What are your doubts on Buddhism
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End to what?Originally posted by theunraveler:when one attains nirvana, is there an end to it?
Suffering? Craving.. anger.. ignorance? Yes
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It has different meaning with capital 'G' and small letter 'g'Originally posted by dragg:god means god.
are there different meanings?
In any case I think these terms aren't really suitable because we do not worship them
We prefer to merely call them 'celestial beings', beings who live in heaven.. in Buddhism such beings exist, and is part of the 6 realms of samsaric cycle. -
I have one question... I am sorry if this question was previously explained, but if that is the case, please point me to the thread concerned.
What I'd like to know is this; is the Buddhism Hell a place of eternal torment? I have read that it isn't, and when one has suffered his share of previous karmic misdeeds, he will be reborn in another realm. However, I also read about "Ah(1) Bi(4) Di(4) Yu(4)" a.k.a. "Wu(2) jian(1) Dao(4)" a.k.a. the non-stop way of continuous suffering. This version of Buddhism hell is supposedly eternal, with no hope of redemption.
Can someone please clarify?
Thanks
Edit: Is there any way we can write Chinese characters in here? I find it a little unbelievable that a Singaporean forum cannot cater to the use of Chinese characters.... highly unusual for a country with a ethnic Chinese majority....
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Can someone prove to me by scientific fact that reincarnation is real?
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Hi, just wanted to clear some doubts as to how some people call themselves buddhists.
I'm aware that there are buddhists who actively follow teachings and scriptures of sort. Basically more about cultivation of being rather than actual worshipping of any God/deity.
But in Singapore, it is very common practice for those who worship/bai guan yin and other Gods/deities to declare themselves as buddhists as well. Are these people wrongly calling themselves buddhists? Is there a different name they should be giving themselves?
Just wanted to clarify about this. thanks. -
Originally posted by Beyond Religion:
Hmm but there are also three other languages in singapore.. If want to include one must also consider the other three languages... Haha.. It will be very confusing so i guess sticking to english most of the time is better. But anyway if you want to post chinese, you need to type out the words on a word processor, then copy them into microsoft paint, then save it in jpg format and upload to free image storage sites like http://xs.to. Although tedious. Thats what i do sometimes.
Edit: Is there any way we can write Chinese characters in here? I find it a little unbelievable that a Singaporean forum cannot cater to the use of Chinese characters.... highly unusual for a country with a ethnic Chinese majority.... [/b] -
I decided to repharse my question a bit.
Basically I would think that being a Buddhist means that he/she worships or follows the teachings of buddha (bai fo). But in general, many Singaporeans term themselves as buddhists even though they actually worship other deities/gods such guan yin and not exactly buddha.
So are these others still considered buddhist's? Or is it termed as such for convention's sake. -
Sorry I couldn't reply just now, my phone was out of battery.Originally posted by Beyond Religion:I have one question... I am sorry if this question was previously explained, but if that is the case, please point me to the thread concerned.
What I'd like to know is this; is the Buddhism Hell a place of eternal torment? I have read that it isn't, and when one has suffered his share of previous karmic misdeeds, he will be reborn in another realm. However, I also read about "Ah(1) Bi(4) Di(4) Yu(4)" a.k.a. "Wu(2) jian(1) Dao(4)" a.k.a. the non-stop way of continuous suffering. This version of Buddhism hell is supposedly eternal, with no hope of redemption.
Can someone please clarify?
Thanks
The sutras stated innumerable kalpas, means a lot but not indefinite, not eternal. Non-stop does not mean eternal, it means there is no resting for him. When he passes away after 1 kalpa, he again gets reborn in the same place, undergoing suffering for another kalpa, and on and on until he has exhausted his bad karma.
For example, Devadatta, who tried to kill Buddha 4 times but failed at teach time, was then swallowed by the earth to suffer in Avici hell for a 100000 world periods (kalpas), but would then become a paccekabuddha/pratyekabuddha. Buddha allowed him to enter the Sangha because he knew that even though he would commit karma for lower realms, he would plant the seeds of enlightenment through his attainments (i.e the Jhanas).
Furthermore, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is known to have made a great vow to save all hell beings before attaining Buddhahood. He will accomplish that before our universe is destroyed and a new universe if formed. -
There has been scientific research on reincarnation and rebirth. You can find information from the net. For example you can search for 'Ian Stevenson'. And many others who has likewise done research on this subject...Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Can someone prove to me by scientific fact that reincarnation is real?
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda05.htm
Exerpt:
Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?
Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the 19th century British school system and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book 'Evolution and Ethics and other Essays', he says:
In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.
