This is one of the countless dogma and teaching points that I've never thought could possibly be true. It is interesting that clearly the idea of a "god" who would have a body of "flesh and bones" was designed to be appealing to people (in 1800's?).. as he would be fairly similar to the average Mormon [male]. Ever since I first heard this story my thought was that IF he were the "god" of this planet, he would have to be basically a representative of an advanced civilization, an alien, if you will (hello Erich von Däniken! ;) who broke the Prime Directive, and that the *real* god would be above him.

Well, of course we know that the Mormon "god" [the father] was made up. My personal opinion continues to be that god is the life force, and recently I've taken a liking to the more Buddhist view of the god being the unmanifest. This would explain why 96% of the material universe is absent, "dark matter" that cannot be located.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2014 10:37PM by Facing Tao.

The concrete appeals to the concrete.

Huh ?
What "life force" ?

Are you making up stuff again ?

Some call it "the mother of the ten-thousand things."

Yes, Lao Tzu's term works as well. And it's nice that it's "mother" for a change (even though it of course would not have a gender).

:-)

Makes my head hurt!

Sure, a god of flesh and bone that has billions of spirit children.

And belongs to a Council of Gods.

And his kids get into a war.

And he sends his kids to a planet where they get sick, and have other horrible things happen so they'll "learn."

Makes perfect sense.

Once again I say study the translations of the Sumarian tablets.

"Hello Erich von Däniken"! :)

The god of flesh and bones that lives on a planet is more appealing to me than some sort of magical life force. There is a reasonable probability that there is life on other planets, and a good probability that they are more advanced than us. One of them could have started life on earth.

Could have but didn't ;)

"Seeding" could've happened, yes, but there are many other ways of life having made its way here. Most likely the planets in space are not at all as isolated environments as what they may seem. Stuff drifts, and stays alive. A recent genetic regression study concluded that the amount of time required to reach the current complexity of life would've taken (through evolutionary means) more time than the vast length of time Earth has been around. Hence the researchers postulated "that life here, began out there". (reference, anyone? ;)

But since I'm not an atheist, it is my belief that everything of matter is an expression of intelligence. Life force, Brahman, Mother of the ten-thousand things, Om.. the name is not very significant.

This is an interesting point because after a decade of going along with DW's mormonganda it was Däniken's old books that started the process of accelerated spiritual exploration. While I was never a TBM, I was still embedded in TSCC for many years, and maybe around 2009 I started reading through Däniken's books which I dusted off the shelf. Although I think Däniken is a bit out there, I thought that if anything, TSCC "god" would be equivalent to what Däniken was describing. Of course, it became soon apparent that TSCC stuff wasn't even that exciting; BoM is just a plagiarized/reframed story written by a treasure seeker, nothing more, nothing less.

But the experience was enough to awaken me from the mormon slumber, and remember that I actually value spiritual development in this lifetime. The drone of TSCC had stalled me for almost a decade in that regard.

The Invisible Green Potato Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There is a reasonable probability
> that there is life on other planets, and a good
> probability that they are more advanced than us.
> One of them could have started life on earth.

And you know this how?

"Reasonable probability" :) I think it is arrogant to assume that this is *the* only place where life arose out of trillions upon trillions planets. Assuming this is the only planet with life in the universe is almost akin believing to BoM stories. Of course, there is no proof. But we must assume we know an insignificant fraction of a percent of all the things that are the reality of the universe, and yet they are the truth.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not.

Both are equally terrifying.”


― Arthur C. Clarke

"Men create gods in their own image, not only with regard to their form but with regard to their mode of life."

--Aristotle

The concept of a God who has flesh and bones was one of the first things that prompted my exit from Mormonism. Intuitively, I knew it had to be wrong. Why would an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God who created the whole universe need a silly little body that looks like a man? The obvious absurdity of this concept suddenly struck as a lightbulb moment while I was tracting (and in deep thought) on my mission.

I was agnostic for many years after that - about 20 years. But more recently, I've actually become quite "spiritual," not as a Christian, Mormon, or follower of any other major institution of religious dogma. Actually, a "life force," isn't a bad way to label my concept of "God." It's the force that gives me and all of life consciousness, and that connects us all at a spiritual level. So I can relate to your use of the term.

Recently I've found Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" (and recordings of some of his retreats) really fascinating, as well as Michael Newton's "Journey of Souls" and "Destiny of Souls". Tolle's and Newton's books aren't 100% "compatible", nor they need be. They've given a lot of food for thought, and I've absorbed many concepts from them into my gradually evolving world view and [hopefully] increasing understanding. :)

In any case, it's been exciting to have a sensation of actually having "spiritual movement" after living under spiritual oppression of TSCC for many years.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2014 11:24PM by Facing Tao.

