#-it would be cool to quantify and study it but the theory holds up

[catboybiologist]

Do you get periods? Do you menstruate blood or not?

🙄 just ask me what my genitals are and be up front about it

[valdemart]

A New Experiment (NSFW ValdemarxReader)

I made a nasty Valdemar fic because I’m 🎵Human Garbage🎵

It’s Valdemar so warnings for medical kink, mentions of gore (I don’t think its that intense), dead bodies, some swearing, and everything else that goes with everybody’s favorite Quaestor.

((I know hysterical paroxysm probably wasn’t actually a treatment or whatever, and time line wise it doesn’t really fit, but for the sake of this story I do not give a fuck. Do I want to romance the horrible demon doctor? Yes? Am I foolish enough to think it’s possible? Absolutely not. This is as good as it gets, fuckos, not being murdered maybe.))

To make it an entire year as a student doctor under Doctor Valdemar was previously unheard of. If the student didn’t vanish mysteriously never to be heard from again, they fled to another country and refused to talk about it. You, however, had done it and it hadn’t even been hard. As head doctor of the palace, Valdemar had no time for anything not related to science. All you had to do was focus on work while you were working and do everything they said immediately and correctly.

You had even managed to get a few compliments from them. They were not the type to hand out praise, but you had gotten ‘adequate work’ several times and even one ‘well done’.

There were a few ‘eccentricities’ to deal with, but what genius wasn’t a little bizarre? Another year or so working under them and no doubt you’d leave to become a brilliant surgeon.

After an entire year of hard work and dedication, you wouldn’t have thought that you’d undo it all with one little mistake, but isn’t that always how it happened?

The city morgue had apparently gotten a new delivery man; specifically, a tall, brown eyed delivery man with a roguishly handsome smile. You hadn’t had a lot of time for dating while attending medical school and, well, you were only human. You had to flirt with him a little bit. Despite him hauling around unclaimed corpses, he was in the mood to flirt a little too. Doctor Valdemar was engrossed in a project so you made small talk with the man while you counted the bodies and signed his delivery ledger. He told an unfunny joke and you giggled. It was harmless and didn’t interrupt your work at all. As soon as he left, you were back to work, categorizing the corpses based on possible causes of death to be examined further.

But, later, white cleaning various beakers and test tubes, your mind began to wander. You couldn’t help the big, stupid grin plastered to your face as you thought of the delivery man. He’d be by next week and maybe by then you would have the nerve to ask him to dinner. Or maybe he would ask you, wouldn’t that be something.

Valdemar called your name loudly and impatiently and you jumped. Had they said your name already without you hearing it? They did not like having to repeat themselves. In jumping, you had managed to knock two test tubes off the table. They broke with two quiet ‘tinks’ against the floor. You stared at them wide eyed for a moment before looking up. Doctor Valdemar was less than a foot away from you and frowning.

Shit…

You hadn’t ever broken anything before. The last person to break something had been an assistant and Doctor Valdemar had stepped on their hand while they were picking up the shards, driving the glass into their skin. That had made you conscientious about maintaining a firm grip on everything in the dungeon.

After a horrible, silent moment of staring, Valdemar smiled.

“Distracted today, are we? It wouldn’t have anything to do with that handsome man that was here earlier, would it?”

They weren’t yelling, but they often didn’t so there was no telling how mad Valdemar was right now.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor Valdemar. I’ll clean it up and get right back to work.”

“Leave it for now.”

This kind of thing didn’t happen to you. You were a professional, dammit. You had never gotten in trouble before and now Valdemar was going to make you eat those broken test tubes.

Valdemar turned to the only two other staff currently on and waved their hand at them.

“Leave us.”

They exchanged glances with one another and then shot you two helpless, sympathetic looks before climbing the stairs to the palace.

“Come join me at my desk for a moment, wont you?”

Your feet felt like lead as you dragged yourself to the desk in the middle of the dungeon. Valdemar sat down, but you waited for them to nod at you before you dared to take a seat. There was another endless moment of silence as they watched you over their steepled fingers.

“Was I right? We’re you thinking of that delivery boy?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Of all the stupid things to get in trouble for.

“Seems even the good little humans lose their heads in the spring.”

This would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying.

“Mating season and all.”

Maybe you’ll be the first student to be forgiven?

“When was the last time you had sex?”