Then, Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth." She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as commonplace; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory. Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. So with our possible spirit-emanation. It... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our per venalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until... they... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind. Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. Ford was attracted to the idea of rebirth because, unlike the theistic idea or the materialistic idea, rebirth gives you a second chance to develop yourself. Henry Ford says: I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point.. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is fume if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock... Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.
So the Buddhist teachings of rebirth does have some scientific evidence to support it. It is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering questions that theistic and the materialistic theories fail to do. But it is also very comforting. What can be worse than a theory of life that gives you no second chance, no opportunity to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and no time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this life. But according to the Buddha, if you fail to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. What a wonderful teaching! -
woah u used a hp to type all that? are you grounded from your computer or something?
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Actually Buddhists do not worship the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, much less any worldly deities who have not transcended samsara nor freed from the three poisons of Greed, Hatred, Ignorance. These worldly deities are often not found in Buddhism but rather in folk beliefs. There are 'celestial beings' in Buddhism, although we do not worship them. Many of them are Dharma Protectors (they protect the teachings of Buddhism), therefore we do pay our respects as such, although we do not worship them. Many celestial beings have also taken refuge in the Three Treasures. Anyway true buddhists do not pracitse 'mi2 xing4 bai4 bai4', we 'li3 bai4', pay reverence, respect, homage.Originally posted by SumOne:I decided to repharse my question a bit.
Basically I would think that being a Buddhist means that he/she worships or follows the teachings of buddha (bai fo). But in general, many Singaporeans term themselves as buddhists even though they actually worship other deities/gods such guan yin and not exactly buddha.
So are these others still considered buddhist's? Or is it termed as such for convention's sake.
Furthermore, to be a true Buddhist, one has to take refuge in the Three Treasures. The Three Treasures are: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The Dharma is the Teachings/Truths that the Buddha taught. The Sangha is the monastic community in Buddhism.
Many people in Singapore who claim to be Buddhist are so called 'IC-Buddhist' and are not really Buddhists. Although they claim to be Buddhist they know not the teachings of Buddhism, and neither do they practise them. What they practise is a form of folk tradition that are practised since our ancestors, they are not the dharma teachings of the Buddha. To be a 'true Buddhist', one must take refuge in the Three Treasures, learn and practise the Dharma.
By the way, Guan Yin is from Buddhism. It just happens that it becomes extremely popular in China that the figure has become idolised and worshipped. Guan Yin originates from Buddhism, and is a role model Great Bodhisattva symoblising great compassion. Buddhists should therefore learn from this Great Bodhisattva and cultivate the Bodhisattva ways. There are many other famous Bodhisattvas - i.e Di Zhang Wang Pu Sa (the great Bodhisattva who vows to save sentient beings in hell), Wen Shu Shi Li Pu Sa (the Bodhisattva known for his Great Wisdm), and many many other famous ones. A Bodhisattva is one who not only seeks his own liberation/Nirvana but also vows to save/liberate sentient beings from the world of sufferings (samsara), and thereby walking the path towards perfect Buddhahood. All sentient beings have inherent Buddha Nature, and as a Buddhist we seek to awaken our Buddha Nature, practise the Bodhisattva way and eventually attain Buddhahood ourselves. The Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (i.e Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa) is also known to be able to perceive the voices and sounds of the entire universe and help emancipate sentient beings' sufferings. -
Originally posted by Cenarious:woah u used a hp to type all that? are you grounded from your computer or something?
no la..
was in school -
Yes.They are folk practisioners or wat we called "Joss-Stick Buddhists".There is misconception that Buddhists are superstitious people who worship idols, pray to deities, burn hell notes and incenses, hold intense blind faith on talisman and rituals.They had mistakenly considered themselves Buddhists when they had actually known nothing about the precious teachings of our Original Teacher, the Lord Sakyamuni Buddha. All they knew were some fundamentals' rituals, festivals and practices of the Chinese Culture.Originally posted by SumOne:Hi, just wanted to clear some doubts as to how some people call themselves buddhists.
I'm aware that there are buddhists who actively follow teachings and scriptures of sort. Basically more about cultivation of being rather than actual worshipping of any God/deity.
But in Singapore, it is very common practice for those who worship/bai guan yin and other Gods/deities to declare themselves as buddhists as well. Are these people wrongly calling themselves buddhists? Is there a different name they should be giving themselves?
Just wanted to clarify about this. thanks.
Pls oso read
Buddhism's draw is no longer as a folk religion
Buddhism In Singapore -
Hey guys, thanks a lot for the info.
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I have doubts on some things like some the authenticity of the sutras, supposedly expounded by the Buddha according to the sutras.
