Buddha's Advise On Choosing A Religion
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Once the Buddha was staying in a town in northern India called Kesaputta where the Kâlâma clan lived. The Kâlâmas visited the Buddha and asked him,
“There are some holy men and priests, Venerable Sir, who come to Kesaputta and claim that only their teaching is right and condemn the teachings of others.Then some other holy men and priests come to Kesaputta;and they, in turn, claim that their teaching is right and others wrong. As a result, doubt has come to us. Which of these holy men and priests spoke the truth?”
The Buddha replied: “It is proper to doubt in things that are doubtful. Come, O Kâlâmas:”
1. Do not believe anything based on revelation.
2. Do not believe anything through tradition handed down from the past.
3. Do not believe anything through hearsay (gossip, rumour, etc.).
4. Do not believe anything because it accords with the holy scriptures.
5. Do not believe anything through logic.
6. Do not believe anything because it is a point of view.
7. Do not believe anything through having considered the reasons.
8. Do not believe anything because one is convinced of some theory.
9. Do not believe anything through the testimony of some reliable person.
10. Do not believe in anything thinking, “This person is a great preacher”.
“Kalamas, when you yourselves know what is evil, blameworthy and censured by the enlightened wise, abandon those things. When you yourselves know that these things are good, not blameworthy, but praised by the wise, accept and practise them.” -
to summarise the 10 sentences. dont believe in anything.
and the last para in red. that whole chunk cannot be believed because they sound logical.
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No ... not rite to say tatOriginally posted by NT2:to summarise the 10 sentences. dont believe in anything.
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When choosing a religion, we must avoid hearsay. People come and tell us all sorts of fascinating stories about various super-natural powers of their masters, gurus, teachers, religious practices, gods and goddesses. They exaggerate and beautify the incidents or stories and come and tell us to accept their beliefs. The BuddhaÂ’s advice is not to accept what they say without considering it carefully. We have a human mind to think but because of our weaknesses we do not give a chance for that mind to think without bias.
The Buddha advised us not to accept anything without weighing every argument impartially. If we do not, sooner or later we will come to know that what we accepted in a hurry is wrong.
One must not to depend on any holy book without studying it properly. Some people say that their holy books are true and others are wrong. They also say that it is a divine message, recorded by religious authority and we should accept it without question. The BuddhaÂ’s advice is not to accept any of those things, which are recorded in the holy books without carefully consideration.
According to the Buddhist concept people can record anything in their books and later introduce them as holy books with divine messages. People accept these things without any question. Religious authorities use their power to control human beings as if they are small children. They have their ready-made religious concepts. So they hand over their concepts for people to accept and believe. Therefore, people have no chance to use their common sense or reasoning to understand things properly.
The next advice of the Buddha is not to accept anything through mere reasoning. Although we advise people not to accept anything without reasoning, the Buddha says we must not use mere reasoning. Our reasoning is very limited. Even small children can reason according to their way of thinking. We can reason out certain things within our thinking capacity. When we compare our reasoning with that of the great thinkers or scientists, then in the eyes of those high intellectuals, our reasoning is not accurate.
When we compare the reasoning of those intellectuals with enlightened religious teachersÂ’ way of reasoning, we can understand that the intellectualsÂ’ reasoning is also not perfect.
That is why the Buddha says, accept the truth within your capacity but do not claim it as absolute truth at once. Allow your mind to reason things out. Allow it to grow, develop. Do not close your mind immediately. What you have accepted later can change according to experiences and maturity and proper understanding.
The next advice is not to accept anything through logical argument. Argument depends on ability, knowledge and skill and a talented attitude but not on truth and fact. Argument can arouse emotion and egoism. -
<Originally posted by NT2:to summarise the 10 sentences. dont believe in anything.
and the last para in red. that whole chunk cannot be believed because they sound logical. 
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so when u noe wat is beneficial to the world and urself then accept and practise it.Use ur wisdom rather than blind faithOriginally posted by Devil1976:<> -
who truly gets the last laugh?
that day will surely come.
may you all be well and safe. -
some people wanna get re-enact their past heroics
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Religion can develop humane qualities in many ways. What are these qualities? We must have understanding to maintain human dignity and behave as human beings. We must learn how to live without disturbing or harming others which is more important than many other qualities. Cultivate goodwill and understanding. Whether we pray or not, we have to cultivate patience, tolerance, compassion and sincerity.
