Bring4th

Full Version: What is your religious background (if any)?
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
I'm curious as to what belief systems the people on this forum were brought up believing in/practicing and what you previously identified with prior to happening upon the Ra Material? How was the discovery and subsequent integration of the Law of One into your life/perspectives in regards to your previous beliefs? Did they clash? How did your then religious beliefs help you view the LOO?

My parents were Spiritist Christians, though my only exposure to this as a child was playing with LEGO's in the next room of this Brasilian Spiritist church we attended, so the only "god" I knew then was a little yellow block. Tongue In my teens I went from non-religious to atheistic/anti-religious (good old rebellion phase) though a friend gave me Anton LaVey's "Satanic Bible" when I was... 14-15? I never considered myself a Satanist nor ascribed to any of what was written in it, though few philosophies in it resonated with me (e.g. You are your own God).

It did nothing for me and I retained a non-religious stance until I came across consciousness-expanding technologies which seemed to be the next logical step, leading me to develop a seemingly natural interest in neo-shamanism, the esoteric, and spirituality, though I never followed the teachings of any major proponents of New Age thought or any sort of spiritual gurus. My own direct experiences of the Divine via my entheogenic voyages is what formed the foundation for the zealous piety I hold now.

Come to think of it, I believe it was about a year after discovering the Law of One material that I had my most profound experiences that led me to being a devout proponent of the philosophy 1111%, though prior to these mystical experiences it was Ra's extreme sophistication and technical explanations of the concepts they push forward that drew me in and the 'profound-but-not-profound-enough' experiences I had under my belt at the time that made it stick out in my mind that this body of information is definitely worth the time pursuing and diving into.

I want to hear your religious/spiritual background stories now. Smile

Wow, I've been thinking I need to break down and write my Wanderer's Story/Intro. It will answer your question in detail. But for a short answer I was raised as a Christian in an organization founded by a former methodist minister. From that background I was raised as strong service to others (not just spiritually but physically in this dimension), and with the belief that it's all about UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!

L&L!
I was not raised in any religion. I did, however, seek out any ways to learn about "spiritual" or "metaphysical" things from an early age.

I lived in a small town until around 10-yrs-old. I would walk to the 3 different churches (methodist, protestant, and catholic) to see what they had to say on Sundays. I was the only one in my family who did this. This was back in a time when it was safe to let kids roam (although, I was always allowed complete free will as opposed to my siblings).

It never made me have any desire to "belong." Rather, I seemed to be gathering information, as I can remember analyzing the content (this seems plausible, but that doesn't, etc.). I also, from about 2-yrs-old up, found ways to co-experience other's beliefs. One example: at age 4, my family lived in a trailer park. I somehow found a couple there who were very religious. I brought my brother, who was 2 at the time, to their residence so that we could pray with them. I somehow always fell into situations where I could do this.

I was always aware that there was more to existence than what we "see," so I think I was building the perception of what was "beyond" by searching out anything of a spiritual nature. What was available to me as a child was religion.
Like you g_v, my parents' spiritual beliefs had basically no influence on my own. My dad was a "Christian"...he did didn't attend church, didn't pray, and probably has never read the Bible, but since his parents were rather devout, he still had a fear of God in him.

My mom is a funnier story, because you ask about our discovery of the LOO...thanks to her, I was introduced to the Ra material at an extremely young age (6 or 7). Of course I didn't read it at that age, but that fact is still very important. My mom was very into some New Age-y type stuff, and was very active within a spiritual group which practiced Native American warrior spiritualism, held frequent meditations and spiritual pow-wows, and even went on a "Spirit Journey" herself, spending 5 days in the desert with nothing but water and our truck to sleep in. None of this ever rubbed off on me. When I was young I hardly understood it, and when I reached a discerning age I was convinced she was rather crazy for it. This is thanks to the fact that she believed completely that my brother and I should be allowed to find our own beliefs. One thing had always stuck out from the whole experience though: that one time she mentioned "people channeling beings, like Ra." When she said it, I was extremely interested, but wasn't old enough to know how to form the right kinds of questions. I'd say about once a year after that, until I finally was absorbed into the LOO, I tried looking it up. Of course, in encyclopedias and the internet, all I found for "Ra" was an Egyptian deity. It wasn't until I was 22/23 that a coworker had drawn me into the UFO phenomenon and the idea of a universal consciousness, and the "Law of One channeled by Ra" came up in one of the videos we were watching. A few days after that I had gone home and finally just asked her outright about it. We went into our storage room, found some boxes of books, and the first one we opened, there they were, all sitting right there on top, the first 4 books. The rest is history.


EDIT: Realizing I didn't truly answer the question, my real religious beliefs were very strict atheism. I didn't believe in any inherent meaning of life, I came to terms with eternal destruction of my identity after death, and found beauty in a world which I believed to be ultimately accidental. This all changed as I stared at the stars over years and years, contemplating infinity, which is how my coworker dragged me into UFO/consciousness stuff.
Wow Austin, I'm sure that was a bit of a facepalm moment for you to know that the books were right there in your house the entire time! Tongue Still, that's awesome that your mom passed it onto you and is into all of that. You should recommend this forum to your mother, or did she introduce YOU to the forum? Hehe. BigSmile

@Diana: So when you first came across the material, what was your initial impression? Did it instantly resonate with you or did you approach it with skepticism/took a while to integrate the material?