Valdemar didn’t waste time mincing words. A forthright question like this was embarrassing but not uncommon.

“Oh, um, two years ago I believe, Doctor.”

“Hmm, I see. Do you masturbate often?”

Despite your fear, you couldn’t help your blush at that question.

“Um, not very, I don’t think, Doctor.”

“Quantify it.”

“Um, once or twice a month.”

“I see.”

This next span of silence really does go on forever. It’s almost as though Valdemar has no intention of speaking. Their unblinking gaze is too much to bear and you speak first.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“How?”

“P-Pardon?”

“How are you going to keep it from happening again?”

Well, you hadn’t expected that question. Usually, when you apologized to someone, they just accepted that you would do better.

“I, um, I’ll just-“

Valdemar stared at you while you stuttered, their passive face making it very clear that they could wait all day for an answer.

“I don’t want to disappoint you, Doctor. I’ll do better. I won’t get distracted anymore.”

“And how can you guarantee that? The human drive to mate is so primal. It’s so deeply embedded in your brain that it will almost certainly always win over logic. I don’t blame you for what you are, but I don’t trust you to be able to resolve it on your own. After all, you aren’t even a doctor yet, are you?”

Well, at least they weren’t angry. You weren’t sure what they had planned, but it wouldn’t be like that time they broke another assistant’s arm for preparing the wrong slice of a cadaver’s brain.

“I’ll do whatever you think I need to do, Doctor.”

They rose suddenly and silently, making you flinch slightly.

“I’m glad to hear you say that. It’s refreshing for someone to take responsibility instead of blubbering excuses. Although, I would expect nothing less from you.”

You watched Valdemar walk over to one of the metal exam tables and reach underneath to pull out the gynecological stirrups. A feeling of dread washed over you, but all you could think was how well you had oiled the stirrups, as they no longer squeaked when they were moved.

“It will be a simple treatment. Not invasive at all and so little blood,” Valdemar explained, steepling their fingers together again. “Now, please undress from the waist down and lie on the table.”

You didn’t move. You couldn’t. What the hell was Valdemar planning on doing to you? Cut you? Sew you up? Because you were distracted one time?! No! Please no! This couldn’t be happening! Not this!

“D-Doctor Valdemar, please, whatever you’re planning… I’m sorry! I’ll work twice as long just-“

You could try to run, but how far would you get? Valdemar was almost supernaturally graceful and quick and if they caught you, there would be Hell to pay.

Valdemar frowned but didn’t otherwise move. They were studying your face as though they were trying to read your thoughts and figure out why you weren’t obeying them.

“Are you afraid I’m going to mutilate your genitals? Really, now. Horny is one problem I can fix, but I can’t help you if you’ve gone stupid as well. If I carve you up, I lose my only capable assistant for days while you recover.”

Valdemar sounded annoyed, but there was the slightest bit of amusement in their tone. And while you desperately did not want to stall further and really anger them, the fear of the unknown medical procedure planned for you kept you frozen in place.

“Please tell me what you’re going to do.”

Your plea was raspy as you fought and failed to hold back tears, but to your great relief, Valdemar didn’t seem any more annoyed with your sniveling. It was the same impassive face they wore when a patient pleaded to save a limb from amputation. Just a minor irritation.

“Hysterical paroxysm.”

“What?!”

Then, to your great perplexity, Valdemar grinned. Not the sharped tooth grin that accompanied the arrive of more corpses for autopsy but a closed lipped grin like…they were trying to comfort you? What was happening?

“Hysteria. A most amusing theory, but further proof that the human mind is incapable of truly grasping medical science. However, in this case? This might be the cure we need. Now then,” Valdemar said, patting the exam table. “Up you go.”

What choice did you have? You could run. If that didn’t change Valdemar’s mind about cutting you up then you’d still lose your residency. You’d never be a doctor then.

And…

This was quite possibly the nicest Valdemar had ever been to anyone. They were the smartest and most capable doctor you knew. You had been chasing their approval since day one and never once had you seen them attempt any sort of bedside manner before. But now they were endeavoring it specifically for you. Squaring your trembling shoulders the best you could, you reached up and under your coat and pulled your pants and panties down with one smooth tug. You shivered as the cool air of the dungeon hit your legs and Valdemar merely watched patiently as you worked off your shoes and folded your pants.

