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| Amarna and the Origin of Life; What do you believe? | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 18 2009, 01:17 AM (693 Views) | |
| Davian | Mar 18 2009, 01:17 AM Post #1 |
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The Great Hymn (which is, by the way, a beautiful piece of poetry) says: Thou appearest beautifully on the horizon of heaven, Thou living Aton, the beginning of life! When thou art risen on the eastern horizon, Thou hast filled every land with thy beauty. Thou art gracious, great, glistening, and high over every land; Thy rays encompass the lands to the limit of all that thou hast made: As thou art Re, thou reachest to the end of them; (Thou) subduest them (for) thy beloved son. Though thou art far away, thy rays are on earth; Though thou art in their faces, no one knows thy going. When thou settest in the western horizon, The land is in darkness, in the manner of death. They sleep in a room, with heads wrapped up, Nor sees one eye the other. All their goods which are under their heads might be stolen, (But) they would not perceive (it). Every lion is come forth from his den; All creeping things, they sting. Darkness is a shroud, and the earth is in stillness, For he who made them rests in his horizon. Do you believe Akhnaton meant that God literally designed all that is? Or did he mean "made" in the sense that God is nature, and his personification (the sun) nourishes all things? I'm inclined to believe the latter. More importantly, what do you, as an Atenist, believe is the relationship between God and the origin of life? |
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"A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge." Carl Sagan | |
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| Astennu | Mar 18 2009, 01:39 AM Post #2 |
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Just a odd random thought, but I feel compelled to start with it: I once read a Science Fiction story revolving around Moses and some scribes. Moses had limited funds, but wanted to write the story of creation. He started talking about billions of years, the dinosaurs, evolution, etc ... basically a thought out and rational view of creation. However, the scribe pointed out that he only had enough money for so much paper and not all of it would fit so Moses said okay and recounted the version that made it into the bible. I liked the story. Anyway, I believe that Aten is nature. He is part of all things, connected to all things, and nourishing all that is, was and will be. I see the sun as his symbol, which reinforces that He nourishes all of creation. I don't know if he had the current forms of life in mind, but I think he did get the ball rolling and maybe even nudged things in a certain direction. |
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| Osarsiph | Jul 14 2009, 03:47 PM Post #3 |
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I agree that Aten is nature and that He is part of all things and nourishing all that is etc. I also agree that the sun disk is His symbol that reinforces that He nourishes all creation. In fact the solar symbol is used by many religions and esoteric groups as the most potent symbol for God or Divine Power. That being said, I feel that we should make an effort to affirm what our tenet beliefs are; our motives; what we believe is the correct history behind Akhenaten and His reign; basically creating our own Bible as it were. I remember for example the Church Of Satan's founder Anton LaVey creating the Satanic Bible and starting his own absurd religion based on it. If someone like that could pull a stunt like that and become famous, what is stopping the Atenist movement from growing as it should? I have noticed after a long time watching, that Atenism has been struggling to be noticed in the world. Maybe people are not taking it seriously? What I will attempt to do is to put in random thoughts as they come to me and help feed into the Atenist cause as much as I can. I know some things I may say, may seem absurd to some and enlightening to others and I would like feedback so I can gauge in what direction Atenism must flow. |
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| Meryre | Jul 15 2009, 12:23 PM Post #4 |
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Writing an Atenist Bible is a possibility, but I am not sure it's such a good idea since I don't want to carve into stone what an Atenist should or should not believe. Also, we have Akhenaten's hymn to Aten as the foundation of our religion; should we really expand on that or just let every Atenist choose their own path? |
| www.atenism.org & www.atenism.net | |
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| Astennu | Jul 16 2009, 09:11 AM Post #5 |
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To quote The Love Guru, a Bible is only: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Essentially it is a manual on how to live our lives, and writing an Atenist manual could be a rather good idea, as a manual is not set in stone. It can just be general beliefs held by most, but also list things on diets, ways of living, fasting, how to perform rituals, how to set up an altar, etc. Most importantly, people need a foundation to build on... and this is something that Atenism is missing right now. You don't have to say "You have to believe this," you only have to say "Some people believe this and you don't have to believe it if you don't want to." |
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| Akhenaten10 | Aug 29 2009, 07:15 PM Post #6 |
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Am I in the minority when i say I believe Aten is an actual being that transcends nature and has designed it to his liking? |
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| Meryre | Sep 18 2009, 06:31 PM Post #7 |
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I have to agree with you on that point. God's creation is perfect. Suffering and pain comes from an ignorance of the truth. If one understands that believing in God and become one with Him on a spiritual level and applying the power of prayer in our lives can we overcome what seems imperfect but is necessary for our learning and growth as human beings. |
| www.atenism.org & www.atenism.net | |
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| Glenn Waters | Oct 19 2010, 03:17 PM Post #8 |
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Aten was called the creator of man and the nurturing spirit of the world. In the Book of the Dead, Aten is called on by the deceased, "Hail, Aten, thou lord of beams of light, when thou shinest, all faces live." |
| Thou art throughout their lord, even in their weakness. | |
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