What are your core beliefs?

[thalassa]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

To play Devil's advocate. For everyone or just for who you judge worthy of your compassion?

It depends on what you believe compassion means. As per the dictionary, its a "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it". Lets go with that (simplistic thought it might be)--I can be sympathetic to how someone else feels, I might wish that they didn't feel that way, but that doesn't necessarily mean that getting rid of the situation for them is the best way to "fix" them. Everyone is worthy of trying to understand where they are coming from and what circumstances they are in--but that doesn't mean that one has to agree with them, or forgive them (if its a personal thing), or tolerate their behavior. Some people are easier to have compassion for than others.

Compassion is a great thing, as long as it is tempered with common sense. Unbridled compassion without an eye for the consequences can lead to massive problems down the road.

In my life I've seen people who mean well do what they 'thought' was the good, just, compassionate thing to do, and what it ended up doing was making the recipient dependent upon them instead of teaching them to stand on their own two feet.

It is as my wise old great uncle used to say... "Everything in moderation, my boy... everything in moderation, both virtues and vices. Remember that."

I think I sort of addressed this in my replay to Medusa...but compassion isn't about fixing someone, its about understanding where they are coming from. Hopefully with an eye to helping them help themselves, but also with a realization that you can't actually take up another's problems for them.

[RainbowDemonic]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

1. Seek the truth, at all costs.
2. Determination, at all costs.
3. Find the divinity inside - at all costs.
4. Find shreds, specks of joy in the greatest darkness. Reasons to survive, however small they may be.
5. Take all risks necessary. Move cautiously, and when necessary, move with pure instinct.
6. Preserve the Way - at all costs.
7. Above all, maintain balance.
8. Know the great joke - dance in the madness and laugh. Make fart jokes in the face of horror.
9. “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War
10. Seek exceptional love - and when it is found, refuse to let a sick world tear it away. Hold to him at all costs.

11. “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee

[Malflick]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

in quotes:
"To love another person is to see the face of God." -Victor Hugo
"The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. Hey, the good things don’t always soften the bad things. But, vice versa, the bad things don’t necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant." -The Doctor
“Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them." -Jesus
“There are monsters out there, yes. Terrible things. But you don’t have to become one in order to defeat them. You can be peaceful in the face of their cruelty. You can win by being cleverer than they are… It’s about not being afraid.” -The Doctor
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." -Jesus

TL;DR: Find God. Fight Injustice. Love others. Be good.

[Louisvillian]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

I don't mean who do you worship, but what do you think the most important things are in life?

Be happy. Try to be happy, and try to allow others to be happy as well. Which usually means acting rationally and just letting people do their own thing. I believe that pursuit of knowledge about one's situation and about the world around oneself is possibly the greatest aid to doing so.

[dgirl1986]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

Do your homework
Try to be logical
Be mindful
Consider all things
Love yourself

[callmeclemens]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

To cause as little a stir as possible, to expand my understanding of the gift of the Earth around me. Humility, Honesty, Compassion, Understanding.

[EclecticWheel]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

I am a panentheist, but I also believe everything has an individual soul in addition to being a part of God -- animism.

This affects my values. I believe in multiple perspectives of truth that are all a part of God, so I don't believe in one true religion or even viewpoint. I am more aware of my effect on the environment. I do not eat meat or animal products, but I do recognize that vegetables, fruit, and nuts also have souls.

Politically, I am pro-choice but since all life has a soul, I do think there is a soul at conception. However, I recognize that the soul of a zygote is probably not as developed and complex as that of a fully sentient human. That is only partly why I am pro-choice while still feeling a respect for the life.

I'm pro-gay and tolerant of different beliefs.

My core value would have to be treating everyone and everything as a part of God, but I confess that's a hard one to live up to.

[Thothur]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

Politically, I am pro-choice but since all life has a soul, I do think there is a soul at conception. However, I recognize that the soul of a zygote is probably not as developed and complex as that of a fully sentient human. That is only partly why I am pro-choice while still feeling a respect for the life.

Question: Does your evaluation of the development or intelligence of someone (or their soul) reflect the amount of compassion you feel for them? Id est, in your estimation, is a birthed human infant more deserving of life than an unborn one? If so, why?

[Optimistic discord]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

Over the years my core beliefs have changed and developed, I've taken lessons I have learnt from all kinds of events and mashed them together into something that just about makes sense, even if some of those events and sources vastly contradict each other.

