tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post7225770835160079637..comments2023-11-03T01:13:22.719-07:00Comments on The Rabbi Is IN with Rabbi Rami: Rabbis & God: A Call for IntimacyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-26312526762863186702011-03-13T22:21:10.454-07:002011-03-13T22:21:10.454-07:00I would like to respond to Karen's last point....I would like to respond to Karen's last point. Arguing from experience is going to be difficult: how do we know that we are experiencing God or "Godness" if we do not understand what we are experience? <br /><br />Also, what do we do about multiple traditions experiencing God in different ways (i.e. experience of the Jewish conception of God, that of Christianity, or other belief systems worldwide)? <br />One way would be to say, "They are all experiences of or with God, in their own way- I would certainly applaud that approach.<br /><br />Are you not, at the end of the day, defining what a God experience is? Is not your relationship with God a sort of definition of God, at least in our limited, subjective way?Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08529339711663781080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-37794188439424671862011-03-09T19:39:21.279-08:002011-03-09T19:39:21.279-08:00To be clear Rabbi, I'm not talking about relig...To be clear Rabbi, I'm not talking about religion, I'm talking about God, about spirit. That which cannot be understood. Religion is a whole different thing.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14553090239325979814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-5032888109419708472011-03-08T17:53:57.931-08:002011-03-08T17:53:57.931-08:00I strive a sense of intimacy with experiencing the...I strive a sense of intimacy with experiencing the divine, yet it often depends on what's going on with me. Sometimes it's a father figure, most often a divine mother, other times a divine lover, sometimes as a friend. I almost would say there's a subtle shift sometimes what feels like I construct as personality as a metaphor, other times a sense of Reality.<br /><br />Analysis for me comes out of some sense of reacting to the world around me, not just getting lost in some psychodrama with the divine for its own sake. Often it's just a sense of having patience. I don't think intimacy and analysis have to be enemies, but complements of who I am.Aronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17416496332922933822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-48963657148226099412011-03-07T21:52:58.717-08:002011-03-07T21:52:58.717-08:00I use that Genesis 50:20 often. I feel that my lif...I use that Genesis 50:20 often. I feel that my life has worked out very well, although there have been many jokers who moved my path in ways I didn't originally think were helpful. <br /><br />Of course, millions of people in our tradition trusted in God, and had horrible lives. So maybe my good life is just random.<br /><br />What I take from this is that God, without defining God very well, is on my side. I know this to be true, like I know that my husband loves me. I can't explain it in either case, but I have to go with it.Barryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10895825111070588799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-30036051854412847052011-03-07T13:31:56.229-08:002011-03-07T13:31:56.229-08:00Great comments. I admit, however, that I can't...Great comments. I admit, however, that I can't do what Karen suggests. If I just accept without applying reason, I can easily be moved to accept a God of hate that justifies all kinds of evil. This is the history of religion, especially in the West. <br /><br />If, on the other hand, we assume that God wouldn't lead us to hate, we are already on the path of defining God. I don't think we can escape our capacity to reason, we can only pretend we aren't using it.Rabbi Ramihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07549679279782491931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-52300270908074484792011-03-07T11:17:28.659-08:002011-03-07T11:17:28.659-08:00I guess it's kind of like knowing any other be...I guess it's kind of like knowing any other being...I personally have to have a construct of who my "mother" or "father" is in order to feel who they are to me. <br />I have to understand where "god" relates to me in order for me to accept "it" . <br />That's just the way some of us are wired...Accepting for accepting sake is to arbiturary and dogmatic...The "god" of the book just doesn't hold the strings for me anymore, if it ever did. <br />Some of us analyize until we trust and can then feel. Others just feel without knowing what it is they are accepting. I think or feel or whatever, that as a Jew, I was told to question...and what is questioning if not analyizing. I don't think that we have that Protestant, Kierkagard kind of leap of faith thing going. When we try it we get really angry because "it" let us down.<br />So, I don't think that a Jew will find the answer in a Krishna or Christ or even a God. We're just meant to ask until we understand and start asking some more when we have more questions.andrea perezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02187928609335174447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-54074664653186565402011-03-07T09:30:31.915-08:002011-03-07T09:30:31.915-08:00I like her point. I was talking to a friend who is...I like her point. I was talking to a friend who is a mental health professional the other day and we agreed on this point - understanding often doesn't lead to acceptance. It is not a necessary step to acceptance. In fact, trying to understand our experiences with spirit usually leads us away from that connection. We must accept that God is and that we can't understand God to move into just experiencing God. Continuing to analyze just creates distance.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14553090239325979814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18968172.post-53528288749425047102011-03-07T07:34:01.928-08:002011-03-07T07:34:01.928-08:00If an anlaytical take is recommended, at an early ...If an anlaytical take is recommended, at an early stage at least, Spinoza's concept of Natura Naturans (literally, nature naturing) - the spontaneous, active, and living character of the world, seems to me a good place to start. But that's controversial!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06262011586811044441noreply@blogger.com