Quote:
Originally Posted by MiBeloved  [I][COLOR="Sienna"]
Why do most of the religions promise the factual experience of paradise only as a reward which the faithful will experience at or after death?
Which religion can show paradise during life? |
Eastern mythologies do. "I am one with God" is the bottom line of these philosophies. Experiencing the true nature of reality or being enlightened, will in effect bring one to this state of "paradise". Here one seeks a relationship with himself because we are all a part of God.
The western idea of God which began to emerge in Greek times and with Judaism puts us as separate from God. We seek to have a relationship with him rather than ourselves and are rewarded with a heavenly afterlife. At first the separate Gods were harsh, Jerico refused to give in to Zeus and was punished, Jobe had to submit to a harsh God who punished him without cause. A more peaceful God emerged with Christianity but solidified this separateness in the West.
The Western creation story where God creates Adam in Eden and Adam gives rise to Eve (a strange alteration of the original stories, who ever heard of a man giving birth ??) comes from an older version where God has a thought of "that" or "something else" which gives rise to an entity that is still God but also something else. Shiva. They are still in Eden with the serpent and a tree of knowledge and a tree of immortality. Each new thought of "something else not me" gives rise to all life. A wonderful metaphor suggesting consciousness gives rise to all creation.
Now this concept of being "one" with God is becoming attractive to the West and the East is often seen as "more" spiritual.
So in life one can reach levels of awareness of God (heaven) through Hinduism and it's
offspring. Or by cultivating these ideas into ones own spirituality. If you believe in that particular process.