Divine music, when you experience it, brings with it intense and lasting bliss. How can one who has heard this divine melody describe it to one who has not? Anyone who attempts to describe it would have to use pale analogies. If we think of the most beautiful music we have ever heard in this world, it still does not compare with the music known as the Voice of God.

The divine music is playing within us all the time. We dont hear it because no one has shown us the way to listen to this inner music.

Read more here: » Inner music: The Divine Music Within Us

Trinity The divine powers at the head of every theogony. In the Christian Trinity, the original idea of a triune divinity is preserved but has become confused and adapted to theological speculation. If the Holy Ghost is regarded as feminine, as it was in primitive Christianity, we have the trinity of Father-Mother-Son.

The present manner of the procession of the Holy Ghost in the Occident is due to the early theological quarrels which was one of the main causes of the final rupture between the Greek Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches -- the filioque ("and from the son") controversy. The Orthodox held with the original procession of Father, Holy Ghost, and Son, while in the West the Holy Ghost or Spirit has become a kind of emanation from the Father or Son, or both of them, and is scarcely distinguishable in its attributes from the Son; while the place of Mother has been filled in the Roman Catholic Church by Mary who, though the mother of Jesus, nevertheless is not a member of the Trinity.

But there is another trinity besides that of Father-Mother-Son, that of the one divine root and its dual aspects -- a conception altogether lost in Christianity. The Christian God is at best but a Demiourgos or inferior creative power, and his necessary attributes clash irreconcilably with those pertaining to the supreme hierarch of our universe; but in many of the sayings of Jesus and in the Epistles of Paul is clear evidence of the true teachings as to the Trinity and the relation of the Father and the Son.

In the orthodox Christian view of its theological Trinity the three persons of the Godhead are not three gods but one God, and yet three Persons or individuals. So that we have one Godhead who is three-in-one, and yet one-in-three, which is not three gods, nor yet one God, but both. Moslems aver that the Christian Trinity is not one God in three aspects, but actually three gods manifesting as one, and the strict monotheism of Islam refuses to admit the logical monstrosity. The Christian Churches lost sight of the mystical origin of its own trinity out of the neo-Pythagorean and Neoplatonic mysticism.

All the great religious and philosophical systems of antiquity contained a divine or spiritual triadic unity as the cosmic source and focus of all beings and things, out of which emanate the universe and all that is in it. Examples are the Osiris-Isis-Horus of Egypt or the Brahma-Vishnu-Siva of India; yet these triads of gods are emanated reflections or representatives on lower planes of the still more sublime and ineffable triadic mystery above and beyond them.

(See also: Trinity , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » God Dictionary

Salvation is arguably one of the most important Christian spiritual concepts, perhaps second only to the deity of Jesus Christ. Among Christians, the primary goal of religion is to attain salvation. Others maintain that the primary goal of Christians is to do the will of God, or that the two are equivalent. In many traditions, attaining salvation is synonymous with going to heaven after death, while most also emphasize that salvation represents a changed life while on Earth as well. Many elements of Christian theo ...

See also:

Salvation, Salvation - Christian views of salvation, Salvation - Catholicism, Salvation - Protestantism, Salvation - Evangelical Christians, Salvation - Eastern Christianity, Salvation - New Testament passages, Salvation - Other passages, Salvation - Islam, Salvation - Hinduism, Salvation - Buddhism, Salvation - Pagan

Read more here: » Salvation: Encyclopedia II - Salvation - Christian views of salvation

Akhenaton

(Egyptian, "he who acts effectively for the invisible solar disk")

Pharaoh of Egypt ca. 1350 to 1334 BC, often called (erroneously) the first monotheist of recorded history.

He first came to the throne as Amenhotep IV and worshiped traditional gods. However, after his fourth year, he elevated a minor deity, the Aton, i. e. , the "disk of the sun" (a form of the sun god, Re), to the position of state god of Egypt and changed his name to Akhenaton to reflect his devotion to that deity.

