & obedience to this master and this master only, pleased, he will reward us with heaven Hindus viewed God more as a Parent/a Teacher - the goal is to strive to be more God-like - the ancient Hellenic religion was saying the same thing - it's not Gods walking the earth, but human being being God-like. Which is why the Buddha HAD to be a God, which the Buddhists misunderstood. The Buddha hated magic, miracle - said if one believed in magic or miracle, one cannot be a Buddhist That is what Hinduism is stressing - there are no magic, miracle Gods, just human beings aspiring to do great things We use this term in our daily life - Michael Jordan is a God! Mahomes, Einstein referred to as Gods - these Gods are Hindu Gods What I am trying to do is to give a rational down-to-earth explanations to all Gods & beliefs Amazing that this guy can't see that Nietzsche also But it is not as if Reincarnation really happens - the stress is that we can't run away & hide in fantasy lands in the sky THIS IS IT! THERE IS ONLY ONE WORLD, THIS ONE! And what Reincarnation is saying is that if you want life, it is only here. Sorry, life is harsh, difficult but this is the only game in town. Many people fall for Death Cults and their happy promises of a wonderful "life" AFTER Death! What Reincarnation is saying is that such worlds do not exist No Sugar Daddy Gods, not magic realms where billions get to sit about doing nothing There is much that we still do not understand about the brain - we know it is working but how do cells create thoughts? Where are these thoughts coming from? Why do I have this insight now and not a few years ago? The one creature that has always intrigued me is the ant - such a small creature with hardly a brain but it builds huge cities, are farmers, tend to "cows", wage wars, capture slaves - where are they getting all this intelligence from? Another problem is the migration of birds - how does a new born bird know where to go? Yet these paths seem to come inbuilt Life - REAL LIFE - if you want life, this is the only game in town It is like graduating from one class to another - new year, new school, new subjects, new teachers Death Cults have created magic Retirement Homes in the sky where billions get to sit about doing nothing. And this idea is clouding our vision Tons of videos on Heaven on You tube - everything is about, "I saw this, I saw that" but none mention any work It's all about how we can be sooooo happy and at peace - just don't see any sense in a magic being playing a Nanny Sugar Daddy to billions just laying about, in an idle, lazy, useless and pointless existence for eternity

I am saying that was the world they lived in - a very violent world where matters were settled with violence rather than with Justice. Hence the "Gods" they gave birth It is the reverse - it is man who made God in his image - in this case a King/Dictator demanding obedience and loyalty & rewarding(Heaven)/punishing(Hell) accordingly What is sad is that we have not moved much forward if we go by Hollywood's standards of "Justice"

For a long period in human history, Justice was hard to come by - the lack of forensic science and modern methods of catching a killer, meant many crimes would go undetected Hence the wild, wild west where matters were settled with a gun rather than the law - but that is Vengeance, not Justice It is in such times that Gods and Heaven and Hell were invented - the criminal would get "Justice" ie torture and brutality in hell We still see this in some primitive countries where criminals are tied up and lashed, thieves having their hands cut off etc And of course Hollywood LOVES vengeance - the "Kill Bill" move genre where the hero or heroine gets hurt in the beginning and then the audience is treated to a kill fest - their blood lust is satisfied! But is this Justice? Did the Hero or Heroine get their loved ones back? Justice is when the VICTIM is made whole, right? If a child was abducted and the parents could choose between a) getting their child back safely or b) the criminal dies a brutal death, their child still lost Which one would the parents pick? 100% would pick option a of course In today's times if some drunk guy drives his car into our parked car or house and causes damages, we don't take our car and damage his car or damage his house, do we? In a civilized world, we make the guy pay for the damages - no one is hurt, the VICTIM comes out happy What is amazing is that the all-powerful "God" cannot offer Justice, only Vengeance! A few years ago a little child was abducted, raped and killed! The criminal was caught and I think he is in jail now awaiting death So let's assume God forgives him, everyone will agree that that is totally wrong So God dumps him in hell - is that Justice? That little girl did not get to enjoy life - hang out with friends, first dances or crushes, college, a career, falling in love, marriage, kids - all the joys of life that the rest of us got to enjoy! And her parents also did not get to enjoy all the joys of parenting, at every graduation, every marriage, every birth of a child, they are reminded of their little girl lost So again, we end up with a "God" who is unable to offer Justice Clear evidence that these are man-made Gods and man-made ideas of the afterlife

