Our Minds Need To Be Provoked
If we lead a life trying not to cause harm, but don’t believe in God, will God hold that against us?
If God doesn’t hold it against us, then we don’t need to believe in God.
If God doesn’t require us to be perfect believers, then God accepts us the way we are.
If we lead a life that causes suffering to others but believe in God, does God forgive the harm?If there is a God, we should have direct communication, with no necessity for belief.
To live a life of belief is to live a life of wishful thinking, which may be powerful but cannot ever be resolved. Belief cannot be proven, so there must be an element of doubt, however small – and that’s why this topic is touchy. This cognitive dissonance happens in Buddhism as well.
Cognitive dissonance: the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes.
The reason why the Buddha said, “Do not believe a word I say; test the words for yourself” is that he wanted us to know directly (and even if the Buddha didn’t say these words, it’s still good advice for everything we do).
Why live in hope when we can know?
Don’t just follow others because others follow others.
😀
By not following others, there’s no requirement to be a ‘certain’ way.
BUDDHA IN THE MUD is a blog - a living book based on the Dzogchen teachings. Our teacher is life, and life is karma. We are all Buddhas in the mud of concepts. 
This reminds me of a time in my early twenties, when I told my (very religious) father, that I do not believe in God. His immediate response (quite spontaneous, without any thought) was that it did not matter at all, for God believes in me, my believing in God or not, was completely irrelevant!
it’s all in the heart.
Tony