Ask a Druze

Was on this thread and some anons were curious. Well ask away

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=ZWyHuN1G1vk
theepochtimes.com/n3/681034-3-year-old-remembers-past-life-identifies-murderer-and-location-of-body/
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

How come there are so many of you guys in Israel?

Ate you more similar to Christans, Jews, or Muslims?

Many were already living there and just got annexed by Israel. We are also recruited into a division of their army due to myths claiming we are immortal on the battlefield

Culturally we are most like muslims since with them whilst hiding our faith. Thereby our own culture had to adopt many customs (eating pork).
But spiritually we align more with Buddhism in our personal quest for understanding this life and beyond.
Lastly many higher-ups in our faith use another name to define us: True Christians. The reasoning is that we follow the original teachings of Jesus Christ instead of the inbred demon you call the bible that was changed over the course of centuries

Thanks for coming back!

Are you monotheists? What is your group's traditional origin, and does it differ from scholars' views on the matter?

Interesting this is happening the same time as my thread. Thoth is one of our prophets.

How do you know you're following Jesus original teachings if you ignore the Bible? Do you have your own, special, holy book?

Can you tell a little about the Druze idea of God? A quick Google search tells me it's close to my own personal beliefs - that God is all of creation (matter, energy, thought, ideas, etc.) and thus is incomprehensible. Would love to hear more about your faith OP.

Hey glad you found me. The other thread was archived.
>Are you monotheists?
Not necessarily. Yes we have our "commandments" but our goal is to unite understanding of all religions, not divide like so many do to stake their claim on Earth.
>What is your group's traditional origin, and does it differ from scholars' views on the matter?
Our teachings say we originate from Phoenicians. Some argue that we go even as far back as Atlantis, however there is no proof to back it up. All I will say is that Thoth's tablets really reflect our faith

>Holy Book
Yes. Not to sound edgy, but its literally named the Book of Wisdom (or Truth depending on translation)

How has the chaos in Syria been affecting Druzes?

>God?
Simplest explanation: most people pray as a ritual. For us thinking is the gift God gave us so to simply think and philosophize is praying.
Taking this a step forward God to us is not a being. It is infinite and any attempt we use to define it will always limit it. But God is consciousness. Noetics has some interesting findings that could explain this

The Druze are people who just want to be left alone. We have not allied with any of the major political parties. Even if we did they would deny us or even kill us.
pol loves to hate on muslims so i'll share this tidbit. Aside from Shite, we are the most hated group. They call us apostates of Islam.

Our link with Buddhism is our view on death. It is stated that all our souls go Siin which when literally translated from Arabic means China. Specifically it is the area known today as Tibet. But whats odd is that Siin had an older meaning which was a place far far away. Some question today if that place is actually far in distance, or far in terms of another dimension.

What are your thoughts on christians, muslims, and jews?
(and Zoroastrians if you have an opinion on them).

It almost sounds like a new age religion

before the Lebanese civil war we were just left to our own devices. Afterwards we have grown cautious of Christians (Maronite specifically). Muslims we always had to hide from so we try to just avoid them in general. Jews is an odd one. On the one hand they have allied with us, but on the other we know its just because the rest of the Middle East hates them. It more like they need us now and will dispose of us once they get their way.
Nothing on Zoroastrians though

Siin sounds like one of the old Babylonian gods of the Mazdaeans of lower Mesopotamia, really.

Living where all these competing aggressive 'truths' were trying to outdo and destroy one another must have led to many frustrated thinkers who wished for something better and more cerebral. I'm glad some of yous survived at least. Sounds like I'll have to do some reading up on you. Are the scriptures translated and online?

New age has been riddled with spam though. I agree that there are gems in there that link back to more ancient beliefs. Wish someone could sort out all that bullshit
Our scriptures are very hard to obtain and in fact done this way to avoid corruption. Thus the book of wisdom is kept in Arabic and only those who devote their life to the faith are permitted to read it. This acts as more of a purified well that can't be poisoned by the ill-informed public. The down side is people in our religion know so little about themselves and are mostly ignorant. We even have a name for them which roughly translates to the un-awakened

Thanks for the answer. One more: is it blasphemous to personify God, acknowledging that this limits it and willingly doing so to serve ones ideological needs?

Limiting God is like a plateau. Doing so will not harm you, but it will prevent you from achieving more. Much like staying blue pilled. Its when you take the next leap do you realize how wrong you were for limiting your understanding all this time.