I always thought what it would be like to be on the other side - imagine a hook stuck thru you jaw and you being yanked around while on the other side shouts of glee! You are in tremendous pain, blood all over - good thing there are no piranhas around I think even worse is bird hunting - as they fly over, hunters let loose with a hail of bullets - the "lucky" ones die quickly, the unlucky birds get hit in the wing or leg, fall to the ground and dies a slow painful death. It's young back in the nest get to die of starvation unless a predator puts them out of their misery When it comes to bugs - i think this is a matter of pain & suffering - I think the higher animals feel pain but at the lower level, i think such pain is reduced. The smaller an animal is it is subject to a lot of natural damages - an ant can be injured by rain, by a falling leaf! If it feels pain the same way we do, it will never survive. I do believe that bugs, ants do not have the same pain receptors that we do

We are all bombarded with news feeds of Racism here in the US and the rest of the world - and of course there are other kinds of discrimination as well, Sexism stands out to me Minorities never fail to lecture us that we should treat everyone equally - that a human being matters, not his skin color or gender But what if a Minority were to find itself as the majority? Would they behave any differently? The shocking answer is a big NO! I am a minority here in the US - from India & I have had my share of discrimination. But when I go back to India, now I am the majority. First of all, no country is perfect, there is no country where a minority does not feel slighted But I came face to face with a situation where a minority finds itself as a majority & they behaved EXACTLY like the majority I was friendly with a black co-worker, about my age and I thought we hit it off well. Well one day we are discussing Racism in this country and obviously we agreed on many things. But then I made the mistake of telling him that I was an Atheist Hindu! Suddenly his manner changed. He coolly informs me that I was going to hell! "Works don't matter" it seems, only religion matters! It struck me that all this religion did was to change "skin color" to "religion" and now my black "friend" was a willing Racist! Now a majority Christian, he was now a very willing hater! Now, morals don't matter, values do not matter, the human being does not matter, all that matters is religion, belief! Billions of us - Atheists, Hindus, Buddhists - Entire families, women, children, even babies? - are to find ourselves in a Nazi Germany like After life - we will be the Jews, set apart & dumped into gas chambers in hell! This is what this hate and division boils down to And they can OPENLY PROMOTE such Nazi ideas of division and hate & these religions are the top ones in the 21st century! We see this with Muslims as well - we get lectured on how "Just a few Muslims are giving the vast majority a bad name" - we should not judge people by religion. They are the same as the rest of us, wanting the same things. We must treat everyone the same etc etc All great words, that we can all agree on But what happens when we go to countries like Pakistan where Muslims are the vast majority? Here comes in-your-face religious hate & discrimination. All the laws favor Muslims, all the top jobs are reserved for Muslims, Muslims can convert non-Muslims but the reverse is not allowed. And every year hundreds lose their lives and livelihood because of violence perpetuated by blasphemy laws! I keep asking - where are the educated? Where or where are the moral? The philosopher? Can it be this easy to promote hate & division even in the 21st century?