“There’s a good girl,” Valdemar cooed as you laid down on the table. The praise had to have been meant to mock you, but as they almost gently assisted you with putting your legs in the stirrups, you weren’t sure of anything anymore. Valdemar had cracked ribs and dislocated ankles while strapping patients into restraints before. Was this really happening?

Valdemar opened a few buttons on the bottom of your lab coat and flipped each side outward, exposing you completely. The doctor never was one to waste time with a privacy blanket.

“No wonder I’m having problems with you,” they said as they ghosted a single digit down your slit, making you shiver. “Your little cunt is so engorged that there’s no blood left for your brain.”

They spoke with an almost bored air of professionalism, like they were examining a mole and not about to finger fuck you to orgasm. As horribly embarrassed as you were, prone in front of your boss like this, you risked a quick glace downwards. You only saw the crisp white dressing wrapped around the doctor’s head as they gave you a thorough visual examination, staring intently at your vulva as they softly spread and stretched you lips.  You bit back a whine. How were you supposed to work for them after this? You’d never be able to look them in the eye again.

“Now then,” the doctor said, standing to their full height. “Let’s commence treatment.”

Two long, hard fingers that felt more like a medical instrument than a part of someone’s hand entered you swiftly. The cold rubber of the glove made you gasp and your nipples hardened under you clothing.

Valdemar didn’t move like you had expected them to and instead called your name. Reluctantly and with a great deal of mortification, you met their gaze while you were being penetrated. They stared at you, unblinking, their razor blade smile finally back on their face.

“Do feel free to make noise. It will help me speed the treatment along.”

Your head fell back as they began, their cool fingers almost scrapping at your walls as their thumb made a perfunctory back and forth motion against your clitoris. It was as sterile and unerotic as something like this was possibly capable of being. But, somehow, it was doing the trick. You could feel yourself heating up against the cool air. Despite your humiliation, your boss was actually going to make you cum.

Despite? Or because of?

Valdemar was deathly silent now and, even with your eyes being snapped shut, you could feel their gaze on your face with needle like focus. Their movements didn’t change in the slightest, almost like they were using a machine.

And yet…

You were beginning to squirm and twitch under their ministrations. You balled your fists against the cold metal of the exam table and let the first of several heady moans escape you lips. You were really going to cum on your weird boss’s fingers on a table you were going to have to see every day you worked.

That thought was your undoing.

As you bit back a squeal and your back arched off the table, Valdemar continued moving their fingers until your contractions stopped and you tried to pull away from them. Then their touch was gone completely. You allowed yourself a moment to catch your breath. Despite the horribly bizarre nature of it all, it had been a good orgasm. However, the light, warm feeling fled you faster than it usually did. Most likely it was from the stirrups and exam table and lack of a soft, warm bed or the loving caress of a partner. Your high extinguished, you wanted nothing more than to get dressed, but you didn’t have the doctor’s permission. You propped yourself up enough to see Valdemar, who was now standing a few feet to your right next to a torch. Holding their fingers up to the light, they were scissoring their two fingers back and forth, studying your cervical mucus as it stretched. A hot wave of embarrassment sent you back down.

“D-Doctor? May I get dressed now?”

You looked when they didn’t answer right away and you watched with shame as they scraped your discharge off their fingers and into a vial.

“Yes. The treatment is over now.”

Your legs cramped slightly as you removed them and stood up and your toes tingled as blood finally reached them again. That discomfort was nothing compared to the aching empty that had suddenly taken over your chest. No, you hadn’t exactly had a long-term partner before and your lovers were few and far between since most people didn’t understand the long hours of a medical student, but you hadn’t been into casual encounters either. There had been cuddling and pillow talk with them and now, as you pulled your pants up in silence, you felt ashamed and used. Obviously, Valdemar wasn’t interested in romantic entanglements, that much you’d bet any amount of money on, but had this just been some weird power trip? Or an experiment? You were grateful it hadn’t involved the removal of any of your organs like most of the doctor’s experiments, but it did nothing to stop the sob that rose in your throat.

You froze. There was no way Valdemar hadn’t heard you. They had been incredibly accommodating with you this entire time, but no doubt your crying would anger them finally. Your luck had to run out eventually. You didn’t look up as they moved towards you, their heels clicking on the stone floor.