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They are a few ways to check for authenticity of a sutra - for example one can do comparisons with different Buddhist canons, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Chinese, for the Mahayana sutras. You find they are in the different canons. Undeniable there ARE some fake sutras circulating, but they are not major ones and are quite obvious they are faked, and the translator of the sutras are also not known (certainly its not recorded that those sutras were translated by famous Chinese masters who did the first sanskrit-chinese translation and so on). And it also does not correspond to the different canons - Chinese, Tibet, Sanskrit, so we will know. Other than that, the Pali canon/nikayas and Agama sutras of the Chinese canon are also identical.Originally posted by marcteng:I have doubts on some things like some the authenticity of the sutras, supposedly expounded by the Buddha according to the sutras.
How about prior to writing them down on written form in Sanskrit and Pali? Well, they are passed down through oral recitation since the Buddha's period. They are not only recited by one person, but by groups, so the chance of any changes and mistakes is minimal. There is a comparison of current versions of sutras compared to olden day versions and these showed little changes. -
I have been through the whole webpage, and there's no reproducable proof.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:There has been scientific research on reincarnation and rebirth. You can find information from the net. For example you can search for 'Ian Stevenson'. And many others who has likewise done research on this subject...
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda05.htm
Exerpt:
Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?
Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the 19th century British school system and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book 'Evolution and Ethics and other Essays', he says:
In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.
Then, Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth." She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as commonplace; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory. Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. So with our possible spirit-emanation. It... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our per venalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until... they... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind. Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. Ford was attracted to the idea of rebirth because, unlike the theistic idea or the materialistic idea, rebirth gives you a second chance to develop yourself. Henry Ford says: I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point.. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is fume if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock... Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.
So the Buddhist teachings of rebirth does have some scientific evidence to support it. It is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering questions that theistic and the materialistic theories fail to do. But it is also very comforting. What can be worse than a theory of life that gives you no second chance, no opportunity to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and no time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this life. But according to the Buddha, if you fail to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. What a wonderful teaching! -
http://www.near-death.com/reincarnation.htmlOriginally posted by Herzog_Zwei:I have been through the whole webpage, and there's no reproducable proof.
His study is also completely reproducible which means that anybody who doubts the validity of this study is perfectly welcome to repeat it for themselves. -
Honestly the best Scientific Method when dealing with things like rebirth is still Buddha's 'scientific method' which as Ajahn Brahmavamso said, and that is readily reproduceable by anyone without any $$ as long as he is willing to take up the effort.
Because our current modern scientific understandings has its limits and defects, it covers lots of areas but the closest it gets to conciousness studies is neuroscience but it can't help much. It is just that - consciousness is not being studied enough. Quantum physics may be able to prove things that Buddhists talk about regarding to consciousness but anyway, still best if you can recall your past lives yourself. -
Doubt so... You must completely die in order to prove the case as per the experiment. And what the website author did for proof is to quote sayings from writers and philosophers.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:http://www.near-death.com/reincarnation.html
His study is also completely reproducible which means that anybody who doubts the validity of this study is perfectly welcome to repeat it for themselves. -
Not necessary. You may wish to try hypnotising. Subconsciously, we carry some memories we brought from our past lives, which is sometimes vividly displayed in our dreams.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Doubt so... You must completely die in order to prove the case as per the experiment. And what the website author did for proof is to quote sayings from writers and philosophers. -
Agreed. Past life regression & hypnotism works. Although is not from Buddhism.Originally posted by path_seeker:Not necessary. You may wish to try hypnotising. Subconsciously, we carry some memories we brought from our past lives, which is sometimes vividly displayed in our dreams.
Buddhism method is meditation. -
No need what... you don't have to die to find out. Put it in another way, everyone died before, so you can find it out already.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Doubt so... You must completely die in order to prove the case as per the experiment. And what the website author did for proof is to quote sayings from writers and philosophers.
They did not quote writers and philosophers.. they quoted scientists and reserach. -
Anyone come across this psychiatric term 'false memories'?Originally posted by path_seeker:Not necessary. You may wish to try hypnotising. Subconsciously, we carry some memories we brought from our past lives, which is sometimes vividly displayed in our dreams.
Accurately describes the problem. -
It cannot be false memories if everything they remember corresponds with reality and facts.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Anyone come across this psychiatric term 'false memories'?
Accurately describes the problem.
Many of those who remembered past lives visited their old homes, their old families (even though they no longer recognised them)
My Buddhist master and teachers certainly did remember their past lives, they were teachers in a Zen Monastery in Kyoto in previous life. Some of the japanese monks visited one of my taiwanese teachers and my taiwanese teacher could even speak Japanese to them (not that he learnt in this life, he could remember). My local dharma teacher has also went back to Japan to visit her old monastery too, if memory serves.
They even brought one of their past life photo and it looked eerily similar to his current looks.