actually i oni want to say...
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buddhism is NOT a religion
it's a way of life......
thank u..... -
But it is a religion....and sound like one, too.Originally posted by FireIce:buddhism is NOT a religion
it's a way of life......
thank u.....
They believe in Heaven, Hell, Gods, Ghosts, life after dead..... all this are not proven by science yet. -
hahahahahhaOriginally posted by burntan:They believe in Heaven, Hell, Gods, Ghosts, life after dead..... all this are not proven by science yet.
this is NOT buddhism -
if you consider religion to be dogma and fearing a higher power, then yes, Buddhism is not a religion.Originally posted by FireIce:buddhism is NOT a religion
it's a way of life......
thank u..... -
It's part of Buddhism, although you don't have to believe in those to practise Buddhism.Originally posted by FireIce:hahahahahha
this is NOT buddhism -
nope nope nopeOriginally posted by Suicine:It's part of Buddhism, although you don't have to believe in those to practise Buddhism.
major misconception -
Sure bo? Check out the "Ghost in Buddhism" thread please...Originally posted by FireIce:nope nope nope
major misconception -
Care to explain?Originally posted by FireIce:buddhism is NOT a religion
it's a way of life......
thank u..... -
self-explanatory watOriginally posted by GrimR:Care to explain? -
Do you consider yourself buddhist or not?Originally posted by FireIce:self-explanatory wat -
What self-explanatory? I am actually starting to get confuse...Originally posted by FireIce:self-explanatory wat -
I agree on that part about Buddhism being a way of life, but which religion isn't a way of life?
ps. The Buddha specifically described the various realms in the cosmos, so what do you mean it's a major misconception?
ADD ON: yes, the emphasis of Buddhism isn't on the supernatural stuff, it's about removing sufferings. -
buddhism is a belief thus a religion. we believe that there is no god.Originally posted by FireIce:buddhism is NOT a religion
it's a way of life......
thank u..... -
Correct! Buddhism is not a religion, it is a way of life
, and neither has there been any violence caused in the name of Buddhism for the past 2,500 years!
Why? No single authority blind faith, no dogmas, KALAM SUTTA:Rely not on the teacher, but on the teaching
When Buddha spoke of the 6 realms and rebirth, MOST IMPORTANTLY, our mind is constantly in the state of rebirth in 6 realms. Our minds are always changing -sometimes we suffer, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are jealous. So, from hell, we change into heavens, then change into asuras.
Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words.
Rely not on theory, but on experience.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumoured by many.
Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
- Buddha
So how to escape this "matrix" of illusions? Free your mind. That's all a Buddhist has to believe.Of course, there is heaven and hell. The sky above us is indeed vast and yet all that we can see are the sun, moon and the stars. However, beyond these there are 28 levels of heavens. We cannot say that they do not exist just because we are not able to see them.
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol5no3f.htm
Once, there was a Japanese General who did not believe in heaven and hell. One day, he visited a Buddhist temple and met a young novice monk. Seeing the little novice adorable as he was, the General asked him, "My little one, how long have you been a monk?" The little monk replied arrogantly, "For a long time." He was taken aback by the manner he answered the question despite his tender age, the General continued, "Then, tell me what is heaven and what is hell?" The little novice replied, "What qualifications do you have to ask such a question?"
Although the General did not feel offended, the rebuttal agitated the accompanying officials and the guards. They felt that the little monk was insulting the General so they tied him up and brought him back to the General's residence. There, he was hung up in the back yard.
Soon after, the General came and asked him, "Now, do you know what is heaven and hell?" The little monk shouted, "I am in hell now. I am being tied up here and suffering; suffering is hell." The General's wife took pity on the young boy and released him. She kindly bathed him and gave him a change of new clothes. Thereafter, he was happy and playing about the General's house.
When the General returned, he asked him, "Now, do you really know what is heaven and what is hell?" The little monk answered happily, "Of course I know. I am in heaven right now!" As a person of his stature, the General felt ashamed for being ignorant about heaven and hell, and having to ask a little novice monk.
Therefore, we cannot say that heaven and hell do not exist. If your family is happy and blissful, all of you are in fact in heaven. If you are heavily indebted and repeatedly committing evil, then you are no different from being in hell. Performing good deeds enable one to go to heaven, and evil deeds to hell. This is for sure and there are no two ways about it. Thus, we should not assume that heaven and hell do not exist just because we do not see them. -
As to the ghost topic, I do personally believe in Ghosts, but the focus is not to be SUPERSTITIOUS about ghosts... believing is alright, superstition is an attitude towards a view.
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yes, a buddhist doesn't have to believe in these things.
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I do believe that the level of state of mind will result in bringing you to the real place. However, you will be surprised, that some Buddhists, especially those in the U.S which are real sceptics, do not really believe in Rebirth. I'm sure however, one day, they will come to the conclusion that rebirth is true...
Not only is rebirth true, many people going for deep meditation retreats come back with certain memories of the previous life. So more are monks and masters, who constantly cultivate, I'm sure many of them have memories of previous life too. Or... there are some kinda hypothesis that could bring memories from past life back to you... and those experiences are compiled into a book, but I can't remember which book it was. Also, we bring along from the past life, deep habitual thoughts... influencing the way we life now.
