Hey all I'd like to get some opinions from people who have read into some of the more ancient religious/philosophical belief systems.

Where else can the origins of Monotheism be found prior to 1500 BCE?

What texts or written languages have you found that predate and/or are more instrumental then those based off ancient Sanskrit writings & hymns?

Two years ago I was initiated into the Vivekananda Vedanta Society under Swami Ishatmananda. I find the correlation between the Aten(Egyptian) & Atman(Hindu) to be more or less containing the same basic principles.

When I apply Vedantic philosophy to everyday life and supplement it with my more personal belief in Atenism I find myself in a very blissful and loving energy.

What religious or philosophical beliefs do you draw towards (if any)

Thanks for your responses in advance!

Love & Light

Tia

This post was edited by KingTia on Sep 26 2018 02:33pm

I am drawn to the belief of being a good person without requiring the threat of looming punishment to motivate me. God may or may not exist, but all religions are equally nonsensical.

The hindu systen is the only one im familiar with. Most of the knowledge was likely lost when the library of alexandria was burned and afterward. Some texts remain. The hindu ones i know are the surya siddhanta, yoga vasistha, and srimad bhagavatam. Siddhanta being the oldest. In the hindu texts they usually dont even refer to it as a religion either, they just call it “the truth” or “the way to live” which gives a different perspective from us and how we separate religion from everything else.



Egotism and nothing else is what you worship. The altar of your desires where you will find yourself enslaved

Well said! Appreciate the insights friend. Any material you've really enjoyed in terms of the more traditonal Hindu texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, or Mahabarata?

I would love to know how you came to that conclusion.

As far as I know, the evidence for monotheism existing in a "systematic" form before Judaism is practically non-existent. There might have been some ideas before Judaism about one deity, but from what i've read the earliest monotheistic ideas was more like "there is one god who is higher above the rest, but there are still many gods". Judaism was the first religion that said;
1) There is one deity, one set of laws based on that deity's character.
2) That the universe is created, and not eternal (backed up by modern scientific findings)
3) That everything we do, actions, thoughts, emotions, ought to be to the glory of that being.

And fourth; it is the only religion that totally and mercilessly forbids all form of self-glorification. Judaism/Christianity are the only two religions as far as I know of, that do not appeal to any kind of selfishness or egotism - they are aimed at glorifying the one above only.

This post was edited by Tjo on Sep 28 2018 08:33am

Interesting! So when Amenhotep IV came into power and reduced the worship of many Gods down to only one(Aten) wouldn't this have been the earliest sign of Monotheism and the backbone of all Abrahamic religions?

Its no coincidence to me that the Biblical Moses(Thutmoses?) was raised with the Pharaohs at almost exactly the same time.

Atenism to me symbolically represents modern Monotheism. The Aten disc(the sun) is the creator, sustainer, liberator, and destroyer. The fact that Akhenaten used this symbol almost 4000 years ago and dismantled religion, politics, and military goals/aspirations is beyond me.

Most people today would probably label me a pagan sun-worshipper, but the way I see it without the Aten disc(the sun) nothing could exist in all its glory, no truth could be found or seen, no life could sustain itself, and none of lifes great mysteries could be solved(modern scientist of today and the earliest humans know/knew full well that without the sun nothing can be).

When I was 19 I had an NDE and spent two weeks in the ICU. I couldn't remember who I was or who my family was and reality was more or less an illusion. Somehow part of me getting my mind/identity back involved me saying that I was Akhenaten reincarnated and that I was 3682 years old. I also was writing and mumbling Sanskrit(one of my doctors was a Hindu man who verified and was dumbfounded as to what was happening). I had no prior knowledge of anything Egyptian or Sanskrit, but yet that was somehow the basis or core of my being.

As I started to embrace these inner realizations I've become more and more humble and have experienced more and more moments of pure-bliss.

I've walked almost completely away from my ego and ironically I often consider becoming an ordained monk of the Ramakrishna Math Mission which through a rigorous 10 year process you "forget" your real name or who you are in an attempt to realize your own divinity and end the cycle of rebirth

Well according to Abrahamic religions the worship of the sun is nothing but idolatry, since it is a creation of the Creator. Pure monotheism began with Judaism.



Still doesn't glorify the Creator to worship the creation. Judaism/Christianity -> Worship the Creator -> Glorify the Creator.



Without the Creator the sun wouldn't exist to support life.




I don't believe you, no offense, but many people have had near death experiences and they report similar, but still different experiences. Some have met Jesus, some have met Buddha, some have come to heaven, some have gone to hell. I just don't put too much weight on their words, I respect their experiences, but I will stay critical. I know that drugs, trauma, and other strong shocks to the brain and nervous system can induce religious experiences. "Ego-death" is not the sign of pure religion in my opinion, because that is not what it is about, that is the sign of death. We are created as individuals and when we lose that individuality, we die.




And there we have it. Self-glorification as its aim. Have you talked to the serpent in Genesis 3?
He said the same thing to Eve, did you know that? Yeah the same thing!

Jews and Christians knows how well it went.

Sorry but I would advice you that you do not destroy your life by becoming a temple monk to worship the sun. You don't have to achieve "ego-death" or this other eastern mysticism mumbojumbo.
You don't have to go to a church either. Just recognize that it is not you who is making your heart to beat, that you are not your own strength or glory. Then begin to love others There is peace.

Not in a hindu temple.