Well we do know that there is zero to nil evidence of God or Heaven or Hell Reincarnation, actually can be proved or disproved. It seems as little children we do remember our past lives. What we need are unbiased follow-ups - checking the kid's stories - the dates, the incidents - as time goes by we will have better dates to check Problem is of course the bias - the world is dominated by Christians and Muslims and they do not look upon Reincarnation with favor The point of my post was to change our way of thinking about these ideas - Reincarnation is for those who choose REAL LIFE - Life as we know it For those who say there is only One world, This one To your question - in Hinduism God is a Parent, a Teacher - Parents, Teachers do not punish - they teach, they encourage One is born in a lower life form not because they are being punished but because they CHOSE THAT LIFE! Life as a human being is harsh, the life that we have now no one GIVES us anything. We have to WORK for a living, PAY for what we eat, where we live, EARN what we desire Quite a lot of people give up - some become supporters of Dictators like Putin, Saddam - do his bidding & live a good life Others become prostitutes/gigolos/leeches/parasites - look around for a rich Sugar Daddy, sing his praises, tell him they "love" him and hope for a life of ease & comfort And it is these people that Death Cults target - easy lazy living in the sky, all one has to do is convert, sing their "God's" praises, tell him they "love" him and it is easy living for eternity! Amazing, but it works even against the best of brains! Anyway, Hinduism says such Sugar Daddy lands and Sugar Daddy Gods do not exist. But God is not cruel - such a life of a shameless moocher is what they want, they will get it Do you see a Dog? Fed, protected, sheltered & cared for - it lays about all day! No work, no worries! A sheltered dependent it's entire life! That is where these people will end up - remember, it is NOT A PUNISHMENT - it is the life they willingly chose! of their own free will! That's like saying a batter can take it easy the first time at bat, he is going to get another shot And one of the things about Reincarnation that almost EVERYONE brings up is - don't we lose our memories of our past life? Yes we do, so your logic of delaying something for the next life doesn't hold - you are a totally different person - maybe born in the wrong continent, a different gender, who knows maybe a different planet! Very, very few religions preach Reincarnation - Hinduism, Sikhism to my knowledge. The Buddha originally did not believe in Reincarnation. Mahayana Buddhists came up with the concept of Bodhisattva - someone who eschews heaven to come back to earth - much later, once they finally understood why Hindus were preaching Reincarnation Tell me, when compared to Heaven, why would anyone choose Reincarnation? In Heaven one gets the good life - free food, shelter(a mansion), protected and cared for - not one theist ever mentions any WORK being done in Heaven. Everyone just expects the lazy good life with God picking up the bill. Billions get to just sit about doing nothing - an idle, lazy, useless and pointless existence for eternity! Totally ridiculous and makes no sense - but there it is - even the best of minds fall for these promises of the easy good life obtained the easy lazy way Come back to earth? Where we have to WORK for a living, PAY for what we eat, where we live, EARN what we desire! And then we have the problems of life - poverty, climate change, covid19, discrimination, drugs, Dictators, health issues, job losses......the list is endless! It is like 9/11 happened and you are getting in your car and getting the hell out of downtown NY(Heaven) whereas Firefighters, Cops are rushing the opposite way (Reincarnation) It is not for everyone - one needs to be Strong, self-reliant, principled with a work ethic. ALL religions arose from the conditions of life that they faced. It is quite clear that the Christian/Islamic God is none other than their local King/Dictator - "Believe in me, support me & I will reward(Heaven)/Punish(Hell) accordingly" Simple, primitive ideas of God from simple, primitive people But people love the idea of Heaven - an endless life of ease & comfort. Hindus viewed such ideas as a fantasy - one can have fantasies but one can't live in them, one can only live in the REAL WORLD - hence Reincarnation