His pantheon consisted of a trinity that included the Aton, Akhenaton, and Nefertiti (also the name of his wife), which was the focus of popular worship. While Akhenaton was worshiped as the unique son of the Aton, Nefertiti was celebrated for her fertility. Common people were excluded from worshiping the Aton itself. Egyptians could worship only the royal couple; the couple in turn worshiped the sun disk. The new religion was maintained by Akhenaton's popular appeal as king, but it quickly passed away after his death.

Akhenaton's motives in promulgating his beliefs were political and religious, since he elevated himself to the status of a god higher than customary for an Egyptian king. Akhenaton's religion recognized both Egyptians and foreigners as equal beneficiaries of the same god, and it overturned established conventions in Egyptian language and art.

(See also: Akhenaton , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » God Dictionary

Church of the Lamb of God, The

Founded in 1974 by Ervil LeBaron in Salt Lake City, UT: A polygamous, Mormon Fundamentalist splinter group. Ervil LeBaron was removed from The Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times following accusations that he was responsible for his brother's assassination.

The church has also been suspected in the deaths of other rival Mormon Fundamentalists, including Rulon Allred, founder of another Mormon Fundamentalist church. LaBaron died in a Utah State Prison in 1981.

(See also: Church of the Lamb of God , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » God Dictionary

Yours faithfully - A letter ends there. However, faith is the beginning of the human quest for self-discovery and the Absolute. Faith can be neither forced nor taught; it is an experience that transcends trust, reason, belief and ideology.

Belief in religious scripture confines the mind; the trust we repose in an individual, too, is a limiting factor. The intellect can only too often weave a cobweb of theories, and reason can cause mistrust, taking us away from discovering the great scope and depth of an infinite power that's faith, that can otherwise serve as an effective spiritual guide.

(See also: Faith and Belief , Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Faith and Belief: Faith: Staircase to God  

 While quantum physics may be a modern development, pantheism is in fact an ancient spiritual path that holds everything in the Universe to be sacred. Eastern philosophies, Native American, pagan and Hawaiian beliefs that view all of nature as divine and interconnected can be said to be pantheistic. "God" here is not a bearded white man in the clouds, but more like "the Force" in Star Wars; the sum of all that is, and every aspect of existence at the same time. To pantheists, God is holographically everywhere at once.

Read more here: » Pantheism: Personal Responsibility, Religious Tolerance and Reverence for all Life

Slavic mythology - Supreme god. The original supreme god of the Slavs was probably Rod. Information about Rod worship is scarce. In some branches of the Slavic religion, the supreme god is Svarog (senior member of Triglav). But exactly because of his nature he was not the most worshiped: that was Perun, while tribes that were occupied mostly with cattle could pay most attention to Veles and so on. The Wendish people are said to have had the three-headed Triglav as their supreme god. Sometimes this god is referred ...

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Slavic mythology, Slavic mythology - Primary sources, Slavic mythology - Cosmology, Slavic mythology - Major feasts, Slavic mythology - Gods, Slavic mythology - Supreme god, Slavic mythology - Pantheon, Slavic mythology - Locations, Slavic mythology - Mythical creatures, Slavic mythology - Mythical persons, Slavic mythology - Spirits, Slavic mythology - Slavic folk medicine and magic, Slavic mythology - Circles

Read more here: » Slavic mythology: Encyclopedia II - Slavic mythology - Gods

The most well-known mystery in Christianity is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is said that three men died on crosses in occupied Palestine sometime during the fourth decade of the Christian era. The carrying out of a death sentence in this manner was a relatively routine matter. In this case, all three were convicted as disturbers of the Roman peace.

(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Life and Death: Central Mystery of Christian Faith

Monotheism (in Greek μόνος = single and θεός = God) is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. Zoroastrianism, the Abrahamic religions, and Vaishnavism (a Hindu denomination) are considered monotheistic. Monotheism - Types. Various forms of monotheism exist, including: Theism a term that refers to the belief in the existence of a god or divine being. Deism is a form of monotheism in which it is believed that one god exists. However, a deist rej ...

