Heaven & Hell ... No Big Deal!
-
Ops... sorry 4am still Zzzz...Originally posted by coolbluewater:Maybe next time can post it earlier, like around 4am. Anyway, good that you've posted, cos i think some of us really dunno what to chant in the morning. -
That's RightOriginally posted by justdoit77:To be more precise, buddhism deny the concept of god creating human.
In fact, whatever that can be created can also be annihilated when the condition that created it is gone. If you believe that Jesus god created human in this planet, that means you also believe in annihilation.
Pls don't be naive, Buddha talk about origin of human before, it tells us clearly how the earth is being formed, how did our deva ancestor come to the earth and gradually become a living being with form and worldly attachment.
Buddhism even look beyond the origin of human, we talk about reincarnation and past lifes. There are too many real life cases of reincarnation published. How do you explain babies born with deficiencies in christianity? Is it because the "mercy" god want to show off his power.
Now, not even the roman catholic swears the truth of bible anymore recently.
If they do it earlier, the noble scientist Galileo who tells that the earth is round, would not be tortured to death by the church.
Salvation is christian terms, in buddhism we call it repentance. However, our definition is different. You believe that a serial killer and raper can clear his bad deed by simply asking for forgiveness, no wonder our world is in chaos.
Buddhist do repentance to the triple gems, the bad karma can be reduced to certain extent.
Everyone is responsible for his actions, why people are born in different environment, appearance, salary, social status.
Bill gates is rich because he did donation and other good deeds in his past lifes, not because god like him. A poor woman in africa has no food, because of her bad deed in the past, not because god dislike her.
We want to be in control and change our destiny, we are not creation of any fairy tale story, you get it?
What makes Buddhism very different from other religions is the fact that the Buddha encouraged individuals to find their own way to peacefulness and happiness. He realized that no one can tell you how to achieve enlightenment; the Dhamma is only a guide.
Well, the Buddha said: “Do not accept what you hear by report. Be lamps unto yourselves.” He also told his followers: “Do not go by what is handed down, nor by the authority of your traditional teachings. When you know of yourselves, ‘These teachings are good or not good,' only then accept or reject them.” You see? The point in Buddhism IS to be ourselves. If a teaching makes sense to us, and it works in our life, then there is no reason why we shouldn't believe it.
The Buddha also taught that suffering is the result of self-centered desire. The way to overcome this is to practice compassion and being unselfishÂ…meaning, if we don't live for our ego, and do good for others, we can find freedom from dukkha. The path to achieving this is different for everybody, so we must find it ourselves -
Therefore, the end to all suffering is not exist in the first place.
-
yeah, but you already exist, so buddhism helps you realise that you dont really exist in the first place.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Therefore, the end to all suffering is not exist in the first place. -
Originally posted by Cenarious:
it's best to have a good understanding of No-self or Not-self?
yeah, but you already exist, so buddhism helps you realise that you dont really exist in the first place.[/b]
by
Thanissaro Bhikkhu
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/thanissaro/notself2.html
One of the first stumbling blocks that Westerners often encounter when they learn about Buddhism is the teaching on anatta, often translated as no-self. This teaching is a stumbling block for two reasons. First, the idea of there being no self doesn't fit well with other Buddhist teachings, such as the doctrine of kamma and rebirth: If there's no self, what experiences the results of kamma and takes rebirth? Second, it doesn't fit well with our own Judeo-Christian background, which assumes the existence of an eternal soul or self as a basic presupposition: If there's no self, what's the purpose of a spiritual life? Many books try to answer these questions, but if you look at the Pali canon — the earliest extant record of the Buddha's teachings — you won't find them addressed at all. In fact, the one place where the Buddha was asked point-blank whether or not there was a self, he refused to answer. When later asked why, he said that to hold either that there is a self or that there is no self is to fall into extreme forms of wrong view that make the path of Buddhist practice impossible. Thus the question should be put aside. To understand what his silence on this question says about the meaning of anatta, we first have to look at his teachings on how questions should be asked and answered, and how to interpret his answers.
/\ -
Yes. Non-existence is an extreme, nihilistic understanding. Like what is said many times, emptiness is not non-existence. Self is empty. It is empty of inherent existence, non-existence, both, and neither.
-
What sin?Originally posted by NT2:Buddhism does not have salvation - no solution for our sins
The sin we 'inhereited' from some women who defied God's will and ate an apple (and for which ALL of humanity are vicariously punished)?
If I am capable of believing that people can be 'borned' sinful, I would be capable in believing that dark skinned people are 'borned' to be slaves. -
we're more like born ignorantOriginally posted by Beyond Religion:What sin?
The sin we 'inhereited' from some women who defied God's will and ate an apple (and for which ALL of humanity are vicariously punished)?
If I am capable of believing that people can be 'borned' sinful, I would be capable in believing that dark skinned people are 'borned' to be slaves.