I have many questions.

[Mahasvapna]

Have I assumed too much?


<i>It is not so much as that I am looking for the 'correct religion' as I am looking for the seeds of truth that I believe to be buried within each religion. </i>


There is only one source of truth. And God is Truth and Truth is God. There is no other truth.

Pardon my liberal use of the word Truth. Since, I have reiterated the statement from different angles, I do not think linearly. I wish to understand the natural heart of humanity's relationship to God, as humankind sees that relationship. Within all of the tradition, all of the books, all of the prophets, the history - at the root of all of this, for all of mankind, regardless of religion or culture, there is a fundamental instinct that is pure and untouched by our social evolution. Perhaps you believe it to be as simple as a text outlining the right way to live, but I do not. I have found God, and his answers to my questions reveal themselves when I am ready to understand them. I seek understanding.

<i>I asked this question a few years ago. "Why am I here? What is My purpose in life? </i>


How shall I adress suffering in my world? What name shall I call God, and how shall I worship him? Does he need to be worshipped?"


Excellent questions. Don't assume you have found the answers. I say this because <i>"I asked this question a few years ago"</i> implies to me you think that the journeying has lost it's impetus and details only remain. At least that's my assumption.

On the contrary, this is when I believe I took the first major step of Questioning. I have since then sought those answers through my own relationship with God. And often times, there is more than one answer to a question. We often forget how to ask the right questions. And in my experience, the answers are demonstrated. I don't assume that I have found all of my answers - and I don't assume that I have a perfect understanding of the answers that I do have. My questions arise from the communion I recieve during meditation, because my nature is not to take an answer at face value, but to discover them experientially, see them manifest in the world. In this way I know what is a seed of Truth vs. what my own ego developes. Certainly my Ego can cloud the understanding of Truth, even if I have witnessed it - and I pray to God that he will show me when I have done this. In the past I have come to understand that I was wrong in my understanding, and while I may not be right in the new assumption, I trust in God to temper my understanding in his good time, as long as I am willing to put forth the effort to continue seeking. By this word, "Seek" I mean, to question, to never assume that I have the whole picture, and always keep searching. I will Seek until I die, even if I am convinced there is nothing left to find, because I know that the mystery of God is endless.

<i>I believe that the greatest good one can do is to simply align one's own will with the will of God. </i>


"Surrender one's will and purpose" is Allah's (Most Gracious Most Merciful) term, or perhaps "Submission of one's will and purpose" to the One who is Omnipotent. Allah says;


<b>Allah Himself is witness that there is no God save Him. And the angels and the men of learning too are witness. Maintaining His creation in justice, there is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise. Lo! religion with Allah is The Surrender to His will and guidance. </b>


Those who formerly received the Scripture differed only after knowledge came unto them, through transgression among themselves. Whoso disbelieveth the revelations of Allah will find that Lo! Allah is swift at reckoning.


And if they argue with thee, O Muhammad, say: I have surrendered my purpose to Allah and so have those who follow me. And say unto those who have received the Scripture and those who read not: Have ye too surrendered? If they surrender, then truly they are rightly guided, and if they turn away, then it is thy duty only to convey the message unto them. Allah is Seer of His bondmen.

And here is the fundamental difference between our faiths: I believe in a God of compassion. I believe that God's punishment serves to teach us wisdom, and that those of us who Seek are punished perhaps even more severely, for our transgressions often go against what even we know to be true, though we may not understand that Truth perfectly. But I do not believe that Death is final, even for sinners. I believe that God's mercy extends limitlessly, that you will always get another chance. Don't take this to mean that this is a liscence to do whatever one chooses, since there is no threat of hellfire. on the contrary, I don't need Hell to motivate me to go back from whence I came. I beleive it is unnatural NOT to be drawn to Seek God. I believe that when you die, you are confronted with the good you have done and the bad, from your intentions, and their source. Ultimately when you look back on your life, it will be clear what your true intentions were, what life you truly lived. If this life was Good, if you learned good lessons, then you are rewarded. If you have not grasped the totality of what you have to learn, then you are returned, into a life which is perfect to teach you the points that you did not learn before. You have a book to tell you what happens, I understand. I have died. I will leave it at that, because I should not need such a reason to explain my beliefs.

<i>If you would like to know the details of my own original quest for Revelation, I will happily offer it to you to the best of my ability to describe it in words. Short of this, though, you can't possibly have any understanding of how I came to where I am, or what my own personal journey means.</i>


Actually I would like to hear. How about posting up seperate thread?

Certainly.


Namaste


Mahasvapna