“I’m sorr-“

Your apology was cute off when their hand grabbed your chin, forcing you to look at them. Their grip wasn’t painful, but the indifference in their eyes as they studied your face knocked the wind out of you like a fist.

“I’m so sorr-“

“Oxytocin.”

“What?”

“Oxytocin. Dreadful little chemical. But it’s always so fascinating how humans are such slaves to their hormones. In the end, what are humans but machines powered by chemicals and electrical currents?”

You shivered at their voice. That odd, detached way they spoke about humans as though they themselves were not one was also so unsettling, even if you were usually able to ignore it.

What happened next, however, was the weirdest thing to happen in all your time working under the doctor. Stiffly, and with no affection, Valdemar leaned forward and pressed their lips to your forehead. They did not pucker and they made no effort to actually kiss you, but their thin, cool lips against you was probably the closest they had ever gotten to it. It was the equivalent of pressing a lizard’s face against you for a few seconds, but it stopped your tears immediately.

“That will be sufficient comfort for you, I hope?”

“Yes, Doctor,” you replied, your voice soft with incredulousness. There was no way that had actually happened. All of this was some incredibly messed up dream. Clearly, you had been working too hard and were stressed.

“Good. Now, take your lunch hour and collect yourself. Be back here on time and set up the diaphanization chemicals. Don’t make me wait.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Unsure of how to carry yourself, you half bowed, half curtsied before turning to ascend the stairs. Hopefully an hour would be enough time to process the last ten or so minutes. It probably wouldn’t be, but at least you were being given any time at all.

Before your foot had even hit the first step, you felt those long, thin fingers wrap tightly around your hips. You froze and your breath hitched in your throat.

“One last thing before you go,” Valdemar said softly, their breath tickling your ear as they spoke. “Do be sure to let me know if you start feeling distracted again. I need to take care of my favorite subject.”

[cardavem]

@rubycard​

Conflict weighs heavy on a mind too tender yet for the wrong of this world. Being sheltered in the external bureau facility proved to be suffocating at times, tiresome in unimaginable extents. Freedom was but a fleeting taste whenever they visited Akademeia, a craved sentiment with naïve thought that once properly inscribed would be invigorating and restorative after a decade of isolation.

Soon, that idealised reality shattered in hundreds of fragments upon being faced with the truth. Never a fan of unrealistic theories of folie de grandeur from other classmates that more often than once beg the question if they’ve gone nuts as he may have been, the blond expected to be treated with a degree of respect befitting basic human norms. Alas, he couldn’t be any more delusional.

Everywhere he went, a haze of ill sentiments and biting whispers too rude to quantify caused his body to tense uncomfortably until he returned to the intimacy of his room where prying eyes would see him no more. His stomach turned in ways beyond his comprehension at the reminder that Class Zero is to live in this institution from now on. Thankfully, the blond could count with his twin’s undivided comfort that only he knew how to assuage his troubled heart without the necessity to explain himself.

“You’ll figure it out. And I might too.”

Attention monopolised by his soothing tone, Ace removes slightly the arm draped over his eyes from where he lays to look at his blood brother. Finding sanctuary in someone else permits a wider spectrum of knowledge of said person, at least that’s what the cadet learned. Even if we are to see them as family, we are different. It’s just the two of us. As far back as he remembers, it has always been that way with the promise that whatever may happen, they will be together. A huff abandons his lungs with the raise and fall of chest honed with many years of military training.

“Again with that.” Ace complains, hands pushing unto the soft mattress to sit by his brother’s side. It comes without question that they share similar thoughts and sentiments, byproduct of their sensitive hearts. For some unfathomable reason, encouraging and comforting as his words may be, there is always something lacking that causes a sense of uneasiness to Ace.

Instinctively, his hand finds the other’s. Mirrored fingers move by inertia in a weak, linked hold. The warmth and reasoning behind such intimate action brings a smile to Ace’s face before azure meets azure. “You will too. Don’t you remember? Every step on the way, we’ll be by each other’s side.” Needless to say, he’s loath to even consider leaving him behind and watch him drown in the sea of darkness that his feelings convert into sometimes. No matter how dark, Ace promised to stay by his side–– for his darkness doesn’t scare him, just like his brother isn’t scared of his own.

“It doesn’t matter how long it takes, or if we’ll tread this road at a slower pace. There is no point in rushing towards a future without you.” Slender fingers give a soft, reassuring squeeze to the others’, smile ever growing. “We’ll do this. Together.”