Including:

• Monotheism - Types
• Monotheism - Origins in Abrahamic or Middle East religions
• Monotheism - In Hinduism
• Monotheism - In Ayyavazhi
• Monotheism - In Taoism
• Monotheism - Comparison to polytheism

Read more here: » Monotheism: Encyclopedia - Monotheism

Aher (Hebrew) To be after, behind, secondary, another; the plural 'aherim, especially when used in conjunction with 'elohim, means "other or strange gods," which were supposed to be merely idols. As the Hebrew scriptures themselves show, the ancient Hebrews never at any time denied the existence of the gods of other peoples, but being utterly and strongly tribalistic, their own god Jehovah was to them supreme. Their tribal god is the regent of the planet Saturn, who was their planetary hierarch, and consequently, to them, the supreme god -- the god over all other gods. Had the Jews been born as a people under the regent of some other planet, the hierarchical regent of this other planet would then have been in their opinion the supreme god.

(See also: Aher , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

For more dictionary entries, see » God Dictionary

In the alienated and fragmented world we live in today, the human heart cries out for friendship or affirmation from others. That is because we are meant to see in the human faces we encounter, the face of God.

Tell someone that I am here, is the cry of the human heart. Fernando Silva, who runs a children's hospital in Managua, reports the incident of a lonely child in the hospital in search of a human hand to grasp. One Christmas eve, when he stayed in working late into the night amidst revelry, he heard footfalls behind him. On turning, he recognised the sick child who had no one in the world. Fernando drew close to the child and touched him lightly with his hand. The child whispered: "Please tell someone that I am here".

(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: True Friends are God's Angels

These arguments can be classified under two headings. First are the strictly logical or metaphysical arguments; these arguments seek to prove that the existence of a being with at least one attribute that only God could have is logically necessary. Arguments for the existence of God - Metaphysical arguments. The chief such arguments are: The Cosmological argument, which argues that God must have been around at the start of things in order to be the "first cause". The Mathematical argu ...

See also:

Arguments for the existence of God, Arguments for the existence of God - Arguments for the necessity of God, Arguments for the existence of God - Metaphysical arguments, Arguments for the existence of God - Empirical arguments, Arguments for the existence of God - Arguments for the belief in God, Arguments for the existence of God - The theological status of the arguments

Read more here: » Arguments for the existence of God: Encyclopedia II - Arguments for the existence of God - Arguments for the necessity of God

To attain jitendriyata is to achieve full control over ones senses. This leads to what is called God-realisation. In this controlled state all pain and suffering cease permanently.

There are different paths to achieve this height: Gyan yoga, karma yoga, bhakti yoga, raja yoga, hatha yoga, swara yoga, nada yoga, astanga yoga; all of these lead to the same goal of achieving communion with God. The shortest and most suitable path ordained in this Kali Yuga is bhakti yoga.

Read more here: » Bhakti Yoga: Lasting Happiness Through Bhakti Yoga

MOTHER KALI

The Destroyer of Demoniac Attributes

It is unfortunate that Devi is ignorantly understood by many as a mere blood-thirsty Hindu Goddess. No! Devi is not a vicious demoness nor is She the property of the Hindus alone. Devi does not belong to any religion. Devi is that conscious power of God. The words Devi, Shakti, etc., and the ideas of different forms connected with these names are concessions granted by the sages due to the limitations of the human intellect; they are by no means the ultimate definitions of Shakti.

From " Hindu Fasts & Festivals " by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Kali: The Hindu Godess Mother Kali

The consensus among biologists and paleontologists is that mankind evolved through natural processes, and when journalists and popularizers currently use the term "Cradle of humanity", it refers to Great Rift Valley sites in East Africa, where the oldest hominid fossils were found in 1974. Subsequent work done on the basis of mitochondrial DNA in 1987 strengthened this "out of Africa" theory. Since 2002, however, several groups of prominent paleontologists have begun to challenge East Africa's position as the evolutionary "cradle of humanity ...

