sure of cos there are genuine people in this world willing to give up wealth without expectation. well i feel tho i don't come across in real life of anyone we know of, doesn't mean there never exist such people.Originally posted by pwnz0r:One issue tho... He gave his riches out not in expectation of future greater wealth. Can most people perform as such? To really give without expectation of any future kickback?
If there is an greed expectation that I give cos I want to receive in future, do you think that the person is genuinely doing charity and is in position to benefit in future?
Very fine line.
Originally posted by pwnz0r:simple...the answer is still yes...BUT...since he/she did not give willingly...then he/she will "get back" with 'hardship'. it's those that really give out genuinely (like Fan Li did), shall "get back" with 'ease'.
One issue tho... He gave his riches out not in expectation of future greater wealth. Can most people perform as such? To really give without expectation of any future kickback?
If there is an greed expectation that I give cos I want to receive in future, do you think that the person is genuinely doing charity and is in position to benefit in future?
Very fine line.
While knowing our mind may not be pure in the act of giving, we should continue doing so, so our greed will gradually be annihilated.Originally posted by pwnz0r:One issue tho... He gave his riches out not in expectation of future greater wealth. Can most people perform as such? To really give without expectation of any future kickback?
If there is an greed expectation that I give cos I want to receive in future, do you think that the person is genuinely doing charity and is in position to benefit in future?
Very fine line.
Karma is just a matter of faith not a matter of fact.Originally posted by paperflower:something to add on....
i believe in karma. not blindly cos i have tested it out many many times.
the karma of genuine generosity is the best one can get back mundanely.
is that your point of view?Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Karma is just a matter of faith not a matter of fact.
Buddhism and Science articleOriginally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Karma is just a matter of faith not a matter of fact.
Originally posted by concerned_man:
Science and Buddhism
When a Buddhist looks through a telescope, they are not scared by what they might find. They are not scared of science. Science is an essential part of Buddhism. If science can disprove rebirth, then Buddhists should give up the idea of rebirth. If science disproves non-self, and shows there is a self, then all Buddhists should abandon non-self. If science proves there is no such thing as kamma, but instead there is a big God up in the sky, then all Buddhists should believe in God. That is, if it's provable science. Buddhism has no sacred cows. However, I encourage you to do those experiments for yourselves. I'll bet you will find out that there is no one 'in there'. You will find out about kamma. You will find out you've been here before, that this is not your first life. If you don't behave yourselves in this life, you'll have another life to come yet. Do you think you are finished with nappies, with school? Do you really want to go through all that again? If not be careful.
So, here is my thinking about science and Buddhism. I think that Buddhism is pure science, a science that doesn't stop 'out there', but also investigates the mind, the 'being', the 'ghost in the machine'. And it doesn't disregard any anomalies. Buddhism takes everything as its data, especially experience, and looks at it scientifically. It is incredibly successful.
One of the reasons why people celebrate science is because of all of its achievements in technology. One of the reasons why Buddhism is growing these days is because of all of its achievements in the 'technology of the mind'. It solves problems. It explains mental difficulties. Buddhism succeeds in solving those inner problems because it has all these strategies, these ancient 'gizmos', which actually work. If you try some of these Buddhist gizmos, you will find out for yourself that they produce the goods, they solve your inner suffering and pain. That is why Buddhism is growing. I think that Buddhism will supplant science!
Thank you very much.
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Originally posted by concerned_man:
Come and See for Yourself
If you had just one person who had been confirmed as medically dead who could describe to the doctors, as soon as they were revived, what had been said, and done during that period of death, wouldn't that be pretty convincing? When I was doing elementary particle physics there was a theory that required for its proof the existence of what was called the 'W' particle. At the cyclotron in Geneva, CERN funded a huge research project, smashing atoms together with an enormous particle accelerator, to try and find one of these 'W' particles. They spent literally hundreds of millions of pounds on this project. They found one, just one 'W' particle. I don't think they have found another since. But once they found one 'W' particle, the researchers involved in that project were given Nobel prizes for physics. They had proved the theory by just finding the one 'W' particle. That's good science. Just one is enough to prove the theory.
When it comes to things we don't like to believe, they call just one experience, one clear factual undeniable experience, an anomaly. Anomaly is a word in science for disconcerting evidence that we can put in the back of a filing cabinet and not look at again, because it's threatens our worldview. It undermines what we want to believe. It is threatening to our dogma. However, an essential part of the scientific method is that theories have to be abandoned in favour of the evidence, in respect of the facts. The point is that the evidence for a mind independent of the brain is there. But once we admit that evidence, and follow the scientific method, then many cherished theories, what we call 'sacred cows' will have to be abandoned.