This is sad, and I hope that somebody from within the initiated who feels safe in the West might reveal something, though I see how this might endanger those left behind at home.

Disgusts me what Western foreign policy has done to help undermine and destroy religious diversity in the Near East over the last few decades... :(

Are there any interesting figures from Druze history in the mediaeval period that might be worth reading about? Did you achieve self-rule at any point?

I suppose you descend mostly from Aramaic speakers, so I'm surprised you didn't preserve the language for religious purposes at least, like many of your Christian neighbours. Are there no distinguishing features to tell your Arabic speech from other Levantines?

Interesting point. I have to ask though, since God is incomprehensible, our understanding of it must logically 'plateau' somewhere, so is it really harming oneself to choose to limit God in a way that best serves our (admittedly earthly) goals?

We did achieve self rule although briefly. French occupation really fucked it all up.
The problem with survival adaptation is that by being an apostate we would be killed on spot for any identifier. Even today Druze who travel to Saudi Arabia are given ID that say they are muslim. its all to protect them from killings.
Due to this constant fear of being destroyed our teachings condemned physical manifestations of our faith. We look down on those who would for example wear the druze star as jewelry because back then that would be a death sentence.
So to take the page from the Jews, their stubbornness did lead to a lot of them dying, but at least they retained their ancient teachings.

Not at all. We have the potential to be anything, however there are physical limitations to those goals. Having the heart of a marathon runner means nothing if you lack legs. Sorry for the exaggeration but certain events in your life will shape your mind.
Which brings me to the internal hierarchy. It goes like this. The mind controls the soul. The sould influences the body.

>Book of Wisdom
Where can I find a copy?

Does it annoy you that Muslims are seen in the west as a persecuted minority when back in the countries they control they basically treat non-muslims like garbage and ethnically cleanse them?

This is the exact name: رسـائـل الـحـكـمـة
I warn you now your path will be met with many lies and deceit. Many who claim to have read the book and their "interpretations" of it. Most translators had hidden agendas to weaken us.
This is the first path. It is simplest but at the same time the most defiled.
I recommend this. To study the Druze faith is the study all faiths. The word Druze has two meanings.
>a sub section of people who fled islam
>Awakening
Awakening is the goal of many religions (Buddhahood, Kundalini, Christ-consciousness) so therefore to study Druze is to study awakening

This internal hierarchy is bizarrely close to some of my ideas... where can I learn more about the faith and these ideas? I can't read Arabic but would very much like to learn more. I would just pick your brain more but I work nights and ought to sleep.

Torah is the same thing, but combining it with Greek philosophy is rad.

The smallest minority is the individual. There is nothing more vulnerable than one. Our path focuses on understanding the individual and his/her quest for truth and awakening.
Lets use Lebanon as an experiment. The Christian areas are so lovely and clean. The Druze areas are peaceful and quiet. The Muslim areas are always trashy and the source of problems. The west should heed our warning

Sup Forums is great for discussion, but I suppose I should invest in a tripcode. Is there any cons associated with getting one? I still want to be user but i don't want you to get shilled by imposters

Yes this guy gets it. Like I said with Christianity it has been manipulated by the rulers of empires to suit their needs. Over time it became this diluted source of truth. I hate to bash a holy text like this, but truth can be studied in books up to a certain point. the rest relies on a master and self

How do you read that? ¿Rasanal aljakama?

>Rasa'il al-Hikma
Epistles of Wisdom

Only trip in threads where your identity matters to the discussion (like this one), and only if your threads generate a decent amount of interest. That being said, I have no way of knowing whether you're actually Druze or not, so I'll have to fact check as best I'm able no matter what's in the name field. Either way, thanks for the answers OP, I'll be checking for more in the future.

You're bashing the Torah?

Thanks for allowing me to share. Also I'll just make one in case i intend to do another

Thanks for answering questions Druze-bro. It was interesting learning about such an uncommon religion

In a way I'm bashing on modern understanding of religion. So don't feel bad. We all suffer from this

>>Rasa'il >Epistles of Wisdom

Aha, finally i realise that 'rasul' (prophet) means literally 'messenger'! Shukran, OP, hehe!