See also:

Cradle of Humanity, Cradle of Humanity - Evolutionary View, Cradle of Humanity - Creationist View, Cradle of Humanity - Group of Fifteen Lands, Cradle of Humanity - Origin of the Term, Cradle of Humanity - Use of the Term, Cradle of Humanity - Among Evolutionists, Cradle of Humanity - Among Creationists, Cradle of Humanity - Among those opposed to the term Middle East

Read more here: » Cradle of Humanity: Encyclopedia II - Cradle of Humanity - Evolutionary View

Ralph Emerson, the 20th century American philosopher, described man as the "ever-losing winner". We tend to measure God's blessings on the basis of how many of our prayers have been answered - we compare what we sought with what we got. We do not often get what we prayed for. Then we accuse God of being unkind. Subsequently, we discover later that whatever happened was in fact for the good. The 'bad' event turns out to be a blessing in disguise.

(See also: Power of Prayer , Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Power of Prayer: Lose and Still be a Winner  

Where is your brother, God asked, at the beginning of Biblical history. The original context was that of bloodshed: Brother killing brother, which is what every murder really is. Within the vision of vasudaiva kutumbakam , can anyone, even the most abhorred enemy, be less than a brother?

The Cain-Abel story provides deep insight into religion-related tensions: First, it is in the context of religion that brother kills brother. The very purpose of religion is being largely misunderstood. The purpose of religion is to enable us to be keepers rather than killers of each other, protectors rather than predators of life and nature. The ascendancy of vested interests in religion, however, degrades it into a licence for murder and mayhem, as has happened in the history of all religions.

(See also: Religion , God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Religion: The Spiritual Sword Of Self-denial

 Many healing practitioners have shared with me their bewilderment over assuming illnesses or conditions from their clients, especially when they truly felt that their intentions were of loving service to another. Why would a healer or anyone become ill through healing others?

Read more here: » Law of Healing: Healer, Heal Thy Self

The origin of the tune is surrounded by uncertainty, speculation and a certain amount of misinformation. In the Oxford Companion to Music, Percy Scholes devotes about four pages to this subject. He points out the similarities to an early plainsong melody, although he points out that the rhythm is very distictly that of a galliard and gives examples of several such dance tunes that bear a striking resemblance to God Save the Queen. He quotes a keyboard piece by Dr. John Bull (1619) which has some strong similarities to the moder ...

See also:

God Save the Queen, God Save the Queen - History, God Save the Queen - Use in the Commonwealth, God Save the Queen - Use elsewhere, God Save the Queen - Other UK anthems, God Save the Queen - Performance, God Save the Queen - Lyrics, God Save the Queen - First verse in French as sung in Canada, God Save the Queen - Additional verse sung in Canada, God Save the Queen - Official peace version, God Save the Queen - Footnote, God Save the Queen - A naval version, God Save the Queen - Sources

Read more here: » God Save the Queen: Encyclopedia II - God Save the Queen - History

Worship of a single god within a pantheon and the abolition of all others may be monotheism, as in the case of the Aten cult in the reign of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, under the chiefly influence of the Eastern-originating Nefertiti. Iconoclasm during this pharaoh's rule is considered a chief origin for Abrahamic destruction of idols, holding no other God before the preferred deity (dually and subtly acknowledging the existence of the other gods, but only as foes to be destroyed for their drawing of attention away from the primary deity ...

See also:

Monotheism, Monotheism - Types, Monotheism - Origins in Abrahamic or Middle East religions, Monotheism - In Hinduism, Monotheism - In Ayyavazhi, Monotheism - In Taoism, Monotheism - Comparison to polytheism

Read more here: » Monotheism: Encyclopedia II - Monotheism - Origins in Abrahamic or Middle East religions

There are a number of beliefs regarding fallen angels. Many focus on issues of free will, lust, pride, or the incomprehensibility of the acts of God. Fallen angel - The Different Facets of God. This hypothesis focuses on the concept that God has two opposite sides — a divine (or bright) side, and a shadow (or dark) side. It is believed that if mortals were to see God's bright side, His radiance would incinerate them instantly. Therefore, a dark ...

See also:

Fallen angel, Fallen angel - Reasons for their fall, Fallen angel - The Different Facets of God, Fallen angel - Consequences of Free Will, Fallen angel - Bowing to mankind, Fallen angel - Fallen angels by rank, Fallen angel - First Sphere, Fallen angel - Second Sphere, Fallen angel - Third Sphere, Fallen angel - Others

Read more here: » Fallen angel: Encyclopedia II - Fallen angel - Reasons for their fall