When we see something that challenges any theory, in science or in religion, we should not ignore the evidence. We have to change the theory to fit the facts. That is what we do in Buddhism. All the Dhamma of the Buddha, everything that he taught, if it does not fit the experience, then we should not accept it. We should not accept the Buddha's words in contradiction of experience. That is clearly stated in the Kālāma Sutta. (AN III, 65) The Buddha said do not believe because it is written in the books, or even if I say it. Don't just believe because it is tradition, or because it sounds right, or because it's comforting to you. Make sure it fits your experience. The existence of mind, independent of the brain, fits experience. The facts are there.
Sometimes, however, we cannot trust the experts. You cannot trust Ajahn Brahm. You cannot trust the scientific journals. Because people are often biased. Buddhism gives you a scientific method for your practice. Buddhism says, do the experiment and find out for your self if what the Buddha said is true or not. Check out your experience. For example, develop the method to test the truth of past lives, rebirth and reincarnation. Don't just believe it with faith, find out for yourself. The Buddha has given a scientific experiment that you can repeat.
Until you understand the law of kamma, which is part of Buddhism, kamma is just a theory. Do you believe that there is a God 'up there' who decides when you can be happy or unhappy? Or is everything that happens to you just chance? Your happiness and your suffering in life, your joy, your pain and disappointments, are they deserved? Are you responsible or is it someone else's fault? Is it mere chance that we are rich or poor? Is it bad luck when we are sick and die at a young age? Why? You can find the true answer for yourself. You can experience the law of kamma through deep meditation. When the Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, the two knowledge's he realized just before his Enlightenment were the knowledge from experience of the truth of rebirth, and the knowledge from experience of the Law of kamma. This was not theory, not just more thinking, not something worked out from discussions around the coffee table this was realization from deep experience of the nature of mind. You too can have that same experience.
All religions in the world except Buddhism maintain the existence of a soul. They affirm a real 'self', an 'essence of all being', a 'person', a 'me'. Buddhism says there is no self! Who is right? What is this 'ghost in the machine'? Is it a soul, is it a being, or is it a process? What is it? When the Buddha said that there is no one in here, he never meant that to be just believed, he meant that to be experienced. The Buddha said, as a scientific fact, that there is no 'self'. But like any scientific fact, it has to be experienced each one for themselves, paccattam veditabbo viññūhī. Many of you chant those Pāli words every day. It is basic scientific Buddhism. You have to keep an open mind. You don't believe there is 'no self', you don't believe there is a 'self' both beliefs are dogmatism. Keep an open mind until you complete the experiment. The experiment is the practice of sila, samādhi and pañña, (virtue, meditation and insight). The experiment is Buddhist practice. Do the same experimental procedures that the Buddha did under the Bodhi tree. Repeat it and see if you get the same results. The result is called Enlightenment.
Men and women have repeated that experiment many times over the centuries. It is in the laboratory of Buddhist practice that the Enlightened Ones, the Arahants, arise. The Arahants are the ones who have done the experiment and found the result. That's why Buddhism always has been the scientific way. It is the way of finding out for your self the truth of Enlightenment.
read Eckhart Tolle'sOriginally posted by TWE:Hmmm maybe my past lives really too evil liao , thats why me now always taken advantage and sabo by pple even though i always try to give to charity n help the needies . My whole life , good to pple yet always being saboed by the very person i good to . Really very discouraging . Can anyone tell me how to avoid siao ren ? No matter how many job i change i just seem to avoid such pple . Now my own job is also threatened by such pple .
niceOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:
Wrong.Is not a matter of faith. kamma is the Universal Law of Cause and Effect, just like NewtonÂ’s Laws. When there is an action there will be a reaction. Like scientific theories such as Law of Motion, Gravity and other laws, they are discovered (realised) by human and not created or invented by any other beings.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Karma is just a matter of faith not a matter of fact.
It is quite difficult to 'avoid' and is due to our karma. Even Buddha has someone who wants to kill him (devadatta). Even 6th Patriarch also has someone who wanted to harm him. How do they react? We have to accept it and be unmoved by practising the dharma. If you think you have very bad karma you may also practise repentance. http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol6no2c.htmOriginally posted by TWE:Hmmm maybe my past lives really too evil liao , thats why me now always taken advantage and sabo by pple even though i always try to give to charity n help the needies . My whole life , good to pple yet always being saboed by the very person i good to . Really very discouraging . Can anyone tell me how to avoid siao ren ? No matter how many job i change i just seem to avoid such pple . Now my own job is also threatened by such pple .