My interest is religion and I was told by an African-American co-worker, a "friend", I had mistakenly thought, that I was headed to hell! Simply based on my belief - religion or lack of it - "Works don't matter" He says It struck me that all this religion did was to replace the words "skin color" with "religion" and my black co-worker now fully embraced Racist ideas of division and hate Amazing, isn't it? Here was this black person who, I do not doubt, endured Racism and Discrimination based on nothing but skin color - To Racists that's all that mattered, his skin color. Who he was as a person - HIS WORKS - did not matter That was the same abuse that Jews faced under the Nazis - who they were as people did not matter - what they did in life did not matter. One factor alone, their religion, condemned them to gas chambers. Just like the Racist, the Nazi did not see a human being - one who had a family, loved ones. These people were Doctors, Scientists(luckily Einstein escaped), Teachers, Businessmen and of course Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Children, even babies! But none of that mattered to the Nazis And here was a black person OPENLY mouthing the SAME hate! To his "God", who I am does not matter, all that mattered was whether I was a supporter or not. Me, my loved ones, children, babies, women, entire families to be set apart & dumped into gas chambers in hell! It is crazy to think that in the Free world, "God" is none other than a Putin, a Saddam - "believe in me, support me & be rewarded or else!" While Nazis and Racist have been condemned, religious division and hate is OPENLY PREACHED! All religion has done is to change the word Putin to God, skin color to religion and my black "friend" now became a willing Nazi, a willing Racist & there are millions like him who hold the same views Tell them they share the same views of Racists and they would be shocked! In the 21st century! Might Makes Right because not one Moral or Educated person has ever spoken up against such ideas! NOT ONE!

A different view of Reincarnation, that's all. Reason why Hinduism preaches this view It is puzzling right? It seems almost every religion promises an endless good "life" AFTER Death. There seem to be no downside to embracing Death Over Life And yet Hinduism says come back - is there a logical reason for them asking us to do so? I think there is It is simply asking us to embrace Life - warts and all This is the only game in town

You can pray several ways - with words and with your body In Hinduism a dancer dances in a Temple and asks God to see her prayer(her dancing) When you work, that is also Prayer When you help others, that is also prayer But most religions do not like the body prayer, they stress the prayer using words - because these words they can control. The time to pray, when and where to pray, what words one must use - hint: use words that only WE approve! The problem with Body Prayer is that religions cannot control it An Atheist or Hindu doctor or Nurse is spending ungodly hours in a day trying to save covid patients. He or she doesn't even have the time to sleep or eat, much less pray with words. But according to Hinduism they are praying with works! And such prayers are disliked by religions because then it says ALL Good people are with God - it is actions that matter, not belief or religion Hard to believe but in the 21st century the dominant religions are those that stress belief, religion and not Action Doesn't say much for our education, intelligence & morality

What Reincarnation is basically telling us is that there is only One World! This one that God made for us God made this world, this earth, gave us this life. Life is a Gift from God and what Reincarnation is saying is that we can savor this Gift over and over again But we understand that this life is not easy, nothing is Free, nothing is Given, we have to WORK for a living, PAY for what we eat, where we live, EARN what we desire And this displeases many people who want the easy good life but don't want to work for it Some become supporters of powerful men like Putin, Kim Jong-un, support him blindly, kill, rape people at his behest and enjoy a life of comfort Others become prostitutes/gigolos/leeches/parasites - look around for a rich Sugar Daddy to GIVE them a life of ease & comfort. Now pay attention to the following - these people sing their Sugar Daddies praises, tell them they "love" them. Sounds a bit familiar? And it is these people that Death Cults target - we have all heard of Heaven's Gate - a Cult that promised a wonderful "life" AFTER Death, of course. Look for a sign & you see members constantly talking about signs - this sign or that, that assures a new age - new earth - new this or that but the end result is the same - a life of ease & comfort! Gain enough members and they can call themselves Religions I think it is against this backdrop that Hindus developed the idea of Reincarnation - Running away from REAL LIFE is not the answer. Death Cults are not the answer There is no magic Charity Retirement Home being run by God where billions get to sit about, an idle, lazy, useless and pointless existence for eternity! It is quite simple - Reincarnation appeals to the Strong, the Adult, the Warrior Heaven appeals to the Weak, the child, the Coward Guess who is winning in the 21st century?

