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Definition of belief in a supreme being

by John Jason Riordan
(Chatsworth, CA 91311)




Hi,
I am interested in joining. I know that belief in a supreme being is a requirement. I have no doubt that there is something out there that responds to our love, wants, needs, expectations, and that gives us power beyond measure when we give our lives over to a greater purpose. I am just not sure what this life form is. (god, nature, energy, whether or not it is a being outside of ourselves or even a personified intelligence). Would this unknowing perspective automatically disqualify me for membership?
Thanks,
Jason




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Definition of belief in a supreme being

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May 14, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		God is
by: Tim

Hello Jason, and thank you for your question.

The fact that you acknowledge a power greater than yourself is evidence of your belief in a higher power. That you recognize that this power can not be defined is evidence of your awareness of your place in the Universe.

No person can truly define God. We give him names; we draw pretty pictures of what we think he might look like; we even refer to him in the masculine when in fact it would be absurd to think that an infinite power could be constrained to one half of a species. If in fact God is infinite, as we believe he is, then it becomes impossible to define or describe him in any real way. The very act of doing so is limiting.

Human beings use language as our primary means of communication. But, words are merely the representations of the thoughts and ideas that we wish to communicate. The concept of brotherly love can certainly not be constrained within the definition of the two words, and the expression of the idea will not be exactly the same for any two persons. But, words are what we have so we assign words to the abstract and in so doing we limit their power.

In my opinion, your "unknowing perspective" is a more realistic awareness of God's presence. I believe the only thing we can say with any certainty is that 'God is'. Anything more is hubris.

So in answer to your question, no, your inability to define the infinitude of the Supreme Being would not disqualify you for membership in the Masonic fraternity.

Fraternally,

Tim
May 16, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		unknowing perspective
by: Anonymous

Tim,
Thanks for taking the time to answer. I had a desire to recreate a personal higher power to make it easy to understand who I was praying to. You have reminded me that while the state of unknowing can be scary, EMBRACING the state of unknowing can be exhilirating and leave us wide open to receive an understanding in ways we may not have imagined. Maybe that 10% of the brain we use is actually blocking the 90% that we dont use lol. Anyway, I have read through your posts and I can see that you are a man of extraordinary perspective. You are a credit to humankind. Thanks again.
-Jason
May 30, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Thank you,
by: Tim

Jason,
Thank you very much for your kind words.
I couldn't agree more. It is the very realization that we are incapable of truly comprehending infinity that can bring us both peace of mind and the exhilaration that comes with accepting anything as possible.

I very much appreciate your questioning perspective, and I hope you find that for which you search.

And, yes that pesky ten percent of our brain troubles me too. I can only trust that somewhere in there is the key to unlocking our true capabilities and that when we are ready to experience it, we will.

Fraternally,

Tim
Dec 17, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		How to convince oneself that a Supreme Energy is out there ?
by: Anonymous

Dear Tim-- Think for a moment we are alive is because our soul is occupying a spot in our mortal body and yet we can not locate the soul or measure its dimensions. I call our soul as God's computer chip with an unlimited memory,where each life time experiences are stored in our soul and such memories are carried into the next life. Our lives are meant to educate our soul on the classroom-our mother planet earth! Upon having graduated from successive learning we are allowed to graduate from the cycle of life and death and unite with the Supreme Energy.Our Universe is governed by the good and the evil, positive and the negative where each aspect wants to rule over the other side. We can help God by doing good Karmas where we are helping the good over the evil ! Just imagine the intelligence of the Supreme when you look at the intelligence carried in a single soul ?
With Kind Regards
Nikhanj
Dec 19, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Imagine Infinite Intelligence
by: Tim

Dear Nikhanj,

Thank you for your considered perspective. I too consider life as a classroom for the soul. And at last, when we have properly learned our lessons and advanced to the required level of enlightenment we will be relieved of the cycle of life and death and become as one.

