Holistic Synthesis Of The Ultimate Truth

[Shin]

Quote

 

So this is an updated version, which will be improved again in the near future (I wanted to edit the old one and change the name, but I can't).

Just use the ctrl+f command to check where it is on the webpage.

 

 

Shaivism (Origin: India – Started: At least 2000 years BCE)

Shaivism theology ranges from Shiva being the creator, preserver, destroyer to being the same as the Atman (self, soul) within oneself and every living being […] It is the Hindu tradition that most accepts ascetic life and emphasizes yoga, and like other Hindu traditions encourages an individual to discover and be one with Shiva within.

God (Shiva) is within man, God is within every being, God is present everywhere in the world including all non-living beings, and there is no spiritual difference between life, matter, man and God.

 

Zoroastrianism (Origin: India/Iran – Started : 2000 years BCE)

There is only one God, the singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe.

In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything that can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth.

Zoroastrianism's divinity covers both being and mind as immanent entities, it is better described as a belief in an immanent self-creating universe with consciousness as its special attribute.

In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to "be among those who renew the world...to make the world progress towards perfection". Its basic maxims include:

Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.

There is only one path and that is the path of Truth.

Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you also.

 

Jainism (Origin: India – Started: At least to the 6th century BCE)

Jain texts reject the idea of a creator or destroyer God and postulate an eternal universe.

Jainism has been described as a transtheistic religion, as it does not teach the dependency on any supreme being for enlightenment. The tirthankara is a guide and teacher who points the way to enlightenment, but the struggle for enlightenment is one's own.

Jain texts propound that the universe was never created, nor will it ever cease to exist. It is independent and self-sufficient, and does not require any superior power to govern it.

According to Jain belief, souls, intrinsically pure, possess the qualities of infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss, and infinite energy in their ideal state. In reality, however, these qualities are found to be obstructed due to the soul's association with karmic matter. The ultimate goal in Jainism is the realization of reality

For Jains, non-absolutism means maintaining open-mindedness. This includes the recognition of all perspectives and a humble respect for differences in beliefs. Jainism encourages its adherents to consider the views and beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties, including other religions.

 

Buddhism (Origin : India – Started : Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE)

Early Buddhist canonical texts and early biographies of Buddha state that Gautama studied under Vedic teachers [...] learning meditation and ancient philosophies, particularly the concept of "nothingness, emptiness" from the former, and "what is neither seen nor unseen" from the latter.

According to Buddhism there ultimately is no such thing as a self in any being or any essence in any thing.

The nirvana state has been described in Buddhist texts partly in a manner similar to other Indian religions, as the state of complete liberation, enlightenment, highest happiness, bliss, fearlessness, freedom, permanence, non-dependent origination, unfathomable, indescribable. It has also been described in part differently, as a state of spiritual release marked by "emptiness" and realization of non-Self.

This insight in the Mahayana tradition, states Shōhei Ichimura, has been the "insight of non-duality or the absence of reality in all things".

Nirvana

In the Buddhist context, nirvana refers to realization of non-self and emptiness, marking the end of rebirth by stilling the fires that keep the process of rebirth going.

Bodhi (Enlightenment)

It is the mind's natural and pure state, where no distinction is being made between a perceiving subject and perceived objects.

 

Taoism (Origin : Chinese – Started: At least to the 4th century BCE)

The Tao is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools; in Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is both the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists.

Tao literally means [...] "the One, which is natural, spontaneous, eternal, nameless, and indescribable. It is at once the beginning of all things and the way in which all things pursue their course." It has variously been denoted as the "flow of the universe" […] The Tao also is something that individuals can find immanent in themselves.

Human beings are seen as a microcosm of the universe […] As a consequence, it is believed that deeper understanding of the universe can be achieved by understanding oneself.

Taoism rejects the Confucianist emphasis on rituals, hierarchical social order, and conventional morality, and favors naturalness, spontaneity, and individualism instead.

Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize wu wei (effortless action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: 慈 "compassion", 儉 "frugality", and 不敢為天下先 "humility"

 

Neoplatonism (Origin: Athens – Started : 3rd century BCE)

The work of Neoplatonic philosophy involved describing the derivation of the whole of reality from a single principle, "the One."