Agree with you totally on the last part - we made religions, we created our Gods To me the Christian/Islamic God is none other than their local King/Dictator is plain to see - the same rewarding of loyalty - you are either loyal to me or else - Master/Slave religions Back in the day if your king was weak and/or disinterested and you see a neighboring King taking better care of his citizens, you might seek refuge under him and the first thing that King would ask for is your loyalty - a slave may serve only one master - in a violent world where enemies are everywhere, no King is going to harbor an enemy king's subject Hence Heaven - God's "kingdom" is for loyal believers only. He will reward you with Heaven - the easy good life - only if you join "his" religion, pray only to him, all other Gods or Kings are to be hated, they are evil, no good. Obey and be rewarded - Abraham ready and willing to kill his own son - Master says Kill, Master MUST be obeyed simple, primitive ideas that made much sense to those living under Kings/Dictators we don't live under Kings anymore but we do see Dictators and their supporters willing to kill, murder and rape if he is threatened. The dictator is their meal ticket, their access to the easy good life and any threat to him must be dealt with harshly we see religious people behaving the same way - esp in Islamic countries - any out of line comment that disses their master will be dealt with extreme harshness. In the west the threats of hell to anyone not being with this religion - OPENLY - in Ray Romano's "Everybody loves Raymond" one episode had the older brother saying he has joined another religion - he is seen wearing Indian clothes, they don't say Hinduism but by now I have come to expect the easy bigotry in this country. Anyway the mother throws a fit - "Do you want to end up in hell, robert?", she screams As a Hindu that was strange to me - why would God torture people in hell just for changing religions? he is the same person, it's not like the person has changed. For Hindus, religion does not matter, who we are as people, our Karmas, Actions matter But ah if we see it from a Master/Slave perspective - the slave now is serving another Master - He must be punished for doing so. We don't matter, only loyalty to the Master matters These are sick, primitive backward ideas - but are the dominant ones in the 21st century! Gods & supporters that behave like Putin and his supporters! Just amazing to see this - and not one educated person has a clue that he or she is doing this! To the moderator: Can a Christian claim that there is only one way to Heaven, only the followers of Jesus get in? Is that not his belief? Do you protest then? Just curious What if a Scientist says there is only One World? This One? We have ideas of parallel worlds, multi-verse and scientists have mocked it saying evidence for such things do not exist That is what I wrote here - there is only one world, this one- A world where one must grow up, earn a living. The very concept of Heaven is odd - billions just sitting about doing nothing - it does not make any sense Simple really - Hinduism believes that we move up from a lower life form to a higher and the reverse is possible as well Life as a human being or any life down on earth is not easy - it is harsh. Religions came up with the idea of Heaven - the lazy life - people seem happy with such an idea - why anyone would nicely cater to the comforts of billions of people just sitting about doing nothing, sponging off him and will do so for eternity? - any educated person should be asking that but they do not Well, if such an easy lazy life is what they want, they will get it. As a Dog they will get their heaven - their master will feed, protect, shelter and care for them - zero work, zero worries, zero responsibilities - Heaven