Angel means 'messenger' too (evangelist etc.), so what do you call angels in your language, if this rasul term has another use? What is the position of angels in Druze thought? Is it very different from the other Gnostic-like religions such as Yezidism and various Alawite groups? Do you have any kinship with these other heterodox groups at all?

Anytime. In the mean time do check out that Thoth thread. Today is his bday afterall and I'm sure his favorite present would be to see humanity embracing knowledge

I struggle with Torah all the time. Some Orthodox sects supppsedly won't allow secular education. I got my secular education first, so reading the Torah with Talmud and Kabbalah is challenging.

God damn never thought I'd meet another druze online, are you lebanese?
Also you can't "become" a dirzee, you can only be born one. Apostate's also can't return. That's why there's so few

What brand of yerba mate do you drink my nigga

>Angels
Oh man you are an intellectual my man. The star represents many things, which I can go over another time, but to answer your question It symbolizes the 5 luminaries. These are 5 souls that have shaped and protected humanity since its birth. You will be all quite suprised to find many holy figures are luminaries. Pic related is my favorite and guardian of my home.

You seem to have seeked too much info from others. Its time to go on your self quest and read texts then inflect on them through your meditation

My origins are from Lebanon. Much like how you can't become black you are only born black. Remember Druze has two meanings.

I think its named Amanda. From Argentina if I recall

Can anyone convert and become a Druze-bro or is the faith closed to an ethno-cultural group? Phrased differently, is the religion universal (like Christianity or Islam) or is it particular to a specific people (like Judaism)?

>Oh man you are an intellectual my man.

Haha, I'm just a curious man, that's all!

>5 luminaries.
Fascinating. A surprising number, though. One might have expected seven or three in such a setting.

As for George, you remind me of the Ossets. They have a great devotion to him too, calling him Wastardzhi. Obviously something pre-Christian in this. I love looking at symbolism of figures like that, but sadly have never really had the time in life to make a full dedicated study of it all. Ah well, at least I won't be bored when (if?!) I retire...

really enjoying this, thanks for answering questions

Definition one is a close ethno-cultural group. Definition two has no limits.
Majority of Druze only believe the first definition and therefore truly believe no one can join. Even Druze marrying non-druze will not produce Druze children.
But how is this possible if the religion is all centered around the limitations the mind makes when trying to define life, truth, religion etc.. Unless of course the first definition was more of a survival mechanism to proliferate and not be destroyed by surround threats.

Was taking over Israel part of your plan?

I'm glad you like it. Feel free to ask questions though.

We have never had plans for conquering. We merely want peace and to be left alone

Whatis the "true" teaching of Christ?

Well lets analyze how Christ lived. How would someone like him justified war? How would he have dealt with those who defied him? Study the actions. He is after all our 1st luminary (Green tip of star). Most powerful of luminaries

So, if next arab-israeli war happens, which side would you take?

Good question. We are defensive so whoever attacks us first will be our enemies for that conflict. We don't take sides to be on the offensive. But we will ally with someone who is the enemy of those who threw the first stone

I had lunch in Mas'ada a few weeks ago. Falafel was pretty good

I'm going to take a guess at what each color and luminary is.

>Green: Christ
>Red: St George
>Yellow: Muhammad
>White: Joan of Arc
>Blue: Trump

Do Druze easily recall their past life?

youtube.com/watch?v=ZWyHuN1G1vk

theepochtimes.com/n3/681034-3-year-old-remembers-past-life-identifies-murderer-and-location-of-body/

2/5 not bad. Green was also St. Gabriel. Red was also St. Michael. I forgot which but Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are also luminaries.
That is a very common claim. Though I wasn't blessed with such an experience many of my cousins claimed to be a specific person and recalled how they died also.

>Much like how you can't become black

That's where you're wrong, my Druze friend.

>Also, what are a Druze view of the line of prophets, are there any people that you venerate who are not acknowledged by judaism,christianity,& shia/sunni islam?

>2/5 not bad
Well actually it is since the 2 I got right were the ones you already posted lol

Top KEK. As for your question I have not come across people whom we praise that wasn't already held in high regard in its respectful faith.

well you matched St. George with red. So thats good

Also, Muhammad isn't a luminary? I thought you guys were an offshoot of Islam?

How do you feel about being shit-tier wannabe Yezidis?

In my studies i've focused more on Christianity since its more dominant in western culture (for now lol). I'll ask my mentor about Muhammad when I get the chance.

>Yezidis
Literally who?