How many human beings are there in this world today who truly have honesty in them? A real religion can cultivate these qualities. Science, technology or nuclear energy can manage to change the whole world but such energy also cannot change the human mind. Who can change it? We know that it is difficult even for a god to change our mind. No other external force can do that. We have to change our own minds. According to the Buddha, if there is anybody in this world who can change the mind, it is the individual himself, no one else.
We can be given ideas on how to do it. We can be told how to train the mind. We have to cultivate the mind through under-standing and determination. That is why knowledge is important. By following the religious disciplines many changes take place in the mind for our betterment. Therefore, religious principles are important no matter where they are preached. Whether it is Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam makes no difference.
If people can cultivate good qualities, everyone should be able to enjoy heaven without any discrimination. Heaven is not reserved for or monopolized by one particular religious group. It should be open to everybody who has good qualities.
The Buddhist concept of heaven is where one is happy, prosperous, fortunate and satisfactory for a long period. In one way we can say that the pleasures of heaven are simply an extension of the pleasures we seek on earth. But spiritual development or a sublime state of mind is more important than worldly pleasures.
We should not wait until divine qualities come down from heaven to purify us. We have to cultivate them by eradicating any animal nature we have in us. By developing our human nature we gain the divine nature or sublime state. It is a gradual development. Divine nature means leading a noble, pure life. The normal human behavior is un-certain and unpredictable and it is difficult to trust another human being. Almost everyday, we experience more fear, suspicion, tension because of human beings, rather than animals, devils or ghosts.
Religion is important to cultivate those qualities against unreliable and selfish human attitudes. What constitutes the sublime nature? The Buddha taught that there are four mental states we must develop: Metta, Karuna, Mudita, Upekkha. These four qualities must be there to gain that highest achievement in the mind. It simply means we must cultivate goodwill and virtue without any discrimination towards anybody or anything.
Buddhism teaches Metta (goodwill). Christianity teaches love. Islam teaches brotherhood. Hinduism teaches oneness in every human being. Many people have these qualities but they reserve them only for their own kind, those who belong to their club, so to speak. They extend goodwill, friendship and brotherhood towards their own community or towards the followers of their own religion, but not for others.
That is not how the Buddha taught us to extend goodwill and compassion. He said we must radiate goodwill, harmony and sympathy towards every living being without any discrimination and not only towards those who are close to us. In fact the Buddha says we must earnestly develop a heart full of love - like that a mother feels for her only child towards everything that exists.
-Dr K Sri Dhammananda -
"Do not go by revelation or tradition, do not go by rumor, or the sacred scriptures, do not go by hearsay or mere logic, do not go by bias towards a notion or by another person’s seeming ability and do not go by the idea ‘He is our teacher’. But when you yourself know that a thing is good, that it is not blamable, that it is praised by the wise and when practiced and observed that it leads to happiness, then follow that thing.”
- Buddha
and so
those who choose christianity, practive and observe Jesus's love and unselfishness like Mother Theresa will lead to happiness...
those who choose buddhism, will practice and observe Buddha's teaching on wisdom and compassion that will lead to happiness...
those who choose hinddhuism, will practice and observe the philosophy of life as reflected in Mahatma Gandhi on "non-violence" will lead to happiness..
those who choose islam, will practice and observe the spirit of brotherhood and peace which will lead to happiness...
thnks for reading -
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
may I ask what is happiness?
"Do not go by revelation or tradition, do not go by rumor, or the sacred scriptures, do not go by hearsay or mere logic, do not go by bias towards a notion or by another person’s seeming ability and do not go by the idea ‘He is our teacher’. But when you yourself know that a thing is good, that it is not blamable, that it is praised by the wise and when practiced and observed that it leads to happiness, then follow that thing.”