@cardavem ⭑ 

  A faint thud pricks the cadet’s gentle interest from his novel. He steadily peers over his reading glasses feeling somewhat relieved to see his brother amble through the doors. A quiet gaze trickles after his mirrored half, noting the the nettled expressions displaying on his kin. Ace did not need to utter a single syllable for Spade to recognize his dismal behaviors. He silently coaxes his brother to retire beside him, a hand patting twice on the firm mattress. Once Ace settles into their shared space, he flails dejectedly.  

 While his brother’s umbrage began to bruise, Spade faintly coos at his disgruntled entrance. “You’ll figure it out. And I might too,” a thumb laps onto his tongue before he turns to a new page. Once he found a proper end point in his studies, he secures his book shut and places it on the night stand. He exhales warmly from his nostrils as his glasses were removed promptly. It’s tough being elite figures of academy. But from the transition from the bureau to a brand new social environment proves to be more of a challenge than what they originated.

Upon their arrival to the magic academy, rumors escalated quickly about the becoming of Class Zero. Gossip rambles from every common area filled with students and they all had the tendency of spreading ruse like wildfire. However, among all the cadets who dons the crimson colors, the twins were the prime appeal. Time and time again, Ace can be found fuming  in the grey areas of his emotions when the someone banters on their kinship. Spade, on the other hand, strives to see past their tedious remarks by ignoring all except when he is summoned. The chatter about the infamous pair is too much of a distraction around his milieu. 

To pacify Ace’s deafening silence, Spade simpers into his direction to only observe his brother’s cloudy response. There was a time where Spade knew no one else, but Ace. Even beyond the womb of their unnamed mother, they clenched onto this ideology that family is always first and nothing would be able to sever their bond. As long as he could even remember, they always end up sharing the same concepts, aspirations, and subtle interests. During their time imprisoned by the bureau, the training had proven to be quite rigorous and tiresome for the pair. Still, Ace was always there to encourage him with kindle spirit. Spade is the very first person he sees everyday and it always ends in hushed whispers bidding each other a good night. If Spade didn’t know any better, he would say Ace was his soulmate duplicated in his own blood. 

Spade positions himself to let his legs drape off the edge of the mattress. For a moment he wonders what would happen if one dies before the other. The very thought about death was nearly indigestible, but it was the reality of their world. Once one feats his last breath, the memories will be wipe cleanly from the others. Golden locks draws his head downwards, only to shake lightly at the the cursed thought. While lost in his reflections, he is interrupted by the cool touch laces their hands together. Spade blinks towards his brother’s congenial smile which radiates warmly on his face. 

Ace always had a crystal clear conscious. Every word he spoke was fluid and sound, bearing the natural gifts of an true delegate. “You can always depend on me,” a gracious curl winds his lips. Extending his other limb to grasp his doppler’s shoulder, he reassures the twin that he would always have his back. “...I will make sure nothing ever happens to you. Your the only brother I got, after all,” he jests purely from endearment. “As long as we have each other’s back, I know we can overcome and conquer everything thrown at us.” his forehead presses to the crook between brass shoulder plate and his brother’s chest. 

[interfaithconnect]

So seeing as this a cool interfaith blog, I think it fun to ask: Are all paths, at their core, the same path but seen through different "lenses?"

Salvē, Anon! I hope it’s ok with other mods if I jump in here, since this was a major issue in my interfaith work and peer ministry in college.

The “all paths up the same mountain” idea sounds comforting but ultimately fails to see the sharp differences in the ontological and teleological stances of various religions. It also fails to grasp that some religions are about orthodoxy (“correct belief” - think of Protestant Christianities) and others about orthopraxy (“correct practice” - e.g., Gardnerian Wicca, Roman polytheism). In short, religions are way too different to arrive at the “all paths, one mountain” conclusion while being intellectually honest. While controversial, Stephen Prothero’s book God is Not One tries to explain the problems with that idea.

This view also implies that there is ultimately “one goal” or “one god,” and that any culture or religion that doesn’t agree with that view is backwards, unenlightened, and therefore does not deserve a place at the interfaith table. Furthermore, this idea has roots in imperialism, raising the voices of certain privileged monotheists over indigenous polytheistic cultures that are less likely to agree.

