Karen Armstrong, author of The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness and A History of God, delivered the 2005 Ingersoll Lecture on November 10, 2005.
She's rapier smart, and has a good sense of humor, too. "Religion is meant to be about the abandonment of the ego, not about its eternal survival in optimal conditions"
For me immortality is very important as I was overweight from childhood and discriminated at because of it. Most of my life I was unhappy. As it is probably for my best friend who died in a car crash at 22 and her parents and siblings or for my cousin whose daughter commited suicide at 19 or my father who suffered from bipolar disease and whose social Life ended at 41 ( nobody would ever take him seriously until he died at 75), for my mother who stayed with him and cared for him and sacrificed her Life for our sake. Yes I hope to see them again in better shape and happier. Yes I believe in a God of love and justice who will give back to us what we could not get here. And will confront people for their acts who causes suffering of others.
A zen teacher when asked about the surviving of zen monasteries said: We need the finger pointing to the moon. Of course the finger is the religion. I don't think religion it is only about the abandonment of the ego but also of values such as dignity, liberty, service, love, forgiveness.
The thing is, it's up to Allaah. Not what any one think. IF Allaah does exists, and He is the creator of this life, the all knowing, the most loving, wether we understand why He punishes or rewards someone immortally is irrelevant. That "IF" is the most important if to ask ourselves and sincerely strive to find out. Read the Quran.
What is the real name of Hinduism? Here is the shocking truth. There is no such thing as Hinduism. The word Hinduism is not found in any of the Brahmanic scriptures, such as the Vedas, the Puranas, the Upnishades, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagwada Gita etc. This Brahmanic ideology's real name was/is "Varna-Shrama-Dharma" . Varna means "color". This means, the Aryans were a fair-skinned colored people. "Shrama" means, labour /work . "Dharma" means, the duties, and the social norms given by the Brahmins to the working classes (ie, castes) people of the Aryan race, namly the Kshatriyas, the Vayasias, and the Sudras. And the Brahmin stands at the apex of the societal pyramid and reserves all the power, privileges, benefits, and all the freedoms. Thus, the full definition of Varnashrama Dharma is, " the duties & the social norms given to fair-skinned Aryan working castes by the Brahmins." this forms the basis of "the Bramanical Social Order." The Mulnivasi Bahujans were outside this social order; therefore, they were called the "out-castes," the "mlechhas" (ie., outsiders). During medieval times when the Brahmin Shankra Charya was arguing and fighting the Buddhists, he changed the name "Varnashrama Dharma" to "Sanatana Dharma" meaning "ancient religion". The Brahmins wanted to hide the "racial & casteist" nature of Varnashrama Dharma, due to widespread positive influence of Buddhism. Brahmins, as a counter strategy, started to taunt and criticize the Buddhists by calling their religion "a new, and a heterodox (rebellious) religion; " whereas, calling the bramanical religion as the ancient and the pure one. The new religions, Jainism and Buddhism during those time were called "Shramanic" religions, meaning: "religions of the working class people." Jay Buddha, Jay Muhammad. Bol pachasi: Jay Mulnivasi
Either you keep religion or discard it, walk away from it, cancel your membership. You can not have both. However, it's not very wise and smart to condemn religious people like some of the militant atheists are doing today. Ideas like separation of state and church (all religions, including royal families) and spreading that all over the world is a good idea.
She's rapier smart, and has a good sense of humor, too. "Religion is meant to be about the abandonment of the ego, not about its eternal survival in optimal conditions"
For me immortality is very important as I was overweight from childhood and discriminated at because of it. Most of my life I was unhappy. As it is probably for my best friend who died in a car crash at 22 and her parents and siblings or for my cousin whose daughter commited suicide at 19 or my father who suffered from bipolar disease and whose social Life ended at 41 ( nobody would ever take him seriously until he died at 75), for my mother who stayed with him and cared for him and sacrificed her Life for our sake. Yes I hope to see them again in better shape and happier. Yes I believe in a God of love and justice who will give back to us what we could not get here. And will confront people for their acts who causes suffering of others.
Thank you for publishing this - it's brilliant!
A zen teacher when asked about the surviving of zen monasteries said: We need the finger pointing to the moon. Of course the finger is the religion.
I don't think religion it is only about the abandonment of the ego but also of values such as dignity, liberty, service, love, forgiveness.
Great lecture
I don't believe the prophets were about letting go but more of striving.
Only if you want to be God
I wonder which one of her books deal with the subject deeper?
The thing is, it's up to Allaah. Not what any one think. IF Allaah does exists, and He is the creator of this life, the all knowing, the most loving, wether we understand why He punishes or rewards someone immortally is irrelevant. That "IF" is the most important if to ask ourselves and sincerely strive to find out. Read the Quran.
What is the real name of Hinduism? Here is the shocking truth. There is no such thing as Hinduism. The word Hinduism is not found in any of the Brahmanic scriptures, such as the Vedas, the Puranas, the Upnishades, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagwada Gita etc. This Brahmanic ideology's real name was/is "Varna-Shrama-Dharma" . Varna means "color". This means, the Aryans were a fair-skinned colored people. "Shrama" means, labour /work . "Dharma" means, the duties, and the social norms given by the Brahmins to the working classes (ie, castes) people of the Aryan race, namly the Kshatriyas, the Vayasias, and the Sudras. And the Brahmin stands at the apex of the societal pyramid and reserves all the power, privileges, benefits, and all the freedoms. Thus, the full definition of Varnashrama Dharma is, " the duties & the social norms given to fair-skinned Aryan working castes by the Brahmins." this forms the basis of "the Bramanical Social Order." The Mulnivasi Bahujans were outside this social order; therefore, they were called the "out-castes," the "mlechhas" (ie., outsiders). During medieval times when the Brahmin Shankra Charya was arguing and fighting the Buddhists, he changed the name "Varnashrama Dharma" to "Sanatana Dharma" meaning "ancient religion". The Brahmins wanted to hide the "racial & casteist" nature of Varnashrama Dharma, due to widespread positive influence of Buddhism. Brahmins, as a counter strategy, started to taunt and criticize the Buddhists by calling their religion "a new, and a heterodox (rebellious) religion; " whereas, calling the bramanical religion as the ancient and the pure one. The new religions, Jainism and Buddhism during those time were called "Shramanic" religions, meaning: "religions of the working class people." Jay Buddha, Jay Muhammad. Bol pachasi: Jay Mulnivasi
Either you keep religion or discard it, walk away from it, cancel your membership. You can not have both. However, it's not very wise and smart to condemn religious people like some of the militant atheists are doing today. Ideas like separation of state and church (all religions, including royal families) and spreading that all over the world is a good idea.
This woman is crazy...