- Buddha
and so
those who choose [b]christianity, practive and observe Jesus's love and unselfishness like Mother Theresa will lead to happiness...
those who choose buddhism, will practice and observe Buddha's teaching on wisdom and compassion that will lead to happiness...
those who choose hinddhuism, will practice and observe the philosophy of life as reflected in Mahatma Gandhi on "non-violence" will lead to happiness..
those who choose islam, will practice and observe the spirit of brotherhood and peace which will lead to happiness...
thnks for reading
[/b]
*edit to rephrase question. -
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
‘If you follow a teacher and you find his teaching
"Do not go by revelation or tradition, do not go by rumor, or the sacred scriptures, do not go by hearsay or mere logic, do not go by bias towards a notion or by another person’s seeming ability and do not go by the idea ‘He is our teacher’. But when you yourself know that a thing is good, that it is not blamable, that it is praised by the wise and when practiced and observed that it leads to happiness, then follow that thing.”
- Buddha
and so
those who choose [b]christianity, practive and observe Jesus's love and unselfishness like Mother Theresa will lead to happiness...
those who choose buddhism, will practice and observe Buddha's teaching on wisdom and compassion that will lead to happiness...
those who choose hinddhuism, will practice and observe the philosophy of life as reflected in Mahatma Gandhi on "non-violence" will lead to happiness..
those who choose islam, will practice and observe the spirit of brotherhood and peace which will lead to happiness...
thnks for reading
[/b]
Is conducive to your peace and happiness,
follow him.Â’
- The Buddha -
oooo....unker vince is a traitor!!!Originally posted by vince69:may I ask what is happiness?
*edit to rephrase question. -
ok,Originally posted by Iker-X-of-Bodh:‘If you follow a teacher and you find his teaching
Is conducive to your peace and happiness,
follow him.Â’
- The Buddha
what is peace and what is happiness? (not how)
Thanks
*ignore Laoda -
many people view happiness differently from one another. what i experience and term it as 'happiness' may not be agreeable by another.Originally posted by vince69:ok,
what is peace and what is happiness? (not how)
Thanks
*ignore Laoda
a man fresh from a winning start at the casino may not be experiencing the same happiness of a man cradling the body of his newborn child.
What I gather from the above 'happiness' is contentment, peace of mind and spiritual satisfaction. That you have to experience for yourself. That, no one can achieve for you except yourself.
Or for better and professional non-religious explanation, please view THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY Fourth Edition. -
Peace is a sense of calmness spiritually within, that you feel that external factors will not have any effect on yourself, at least for that moment of serenity.Originally posted by vince69:ok,
what is peace and what is happiness? (not how)
Thanks
*ignore Laoda -
Happiness according to the Buddha's teachings is when you are able to eradicate craving .. that is attachment.
When you think about it, that is very logical because if you are not attached to anything .. including "loved ones" .. what is there to be unhappy about?
You may love everything and everyone... and show compassion and loving kindness to everyone ... that is called the perfect bliss or "Nirvana".
To achieve that state of mind you need to follow the Noble Eight Fold Path. -
To me, true peace is one that is from within, and is not reactive to any external factors surrounding. true peace is a peace that is there even in the mist of a great storm and not only in a moment of serenity.Originally posted by coolbluewater:Peace is a sense of calmness spiritually within, that you feel that external factors will not have any effect on yourself, at least for that moment of serenity. -
To me true happiness, is not about just eradicating craving, its about knowing what truly satisfy and going after it (I know its not an easy path, but it will be a satisfying walk)Originally posted by rosh29:Happiness according to the Buddha's teachings is when you are able to eradicate craving .. that is attachment.
When you think about it, that is very logical because if you are not attached to anything .. including "loved ones" .. what is there to be unhappy about?
on the other hand, what is there to be happy about?
You may love everything and everyone... and show compassion and loving kindness to everyone ... that is called the perfect bliss or "Nirvana".
To achieve that state of mind you need to follow the Noble Eight Fold Path. -
Ofcourse there is more than just eradicating cravingOriginally posted by vince69:To me true happiness, is not about just eradicating craving, its about knowing what truly satisfy and going after it (I know its not an easy path, but it will be a satisfying walk)