Source, Absolute, or One is what all things spring from

According to Plotinus, The One is not a conscious god with intent nor a godhead nor a conditioned existing entity of any kind, rather a requisite principle of totality which is also the source of ultimate wisdom.

One must become "God" (henosis). This is reached through contemplation of the primeval Being, the One — in other words, through an ecstatic approach to it. Thought cannot attain to this, for thought reaches only to the nous, and it itself is a kind of motion. It is only in a state of perfect passivity and repose that the soul can recognise and touch the primaeval Being.
Beginning with the contemplation of corporeal things in their multiplicity and harmony, it then retires upon itself and withdraws into the depths of its own being, rising thence to the nous, the world of ideas.
But, even there, it does not find the Highest, the One; it still hears a voice saying, "not we have made ourselves".
The last stage is reached when, in the highest tension and concentration, beholding in silence and utter forgetfulness of all things, it is able, as it were, to lose itself. Then it sees God, the foundation of life, the source of being, the origin of all good, the root of the soul. In that moment, it enjoys the highest indescribable bliss; it is, as it were, swallowed up by divinity, bathed in the light of eternity.

Gnosticism (Origin : Jewish – Started : 1st century CE)

In many Gnostic systems (and heresiologies), God is known as the Monad, the One.

The Sethian hidden transcendent God is, by contrast, defined through negative theology: he is immovable, invisible, intangible, ineffable; commonly, "he" is seen as being hermaphroditic, a potent symbol for being, as it were, "all-containing".

 

Christian Mysticism (Origin : Jewish – Started : 2nd century CE)

Bernard McGinn defines Christian mysticism as:

[T]hat part, or element, of Christian belief and practice that concerns the preparation for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God.

...new ways of knowing and loving based on states of awareness in which God becomes present in our inner acts.

Religion is based on a feeling of the infinite.

Mysticism thus becomes seen as a personal matter of cultivating inner states of tranquility and equanimity

"one of the immortal spirits waiting to introduce the reader to his own unique and intense experience of reality"

The path of illumination, has to do with the activity of the Holy Spirit enlightening the mind, giving insights into truths not only explicit in scripture and the rest of the Christian tradition, but also those implicit in nature, not in the scientific sense, but rather in terms of an illumination of the "depth" aspects of reality and natural happenings, such that the working of God is perceived in all that one experiences.

The awakening, the stage in which one begins to have some consciousness of absolute or divine reality.

 

Dzogchen (Origin: Tibetan – Started: 8th century CE)

Rigpa is a central concept in Dzogchen. It is "reflexively self-aware primordial wisdom,"which is self-reflexively aware of itself as unbounded wholeness.

"In Gelug, the conscious experience is some level of blissful awareness of voidness."

The Dzogchen meditation practices also include a series of exercises known as Semdzin (sems dzin), which literally means "to hold the mind" or "to fix mind."

The practice of Trekchö […] In this practice one first identifies, and then sustains recognition of, one's own innately pure, empty awareness.

Insight leads to nyamshag, "being present in the state of clarity and emptiness".

 

Sufism (Origin : Islam – Started : 9th century CE)

Haqiqa (which means « ultimate truth »)

In Universal Sufism, Haqiqat is the "phase" in which the central ongoing question/concern of the seeker is subsistent (as opposed to transient) reality. The life of the seeker becomes a fathoming device in which what is timeless, formless, weightless etc, is recognized and valued above all.

Entering into marifat in Universal Sufism, the seeker no longer asserts or defines anything […] Or better said, all conversation topics are of equal interest. The seeker's life is then, itself, revelation.

Fakir

In mystical usage, the word fakir refers to man's spiritual need for God, who alone is self-sufficient.

"Faqir attains eternity by dissolving himself in oneness of Allah. He, when, eliminates his-self from other than Allah, his soul reaches to divinity."

They were known as performers 'mad' in a worshiping trance of joy - transcending above both good and bad. [...] They believe the soul that lives in all human bodies is God.

 

Kabbalah (Origin : Jewish – Started: 12th century CE)

Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof (infinity) and the mortal and finite universe (God's creation).

The nature of the divine prompted kabbalists to envision two aspects to God: (a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless Divine simplicity, and (b) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which he creates and sustains and relates to mankind. Kabbalists speak of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof (אין סוף "the infinite/endless", literally "that which has no limits").