Again this idea that there is some way we get to live the easy good Retired life somewhere - whether we call it Nirvana or Heaven - is only possible right here on earth A Tree has little or no brain - it feels no pain - some trees live for thousands of years longer than even the Pyramids were built - free food falls from the sky - Heaven! The lesser the brain, the less pain & suffering & vice versa We have a bigger brain - ideas come rushing in - my health, my job, my country, my loved ones, their well-being, my dreams, my hopes - all of this comes with Pain & suffering All people who hope for an easy life in Heaven or Nirvana are doing is ending up as lower life forms and then they will get the peace and quiet that they want Not really - there is no magic Accountant in the sky rewarding/punishing us for our acts. If we insist on driving fast on wet slick roads, and ending up in a crash, it's not some magic man doing this, punishing us - we did this to ourselves. Same thing - if a student does not study, spends his days partying, well he gets bad grades - nothing is coming around - it's just what he chose to do, he chose his bad grades Same way - ending up as a Dog is a choice of those who chase after Heaven - they want the easy lazy life - sit about doing nothing while shamelessly sponging off someone else I find it amazing how even the best of educated do not ask questions - "What do we DO in Heaven?", "How do we make a living?", "how much does it pay?", "Is it like living in a Communist state? Where everyone is the same, lives the same in the same cookie-cutter homes, everyone gets a home allotted to them?" "how do we spend a day much less eternity?" Amazingly no one even asks such questions! It is their choice to remain brainwashed by religion & ending up as Dogs As for Charity: Someone just letting you live like a child, catering to all your comforts while you just sit about is not charity - charity is about helping people in need, people who have been hit hard by unfortunate events - like the covid19 we have now - millions have lost jobs because of it thru no fault of their own That is completely different from Heaven - where able-bodied men and women think they can just sit about sponging off someone else - that is what Prostitutes and leeches do - they find rich Sugar Daddies, flatter them sky-high and hope the rich guy will reward them with the easy good life To me it is amazing that we continue to remain utterly brainwashed by these primitive ideas of heaven and hell Hell is not Justice, it is vengeance. Hollywood loves Vengeance - the hero/heroine gets hurt in the beginning of the movie - the Kill Bill movies - then it is a blood-fest the rest of the movie - the audience goes home happy their blood-lust satisfied But few ask - did the hero/heroine get justice? Did they get what they lost? Their loved ones back? In the Kill Bill movie, the heroine kills another woman, a mother whose daughter sees what is going on - guess what that little girl will do once she grows up? It is an eye for an eye and it makes the whole world blind Whether Hitler or Madoff or any evil person is suffering in hell or not does nothing for their victims. The victims get no justice either with these criminals being nicely forgiven (and here again the silence of the educated as religion speaks with both tongues - happily telling the criminals that nice God will forgive, all you have to do is repent, then turning around and telling the victims that God will deliver Vengeance in hell) So no justice from God! Makes sense - these are ideas of God from primitive people - living under Kings/Dictators in a violent world - this the best they could come up with The amazing stupidity is to see brilliant, highly intelligent people of today blindly following these primitive ideas - just amazing!

The point of the post is that there is only one World - this one! No running away and hiding in some magic land in the sky. God is not a Sugar Daddy, He is not running a Retirement Home in the sky. So those vermin is YOU or your friends, buddy We are not talking Einstein here - my post is not confusing - it is not pleasing

The point is that Heaven is a fantasy - we are not going to get EVERYTHING we wish for in a fantasy Have you seen Twilight zone episodes where the guy thinks he made a good deal and then finds that there is a catch to such a deal? Same way - despite all that life or God has taught us millions view God as their ticket to the easy good life - just sit about sponging off him for eternity! How does that make any sense? Why would God be a servant to billions and keep them in comfort, tending to their pleasures of the flesh? But that is the life that people want, and they will get such a life or something close to it & a Dog's life is one of them Most dogs do not get adopted, some dogs get adopted, have the good life for a few years and then might be abandoned by the roadside when the family tires of them Maybe being reborn as a Tree is better? or a bug? You see even less pain & suffering that way Sorry also - I misunderstood I just write - I meant nothing deep by using a capital letter and I wish people would stop looking into other things and simply address the post Basically the idea that God is a Sugar Daddy - ready and waiting to keep billions in cozy comfort is ridiculous Every time I have asked - what does one DO in heaven? Describe a day to me - Theists run away Heaven is a fantasy of the weak, the coward, the lazy - zero work, zero responsibilities, free food, shelter, protected and cared for That's not happening in real life - there is no fool down here giving away millions so that we can just sit and enjoy the easy good life But of course, in a fantasy? sure? And that is what religions are doing - happy to make cheap promises that these greedy theists want to hear - knowing full well that none of these promises can be verified What Hinduism is saying is that there is a cost to this foolishness