• Learn and seek understanding.
• Treat everything with compassion.
• Be patient and tolerant.
• challenge everyones ideas and beliefs, to do so helps them achieve better understanding of who/what they are.
• Be true .
• do not worship entities blindly... Worship, like love is something that must be cultivated and nurtured, earned..
• know when compassion and tolerance must be balanced with force and action.

[Poshi]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

To sum up everything I believe, it comes down to two things: Love and fear. The difference between those two things is simply incredible. I believe they are the two things that run this world. All actions stem from either one or the other. In order to live a healthy life, live a life with love. From thereon out, it gets more complicated, of course, but that's it at it's base.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

1) Try not to be a dick.
2) Apologize if I break the above rule.

[EclecticWheel]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

Question: Does your evaluation of the development or intelligence of someone (or their soul) reflect the amount of compassion you feel for them? Id est, in your estimation, is a birthed human infant more deserving of life than an unborn one? If so, why?

It could affect how I feel if a woman I loved couldn't carry to term. That doesn't mean that any life is superior to another, though.

[mikeee741]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

Respect for others life & values as long as it's both ways.
Anything else disturbs the equilibrium of life.

[Riothamus12]

Re: What are your core beliefs?

I believe in all Gods. They who are of the many faced one who revealed it's self in myriad forms to bring wisdom into the world. They from whom all things have flowed. Those who contain within them all Dharmas, who are one but many and maintain the universe. Those who eternally guide us and are all virtues but are not totally synonymous with these virtues. They have always been and shall always be. They will outlast all things. They are distant but have good reasons to be distant. They are like stern parents who allow us our independence and love us but are not lenient when we stray too far from the path of wisdom. The most holy one is God and Goddess but truly neither. I also believe in a host of sacred spirits that include angels, elementals, the seelie fae, and others.

I follow the common sabbats that many pagans do. I do this so that I become attuned to and gain understanding of the natural spiritual and mundane cycles of the world. I engage in ritual spells to help me in my search for wisdom and to aid others who need it. I do not work any magic by which others do not profit if any substantial profits/or material benefits are to be gained through it. I perform a rite for purity and meditation so that I can become more aware of the divinity within. Many of these are borrowed from other traditions.

I do believe in the afterlife. Unlike many of us I do believe in paradise and hell. One can choose to become more attuned to their inner divine and balance their will with those of others and the universe and save themselves or choose to debase themselves through committing wicked acts and falling out of harmony with the universe. We reap what we sow and if we have made a hell for ourselves in life then that is what we shall experience hereafter. I also believe in a zone just outside our world which is the place where all the most immediately acting forces are.


I also have a belief in the progressive spiritual evolution of the human race as a whole and that all things have Dharma. A specific spiritual duty that we are placed on this earth to fulfill and that all things happen for a reason whether they are fated or not. All things have a place on the great wheel of existence. I also believe that human governments are essentially against the moral order of the universe as they can very easily prevent one from doing that which is right and interfere with the natural balance of the world.

I do believe in ghosts which can be harmless or malicious, though they are usually just startling rather than outright wicked spirits. I also believe in evil spirits that were awakened by the wrong doings of mortals and prey on those who are in a weakened state while feeding on the negative energy that flows from us.

In addition to the traditional five elements I believe in a sixth called shadow. Shadow is not evil. It is the force that resonates with death as transformation, holy secrets, and the night. It is as sacred as aether and is it's holy counter part. I also think of the elements in a fashion that fuses the Chinese concept of the Wu Xing with the western tradition.

I draw from many paths including Wicca, Reconstructionist Druidism, Nordic Paganism, Hellenistic Paganism, Thelema, Egyptian Paganism, Judaism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Voodoo, various Native American beliefs, and most recently the Feri Tradition.

If I were to describe the core virtues I would put in the form of these four noble truths:
Aidhm: Purpose. All things have a purpose, all suffering comes from imbalance stemming from defying the true essence of your purpose and true will.

Saoirse: Liberty. All things must be given the liberty to follow their dharma and true will by any means necessary.

Ciall: Reason. Reason is the key to all earthly and spiritual knowledge which allows us to balance our free and true wills with others without causing suffering Coimhea: Balance. Balance is the end of discord and the end of suffering arrived through reason with the aid of the manifold path

As for my equivalent of the seven deadly sins:
Apathy whose opposing virtue is Compassion
Avarice whose opposing virtue is Charity
Bigotry whose opposing virtue is Tolerance
Foolishness whose opposing virtue is Reason/Wisdom
Arrogance whose opposing virtue is Humility
Stagnation whose opposing virtue is Evolution
Vengeance whose opposing virtue is Mercy/Justice