lets Celebrate Guanyin Birthday !
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Guanyin Birthday on this sat ,post your praise and sharing of Guanying here
http://www.lotustemple.com/index314.htm
got song popped out
rejoice 
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bodhisattva avalokiteshvara's birthday? u mean his birth day as in the day he was born on earth as a human or his enlightened day?
namo bodhisattva avalokiteshvara -
Btw is guanyin a he or she
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I dun have the buddhist calendar with me now ,i have to go and checkOriginally posted by paperflower:bodhisattva avalokiteshvara's birthday? u mean his birth day as in the day he was born on earth as a human or his enlightened day?
namo bodhisattva avalokiteshvara
every bodhisattva have a birthday , enlightenment day and nirvana day -
i see...
thanks
oh yeah i used the wrong way of expressing, i meant "enlightenment day" not enlightened day. oops sorry
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I read somewhere that Guan Yin is androgynous, and that this is in line with transcendence of the physical body and therefore, the male/ female characteristics that come with the physical body.Originally posted by donchoo:Btw is guanyin a he or she
Can some one here clarify on this? -
Guan Yin has no physical body at all. Whatever form that Guan Yin manifested is inline with the needs and wishes for sentient beings.
There will be times where Guan Yin is a male and there will be other times where Guan Yin is a female.
I do not think Guan Yin is a androgynous, because I think it is neither. Something like a null value.
Namo Da Chi Da Pei Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa. -
OK in the other thread Buddhism In Singapore, it was stated that there are no Gods in Buddhism, so what is this?Originally posted by concerned_man:Guan Yin has no physical body at all. Whatever form that Guan Yin manifested is inline with the needs and wishes for sentient beings.
There will be times where Guan Yin is a male and there will be other times where Guan Yin is a female.
I do not think Guan Yin is a androgynous, because I think it is neither. Something like a null value.
Namo Da Chi Da Pei Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa. -
What kind of God are you referring to? God as in an almighty creator, or god as in the beings living in the 'god' realm?Originally posted by casino_king:OK in the other thread Buddhism In Singapore, it was stated that there are no Gods in Buddhism, so what is this? -
That is a really good one. I always assume that God/gods are gods. I never realise that people refer to different things when they refer to God/gods.Originally posted by Beyond Religion:What kind of God are you referring to? God as in an almighty creator, or god as in the beings living in the 'god' realm? -
A Buddha will always be a male in physical form.
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A Bodhisattva, is a Buddha-To-Be, even we can be Bodhisattvas.
Apart from respecting Guan Yin, like Buddha, we need to learn from Guan Yin, because Guan Yin is embodiment of Great Compassion. Mahayana Buddhism has a lot of great Bodhisattvas that we must learn from. Like.. Manjusri Bodhisattva represents Great Wisdom... Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva represents Great Vows...
But because Guan Yin became so popular in China, later superstitious practises appeared. And many people worship Guan Yin. Not really a bad thing, but I hope can go beyond that and learn the Buddhist teachings and become like Guan Yin themselves.
Namo Da Ci Da Bei Jiu Ku Jiu Nan Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa -
And anyway it is neitherOriginally posted by Beyond Religion:What kind of God are you referring to? God as in an almighty creator, or god as in the beings living in the 'god' realm? -
You see how you are confusing people? You are contradicting a fellow Buddhist.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:And anyway it is neither -
Sorry, I was refering to the fact that Guan Yin is neither a god nor God.Originally posted by casino_king:You see how you are confusing people? You are contradicting a fellow Buddhist. -
In Buddhism there are 'gods' in the sense - Celestial Beings from the celestial planes. But we do not worship them as others may worship the deities.Originally posted by casino_king:OK in the other thread Buddhism In Singapore, it was stated that there are no Gods in Buddhism, so what is this? -
That would be the depiction in many drawings of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.Originally posted by Beyond Religion:I read somewhere that Guan Yin is androgynous, and that this is in line with transcendence of the physical body and therefore, the male/ female characteristics that come with the physical body.
Can some one here clarify on this?
But the Miao Shan manifestation in China was Female, and Chenrezig manifestation in Tibet was Male. -
tml going to the devonshire temple to pray and usual stuff b4 heading to the Suntec City to buy the xbox 360 and the food fair
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If you understand the term religion, then Buddhism is not a religion.Originally posted by casino_king:You see how you are confusing people? You are contradicting a fellow Buddhist.
Definition of a religion is the worshipping or praying to god.
Someone asked the Buddha once if he is a god, demi-god, or a human being.
He answered he is not a god, nor a demi-god or a human being.
He is a Buddha, Fully Enlightened, Arhat, Teacher of God and Men.
Human is a sanskrit word, meaning emotions / feelings.
When he attained Buddhahood, he as eradicated desires, cravings and ignorances, the causes of continual existences, thus does not subject to rebirth and a being again. This is his last rebirth.
Go read up on Buddhism and you will know what I am saying.
Speaking from experiences, I compared Buddhism with other major religions, and all except Buddhism, all taught abt an almighty god being, created the world, humans, animals and the cosmos, which I am disillusioned with, because, they do not have the answers of life. Science and technology reveals more than god revealed to us anyway.
I do not deny the existence of god, but they are just like us, subject to the vissisitudes of life, birth, death. -
“God created everybody; god is responsible for everything; god will reward; god can forgive all our sins; and god is responsible for our lives after our death; god will send us to heaven or he will send us to hell”.Originally posted by casino_king:You see how you are confusing people? You are contradicting a fellow Buddhist.
