Buddhism, thoughts?

[bean]

I was just thinking about this today.
I used to think I had it all figured out...and today I know I have no clue. In fact, people who think they have it all figured out quite frankly make me nervous. They think they have the exclusive lock on "truth."

(04-22-2012 12:58 PM)lucrezaborgia Wrote:  

(04-22-2012 11:42 AM)TurningIntoDavid Wrote:  Peter Bishop (from the TV show Fringe gives Olivia a book called "If you meet the buddha on the road, kill him." Does that have anything to do with Buddhism? Because from his description it seemed like a pretty legit book.

It means that one should never stop seeking enlightenment. No one has all the answeres for themselves. Even Buddha relied on others around him to teach him. Being that the essecence of god is in us all, you never know who can show you something lifechanging and important. According to legend, Buddha was a wealthy prince who wanted for nothing. He even had a wife and child but he felt called to live a life of poverty and knowledge seeking. He also never claimed to have all the answers too.

http://www.ordinarymind.com/html/kill_the_buddha.html

[beth]

Buddhism varies in its practice and values according to culture. Japan is 99% Buddhist. They're notoriously honest, to the point of turning in several million in untraceable cash to the police for owners to reclaim after the Tsunami. My husband and I were stuck in Tokyo March 11, 2011. Several Japanese stopped to make sure we were ok, and that we felt safe (there was no looting or rioting or anything). A restaurant owner stayed at his shop and served hot green tea to everyone in the station (which was several hundred people). On the other hand, in Thailand, also largely Buddhist, foreigners (and Thais alike) have to be on constant guard against muggers and scammers (the majority are really poor, so tourists are a ready source of income). Bangkok markets are notorious for having Thai and Foreign prices. But given the poverty of the majority, you really can't hold it against them. They're just trying to make a living. In Japan, the road to become a monk is a lifetime commitment which takes years to achieve. In Thailand, a young man can sign up to be a monk for a designated period of time (day, week, year(s), or lifetime). It's not that one is better, they're just different. I will say I saw more Christ-like behavior from the Japanese after the earthquake than from any church on an average Sunday.

[dramaturge]

I studied the basics of Buddhism when I taught World Lit, since I'm pretty passionate about the idea that you can't understand a piece of literature if you don't understand the context of the author in his society and time. My understanding is the Buddhism can be summed up (rudely, of course, as there is more complexity present than this) in the following of the Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. What that means for each individual might vary, of course, but the general idea is to seek rightness in wisdom, ethics, action, and the mind. (also, that expression of the Path is anglisized and thus a but truncated.) It can be a very balanced approach to life and action, and it can be ascetic to the point of harm. There is an expect of relinquishing coveting that can become relinquishing attachment in an unhealthy way. I haven't studied Buddhism enough to know if that...apathy...is a direct result of pursuing a lack of suffering through eliminating covetousness, or if it's an overstepping/overly zealous result. That's my recollection of the basics of Buddhism. Also, that I had/have a tendency to associate Buddhism with Jedi because of the non-attachment thing. haha.

[Tonx]

I like them Buddhists. They're a pretty cool bunch.

[DaisyDeadhead]

(04-22-2012 12:58 PM)lucrezaborgia Wrote:  

(04-22-2012 11:42 AM)TurningIntoDavid Wrote:  Peter Bishop (from the TV show Fringe gives Olivia a book called "If you meet the buddha on the road, kill him." Does that have anything to do with Buddhism? Because from his description it seemed like a pretty legit book.

It means that one should never stop seeking enlightenment. No one has all the answeres for themselves. Even Buddha relied on others around him to teach him. Being that the essecence of god is in us all, you never know who can show you something lifechanging and important. According to legend, Buddha was a wealthy prince who wanted for nothing. He even had a wife and child but he felt called to live a life of poverty and knowledge seeking. He also never claimed to have all the answers too.

http://www.ordinarymind.com/html/kill_the_buddha.html

lucrezaborgia, are you Buddhist yourself?

[lucrezaborgia]

(04-23-2012 06:35 PM)DaisyDeadhead Wrote:  lucrezaborgia, are you Buddhist yourself?

I dunno to be honest. I never saw it as a religion. More as an awesome philosophy for life without Western induced shame regarding silly subjects such as sex. Tho I do understand differing schools don't all agree on things. I greatly admire what Buddhism has brought to us in the mental health community via mindfulness and meditation.

