m_nwankwo:
Divine guidance will always lead any soul that seeks for the Truth to the Truth. Human participation is not required. Stay blessed.

Pastor AIO:


What do you understand by the term genius?

Etymology



In Ancient Rome, the genius was the guiding or "tutelary" spirit of a person, or even of an entire gens, the plural of which was 'genii'[7]. A related term is genius loci, the spirit of a specific locale. A specific spirit, or dæmon, may inhabit an image or icon, giving it supernatural powers.
A comparable term from Arabic lore is a jinn, often Anglicized as "genie". Note, however, that this term is considered a false friend, not a cognate by most Anglo-American anthropologists. Recent work by Russian, Romanian, Italian and a few American linguists may return the word to cognate status.[citation needed]
For more information on these etymological roots, see Genius (mythology).

Chrisbenogor:

But why do we not take our African Traditional religion as seriously as the oyinbo ones, personally the claims of amadioha are as outlandish as the biblical claims of Jesus.
Just why is the black race always trying to imitate?

Pastor AIO:

The answer to this question is obvious as well as being simple and complex at the same time.

put these ingredients together: inferiority complex, Ambition, self-loathing, and superficiality - - - and you will get the soup that african religiousity is nourished on.

seeklove:

The above is not always correct. Just because two people talks of the same concept doesn't mean that one of them got it from the other. All religions and sects in the world, at some point in there doctrine, have believes that are similar. This does not qualify the hastily assumption that they got it from each other.
If somebody writes about the sun in Nigerian and another writes about the sun in America. You don't conclude that one got his idea from the other; could also be that both wrote from their personal experience since both can see and experience the sun from their locations.
In school I always ague with colleagues who think that ancient Incas, Mayan, and the ancient Chinese stole their civilization from ancient Egypt, just because both cultures built pyramids. I know this is off topic but it is a similar thought pattan
Besides, I have read so many books by Tibetan lamas, I have read more than five books by T Lobsang Rampa; at the moment I am reading the Grail message, and the reincarnation and karma that Tibetan lamas talk about is not exactly what the Grail Message talks about.
Ie, some Buddhists and Hindus believe that a humanbeing can reincarnate as an animal. But, to the best of my knowledge, the Grail message teaches that humans can only reincarnate as humans. I can go on and on about the differences.

Pastor AIO:

The answer to this question is obvious as well as being simple and complex at the same time.

put these ingredients together: inferiority complex, Ambition, self-loathing, and superficiality - - - and you will get the soup that african religiousity is nourished on.

Mad_Max:

Come on. You can't just leave something tantalisingly half-said. Explain a bit more.

Mad_Max:

Perhaps you should read the Buddism's holy books proper. Buddist ideas are thousands of years old. They cover everything from reincarnation to how our thoughts interact with the unseen universe. The Grail Message is a modern book and the ideas in it are already covered in Buddism, extensively, even if the autjhor plays with semantics and changes terms. I'm a Christian. There are Christians who believe every single word in the Bible is sacred, that God wrote it all himself via divine secretaries or something. But while the Bible's message is divine, it's a human and flawed document. If I have no trouble criticizing the holy book of my faith, I can certainly point out the striking similarities between Buddism and a book by a modern author. Why nwakwo should take exception to that, especially since he's not read any Buddist literature, is beyond me. Grail's ideas are extensively covered in the various Buddhist literature, and if he has a problem with that, that will have to remain his own affair.

Mad_Max:

Come on. You can't just leave something tantalisingly half-said. Explain a bit more.

Pastor AIO:

The answer to this question is obvious as well as being simple and complex at the same time.

put these ingredients together: inferiority complex, Ambition, self-loathing, and superficiality - - - and you will get the soup that african religiousity is nourished on.

seeklove:

Still this does not prove that the author of the Grail message got his ideas from Buddhism. There are also ideas in the bible that is similar to some ideas in Buddhism and Islam. Now would you conclude that Christianity got their ideas from Buddhism.
I have told you that I have read allot about Buddhism and Hinduism and at the moment I am reading the Grail Message. Eventhough the both talk about reincarnation, their explanation of it is not the same. The Grail Message is not that similar to Buddhism. I will give you more examples:
1) Buddhism encourages meditation as essential for spiritual development, the Grail Message does not.
2) Buddhism encourages vegetarianism as essential for developing compassion, the Grail message does not.
3) Buddhism believes in Nirvana(the state dissolving ones personality and merging with the creator) , the Grail message does not.
If you can please list the similarities between the Grail message and Buddhism that justifies your accusation, I will appreciate it.
Thanks

There's an interesting chapter in Magic and Mystery in Tibet where the author, a French scholar who brings a refreshing rationality to Tibetan Buddism, describes how she (she became a lama) created a being using just her thoughts. Yes, Lamas can do that. It took her several months. She stayed secluded and pictured a fat jolly monk in her mind until the creature appeared. And then she left seclusion and it followed her. Not only could she touch and feel its body,other people could see it. A servant bringing her tea asked if the monk with her would like some tea too. And people greeted him when they went out together. He came from her thoughts! She admits she couldn't control it, that it had a volition of its own, her creation. It would stop, look at where it was going, examine the distance,etc. Something very interesting happens. When she created him, she gave him full cheeks and a jolly face. But after a few months the face changed, became lean. She said his eyes grew mocking and malignant. Which gives me plenty of clues as to what happened there exactly. That's how advanced Tibetan Buddhists are in using thought forms. And Magic and Mystery in Tibet is an account of the woman's expericnes in Tibet in 1924!