@Ruth: Seems you got a pretty good and early headstart at cultivating the lesson of unconditional love for this density. Smile You should definitely start writing your story soon! I have this small feeling that a few of the Law of One students here are of a Christian background (isn't Carla herself a huge Christian?)
(02-24-2012, 02:25 PM)godwide_void Wrote: [ -> ]You should recommend this forum to your mother

Oh god! Luckily she gets easily stressed out from online interaction and wouldn't ever join a forum like this...but since I'm now running a business with her, we offer each other enough catalyst as it is! Any more and I don't know if I could take it.
(02-24-2012, 02:25 PM)godwide_void Wrote: [ -> ]@Diana: So when you first came across the material, what was your initial impression? Did it instantly resonate with you or did you approach it with skepticism/took a while to integrate the material?

It resonated very much as I was reading it (among some materials left to me by a neighbor who had a metaphysical church). It isn't often that I resonate in this way. Usually it is sketchy.

When I finished The Ra Material, I went online and sent a thank you via the e-mail address. I was then told that Don had died, and was invited to post my story, which I did. Smile

Unbound

I was raised more or less in a Christian way, without much dogma or doctrine, my family has always been more about the pure spirituality within Christianity than the church nonsense. Then for a long time I was completely anti-religion, and my Mom had expressed concerns about witchcraft because of negative experiences she had with entities (although now she is a witch...).
I am of catholic upbringing, with agnostic tendencies, with deep belief on the power of thought and the nature of personal reality above all else.
The relativistic nature of reality and truth is part of my daily life.
The cycles of men instead of the cycles of nature are my guide.
MY temple is my self-hood and the god i worship is the mystery that is in all things but mainly me the one that observes.
I plunge into the unknowable as the axis of being.
My parents both were dedicated Presbyterians. I used "dedicated" rather than "devout" because they loved the community of the church much more than its belief system. During the Great Depression, their social lives were virtually all in the church because it's what they could afford. That particular church had a very busy and lively program for young people, and that's why they were so dedicated to it. They married and baptized my sister and me and kept us going there every Sunday. My earliest memories of Sunday and church were terribly uncomfortable dress-up clothes made of itchy wool. Sad I must have been two years old.

I took church pretty seriously until I started reading science fiction books, and doubt took over. In college first year, I was fortunate to have a rather good Physics professor named Elkins, and after awhile I attended weekly meditation / channeling sessions and began reading books about UFOs and spiritual things. This information resonated very strongly within. By chance Tongue I became friends with Carla and Don, which was immensely rewarding. I moved to California, where I expected to find tons of opportunities like those in Kentucky, but not so much. I did learn Reiki, though. The Law of One sealed the deal.
I was raised Roman Catholic. I went along with it until I decided it only served (in my personal experience) as a means of getting through the day unscathed. It offered no room for variety of experience, flexibility of response, expansion of consciousness or raising of the spirit.

I still consider myself a Christian, but only so far as I believe in the teachings of Christ - and even then I'm always trying to find the most pure and undistorted versions of biblical texts. I also actively pursue many other spiritual and religious traditions.

The creator and I will work things out between ourselves. I don't need a middle man to tell me what's right and wrong. If someone asked me what my religion was, and really pushed me for and answer, I'd say Love.
(02-24-2012, 09:01 PM)TheFifty9Sound Wrote: [ -> ]I was raised Roman Catholic. I went along with it until I decided it only served (in my personal experience) as a means of getting through the day unscathed. It offered no room for variety of experience, flexibility of response, expansion of consciousness or raising of the spirit.

I still consider myself a Christian, but only so far as I believe in the teachings of Christ - and even then I'm always trying to find the most pure and undistorted versions of biblical texts. I also actively pursue many other spiritual and religious traditions.

The creator and I will work things out between ourselves. I don't need a middle man to tell me what's right and wrong. If someone asked me what my religion was, and really pushed me for and answer, I'd say Love.

Amen to the "no middle man" necessary! I have a close friend who is a deacon in his Catholic church in Colorado. We have had some wonderfully rich discussions!
I was raised a Roman Catholic. My mother was orphaned as a teenager, and found intense comfort in the devotions of the Church. She influenced me greatly. I attended Catholic schools all my life and through college and I bought into all of it until a bad marriage led me to reevaluate my beliefs. At that time I was living in California and got exposed to lots of new age stuff. I am definitely a Christian, and am feeling drawn to Hindu teachings. Some perusing of youtube led me to David Wilcock and then to the Law of One, and the rest is my journey to L/L Research and Bring4th.
My mother and grandmother were always seekers...

At 6 years old - Mom and grandma took me to Sunday School at the Rosicrucian Fellowship in Oceanside, CA. where I colored pictures of the astrological signs. Those were some fun years...I remember mom and grandma straightening out wire hangers and holding them so that we could see if we could expand our auras and make them move!
At 10, we had moved to Utah and I asked a friend to take me to church. On Easter Sunday, I heard a voice in my head that told me this was where I needed to be. So I was baptized Mormon. (My mom and grandparents joined later).
At 13, I read all of Dion Fortune's books and my grandmother exposed me to more Mystic Christianity/White Occultism.
By the end of my teens, I no longer went to the Mormon church, but being as it is a very Christ-centered religion and I had applied myself to study, I had gleaned a very strong personal testimony of Christ...which followed me into my experimentation with Wicca for about a year.

Then back to Max Heindel, Dion Fortune, and my study course. I was introduced to the Ra material almost 2 years ago.