I only wish I possessed the capacity to truly imagine infinite intelligence. That which I can imagine is wondrous and inspiring, and yet I recognize even that as just a glimpse of truth. I pray for God's assistance in my studies, and yours.

Fraternally yours,

Tim
Dec 20, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Life's Perspective and How we relate to God ?
by: Anonymous

Dear Tim
In my further response to your quest to imagine the supreme, think of the very fundamentals of our existence ? NASA has been scanning the distant stars to locate another solar system which may have sustained life-an earth like planet ? No such discovery as yet ? The nearest star is 4.5 light years away. One ponders the question as to how and when did the life start on the planet earth- the only place where life exists in our mapped universe . Attempts to locate microorganism on our neighbor planet mars have not confirmed any signs of microbs as yet, even though we have water flow markings as well as widespread presence of water lain sediments and phosphate minerals and yet no moccrobs are yet discovered. Scientific evidence shows the first sign of life on earth as single cell algal mats preserved among 3.80 billion year old sediments of Witwatersrand Basin in South Africa- such basin as produced one third of all the gold mined on our planet to date.Each human cell contains a software with its own DNA and RNA-such software gives the carbon molecule a function that we call life. Subsequent mutation had evolved more sophisticated life forms which progressed to the most advanced and perfected life form called human! Fossil records helped Cjharles Darwin to formulate an evolution theory through the 3.80 billion years from the start of life on earth. I believe God had designed and implanted the first software on a an otherwise inert carbon molecule to implant a seed of life on planet earth. The earth's hostile early environment evolved into a cradle of life supporting system-there are over 41 coincident factors that work hand in hand to sustain life on our planet. Are these 41 factors designed by god or is an accident of nature ? A question that may be answered overt the next one or two centuries as science edges close to where God resides-will have a direct communication with god -in a cryptic sense- I believe we will ! to continue......
Dec 20, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Role of god in the Universe
by: Nikhanj

Continued comment from the last posting:

In the scientific world it is generally believed that God most probably started the Big bang 13.75 billion years ago which started the universe, and it is widely believed that god lets the universe function under the laws of physics and god does not interfere or break such laws of physics. God in all probability could see the planet earth as the most suitable life cradle, where He had decided to implant the initial seed of life. The sound Ohm or amen are the resonance that prevails through the universe from the Big Bang. Our first written record dates back to 7200 years, where humans started forming alphabet (language) and numbers (numerology), even though the first fossils of two legged animal (homo- sapien) date back to 6 million years.I believe our prophets were the enlightened souls who wrote humans holy books which basically teach the same teachings of truthful living and to believe in one God. Humans have wandered off to create multiple images of God that look like humans, animals,birds and reptiles and yet have forgotten the real creator the one and only one The Supreme!!!

Nikhanj
Dec 23, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Our Perception of God and how do I connect with God?
by: Anonymous

Dear Tim
I cant help but share my thoughts and my logical reasoning to try and understand this rather ambiguous quest of mankind?
Let us understand our basic limitations: Our brain is our limiting factor, we can reason only to the extent of our knowledge. Each of the 6.80 billion habitats of planet earth view the world with the perspective of his own knowledge. In addition, each person lives with a conscious and a subconscious mind. Our conscious mind governs our daily lives of living with the physical world. Interaction of heart and mind allow the physical functions of daily living. Memories of conscious mind only last as long as our soul remains a part of our body and die with the death of the body.Yet our deeds and karma's are recorded and stored in our subconscious mind i.e our soul.Both believers or disbeliever of God know the basic fact that the very second the soul parts from our physical body all functions of the mortal body immediately stop and yet all our deeds are remembered and stored in our soul and carried into the next life. Our destiny in the next life is determined from the karma's of our previous lives. The subconscious aspect of our lives can only be experienced via "dhyan" (meditation) an avenue to realize God. Such journey is an individual experience and very difficult to rationalize among individuals.Consequently, our understanding of God and where he lives remains a mystry !

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