Pastor AIO:

I wish I could find a link to an interesting program with Chinua Achebe in it where he spoke about the process through with people were converted in igboland and how it affected their minds. Children were literally taught (brainwashed) into looking down on the traditions of their parents. It wasn't even done subtly.

Inferiority complex because Abrahamic religions require that it's adherents look down on all non adherents. First it's the Jews on the Gentiles (dogs) which gets inherited by the Christians and the Muslims to despise what isn't theirs. When they come into contact with other cultures a face off inevitable ensues. If the Christians blink first then the foreign cultures will just dismiss christianity as an oddity, but the if the foreign culture blinks first then it will succumb to the christian/muslim worldview in which it is considered inferior and evil.

Ambition because christianity and Islam came with imperialism. Converted Christians became the go betweens between the imperial powers and the native population. As such they gained from being involved in all the trade. In the new imperial system those who were equipped to progress within the system, ie. those who had the education of the imperial masters, became superior to the other natives. It made more sense if one was ambitious to convert. All this was true of islam too, but the european imperialism overtook the islamic one.

Self loathing was taught to them in schools. Afterall when you look down on your father you are inevitably looking down on yourself.

Superficiality because it was not so important that the religion is properly understood but rather that one just went through the motions. Examples of this superficiality is obvious from translation of words and ideas from christianity/islam to the native language. How did the ancient yoruba understand the Christian Satan? Is Esu really Satan? Esu had his place in Yoruba cosmology before christianity came. How did the way he was understood fit into christian cosmology? Is Allah really Eledumare? This can only happen if one's understanding of these deities is treated superficially.

There is more, but I am just painting in broadstrokes here.

Mad_Max:

Tibet became her home,I think. What did France have to offer a lama? She says the creature became troublesome and she had to dissolve it. But it didn't go without a fight, as it took six good months for her to get rid of it. It was enjoying its stay in Tibet! She herself wonders at the fact that others could see it, and wonders if it wasn't autosuggestion; that her mind impressed the image on other minds and they saw what she saw. It's also possible the thing was physically manifested.That's the pleasure of reading the book; she's an advanced Tibetan Master, but she's also a scholar and is always rational.

seeklove:

Still this does not prove that the author of the Grail message got his ideas from Buddhism. There are also ideas in the bible that is similar to some ideas in Buddhism and Islam. Now would you conclude that Christianity got their ideas from Buddhism.

Pastor AIO:

I wish I could find a link to an interesting program with Chinua Achebe in it where he spoke about the process through with people were converted in igboland and how it affected their minds. Children were literally taught (brainwashed) into looking down on the traditions of their parents. It wasn't even done subtly.

Inferiority complex because Abrahamic religions require that it's adherents look down on all non adherents. First it's the Jews on the Gentiles (dogs) which gets inherited by the Christians and the Muslims to despise what isn't theirs. When they come into contact with other cultures a face off inevitable ensues. If the Christians blink first then the foreign cultures will just dismiss christianity as an oddity, but the if the foreign culture blinks first then it will succumb to the christian/muslim worldview in which it is considered inferior and evil.

Ambition because christianity and Islam came with imperialism. Converted Christians became the go betweens between the imperial powers and the native population. As such they gained from being involved in all the trade. In the new imperial system those who were equipped to progress within the system, ie. those who had the education of the imperial masters, became superior to the other natives. It made more sense if one was ambitious to convert. All this was true of islam too, but the european imperialism overtook the islamic one.

Self loathing was taught to them in schools. Afterall when you look down on your father you are inevitably looking down on yourself.

Superficiality because it was not so important that the religion is properly understood but rather that one just went through the motions. Examples of this superficiality is obvious from translation of words and ideas from christianity/islam to the native language. How did the ancient yoruba understand the Christian Satan? Is Esu really Satan? Esu had his place in Yoruba cosmology before christianity came. How did the way he was understood fit into christian cosmology? Is Allah really Eledumare? This can only happen if one's understanding of these deities is treated superficially. There is more, but I am just painting in broadstrokes here.

Mad_Max:

Read the book first before assuming she doesn't know what she's talking about.