God's existence is higher than anything that this world can express, yet he includes all things of this world within his Divine reality in perfect unity, so that the Creation effected no change in him at all.

Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith (Emunah), meaning to trust that God always supports compassionate actions even when God seems hidden. Ultimately, it is necessary to show compassion toward oneself too in order to share compassion toward others.

Sikhism (Origin : India – Started : 15th century CE)

Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth.

Guru Nanak taught that living an "active, creative, and practical life" of "truthfulness, fidelity, self-control and purity" is above the metaphysical truth

In Sikhism, the concept of "God" is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible

"God" is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything

"There is but one all-pervading spirit, and truth is its name! It exists in all creation; it does not fear; it does not hate; it is timeless and universal and self-existent, You will come to know it through seeking knowledge and learning! (meditation and self-inquiry)"

Once truth starts to shine in a person's heart, the essence of current and past holy books of all religions is understood by the person.

The goal of man, taught the Sikh Gurus, is to end all dualities of "self and other, I and not-I", attain the "attendant balance of separation-fusion, self-other, action-inaction, attachment-detachment, in the course of daily life".

 

Transcendantalism (Origin: USA – Started: Early 19th century CE)

Transcendentalists also believe that all people possess a piece of the "Over-soul" (God). Because the Over-soul is one, this unites all people as one being.

 

Neo-Advaita (Origin : USA – Started : Mid 20th century CE)

The basic practice of neo-Advaita is self-inquiry, via the question "Who am I?", or simply the direct recognition of the non-existence of the "I" or "ego." This recognition is taken to be equal to the Advaita Vedanta recognition of the identity of Atman and Brahman, or the recognition of the "Formless Self."

 

Christian Science (Origin: England – Started: 19th century CE)

In particular, adherents subscribe to a radical form of philosophical idealism, believing that reality is purely spiritual and the material world an illusion.

Eddy saw humanity as an "idea of Mind" that is "perfect, eternal, unlimited, and reflects the divine," according to Bryan Wilson; what she called "mortal man" is simply humanity's distorted view of itself.

Eddy viewed God not as a person, but as "All-in-all."

"for God is one, Time is one, Individuality is one, and may be one of a series, one of many, as an individual man, individual horse; whereas God is one, not one of a series, but one alone and without an equal."

 

The Infinite Way (Origin : US – Started : 20th century)

The Infinite Way reveals the nature of God to be one infinite power, intelligence, and love; the nature of the individual being to be one with God's qualities and character, expressed in infinite forms and variety; and the nature of the discords of this world to be a misconception of God's expression of Himself in His universe."

"'The Infinite Way' is not a religion... but an experience in spiritual living.

 

New Age (Origin: Western countries – Started: Late 20th century)

This intentional vagueness as to the nature of divinity also reflects the New Age idea that divinity cannot be comprehended by the human mind or language.

There are nevertheless a number of traits that are repeatedly associated with divinity in New Age literature, the first of which is the idea that it is holistic, thus frequently being described with such terms as an "Ocean of Oneness", "Infinite Spirit", "Primal Stream", "One Essence", and "Universal Principle".A second common trait is the characterisation of divinity as "Mind", "Consciousness", and "Intelligence", while a third is the description of divinity as a form of "energy". A fourth trait is the characterisation of divinity as a "life force", the essence of which is creativity, while a fifth is the concept that divinity consists of love.

The New Age worldview emphasises holism and the idea that everything in existence is intricately connected as part of a single whole, in doing so rejecting both the dualism of Judeo-Christian thought and the reductionism of Cartesian science.

"Higher Self" which is a part of the human but which connects with the divine essence of the universe, and which can advise the human mind through intuition.

 

 

 

 

Actualized.org (Origin: But Leo ... - Started: HEYYYYYYYYYYY)

 

 

Quote

Ok now I need to read all the sub-links, study all the school of thoughts, all the books and videos/movies/documentary related to this stuff.

See you in 10 years !

 

Edited April 16, 2017 by Shin

[Loreena]

Wow wow this is soooooooooo good........ Thank you Thank you Shin so much ..

The doge loves it @Shin

A big big thumbs up.

 

He says great job.