All paths point towards the same "place."

The challenge is to not become concretized and closed into one particular "way" or "answer" because the journey then stops.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2014 11:30PM by zenjamin.

"The Power of Now," had a huge influence on my current perspective. I've since read his other book and watched several videos. Tolle's writings prompted me to read from others who share similar views related to the ultimate spiritual being from which we all arise (and are :) ), the illusion of our physical world, and the value of staying "present" in life. Another interesting guy is Allan WAtts. His lectures (found on Youtube) have a hippie feel, but they make so much intuitive sense when I listen. My whole attitude has changed since reading and listening to such material.

I've never read Michael Newton. I'll have to look it up. I'm reading a pretty amazing book right now called "Out of the Darkness" by Steve Taylor. He summarizes numerous stories of people who've had traumatic life-changing experiences (including Tolle's story), and expains his view on what ties them all together.

Allan Watts' books are on my list; I'll need to look them up next. Steve Taylor I don't think I'd heard of, I'll look him up.

Also, since you've already read the Power of Now (and liked it :), check out the recordings of his seminars, available under the names "Art of Presence", and "The Journey Into Yourself". While there is some overlap in material, there are also jewels of thought in each of them that the I don't recall in the other books/lectures.

Now if TSCC meetings had discussions like this I would've been excited to get up on Sunday mornings. But it is not surprising that the cool stuff is found here on "anti-" or "ex-" site! :)

Well, actually, Admiral Adama works for me as a god of flesh and bone. Too bad he sent BSG and the rest of the surviving ships into the sun.

Unless we're descended from Number Six and Dr. Baltar....

Heh-heh.. someone got my reference! ;)

Btw, unsurprisingly Galactica had a Mormon connection.. I think its screenwriter was/is a TSCC member.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2014 01:10AM by Facing Tao.

Yes, the Gods of Kobol. And the 12 colonies. Wasn't the creator a mormon?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlestar_Galactica_%281978_TV_series%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_A._Larson


Larson later secured a then-unprecedented $1 million per episode budget for Battlestar Galactica. Originally, the series was intended to be called Adama's Ark, and the show incorporated many themes from Mormon theology, such as marriage for "time and eternity" and a "council of twelve." Larson, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in real life,[1][2] had been working on the concept since 1968, and Gene L. Coon had been providing guidance and mentoring to him through the writing of its earliest incarnations. Larson is credited with coining the word "battlestar," a contraction of the phrase "line-of-battle starship", after being convinced to rename Adama's Ark to include the word "star" in the title in some way, in order to capitalize on the popularity of the then recently released mega-hit, Star Wars. He is also credited with creating the faux curse word "frak."[3]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2014 09:31AM by anybody.

random thoughts:

--I always wondered if this doctrine was invented as a setup to some kind of super secret temple ceremony where the patron is allowed to see Jesus in person. We all know about the second annointing; maybe there was something beyond that.

--"Flesh & Bone" would be a great name for a Utah rib Joint.

I was a nerd in high school, and this doctrine caused me major doubts. I would wonder, "If God is so smart and so powerful, why is he only 3-dimensional?"

Surely the all-powerful God wouldn't limit himself to 3. I would have been at least infinite-dimensional.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnxvKJAv5Ik



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2014 09:37AM by anybody.

I NEVER bought into the idea of a "God of flesh and bone." In fact, it struck me as rather repulsive. How can you cram the infinite into a finite body? It just doesn't make sense.

If anything, I think that God is the force that keeps the cosmos ticking. (Oh, criminy, now I've got this image of a cosmic Energizer Bunny. . .not at all "divine.")

But I can accept the notion of God as a force, or ultimate energy - something like that. Like gravity, God is neither benign nor malignant - it simply IS, and operates according to its own laws.

I think that's why we get the notion that when we pray, we often feel like nobody is listening. The idea that this energy has a personality, and cares, and can manipulate things if you just figure out the right formula or ritual for appealing - it's just too - oh, bother, I'm tired and can't think of the right word. It means "attributing human characteristics to something that isn't human," like a tree or a bear.

Somebody who isn't brain-dead can come up with the right word.

> It means "attributing human characteristics to something that isn't human," like a tree or a bear.

Exactly! (I can't remember the word, either. It's past midnight! :D)

Anthropomorphize?
Anthropomorphism?

Personification? :)