Is religion just another construct?

[Nancy Jane Peirce]

I am perplexed why there is talk and questions about God. Is the 3PP a God thing? It seems to me that trying to shoehorn God into it is not a good idea but then I am an American who is living through some pretty wacko religiosity right now in my country.

Isn't religion just another construct like all the other "forms"? And most people's notion of a "personal" God is just another form as well?

[Brett Chitty]

God
I see God as having no form, yet is everything at the same time, just on the invisible side of the coin. I still have no clue what God is, but it's good to know that it exists. Everything in our universe is in form, which means that everything is also formless at the same time.

So it's not a person, not a thing, not an entity, not a paradigm, not an "in-the-sky" thing, and many more. It's formless for me.

If we can "see" God, that would have to be form. Indeed, everything we "see" is form, whether physical or psychological, and whether with our eyes, or the "mind's eye." You're spot on - a "personal" God isn't God, that's a personal thought about God. God in form is not God, that's in form.

The only way to "shoehorn" God into something is to have a God in form in the first place. Unfortunately, it's very believable and people carry it as if were the actual God, and innocently lose their divine connection to the formless. If God is formless, there would be no means of shoehorn-ing it into anything at all, including religion. Put simply, try shoehorning something with no form!

Religion
Religion is in form, but I'm careful not to say form is "bad," "unnecessary," or "something to avoid." The key is whether we realize that religion is connected to the formless.

There are religions that attempt to guide people to reconnect to the divine wisdom, but unfortunately, there are also religions that separate the form and formless, making the formless disappear. So the disconnected religions are the ones that promote religion in a way it was not meant to be intended.

More interestingly, if you were to look at people within a religion, you'd find people who are connected to the wisdom and there are others in the same religion who clearly are not connected. A typical connected religious person is unlikely to promote their religion because they know it's an "inside job." The "disconnected "ones believe it's an "outside job" and thus try to get others to join their religion, usually by means that require people to give up their free will and become followers instead.

I'm blessed to have such marvelous and wise friends who are religious, including Jews and Muslims. They have enriched my experiences in incredible ways. Unfortunately, I've also had the experience of Jews and Muslims whose attitude is a total turn-off, and yet they promote their religion with such an attitude!

I'm glad that I don't have to make one person's actions an indicator of a group or religion, I can keep my thought processes about a person to the individual rather than of a group or religion anyone might belong to.

At the end of the day, there is the formless. No one will ever know what will emerge out of the formless until it has already taken on a form. But it's definitely fun to find out as we go about our lives.

As Sydney Banks said himself:

Quote

 

"It has often been remarked that the best things in life happen to you when you are NOT looking for them. I can attest to this without the slightest hesitation."

 

So, I suggest - don't go looking for God! Because the act of looking can only occur in the form!

[Nicky Peeters]

I love this question. To me anything apart from the 3p is a construct. As it is a set of ideas created from the 3ps. Hence, yes any scientific framework, worldview, religion, is shaped by using the three principles. As it is unlimited what we can create with them. 

[Maja Hofstetter]

I totally agree with Brett, and I could not have said it any better. 

It reminds me of a quote by Sydney Banks: Beyond Psychology (Thanks Brett for the transscript)

Quote

...and to get a silent mind there’re two ways to do it, or at least there is
the appearance of two ways to do it.

One is to go to the so-called spiritual side of life or the so-called religion and
get it through this: by starting to believe in the spiritual reality that exists and
someday going beyond the belief to the fact.

To me this is a brilliant way of describing the role of religion. It's only when you go beyond the belief, that you see the fact. The fact of the formless. The divine nature of the allness and the isness. 

I really recommend anyone to hear the tape "beyond psychology", and we could also call it "beyond religion". It's really just pointing beyond any form. 

Love Maja

[Paola Royal]

I like your question, Nancy! 

I remember when I first heard about the principles and people were talking about God I struggled. I couldn't get my head around what they meant but then I saw God is a word. The Principles are before words. ...you could call it the Intelligence behind life, or wisdom or formless or universal mind or unconditional Love ....the choice is yours, it is what lets the daisies grow, your heartbeat at night, the beauty, the magic of all things...... 

As I see it, and what do I know... wise people pointed and (still do) towards the principles, being unable to give it form. Extraordinary stories of people living selfless, full of kindness and love were written down in many books and groups gathered wanting to live their lives in that way looking in the form to find their answers and not seeing separate realities......

When you look deeper into any religion they all point to the same.......unconditional Love, the Formless, listening to innate wisdom where you find all the answers.

When you read about prophets talking to god how I see it...they having insight, they heard their inner wisdom talking.....

The Principles gave me a greater insight into the concept of religion.