Buddhism

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I would define religion as being any system of thought that offers a means of bringing unitity to the human race.

If it only serves to cause divisions.. then it is not a true religion.

The teachings of Buddha and Christ have a lot in common.. so much so.. that it is possible to believe in both of them.

Both teach the highest principles of religion are known through the practice.. and belief in.. loving kindness.. righteousness.. justice.. peace.. wisdom.. truth and freedom.

Both teach the Law of Righteousness is to live by the golden rule.. of treating others as you would wish to be treated yourself.

Both teach not to judge each other.. but instead.. it is much wiser to be judging ourselves.

Buddhism is much more philosophical.. there is a lot of good metaphysics in it.. understanding the transience of all things..

Even our own soul is constantly changing.. according to Buddha.

Buddha also tackles a lot of those tough questions.. that arise when one starts to question religion.

The bible is much more concerned with judging the woldly authorities.. and accusing them of misleading us all.

It is much more war-like.. a mix of love and righteous anger.

In Buddhism there is no anger at all.

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1. “As the light of the moon is sixteen times stronger than the light of all the stars, so LOVING KINDNESSS is sixteen times more efficacious in liberating the heart than all other religious accomplishments taken together.”


2. "Truly, the Blessed One has founded the kingdom of RIGHTEOUSNESS. The Blessed One has moved the earth; he has set the wheel of Truth rolling, The kingdom of Truth will be preached upon earth; it will spread; and righteousness, good-will, and peace will reign among mankind."


3."Learn to distinguish between Self and Truth. Self is the cause of selfishness and the source of evil; truth cleaves to no self; it is universal and leads to JUSTICE and righteousness."


4."To acquire this state of mind, wisdom is the one thing needful. To neglect wisdom will lead to failure in life. The teachings of all religions should centre here, for without WISDOM there is no reason."


5."And when the enemy is overcome, the Dharma-raja, the great king of truth, will bestow upon all his disciples the most precious crown which jewel brings perfect enlightenment, supreme wisdom, and undisturbed PEACE."


6. "Trust in TRUTH, ye that love the truth, for the kingdom of righteousness is founded upon earth. The darkness of error is dispelled by the light of truth."


7. "People are in bondage, because they have not yet removed the idea of the ego. As the great ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so my doctrine has only one flavour, the flavour of EMANICIPATION."

Extracts from Buddhist Gospels

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Fact is that most religions do just that, they cause divisions instead of unity. They do this because they base their teachings and practices on religious dogmas instead of common sense and practical experience.

Only genuine spirituality can bring unity to the human race because it doesn't recognize the artificial divisions that the clinging to rigid dogmas creates. So the only systems of thought that can unify are non-religious rather than religious.

A muslim will tell you that you must go to Mecca and no other place to please God, that your nose should preferably always point in the direction of Mecca when offering prayers and that only the holy koran is the perfect word of God and no other book in this universe. A christian will tell you that only salvation is possible through accepting the crucified Jesus Christ and accepting the truths in the christian bible. God speaks to his chosen few only through the bible and His church and other ways are misleading and of the devil.

How can you love people in other religions if your own religion teaches you that the folllowing of other religions than your own is displeasing to God? The teachings of religions don't make sense and contradict each other, therefore they divide rather than unify.

I consider myself a Theravada Buddhist, I'm a self-thaught though so I guess it doesn't count. hoping to meet a good teacher and guide one day.

I like the fact that Theravada Buddhism is so logical and scientific, you can apply it to so many scientific theories, quantum physics and all. there's nothing based on blind faith and that's what I love about it most.


"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
Gautama Buddha, 563-483 BCE

do you know any other religious leader who would encourage his followers to find logical faults in his religion like that? ;p

Eclectic. Hardcore.

Re: some advice?
Thu, February 1, 2007 - 6:47 PM
So I thought... gee, can we really trust the natural world we see around us? I'm not talking about the trees and the flowers. I'm talking about the "normal" human emotional state.
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well, thats a hard question with different answers in both systems.

Psychologies answer from my pov is better. P{sychology tells us that theres the exterior world as it imprints
on our senses, and then the senses build that into a movie. Its called the difference between the distal
(exterior) and proximal (neurological ) stimulus.

Thus, everything that we think we experience is clouded by a lens which simply cannot be aleviated;
we live inside of subjective experience.

No, you can't trust it as being absolute; yes, you must trust it because thats what you must do to live.
Welcome to the paradox of being human.

Taoism treats that paradox by saying that all things derive from a single simple scalar fractal pattern,
and thus objective reality is really just a mirror of things written into internal reality. I like this, and i think
that it is somewhat true. If you can expand your fram of reference to encompass macro scale and thus
percieve the master pattern,
(check out my mandala image posted....)
tribes.tribe.net/82c3ead0-...17ecb563c2
then you can transcend subjectivity. Taoism is thus about trying to see the
WHOLE as it exists as not differentiated into parts.
(or, those parts as they evolve out of the mathematics of the whole.)


Buddhism takes the opposite approach in some ways and says that it doesn't matter, but attachment
of the emotional sort to our subjective experience is what causes suffering, so, quit asking the question;
ie, "the less i seek my soul for some definitive the closer i am to fine."

http://tribes.tribe.net/82c3ead0-c1dc-4 ... aad5eda917

Hi Anna, I'm self-taught in Theravada too. How has been your experience? I used to meditate daily, but when I started working I lost much motivation and free time.



That's the wisest advice for a young mind.

Those who wish to know good explanations of Theravada Buddhism (which I think is the most sensible one) can find excellent, comprehensive material at www.accesstoinsight.org.

