--- In [email protected], "Rick Archer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Try thinking of gods not as they are depicted in Hindu mythology, > but as higher, more fundamental or more comprehensive impulses of > organizing intelligence. For instance, just as a liver cell might > think of the entire liver as a god, or the liver might think of > the entire body as a god, perhaps there are intelligent systems, > conscious beings actually, who have a broader range of responsibility > than we humans. They govern or coordinate the universe from a deeper > or more comprehensive perspective. That's how I understand gods, as > best as I can explain it. So I don't feel that I'm praying to or > worshiping some dude with four arms and a lot of beads, rather > that I'm attuning myself to a more cosmic expression of nature's > intelligence, and thereby benefitting from that association.
Or, if you really are uncomfortable with a tradition of meditation that is founded on the notion of God (or whatever they choose to call the interventionist sentient intelligences they envision), you might want to explore Buddhism. It's a very strong tradition of meditation and its acocmpanying philosophies, but without the need for a God. Personally I find this very refreshing, because I'm not a believer in God myself, but find meditation and many of its goals such as self realization or enlightenment to be of value. "Buddhism -- all the good stuff about meditation, but without all that God stuff." It could be a great market- ing slogan. :-)
