Buddhism

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probably the most interesting-and most realistic religion out there-any thoughts on it?

No thoughts. Allow all mental noise to subside then you will know Buddhism.

If you wish you can make lots of sentences and discuss Buddhism, but in doing so you miss it.

Please leave shoes and mind outside before entering.

OOOHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

One variety of Buddhism is worldly and sensible. I am not a Buddhist but I use some Buddhist "mind tricks" to quiet down and center myself. Buddhism may be on the right path to taming the right side of the brain.

When I was younger I learned a breathing trick that could slow my heartbeat rate down. It comes in handy. Buddhism is a good technique for quelling fear and panic.

ruveyn

If Buddhists worship no god, can it be called a religion or is it a philosophy?

Any regimens which incorporate ritual are religions, god or no god.

ruveyn

I think there's a great deal of sense in it.

As per the religion question, some Buddhists do use the G word for ultimate reality, others think it's misleading (but aren't all words?). Read Zen accounts of enlightenment, and read Christian or Islamic acounts of union with God, and really it's sometimes quite hard to tell them apart. The Buddha would probably have said, in so many words: "Never mind whether it's a religion or not - does it work for you?"

"Let's all stand for our national anthem..."

"Mister Chairman, the sovereign Republic of California is proud to nominate..."

"Raise your right hand. Do you affirm or solemnly swear..."



It's all religion to me.

Passive nihilism. Buddhism without Daoist influences is insufferable.

Buddhism is neither religion or a philosophy. However, the general populace in some countries have created their own impressions of it and made a religion of it. The masses seem to need to believe in things or something "higher" than themselves. This "face" of Buddhism is what many people see and think that is all there is. Take for example Tibetan Buddhism (what remains of it), the average person thinks of rituals, spinning of prayer wheels and leading a monastic life. All of this is irrelevant superficial fluff.

Buddhism does not encompass any "beliefs" in a superbeing or a heaven or hell. Even the concept of reincarnation is not part of Buddhism, but merely the prevailing belief of the people at the time of Buddha picked up from Hinduism.

The core of Buddhism is concerned with observation, of seeing through the conditioning and beliefs that society has foisted up us. People are so caught up in their beliefs and assumptions they rarely question them; and rarely very deeply. Buddhism is concerned with seeing through illusions and the smoke and mirrors of mental processes, deep into the mind of the observer, and deeper.

Buddhism does not say "believe this" - instead it says question everything, accept nothing on face value. Look deep, look for yourself. Buddhism is the one thought system that welcomes science and scientific exploration, from cosmology to evolution. Buddhism is concerned with what "really is" not what some authority figure, priest or so called holy book decrees to be the truth.

I find too many differences between Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism. Sidhartha Gautama spent most of his life convincing people that the clergy is manipulating them, and in the end, Buddhism was also hijacked by priests.

Anyone know that the first idols of Buddha were sculpted by the Greek rulers of Bactria (modern Afghanistan/Turkmenistan)?

Otherwise, I love listening to Buddhist chanting, specifically the Heart Sutra by Imee Ooi.

And hey, there's an awesome Mahayana temple in my city, in this high hill which has a view of the whole city. Lovely place to meditate. I love going there. ^^

Buddhism is a double-edged sword. Of course, it is one of the better religions in so far as it is not easy to re-interpret it to do cruelties, but this did happen. In WW2, the Japanese tenno was supported by the buddhist clerics in his country*.
It can also make people think that people suffer from disability, illness and bad luck because they deserve it. An author cynically commented on children dieing in a war that they might very well be the reincarnations of the people who started it.

This ends the scheduled series of LostInEmulation negativity. Back to your regular programme.

* near-Godwin, I know.

Can we get an Amen to that!

Although interestingly when I last had a serious debate on Judaism the person I was debating with actually said that challenging everything is the correct way to study it. Either he's got a minority opinion or the Rabies really know how to justify a tradition.

No idea if it is true, but Christianity has allegedly in Asia a similar reputation.

i have a hypothesis

now, irregardless of the official "origins of buddhism" theory, i have my own, because i dont care.

im not talking about the origins of the buddhist religion as it is today, but the origin of the first idea.
like

the origin of christianity, is jesus? no. judaism? no. abrahamism? no. monotheism? no. then what? seasons, and the sun.

so, following the same string of thought, im thinking

buddhists, orange, asia, at-peace-ness
this brings my mind to the orangutan.

i imagine the first humans venturing into asia, and encountering the orangutan, and over the next centuries, building a cult around it. they will immitate it, fascinated by its peace-of-mind (being also one of the most peaceful of the primates)

they wear orange, like the orangutan, and even prefer to sit in a sitting position, similar to the natural sitting position of the ape.

this isnt an attempt at ridicule or anything, im talking, like 75000 BC or something.