What would be an example of a more advanced religion in your view?

@mordant New Thought churches fit that definition IMO. Also I consider Buddhism to be an advanced religion. Hinduism is a conglomeration of many things, but in my opinion ancient Hindu sages created the world’s most important and penetrating religious philosophy, a philosophy that actually addresses the overwhelming significance of existence. New thought churches are partly based on elements of Hindu philosophy, and of course Buddhism sprang from Hinduism also.

Christianity is all about worming your way into heaven by coaxing yourself into believing dubious assertions. Hindu philosophy is about experiencing or appreciating Ultimate Reality through meditation.

@WilliamFleming I am unfamiliar with the role of meditation in mainstream Hindu thought. I do know that, contrary to what most people think, it was not a significant emphasis in Buddhist life outside of the priesthood, until the Burmese began to push it as a mechanism of cultural preservation in the wake of the British colonial occupation of that country, so it has not been a prominent feature of Buddhist lay life for more than the past century or so, and its widespread adoption is even younger than that. Whether this represents an effort to evolve or an accident of history is an open question.

New Thought strikes me not as a better justification for wishful thinking, just a different one. Its utility would depend on just how a follower understands it. If they take is as hermeticism repackaged for the West with a Christian ethos sprinkled on it as a patina, I'd take a very dim view of it. If they understand it (accidentally, most likely) as a framework for shifting your thought habits and perceptions toward more a more positive focus of attention, then it could be a positive influence. But to me, the whole "you make your own reality" meme is a turn-off. It tends to make people judgmental and uncharitable toward the disadvantaged or despairing unless they can "think their way out" of their problems. I'm not saying that's how all adherents take it, or how it's meant by their teachers in all cases, but it's a strong tendency in my observation.

@mordant I am not very interested in what this or that religious group says about our reality. I am interested in the actual nature of reality and what it means. IMO religion does not spring from some organization—religion springs from the individual’s heart and mind. It is the concerted effort of individuals that bring religious groups into existence, and without individual religious sentiment those groups fade away.

I do think that we make our own realities, but that doesn’t necessarily correlate with negative judgments or lack of charity. For me it is important to maintain a higher perspective on the world. Everything is natural and fits together. Things are as they are for reasons. To me it seems irrational and a bit arrogant and disrespectful to be constantly feeling pity for other people. There is no misfortune that can detract in the least from the absolutely overwhelming miracle of existence.

@WilliamFleming Pity and empathy / compassion are not the same thing. Pity is inherently condescending. People who are suffering do not want to be pitied (or blamed, usually by telling them it's all their fault somehow).

As I said, I wouldn't judge any one individual for espousing hermetic sentiments; but I have seen followers of The Secret for example who have a run of good luck and mistake it for right thinking and live in denial of the possibility that bad things can happen to good people through no fault of their own. Mainly because that implies bad things could happen to them despite them thinking all the right thoughts, and that is a scary idea for them to contemplate. Particularly when you're told that the slightest acknowledgment that life isn't always rainbows and unicorns, and owes you zilch, means your life will turn to shit. Hermeticism as understood and taken on board by many people (and probably as taught by some) is incredibly entitled and arrogant. I think that may be because so many come to it from Christianity, which peddles a different sort of entitlement. They lose their sky Daddy and are compelled to replace it with an impersonal cosmic vending machine.

The flip side of thinking you have figured out all the Jedi mind tricks to make your life wonderful is that you haven't really done so and sooner or later things will not go your way and that will be that ...

@mordant I don’t understand why this discussion has turned to Hermetism. I certainly have not espoused that philosophy. I have little knowledge or understanding of what you are talking about. What is this about Jedi mind tricks? You are making things up.
You wanted me to name some advanced religions and I did that. Hermetism was not one of those.

It’s is entirely possible to make your life wonderful, but no tricks are involved. All you have to do is stop thinking negative, judgmental and untrue thoughts. That comes from both science and religion.

I am not very interested in any of the “isms”. In “The Perennial Philosophy” Aldous Huxley examined a number of universal ideas and concepts common to nearly all religions. I believe that it is fruitful to contemplate those core human insights without pledging allegiance to any one group.

@WilliamFleming You mentioned New Thought, which is a western / Christian-influenced take on hermeticism. The Kybalion, which purports to explain hermeticism, was likely written by William Walker Atkinson, one of New Thought's founders.

Declaring life compelling and wonderful by personal fiat, is something you or anyone are perfectly welcome to do for yourself. My thought is that saying something doesn't make it so, but to each their own. I do not say it's terrible, I just call it as I see it. It is sometimes terrific and sometimes hideous. I feel okay about it on balance. It can be made to seem better to an extent by thinking about it in certain ways, and it can be made truly better by taking certain actions to make it so. That is all.

@mordant Atkinson was a prolific writer of many types of occult subjects. I don’t know if it’s correct to identify New Thought with one of his books. New Thought was well under way without his influence.

IMO New Thought presents a more advanced religious perspective than traditional Christian churches. That’s not to say they are the ultimate religions, or that they are 100% correct in all their teachings. At least they are smart enough not to try forcing people to believe things.

We all have to deal with difficult problems from time to time. What makes people unhappy is not what happens to them but what they think about what has happened to them. This is not religious twaddle. Read “Help Yourself to Happiness” by Dr. Maxie Maultsby, founder of Rational Behavior Therapy.

Yes, I hereby decree life to be grand and wonderful!

Exactly, the newest religion is Kopimisim, which is funnier than other religions