What interfaith movements seem to be moving away from is the whitewashing of our traditions to be fundamentally all the same, and moving toward honoring our differences while utilizing our similar values to achieve real-world positive change. The Better Together college program exemplified this by putting most of its focus on interfaith volunteering and other social justice projects.

- Mod Evodije

For me personally, I view religion as a way for people to feel connected to the universe, be a part of something bigger, while expressing a part of their individuality. My religious beliefs, while Christian in essence, are rooted in the fact that my religion does not know the ultimate truth; Deity is incomprehensible. To answer your question, I believe every religion walks different paths, with each person holding a piece of divine light. To quote the Gospel of Philip:

“The names of worldly things are utterly deceptive, for they turn the heart from what is real to what is unreal. Whoever hears the word “God” thinks not of what is real but rather what is unreal. So also with the words “Father,” “Son,” “Church,” and all the rest, people do not think of what is real but what is unreal, though the words refer to what is real. Do not be deceived. If words belonged to the eternal realm, they would never be pronounced in this world, nor would they designate worldly things…

Truth brought forth many names in the world for us, and no one can refer to Truth without names. Truth is one and many, for our sakes, to teach us about the One, in love, through the many.”

- Mod Lydia

I think some religions have common roots in similar/the same books or teachings, such as the Abrahamic roots that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share. I feel that, regardless of your stance on similarity between faiths, all paths should be respected and treated with as much value as the one you follow. My family is interfaith and regardless of the different teachings and lessons that Judaism and Catholicism each emphasize, my father always taught us to be good people, no matter where our faiths/belief systems ended up landing. I don’t think it’s possibly to quantify the multitude of faiths that are out there as “the same”, and I think that everyone looks at the world through their own eyes, so the whole concept of lenses is hard to quantify, too. Everyone practices religion in their own way.

As far as how the Jewish learners of old saw this issue, it all comes back to Torah: the whole premise behind the Torah is that we mere mortals have only a finite amount of understanding - we can’t totally wrap our heads around the concepts that the divine presents to us. The Torah itself is a paragon of diversity - it is something both unifying to all who embrace its teachings and deeply individual to each learner who delves into learning from it.

“The divine reality is singular, whereas we inhabit a reality that is characterized by multiplicity and diversity; Torah, however, embraces both realities.”

- Mod Elana

Great question! With the disclaimer that there’s no single definitive answer, and that none of us will ever know for sure anyway, I personally don’t think so. I believe that every religion is correct in its own way, and that all paths and practices are right for those who practice them. For example, I believe that all gods exist and are separate beings, but I also don’t think people who believe in a single, all-encompassing divine power are wrong. That may seem counterintuitive, or like a cop-out, but the way I explain it is that everyone lives in a slightly different “layer” of reality – Christians in one (and maybe separate layers for particular denominations), Hellenic pagans in one, Buddhists in one, and so one – and every religion is “true” in the layer in which it exists, and for the people who ascribe to it. These “layers” aren’t set in stone, and people can move between them or exist simultaneously in several at the same time, but every person is subject to the rules of the religion in which they believe.

In other words, the power of our belief creates our own reality. I can’t tell you how exactly that works because I don’t know, but I also think it’s not something humans are supposed to, or capable of, knowing. I think that all religions are equally valid and have truth within them even where they seem to contradict one another. Any theory that a living person could come up with is probably not the whole story, nor entirely wrong, just because God/the gods are so much bigger than we are and exist beyond us in a way that’s outside of our understanding. I don’t think there’s any way to say that our personal reality is the same as everyone else’s, let alone the same as our god’s/s’.

I’ve seen far too many wonderful and loving people who believe and worship differently from myself to think that any of us could be wrong, but I also don’t think the richness and fullness of history and culture should (or can) be simplified to “we all believe the same thing anyway”. I mean, perhaps on some level that is the case (and the majority of religions certainly share similar values), but I myself don’t agree that all paths are ultimately the same.

- Mod Kal

I don’t think all paths are same path in that each is a distinct separate entity in itself, with important cultural differences that need to be respected/honored, and not basically the same thing in a different pair of glasses. But I do believe each religious/spiritual practice is a desire to move towards something greater, more awe-invoking than ourselves as tiny existentially inclined people. It depends on what feels right and good to the person themself. So, while other mono/poly/atheistic spiritual traditions may be reaching out to something different than I am, we’re all seeking some sort of Thing(s) to give us a sense of being in this life as well as the next (if the latter is ur thing!).