Mad_Max:

Actually you told me you read Lampa's books. I read one of his books a long time ago. He was grousing, in a darling sort of way, about the thousands who write him and don't include postage. He was adorable, but the book seemed to be about his cat. Are his books extensive philosophical treatises? Which books on Buddism and Hinduism have you read exactly? Lampa may have written books, but he isn't the founder or originator of the ideas on Buddism. His books are the equivalent, for Christians, of Adeboye or Jakes or Creeflo or Meyer Hagin's books; they're adherents of the religion, but they aren't its founders nor do they invent its philosophy. I may have been too young to understand his books though.
Which books did you read on Buddism?

Are those the major ideas in the Grail Message? Those are unimportant details. The major ideas are karma, reincarnation, thought forms, and other stuff. Are you implying I'm saying Grail copied and pasted from Buddism textbooks or what? His book can't be a mirror image of Buddist doctrines, can it? I've told you exactly what ideas the book copied and tweaked. And a note on an unimportant detail; Not all schools of thought on Buddism think alike; like any other religion they have doctrinal differences; There are Buddhist sects that do eat meat. Some Buddist sects believe in gods, others teach that life and existence itself is an illusion,a dream within a dream, and we create our gods and our afterlife experiences. Honestly, its a fascinating religion.

So Buddism says people reincarnate as people, animals and rocks, but Grail says people only reincarnate as people? How original. And the idea of reincarnation itself comes from where? Grail's author invented it? And the teachings on thoughts and the invisible universe; he originated those, abi? Oskar invented the ideas on rincarnation, karma, thought forms, and the world heard about those concepts for the first time when he published his book? Is that what you're saying? Those,among his other ideas, have been around for a very very long time. He merely modified them and added jara.

There's an interesting chapter in Magic and Mystery in Tibet where the author, a French scholar who brings a refreshing rationality to Tibetan Buddism, describes how she (she became a lama) created a being using just her thoughts. Yes, Lamas can do that. It took her several months. She stayed secluded and pictured a fat jolly monk in her mind until the creature appeared. And then she left seclusion and it followed her. Not only could she touch and feel its body,other people could see it. A servant bringing her tea asked if the monk with her would like some tea too. And people greeted him when they went out together. He came from her thoughts! She admits she couldn't control it, that it had a volition of its own, her creation. It would stop, look at where it was going, examine the distance,etc. Something very interesting happens. When she created him, she gave him full cheeks and a jolly face. But after a few months the face changed, became lean. She said his eyes grew mocking and malignant. Which gives me plenty of clues as to what happened there exactly. That's how advanced Tibetan Buddhists are in using thought forms. And Magic and Mystery in Tibet is an account of the woman's expericnes in Tibet in 1924!
Methinks you should stop wanting me to draw Buddist parallels with ecery single unimportant detail in Grail. Its major ideas are borrowed from various Buddhist philosophies, and 'Christianity' is modified to fit into that.

Mad_Max:

I just noticed this.Not the same thing at all. Religions do have some ideas in common,but each also has ideas that are its trademark and unique only to that religion. Karma and reincarnation are Buddhist signatures. Abi they're in Christianity and Islam?
The Grail Message is a 20th century book. You're talking as if it's a religion. Its author presents his ideas but he makes no pretensions to creating a religion,and its devotee here claims Christianity. Are you saying The Grail Message is not a book,it's a religion? Otherwise why compare a book to established religions? If Grail's a religion what's its religion called?

Mad_Max:

Reincarnation and karma have been known for thousands of years, before the advent of Buddism. Do you have some proof of this, or am I supposed to just take your word for it?

Mad_Max:

I have no idea where you get the information on what the Ibo peoples believed in thousand of years ago, as there are no written records of ANY African peoples that date , much less thousand year old sociological documents. Historians know little about Africa's past. There is no way anyone can claim to know what a tribe thought thousands of years ago.

Mad_Max:


Grail was written in modern times, when the major religions are established, when everyone knew what belonged where. The themes and central ideas in his book has been covered by Buddhist texts hundreds of years old. This is something so obvious and so evident to anyone who's read extensively on Buddhist thought and philosophy, that I am amazed to be having this discussion at all. You still haven't told me exactly what
Buddhist religious and philosophical texts you've read. Please feel free to think what you like about where a modern book got its ideas and treatment on thought forms,past lives, and karma and reincarnation from,among other things. I'm weary arguing the very very obvious.

The Igbo believe in reincarnation. People are believed to reincarnate into families that they were part of while alive. Before a relative dies, it is said that the soon to be deceased relative sometimes give clues of who they will reincarnate as in the family. Once a child is born, he or she is believed to give signs of who they have reincarnated from. This can be through behavior, physical traits and statements by the child. A diviner can help in detecting who the child has reincarnated from. It is considered an insult if a male is said to have reincarnated as a female.[134]

Children are not allowed to call elders by their names without using an honorific (as this is considered disrespectful). Children are required to greet elders when seeing them for the first time in the day as a sign of respect and good upbringing. Children usually add the Igbo honorifics Mazi or Dede before an elder's name when addressing them.[135][136]

skydancer:

Hold on a second! Who said Igbos do not believe in reincarnation. My great grand mother reincarnated in my uncle's child. We are still listening for the after effects.