Are all religions in essence the same?

I believe so, yes. It is the logical conclusion from my "Religion is like a toy" theory.

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The only constant in this universe is change. Are you ready to change??

No. I believe that there is wisdom to be found in all religions, and many are extremely similar on many points, but they are not all the same. What would be the point if they were?



I am intrigued, where can I learn more about this toy theory?

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A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe,
a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself,
his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. -- Albert Einstein

The point is, the essence of all religions is the same. The surface points may vary, but the essence is the same. What would be the point? Humans, being similar to other humans??
Here it is:

Alright weird analogy, but hear me out. Through my research, all religions seem to be talking about the same thing (at the core). So why all the hatred and wars and such? Perhaps all the differences are just superficial crap that was made up to make their religions "better" than the others.

Take a child for instance. Say he gets a toy for christmas and he goes to school and a kid he hates got the exact same toy. Would the first child go up to the second and say, "We got the same exact toy!!! Let's be friends now!!!"???

NO!!!! He tries to find little things about his toy that makes it different and "BETTER" than the other kids. It could be something as small as the serial number being higher, or the hair being longer, or something like that. But no longer is that a simple difference, it becomes the most important part of the toy because it made it different. Is religion kind of the same? And all of the superficial differences just made up to be the "most important" differences so to make their religion "better?"

__________________
The only constant in this universe is change. Are you ready to change??

MV, I love your "Religion as a toy" theory!
I am amazed how easily spiral dynamics demonstrates and explains the similarity of religions. Here is an exerpt from an interview of Dr. Beck, the leading proponent of spiral dynamics, in What is Enlightenment magazine:
FYI- Blue and Red are both developmental waves in spiral dynamics. To read more about spiral dynamics, go to http://wie.org/spiral/

You may be right. I guess it is just a matter of how you interpret the question and how you define religion. For me the essence that is at the core is not religion, I have always thought of religion as being that surface stuff. That is why I have never considered myself religious. I am a spiritual mystical seeker, but not religious.

Could we say that religious are different routes to the same core essence? In that sense they are different and they are the same.







Or he tries to break the other kids toy, and then his really will be better. Good analogy, it explains a lot.

__________________
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe,
a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself,
his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. -- Albert Einstein

I like the latin definition of religion. Which means "To bind back." In that sense, being a spiritual mystical seeker means you are religious. I understand that alot of people see religion now, and give it a different meaning. Which is completely understandable. But that doesn't mean you aren't religious.

[quote]Could we say that religious are different routes to the same core essence? In that sense they are different and they are the same.
That is a way of looking at it as well. Just like, we are all going die. How we each get there will be uniquely different for each living being. But we all still die.

Thank you.

__________________
The only constant in this universe is change. Are you ready to change??

I do not believe that religions are the same any more than I believe that a nomadic plainsland people and an agricultural foothills people are the same. True they are all human beings and people are people but thier ways are completely different. Yes thier end is the same. Survival. But they survive in fundamentaly different ways.

Yes, i believe that all major religions are just different chapters/stages in the One unfolding religion of God.