As the Muslim scholar, Ibn-Arabi wrote, “Beware lest you restrict yourself to a particular tenet [concerning the Reality] and so deny any other tenet, for you would forfeit much good, indeed you would forfeit the true knowledge of what [the reality] is. Therefore be completely and utterly receptive to all doctrinal forms.” [x]

- Mod Neha

The Sikh faith was built on the principle that no one religion holds the Truth. Sikh scriptures freely admit that Divinity — Waheguru — is utterly beyond comprehension, and any attempt to know or describe the Divine will fail. According to Sikhi, the only entity that holds the answers is the Divine, and those answers are not accessible to the human intellect. Even Guru Nanak, the first Sikh Guru, could not claim to know the answers to questions of the Divine. In Japji Sahib, the very first composition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib — the Sikh scriptures — the Sikh Gurus describe Waheguru in terms of mystery and unknowability, humbly admitting to their human limitations. Japji Sahib references Hinduism and Islam to highlight the limitations of human intuition and celebrate the diversity of forms through which humanity has attempted to understand the Divine. Without claiming to know the Truth, Japji Sahib humbly records the following passages:

      By thinking, Waheguru cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds ofthousands of times.        …        Some sing that Waheguru seems so very far away        Some sing that Waheguru watches over us, face to face, ever-present        There is no shortage of those who preach and teach        Millions upon millions offer millions of sermons and stories        …        Waheguru is Shiva, Waheguru is Vishnu and Brahma; Waheguru is Parvati and Lakshmi.Even knowing Waheguru, I cannot describe Waheguru; Waheguru cannot be described in words.        …        The state of the faithful cannot be described        One who tries to describe this shall regret the attempt        No paper, no pen, no scribe        can record the state of the faithful.        Such is the Name of the Immaculate Divine.        …What was that time, and what was that moment? What was that day, and what was that date?What was that season, and what was that month, when the Universe was created?The Pandits, the religious scholars [of the Vedas], cannot find that time, even if it is written in the Puranas.That time is not known to the Qazis, who study the Qur’an.The day and the date are not known to the Yogis, nor is the month or the season.Only the Creator who created this creation — only Waheguru Themselves knows.How can we speak of Waheguru? How can we praise Waheguru? How can we describe Waheguru? How can we know Waheguru?O Nanak, everyone speaks of Waheguru, each one wiser than the rest.Great is the Master, Great is Waheguru’s Name. Whatever happens is according to Waheguru’s will.O Nanak, one who claims to know everything shall not be decorated in the world hereafter.

The Sikh answer to your question, anon, is that there is no answer. It would be foolish of me to claim knowledge of the Divine, and any answer I provide will inevitably fail to describe Waheguru’s infinite majesty. I cannot tell you if every faith is the same, nor if they are different, because I do not believe that any faith — not even my own — is entirely True. I believe that nothing short of Waheguru can understand Waheguru’s nature, and to that end, it would be hubris for me to answer one way or the other as if I have an inkling of understanding. To Sikhs, it does not truly matter whether or not all faiths are “the same”, for no one truly knows what Divinity is. To Sikhs, as long as one lives a kind and compassionate life, performs service to others, and pursues justice and betterment for all human beings, it doesn’t matter which religions are true and false and which are the same and different. In the words of Guru Gobind Singh: Manas ki jat sabhe ekai pahicanbo. Recognize the human race as One.

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕਾ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ ਕੀ ਫ਼ਤਿਹ ।

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.

- Mod Lily

In Hinduism, that is probably a semi-accurate statement. I say ‘semi’ because there is still a group of us who view it otherwise. As for me, I would think it’s fairly accurate.

In Hinduism, there are many forms of worship. During Thaipusam, millions of devotees pierce needles through their body to carry a kavadi and walk from a temple to temple. While that is one way to show devotion, others carry milk pots on their heads and walk instead. So you see in Hinduism itself there are alternatives to certain things that are done.

Generally all faiths teach us to be good human beings. The difference lies in how to achieve the greater divine and be united with our creator again.

In conclusion, Hinduism believes that all paths lead to God.

“Whatever you do, do it as a dedication to God. This will bring you the tremendous experience of joy and life-freedom forever.” - Bhagavad Gita

- Mod T