Originally posted by ~PEPPER~:It's hard to have full faith in everything.
I also 90 % of the time believe in God. Even my pastor say it's ok. Even pastor doubt sometimes.
I also have to remind myself.
The other 10% is the way things are, without of conceptualisations. It just happens before you label it "good" and "bad". It is your seed for realisation, that's way you are here!
It is always there, even if you do not always know it's there!
Originally posted by january:i have read your response... you mentioned something about seasoned practioners achieveing enlightenment and stuff and they have experience it.
And according to them, to achieve these things... you just practise these mediating and have some faith right, and must be high level one... right???
Or is it, that even for die hard people like me who insist no reincarnation, at the end of the day, i will still have next life??? or maybe because i stuboorn, then i will be a prostitute, as my punishment?
Let us forego Buddhist traditions and ideology, and consider the following:
The Universe, as we understand it, is the greatest conservator of energy, as there is no more and no less. Energy is simply 'encouraged' into form through various influences known and unknown, which may or may not (or yet) fall within our understanding, perception or definition of life. As such, it seems reasonable that some indistinguishable 'thing' remains after death as it does before conception that escapes not only our understanding but our perception as well.
The acknowledgement and understanding of the interdependency and ephemeral nature of all phenomena is not an ideology monopolized by Buddhism or a mystery hidden by Eastern mystics or Western intellects, rather it is a revealed truth bore from metaphysical convention realized through deliberate and honest introspection.
If we can share common ground here upon the precipice of this consideration, then perhaps the idea of reincarnation or rebirth is worth deeper study and contemplation.
There are no mysteries in life or in death, only those things we do not know or have yet to remember…
Originally posted by Weychin:
Originally posted by AtlasWept:Let us forego Buddhist traditions and ideology, and consider the following:
The Universe, as we understand it, is the greatest conservator of energy, as there is no more and no less. Energy is simply 'encouraged' into form through various influences known and unknown, which may or may not (or yet) fall within our understanding, perception or definition of life. As such, it seems reasonable that some indistinguishable 'thing' remains after death as it does before conception that escapes not only our understanding but our perception as well.
The acknowledgement and understanding of the interdependency and ephemeral nature of all phenomena is not an ideology monopolized by Buddhism or a mystery hidden by Eastern mystics or Western intellects, rather it is a revealed truth bore from metaphysical convention realized through deliberate and honest introspection.
If we can share common ground here upon the precipice of this consideration, then perhaps the idea of reincarnation or rebirth is worth deeper study and contemplation.
There are no mysteries in life or in death, only those things we do not know or have yet to remember…
Very true.. Thanks for the sharing :)
Hope noone 's following my previous posts.
b4 anything, I respect Buddhism and its peace-loving nature.
just one question, there seems to be many references/quotations made of several scholars supporting this theories. May I know how can they be proven creditable?
Maybe, if that is achieved, then it is easier to understand.
Originally posted by iceFatboy:b4 anything, I respect Buddhism and its peace-loving nature.
just one question, there seems to be many references/quotations made of several scholars supporting this theories. May I know how can they be proven creditable?
Maybe, if that is achieved, then it is easier to understand.
What "theory" are you talking about? If it is rebirth, you can refer to Dr. Ian Stevensons and many other research by scientists which provides evidence.
Also, none of Buddha's teachings are theories but are realizable in your own experience. Buddha only spoke from experience.
As Buddha said himself:
The Perfect One is free from any theory, for the Perfect One has
understood what the body is, and how it arises,
and passes away. He
has understood what feeling is, and how it
arises, and passes away.
He has understood what perception is, and how it
arises, and passes
away. He has understood what the mental
formations are, and how
they arise, and pass away. He has understood
what consciousness is,
and how it arises, and passes away.
Therefore, I say, the Perfect One has won
complete deliverance
through the extinction, fading away,
disappearance, rejection, and
getting rid of all opinions and conjectures, of
all inclination to
the vainglory of I and mine.
- Majjhima Nikaya, 72
Originally posted by iceFatboy:b4 anything, I respect Buddhism and its peace-loving nature.
just one question, there seems to be many references/quotations made of several scholars supporting this theories. May I know how can they be proven creditable?
Maybe, if that is achieved, then it is easier to understand.
According to Buddhism, three criteria allow a statement to be considered valid: verification by direct experience, irrefutable deduction, and testimony worthy confidence. Here, therefore, we are talking about the third category.
In everyday life we are continually being impregnated with ideas and beliefs that we take as true because we accept the competence of those who provide the information. They know what they are doing, because it works, so it must be true. That is where confidence becomes a factor. However, most of us would be quite incapable of proving scientific truths by ourselves. Quite often, too, such beliefs - like that of the atom seen as tiny particles orbiting an atomic nucleus - continue to influence people's view of things long after they have been abandoned by the scientists themselves. We're ready to believe anything we are told as long as it corresponds to an accepted view of the world, and to be suspicious of anything that doesn't. In the case of the contemplative approach, the doubt that many of our contemporaries feel about reincarnation/rebirth is due to the lack of contemplative practice.
Lots of things are seen as supernatural, until eventually we discover how they happen, or until the time comes for someone to have that experience for themselves. As the Roman philosopher Marcus Cicero is quoted to have said, "What cannot happen, will never happen, and what can happen, is not a miracle."
Understand that your doubts regarding reincarnation/rebirth are not shortcomings of intellectual prowess, rather a cautious approach to an ideology that is perhaps new, different and therefore seemingly difficult to conceptualize. However, I present that you are here asking questions and voicing concerns, and for now that is enough as it is within this place that fellowship abounds.