Common Thread in Religions?

[lilered]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Is there a common thread of wisdom and goodness that runs through all religions and unites them?

I would view it more in the plural sense as in thread(s).

Believe in a higher power/influence
Believe in prayer
Kind to another or others
Family
Obediance to certain principles/commandments
Blessings from above - predicated on obediance
After death location

[Traveler]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Is there a common thread of wisdom and goodness that runs through all religions and unites them?

The question that I think comes to us through out history is - why do those that follow traditions fear (and sometimes hate) to improve them.

The Traveler

[dazed-and-confused]

i believe so...before i joined the church, i studied many different religions searching for truth, and found the most truth, at the time, in a jain ashram (jainism is from india..but a bit different from hinduism) where i lived for 10 years...but i have loved jesus since childhood ( the only one in my family to be spiritual) and i learned great meditation techniques...and had many great experiences....and it all reinforced my relationship with jesus...strange as that might seem...it's true..then i found the lds church and what atrracted me to it most was how similar it was to what i learned about spiritual practice at the ashram.....take my experiences for whatever threy're worth to you

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Is there a common thread of wisdom and goodness that runs through all religions and unites them?

I suppose the common thread in every religion would be a belief in God, an invisible supreme Creator. For Christians that would expand to a belief in Jesus Christ as well.

Can we feel united in those beliefs and celebrate them rather than focus on differences in doctrine and understanding?

[ErikJohnson]

Originally Posted by justamere10

I suppose the common thread in every religion would be a belief in God, an invisible supreme Creator. For Christians that would expand to a belief in Jesus Christ as well.

Can we feel united in those beliefs and celebrate them rather than focus on differences in doctrine and understanding?

My pastor once suggested the existence of a demon named "Allah" who has decieved millions of Muslims that Jesus was not God. I don't think Christians can really feel "united" with non-Christians. Christians are part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), united with other Christians...

--Erik

[justamere10]

Originally Posted by ErikJohnson

My pastor once suggested the existence of a demon named "Allah" who has decieved millions of Muslims that Jesus was not God. I don't think Christians can really feel "united" with non-Christians. Christians are part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), united with other Christians...

--Erik

Fair comment Erik, I can't fault that.

Probably the best attitude for individuals who care is to try to think of everyone as a brother or sister because we are all (in the LDS view) literally spirit children of the same Heavenly Parent. Or try to think of everyone from God's point of view, a son or daughter whom He loves dearly and wants to bring Home to Him. He is no respecter of persons, we are commanded to love everyone as ourselves.

Tough task though admittedly because it sometimes seems so darned hard to even like some people. :-)

[HiJolly]

Originally Posted by dazed-and-confused

i believe so...before i joined the church, i studied many different religions searching for truth, and found the most truth, at the time, in a jain ashram (jainism is from india..but a bit different from hinduism) where i lived for 10 years...but i have loved jesus since childhood ( the only one in my family to be spiritual) and i learned great meditation techniques...and had many great experiences....and it all reinforced my relationship with jesus...strange as that might seem...it's true..then i found the lds church and what atrracted me to it most was how similar it was to what i learned about spiritual practice at the ashram.....take my experiences for whatever threy're worth to you

That's awesome. Worth a lot to me, but then, I'm a bit of a mystic. Thanks for the comment.


HiJolly

[HiJolly]

Originally Posted by ErikJohnson

My pastor once suggested the existence of a demon named "Allah" who has decieved millions of Muslims that Jesus was not God. I don't think Christians can really feel "united" with non-Christians. Christians are part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27), united with other Christians...

--Erik

I have found it quite easy to unite with other mystics, be they Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Jewish or Occult. You just have to seek common ground, and it's amazing how much comes together. I even know of an atheist mystic, as contradictory as that sounds. Perhaps "deistic" would describe him better, but he uses the word atheist.


HiJolly

[changed]

Matthew 10:39 - He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
The Bhagavad Gita - “Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires”: this is the promise of the Creator.

Matt 5:44 - [b]less them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.
The Dhammapada - Let us live in joy, never hating those who hate us.

Mark 9:35 - If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Tao Te Ching - If the sage wants to be above the people, in his words, he must put himself below them; If he wishes to be before the people, in his person, he must stand behind them.


Matthew 7:3 – And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
The Dhammapada - Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do.

Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.
Tao Te Ching - The sage does not hoard. The more he does for others, the more he has himself; The more he gives to others, the more his own bounty increases.

Proverbs 23:7 - For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.
The Dhammapada - [W]e become what we think.

John 14:15, 15:4,10 - If ye love me, keep my commandments. Abide in me . . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.
The Bhagavad Gita [T]hose who worship me with love live in me, and I come to life in them.

Proverbs 15:1- A soft answer turneth away wrath.
The Dhammapada - Speak quietly to everyone, and they too will be gentle in their speech.

Luke 14:11 - For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Tao Te Ching The unyielding and mighty shall be brought low; the soft, supple, and delicate will be set above.

Proverbs 16:32 - He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
The Dhammapada - One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield.

D&C 38:16 - . . . I am no respecter of persons.
The Bhagavad Gita - . . . none are less dear to me and none are more dear.

2 Nephi 26:22 - [Y]ea, and [the devil] leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.
The Dhammapada - Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.

D&C 93:29 - Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
The Bhagavad Gita - There never has been a time when you . . . have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. The body is mortal, but he who dwells in the body is immortal and immeasurable.

Mosiah 4:30 - [i]f ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, . . . ye must perish.
The Dhammapada - Guard your thoughts, words, and deeds. These three disciplines will speed you along the path to pure wisdom.
from link

another great site
link

The similarities that run through all of us should be proof enough that we are all children of the same Creator.

[VisionOfLehi]

Are we including religions we now refer to as "Mythology?"