[elfdream]

I mentioned in another thread the book "Touching MY Father's Soul' by Jamling Norgay. Its actually about climbing Mt. Everest but its teaches a lot about Tibetan Buddhism.

Another one I read is Living 'Buddha, Living Christ.' by Thich Nhat Hanh.

And then there is Thomas Merton. He was a Catholic monk but interested in meditation. He made friends with the Dali Llama and he and a group of Tibetan monks often did 'exchange' visits to their respective monasteries. He's written quite a bit on this.

[beensetfree]

My father-in-law is vaguely New Age. He's always giving my husband Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra materials. So I decided to watch some of Deepak's "The Happiness Prescription". In a nutshell, it's Buddhism. He retells the story of Siddartha Gautama's path to enlightenment and tries to guide all the middle class white followers into his methods.

It's been awhile since I brushed up on the actual tenets of Buddhism but I think it's Enlightenment ideally achieved through meditation techniques. Of course then they have Brahmas, multiple deities, karma, Samsara and many other complex elements. At this moment I'm going to focus on what Deepak espouses since he seems to be a modern Buddhist adherent.

Deepak loves to talk about the universe like a grand energy force.
A Christian worldview understands that while God is everywhere the universe stands separate from Him as a created thing. The universe does not possess God like qualities and powers.

He identified sin by its effects but it is devoid of objective truth like how did humans get this way? The effects of negativity, anger, selfishness, etc. are subjectively dealt with based on the problems they cause you. Because we all just want to be good people, right? According to Deepak our actions and their consequences are certainly not attributed to sin but instead that we don't know who we truly are and let our ego control us. These things are a result of "bad seeds" in our minds not because we are sinners. By the way that's a great way to sear your conscience by ignoring conviction. Buddhism's standard of goodness and enlightenment ironically uses the standard of justice and morality that God wrote on all our hearts.

The bible can tell us why and how we are this way, why suffering exists and that it's offensive to God and how Jesus conquered the cause FOR us. Sin is the true cause of suffering and He conquered it. But Buddhists don't believe this and seek another path to overcome existential suffering and become "good".

Romans 8 has helped me understand that Christians will suffer too but we already know that Jesus has conquered the cause of it and redeemed us from it. We have forgiveness for our sins and there will be no suffering in the New Heavens and Earth. But even though our Savior suffered we may be called to endure it ourselves in this yet sinful world. We are also caused to confess our sins in light of this truth.

Buddhism is basically a self righteous moral ladder to false peace. I don't care how peaceful a temple feels or how kind the people are to you that's not how we should assess things like other religions and world views. Just because we are all sinners doesn't mean that we can't be kind to each other. But "without faith (in Jesus) it's impossible to please God" no kindness is meritorious; it doesn't affect our Coram Deo or standing before God. Jesus died for kind, humble acting people too. But in Buddhism you are dealing with karma not Jesus so none of that really matters. Unless the truth of the Gospel breaks in you can meditate yourself all the way to perdition and feel just fine.

Proverbs says there is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is death. It also says that the devil comes as an angel of light; he shines very brightly in Buddhism.

I know you weren't asking for a compare and contrast per se. I'd have to watch more of this video to delve deeper, can't do it right now.

[elfdream]

Interesting observation about the feeling of 'peace'. I had a similar thing happen. I was driving up to my present church and I was not thinking of peace or anything in particular when whammo...it came suddenly out of nowhere. It was like I had walked through a wall and there was nothing but good things on the other side. I had not been taking any drugs and as I said was in a generic kind of mood.

To this day I have no idea why that happened...if it was something in my own head or if I literally had walked into something I could not see.

So that 'feeling' is not exclusive to Buddhist temples.

[dramaturge]

(04-24-2012 12:04 AM)lucrezaborgia Wrote:  

(04-23-2012 06:35 PM)DaisyDeadhead Wrote:  lucrezaborgia, are you Buddhist yourself?

I dunno to be honest. I never saw it as a religion. More as an awesome philosophy for life without Western induced shame regarding silly subjects such as sex. Tho I do understand differing schools don't all agree on things. I greatly admire what Buddhism has brought to us in the mental health community via mindfulness and meditation.

Many Buddhists do not view Buddhism as a religion, but as a philosophy. Which is why many Japanese identify as both Shinto and Buddhist. Of course, there are those who do actually worship the Buddha, but that's on a line, to me, with those Catholics who actually worship the saints or Mary--perhaps an understandable deviation, but not orthodox nonetheless.