These are the basic ingredients of all religions even today. At the same time there were certain other religions also in India which taught that it was necessary for believers to torture their physical bodies, thinking that they could wash away all their sins during their lifetimes so they could go to heaven after death.
Another religious group encouraged religious rites and rituals and ceremonies and animal sacrifices to please their gods. This group believed that through these practices they could go to heaven. Some others again introduced prayer and worship and asked forgiveness for the sins committed. The Buddha did not recognise the efficacy of all these practices.
The Buddha did not promise heavenly bliss and rewards to those who called themselves his followers nor did he promise salvation to those who had faith in him. To him religion was not a bargain but a noble way of life to gain enlightenment and salvation. The Buddha did not want followers with blind faith; he wanted human beings to think and understand. Buddhism is a noble path for living where humanism, equality, justice and peace reign supreme. Revengefulness, animosity, condemnation and resentment are alien to the Teaching.
The world is indebted to the Buddha for the rise of rationalism as protest against the superstitions of religion. It is he who emancipated man from the thraldom of the priests. It is he who first showed the way to free man from the coils of hypocrisy and religious dictatorship.
During the BuddhaÂ’s time no religious practice was considered higher than the rites, rituals and sacrifice of living beings to the gods; but to the Buddha no practice could be more humiliating or degrading to man. A sacrifice is nothing more than bribery; and salvation won by bribery and corruption is not a salvation which any self-respecting man would care to get. -
A sacrifice is nothing more than bribery; and salvation won by bribery and corruption is not a salvation which any self-respecting man would care to get.
This is enlightening. Like actually its no good to offer chickens, ducks, pigs for prayers....its a form of bribery.
Also, no good to ask for forgiveness and gave a lot of donations as it wouldnt matter much to Buddha. -
Worse still, if you kill for offering, you are creating the bad karma of killing.Originally posted by nightzip:This is enlightening. Like actually its no good to offer chickens, ducks, pigs for prayers....its a form of bribery.
Also, no good to ask for forgiveness and gave a lot of donations as it wouldnt matter much to Buddha.
Some more, Celestial Beings and Bodhisattvas do NOT accept offerings of meat. But many worshippers are in fact dealing with Spirit-Deities meaning they belong to the spirit realm. -
Yes, you are spot on in this.Originally posted by nightzip:This is enlightening. Like actually its no good to offer chickens, ducks, pigs for prayers....its a form of bribery.
Also, no good to ask for forgiveness and gave a lot of donations as it wouldnt matter much to Buddha.
The Buddha is merely a teacher, he can guide you, but not save you from your bad karma. If you commit a bad deed and ask the Buddha to erase your bad karma, that is wishful thinking, as the law of karma applies to all. Not even the Buddha can erase or eradicate the bad deeds you committed. You have to shoulder the bad karma you committed. Like when you are hungry, or in pain, can you ask someone to eat on behalf of you to alleviate your hunger, or ask someone to take the place of you to alleviate your pain?
Buddha can only guide you on the path to salvation, but it is yourself that can obtain liberation through yourself, aka the Noble Eightfold Path.
I shudder when people sacrifise animals in the name of a god or ancestor. They do not understand how karma works, and one day in future, what goes around, comes around.
I remember a tale on sacrifising a goat. Long time ago, there was this priest was abt to slit the throat of the goat, suddenly the goat cries out in human words and the priest was taken aback. The goat explained to him it cried because it was happy and sad. Happy in the sense that it was its last rebirth as a goat to be slaughtered, as it was once a priest who sacrifised a goat too in the name of a god. The goat said it was feeling pity for the priest as he will be slaughtered, just like him for 500 goat lives to be killed to be sacrifised. He was relieved that this wil be the last time he will be reborn as a goat to be slaughtered. -
In another thread, I find it very difficult to answer what is my religion. For this thread, you have mentioned that Buddhism is not a religion. That is fine with me. I feel that there are many doors (84,000?) to be opened before we can say we understood and embraced the religion.Originally posted by marcteng:If you understand the term religion, then Buddhism is not a religion.
Definition of a religion is the worshipping or praying to god.
Someone asked the Buddha once if he is a god, demi-god, or a human being.
He answered he is not a god, nor a demi-god or a human being.
He is a Buddha, Fully Enlightened, Arhat, Teacher of God and Men.
Human is a sanskrit word, meaning emotions / feelings.
When he attained Buddhahood, he as eradicated desires, cravings and ignorances, the causes of continual existences, thus does not subject to rebirth and a being again. This is his last rebirth.
Go read up on Buddhism and you will know what I am saying.
Speaking from experiences, I compared Buddhism with other major religions, and all except Buddhism, all taught abt an almighty god being, created the world, humans, animals and the cosmos, which I am disillusioned with, because, they do not have the answers of life. Science and technology reveals more than god revealed to us anyway.
I do not deny the existence of god, but they are just like us, subject to the vissisitudes of life, birth, death. -
That are labels, terms used in language for communication purposes.Originally posted by dragon_stone:In another thread, I find it very difficult to answer what is my religion. For this thread, you have mentioned that Buddhism is not a religion. That is fine with me. I feel that there are many doors (84,000?) to be opened before we can say we understood and embraced the religion.
The Truth does not belong exclusively to any religions. The Dhamma taught by the Buddha was not created by him. It has been in existence since time immemorial, and the Buddha rediscovered the ancient truths and expound to mankind again. there were many Buddha's before him and there will be many Buddha's to be in future, expounding the truth to mankind again.