Churches

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When I was a kid I had an imaginary friend and I used to think that he went everywhere with me, and that I could talk to him and that he could hear me, and that he could grant me wishes and stuff. And then I grew up, and I stopped going to church. - Jimmy Carr

I was afraid of a united Church; it makes a mighty power, the mightiest conceivable, and then when it by and by gets into selfish hands, as it is always bound to do, it means death to human liberty and paralysis to human thought. - Mark Twain

I’m completely in favour of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death. - George Carlin

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Christianity

Some folks think that Christianity means a kind of insurance policy, and that it has little to do with this life, but that it is a very good thing when a man dies. - Henry Ward Beecher

The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can be believed only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance, called faith. - Robert G. Ingersoll

There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ’s moral character, and that is that He believe in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. - Bertrand Russell

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Buddhism

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Buddhism is not about religion. It is The Teachings of the Buddha, the philosophy of Life. Buddhism is about the wisdom of nature. The nature of mind.

“Buddhism is more a system of philosophy and practical ethics than a religion. If by religion we mean something which inspires enthusiasm and fervour, Buddhism is certainly a religion, as it has given spiritual enthusiasm and joy to nearly five hundred millions of the world's population, and has served to carry men through material pains and evils and to make them their conquerors. But if we take as the beginning of religion the fear of God, or the dread of the unknown, or the hankering for the unseen and unintelligible, or the feeling for the infinite, Buddhism is certainly not a religion. The most striking feature of Buddhism is that it eschews all hypotheses regarding the unknown, and concerns itself wholly with the facts of life in the present work-a-day world.” - Pokala Lakshmi Narasu

A Buddhist must be a free man with an open mind and must not be subservient to anyone for his spiritual development. He seeks refuge in the Buddha by accepting Him as a source of supreme guidance and inspiration. He seeks refuge in the Buddha, not blindly, but with understanding. To Buddhists, the Buddha is not a saviour nor is He an anthropomorphic being who claims to possess the power of washing away others' sins. Buddhists regard the Buddha as a Teacher who shows the Path to salvation.

The Buddha does not attempt to solve all the ethical and philosophical problems that perplex mankind. He is chiefly concerned with one practical and specific problem; that of Suffering and its destruction.

“Reading the Vedas, making offerings to priests, or sacrifices to the gods, self-mortification by heat or cold, and many such penances performed for the sake of immortality, these do not cleanse the man who is not free from delusions.” - Unknown

Wide open be the door of immortality to all who have ears to hear. May they receive the Dharma with faith. (Dharma is the teachings of Buddhism.)

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Beliefs

Belief what you want, but don’t tell me that I should follow what you believe.

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The less depth a belief system has, the greater the fervency with which its adherents embrace it. The most vociferous, the most fanatical are those whose cobbled faith is founded on the shakiest grounds. - Dean Koontz

I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe. - Leo Rosten

No amount of belief makes something a fact. - James Randi

Beware! The mind of the believer stagnates. It fails to grow outward into an unlimited, infinite universe. - Frank Herbert

Men freely believes that which they desire. - Caesar

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Awakening / Enlightenment

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It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the continuous opening up of new and greater prospects. - Nikola Tesla

According to Vedenta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous. - Deepak Chopra

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Atheism

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As an atheist, I am angry that we live in a society in which the plain truth cannot be spoken without offending 90% of the population. - Sam Harris

All I say is that I think it is damned unlikely that anything like a central cosmic will, a spirit world, or an eternal survival of personality exist. They are the most preposterous and unjustified of all the guesses which can be made about the universe, and I am not enough of a hair-splitter to pretend that I don't regard them as arrant and negligible moonshine. In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of radical evidence I must be classed, practically and provisionally, as an atheist. - H. P. Lovecraft

An atheist doesn’t have to be someone who thinks he has a proof that there can’t be a god. He only has to be someone who believes that the evidence on the God question is at a similar level to the evidence on the werewolf question. - John McCarthy

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Spiritual Quotes

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If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change. - Buddha

Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness. - Eckhart Tolle

Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become. - Paramahansa Yogananda

For true stability and naturalness of mind and essence to emerge, there must be a seamless, unimpeded flow of energy and spirit. - Unknown

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? – Dogen

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Buddhism

Buddhism is simple and pragmatic. It is a universal teaching that can be understood by all people. Some have called the Teachings of the Buddha a philosophy of Life.