A Buddhist monk found himself wandering through times square. Toward the end, or perhaps the beginning of his journey, he met a man who said that he had hot dogs. The Buddhist, reflecting upon this riddle, meditated for a long time. Finally, the man said to the Buddha, "What is it that you want?" And the Buddhist replied "Make me one with everything".

I have a different.. much longer.. version of the passage you quoted..

I'm not sure how these different versions arose..

If any one knows.. I would be interested to hear..

I'm guessing it is comparable to the four gospels..

That give four different versions of Jesus' teachings.

Yet are more or less the same.

Can anyone enlighten me further.. ?

Concerning differing versions of the Buddhist scriptures.

I really like this version though..

Especially good for responding to doubting atheists..

God bless them..

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THE SCEPTIC - TEACHING KNOWN THROUGH EXPERIENCE

`Folk say you are a conjurer,' he said as soon as he came into the Master's presence, `and that you know glamourous tricks by which you entice away the followers of those holding other views. Is this so?'

The Brothers with him watched the Master smiling and knew that the sceptic himself would soon fall under that magic spell, if he were not under it already.

`Hearsay evidence is not dependable evidence,' said the Master, `do not go on hearsay, and do not accept any teaching on hearsay.'

`No', said the sceptic, that is why I came to find out for myself.'

`Furthermore,' continued the Master: `no teaching should be accepted because of reverence for the teacher, or reverence for sacred sayings.'

`No', broke in the questioner. `I should say that a teaching should be accepted only if it is logical and satisfies the reason.'

`No', continued the Master. `No teaching should be accepted merely because it is logical, or because the teacher of it can win in argument with those holding other views.'

`Oh,' exclaimed the man, suprised; `then for what reason should one accept a teaching?'

`You should accept it only if you yourself can prove out of your own experience that it makes for contentment and well-being.'

`I have not heard another teacher speak thus. Can you explain further?'

`If a man spoke harshly to you,' replied the Master, `and you spoke harshly to him in return, answering him point by point with back-biting, what would be the outcome of such words?'

`We should both become very angry,' said the man. `and we might end in blows.'

`You have judged rightly. Would you therefore call such speech blameworthy or praiseworthy?'

`Blameworthy, most certainly, Master. Such words would not make for the well-being of either.'

`If now, your speech were mild and charitable, returning pleasant kindly words for those which were harsh, what then would be the outcome?'

`There would be peace and concord between us, and we might even become friends. Such speech would have made for well-being.'

`You have again judged rightly friend. Therefore out of your own experience you have shown that a teaching which commends gentle and kindly speech, is a good teaching. Now, all worthy people teach their disciples these things.'

`At this point the man exclaimed:`Can I become your disciple?'

The Master's smile broadened. `Be careful, friend, how you do that.

Did I ask you to become my disciple?'

`No, Master, no.'

`Remember what you were told about me being a conjurer, who knows a glamourous trick. Be careful.'

`The people who told me about you were right,' laughed the young man.

`You are indeed a conjurer, but it is a good thing this enticing trick of yours. I wish all my friends to be converted by the same enticement.'

Although the Master had said that no teaching should be accepted merely because it was logical, nevertheless he was very clever at answering arguments point by point in logical argument. But people are not won by clever arguments unless their minds are tending in that direction already.

Those of the sects spoke more truly than they knew when they said the Master wove a spell over people. It was a spell of loving-kindness and compassion, which sought only their zeal and asked nothing in return. It was the magic of his serene joy, which healed the conflict of their hearts, and brought peace and well-being to those who listened. Moreover, it was a magic woven from his own knowledge of the things that troubled men."

The Buddha

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I a buddhist, but I don't go to a temple or anything. I just practice alone.

Read about 'the Middle Way'

Anyway, I refuse to practice any belief system that has something so horrific as reincarnation in it

You don't have to accept any belief if you find it doesn't suit what you expect from life. You can practice Buddhism without having to accept any of the weird beliefs that have historically accompanied it. Buddhism is not about beliefs. Try to see it without the Christian lens that emphasizes beliefs so much that it misses the main point: what matters is your actions. The Buddhist method focuses on your actions and your intentions. You can believe whatever your reasoning faculties lead you to.

Yeah

I'm pretty sure I have a good grip on how Buddhism works

But still, ew

hey there fellow Theravadist

I used to be quite obsessed and read a whole lot about buddhism. I found there was a Vajrayana Buddhism centre close to where I lived so I went there one day to get some more information and spoke to a lama there for a few hours. he basically told me that I should go Theravada because I'm extremely rational and *need* answers, not just methods of relaxation and making mandalas like they do in Vajrayana. it was just not enough for me.

so since then I've been reading more about Theravada and found that it really makes a lot of sense for me. I have a hard time meditating though because of my ADD, I can only "clear my mind" when I run or something. that usually means that I end up running some 20 km cause I just get so "lost" in my meditation and then have no energy to go back LOL

I'll check out the website you posted, I don't think I've seen that one yet, thanks

i'm a strict Buddist!

I am Biblical monotheist (read: Christian) and I do not consider myself rigid. In fact, I'm one of the more liberal-minded Christians you're likely to meet. And I have a great respect for Buddhism because I used to be one, before I came back to the church.

BTW chever why do you think of reincarnation as "horrific?"

Reincarnation is not Buddhist belief per se ... Gautama said nothing about reincarnation or what happens when we die. He lived in a time and place where reincarnation was taken for granted as true, and some forms of Buddhism have incorporated it into their beliefs.