The following are excerpts from Buddhist text and publications.

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The Buddha teaches that no amount of factual knowledge will ultimately free man from the pain of existence. He must strive alone and diligently until he arrives at a true understanding of his own nature and of the changeable nature of the cosmos. To be truly free a man must seek to tame his mind, to destroy his craving for sensual pleasure.

Buddhism teaches us not to judge and believe a thing blindly (even though it was said by the book, by the teacher, by the monk or whoever) but to come, see and prove it yourself that the thing is good for yourself. Then even though it was said by your enemy, if you find it good and useful, you can practise it in your life.

Faith alone without wisdom is the blind faith of fanatics. Wisdom alone without faith is the cold knowledge of philosophers. Where wisdom points out the way to faith, and Faith proceeds along the way of wisdom, then there is the true practice of Buddhism.

Buddhism is not about religion. Buddhism is about wisdom of nature. The nature of mind.

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Meditation

Defining meditation has proven difficult due to its wide range of practices across different traditions. In popular usage, "meditation" is often used imprecisely to designate practices aimed at training attention, calmness, or compassion. There is no universally accepted definition. Theories and practices differ within traditions, with some emphasizing the inseparability of meditation from their cultural and religious contexts, while others focus on its role in achieving a relaxed or devout state. - Wikkipedia

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The real glory of meditation lies not in any method but in its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss, clarity, peace, and most important of all, complete absence of grasping. The diminishing of grasping in yourself is a sign that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving, and the closer you will come to the infinitely generous "wisdom of egolessness." When you live in the wisdom home, you'll no longer find a barrier between "I" and "you," "this" and "that," "inside" and "outside;" you'll have come, finally, to your true home, the state of non-duality. - Sogyal Rinpoche

The very aim of meditation is firstly subjugation of the mind, so that it can no longer be an obstacle to a clear vision of the Supreme cliché. Secondly, it is the full silencing of that mind, so that consciousness becomes similar to the mirror-like surface of a quiet lake or pool. I can see the real Reflection of Truth in it then, but not otherwise. - Mouni Sadhu

As we work – in meditation – we find ourselves more at home in the universe, more at ease with ourselves, more able to work effectively at our tasks and toward our goal, closer to our fellow man, less anxious and less hostile. - Unknown

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Tao (道)

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Tao (道) – literally means the ‘Way’.

Everything comes from That which cannot be named nor described because it its beyond man’s comprehension; but for convenience it is called Tao. - Lao Tzu

Taoism teaches the attainment of immortality by merging with Tao. It teaches us we must all find a place for ourselves in the natural way of things that does not disrupt the function of the whole. When we accept our place in the world, we become more concerned for the consequences of our actions, since for every action there is a reaction, and everything we do has a consequence for others.

Taoism shows a way to return to Ultimate Reality. Morality is the first essential in the training for immortality. Then the trainee should meditate on the void. Once he is in mediation, he unites his mind with his breath, and eliminates all emotions and all cares, and just focuses on the void. The void means that which is before anything came into being; it is the primordial of the extreme. Returning to the void means returning to the primordial origin, returning to the primordial nature. - Wu Chong Xu

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Zen

What is Zen?

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Zen is really extraordinarily simple as long as one doesn't try to be cute about it or beat around the bush! Zen is simply the sensation and the clear understanding… that there is behind the multiplicity of events and creatures in this universe simply one energy – and it appears as you, and everything is it. The practice of Zen is to understand that one energy so as to "feel it in your bones." - Alan Watts

Zen is to religion what a Japanese "rock garden" is to a garden. Zen knows no god, no afterlife, no good and no evil, as the rock-garden knows no flowers, herbs or shrubs. It has no doctrine or holy writ: its teaching is transmitted mainly in the form of parables as ambiguous as the pebbles in the rock-garden which symbolise now a mountain, now a fleeting tiger. When a disciple asks "What is Zen?", the master's traditional answer is "Three pounds of flax" or "A decaying noodle" or "A toilet stick" or a whack on the pupil's head. - Arthur Koestler

There are in Zen no sacred books or dogmatic tenets, nor are there any symbolic formulae through which an access might be gained into the signification of Zen. If I am asked, then, what Zen teaches, I would answer, Zen teaches nothing. Whatever teachings there are in Zen, they come out of one's own mind. We teach ourselves; Zen merely points the way. - Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki

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Spiritual Journey

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Paradoxical as it may seem, the purposeful life has no content, no point. It hurries on and on, and misses everything. Not hurrying, the purposeless life misses nothing, for it is only when there is no goal and no rush that the human senses are fully open to receive the world. - Alan W. Watts

Our usual understanding of life is dualistic: you and I, this and that, good and bad. But actually, these discriminations are themselves the awareness of the Universal existence. "You" means to be aware of the Universe in the form of you, and "I" means to be aware of it in the form of I. You and I are just swinging doors... - Shunryu Suzuki

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all result of a law which cannot err. - Unknown

By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive. - Albert Schweitzer

Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit, cannot be severed; for the effect already blooms in the cause, the end preexists in the means, the fruit in the seed. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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God

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God is omnipotent; God is wholly good; and yet evil exists. There seems to be some contradiction between these three propositions, so that if any two of them were true the third would be false. But at the same time all three are essential parts of most theological positions: the theologian it seems, at once must adhere and cannot consistently adhere to all three. - J. L. Mackie

If God’s work in creation is so Great, why does it need redemption? Why does God make such an imperfect creation that needs saving, and how can this be called ‘Great?’ The whole plot – God makes a rotten creation that needs saving, so he sends his only-begotten and much-beloved son to be viciously crucified – is grotesque. What kind of almighty creator chooses this as his Creation? - M. Murdock

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? - Epicurus

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Faith

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We may define "faith" as a firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of "faith". We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence. The substitution of emotion for evidence is apt to lead to strife, since different groups substitute different emotions. - Bertrand Russell

You either have faith that a God exists, or you ‘know’. You can’t know and have faith, or have faith and know, you know? - Michael Sherlock

To follow by faith alone is to follow blindly. - Benjamin Franklin

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Churches

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Since the earliest days the church, as an organization, has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings. - H. L. Mencken

Clearly the person who accepts the Church as an infallible guide will believe whatever the Church teaches. - St. Thomas Aquinas

Why did men worship in churches, locking themselves away in the dark, when the world lay beyond its doors in all its real glory? - Charles de Lint

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Christianity

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Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the species from the natural world, and likewise, each other. It supports blind submission to authority. - Unknown

During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution. - James Madison

Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called Christianity... it produces only atheists and fanatics. - Thomas Paine

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The Bible

To be fair, I haven’t read the entire bible. I have read a few pages of it in my younger days. It was enough for me to believe it was all a sham.

How many people read the entire Bible? And can one seriously believe in the Bible after having read it thoroughly? I think anyone with a brain would, having read the bible, cast the book aside and never believe a word it said.

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You are, of course, free to interpret the Bible differently – though isn't it amazing that you have succeeded in discerning the true teachings of Christianity, while the most influential thinkers in the history of your faith failed? - Sam Harris

It is from the Bible that man has learned cruelty, rapine, and murder; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man. - Thomas Paine

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means. - George Bernard Shaw

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov

The inspiration of the Bible depends upon the ignorance of the gentleman who reads it. - Robert Ingersoll

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Spirituality

The Spiritual journey is a personal thing. Teachers may open doors, or point the way, but you have to go on the journey on your own. If you are lucky, you may find fellow travellers along the way. But, ultimately, you are on your own.

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Life is not a prison and spirituality need not be an attempt to escape from life. - Unknown

Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness. - Eckhart Tolle

Awakening is not to know what this reality is. Awakening is to know what reality is not. It is to cease identifying oneself with any object of knowledge whatsoever. - Alan Watts

Your work is not to drag the world kicking and screaming into a new awareness. Your job is to simply do your work… sacredly, secretly, and silently... and those with ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’, will respond. - The Ardurians

As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances. - James Allen

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Beliefs

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There can be no merit in believing something which you can neither explain nor understand. - John Lubbock

A belief which leaves no place for doubt is not a belief; it is a superstition. - Jose Bergamin

Whatever you do, you must remain nimble in your thinking. Do not become so attached to any one belief that you cannot see past it to another possibility. - Christopher Paolini

False beliefs can be every bit as consoling as true ones, right up until the moment of disillusionment. - Richard Dawkins

Everyone believes very easily whatever they fear or desire. - Jean de La Bruyere

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Atheism

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Although atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. - Richard Dawkins

An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that deed must be done instead of prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated. - Madalyn Murray O’Hair

For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. - Charles Bukowski

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