Interestingly, you all can read about this website... a list of very insteresting accounts of children who could remember their past life. http://www.childpastlives.org/
http://science.krishna.org/Articles/2002/10/025.html - Forensic Evidence of Reincarnation
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation01.html - Dr Ian Stevensons, Reincarnation Research
http://www.quangduc.com/English/science/15buddhismscience.html -
Reincarnation is Now a Scientifically Acceptable Phenomenon
When someone is about to die, monks will always tell the person to calm down, and will say dharmas on impermanence and liberate them from their attachments, so that the person can die peacefully without sufferings. Why is this so? Because an unfocused, confused mind, will have all sorts of wandering thoughts appearing... these wandering thoughts will be influencing their rebirth. The Mind comes first.
Chanting "Namo Amitabha" has the same effect. When we chant "Namo Amitabha", and have faith in him, we do not pursue our worldly belongings, but set our targets to a much more wonderful Pure Land. This is how someone attains peace of mind through the Pure Land method..
Not only the dying one becomes much more peaceful, we also become much more peaceful. We wholeheartedly chant "Namo Amitabha", focused, so that wandering thoughts may not arise to bring one to Samsara. It also works the same way in life, and through the practice of chanting, one attains Samadhi*. But Samadhi is not ultimate, enlightenment is.
Oh yes... from the 31 existences, the top 8 existences are "Jhanic heavens", 4 in the formless state, 4 in the form state. What are Jhanas? Jhana is sort of like a mind state... Sorry I'm very bad at explaining this. Jhanas can be developed through meditation practices, there are 8 Jhanas altogether, and each jhana can result in one to reborn in differing jhanic heavens. But of course most people attain Jhanas not because of the future lives... in the Theravadin tradition, they practice Samantha meditation to achieve the Jhanas and from the 4th Jhana, achieve Arhatship (sainthood), Nirvana.
Buddha, before attaining enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree, searched with effort for different practices, hoping that one of them could bring him his enlightenment. However, none of them could. The greatest, and the second greatest spiritual teacher, died before the enlightened Buddha could teach them any of the dharmas he realised. His greatest teacher attained rebirth in the realm of the 8th jhana, neither perception nor non-perception, while the second greatest teacher have already been reborned in the 7th Jhanic heaven. Note, these places are not like anything we could imagine, it exists probably only as a consciousness and a mind state, but there is no forms whatsoever. So from this story, we know that the mind leads one to be reborned, we know that Jhana is still not the ultimate. Nirvana is the ultimate...
Lastly, I agree this statement from a friend, who probably quoted from somewhere else but I do not know the source.
"Buddhism is not a religion even though it addresses issues like afterlife and reincarnation. There is no strong recognition in any spiritual beliefs. Buddhism can be regarded as a form of lifestyle or teaching."
* Samadhi: Concentrated, one-pointedly; gradually calmed until only the object is known -
alotta ppl misunderstood buddhism
this one i can understand lah......
cos when filling out forms, under the field, buddhism is one of the choices.....so many ppl jus take it as it's a religion......
but i almost laff my guts out when someone told me Confucianism is a religion
so i make use of this chance to say.....
Confucianism is a philosophy lah bodoh!!!
btw, that "someone" is from a certain religion......
while trying to "convert" me, he started to speak ill of his so-called "other religions"....attempting to compare.....
after he said a few sentences, i realised he did not do his homework properly or he is being brainwashed with the twisted concepts.....
sibeh ho cheo sia.....
paiseh, i think shd be......sibeh sia suay!!! -
buddhism is a philosophy so often mistaken as a religion because the official definition though being a philosophy has been practised by many as a religion. so whatever the definition speaks about, when its not believed by the followers make it no longer a philosophy but religion. The descriptions of supernatural beings such as devas, etc.....apparitions and so on do not make this definition of philosophy clear cut.
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Confuscianism cannot be described as Religion.
Confuscianism are worldly teachings, bounded by laws of secular world, constituing some form of academic ideology... confuscianism dealt with laws of this secular world. Taoism deals with laws that are... beyond this secular world... Buddhism deals with the laws that are both within and beyond this secular world. -
correction: in Buddhism, there are no Gods, there are only the buddhas, bodhisattvas and other beings of lower enlightenment.Originally posted by burntan:But it is a religion....and sound like one, too.
They believe in Heaven, Hell, Gods, Ghosts, life after dead..... all this are not proven by science yet.
If u believe in chinese gods, that is taoism. -
Buddhists do not worship any gods or God. People outside of Buddhism often think that Buddhists worship the Buddha. However, Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) never claimed to be divine, and Buddhists reject the notion of any supernatural power. The universe operates by natural law. Life is seen as consisting of pain: pain in birth, sickness, death, and continuous sorrow and despair. Most Buddhists believe a person has hundreds or thousands of reincarnations, all bringing misery. And it is the desire for happiness that causes a person's reincarnation. Therefore, the goal of a Buddhist is to purify one's heart and to let go of all desires. A person must abandon all sensuous pleasures, all evil, all joy and all sorrow.
To do so, Buddhists are to follow a list of religious principles and intense meditation. When a Buddhist meditates it is not the same as praying or focusing on a god, it is more of a self-discipline. Through dedicated meditation a person may reach Nirvana -- "the blowing out" of the flame of desire.
Buddhism provides something that is true of most world religions: disciplines, values and directives that a person may want to live by. Some of these Buddhist guidelines are: Do not destroy any living creature; abandon all sensual pleasures; abandon all evil qualities, and both joy and sorrow. -
my cousin always pray to Confucius before exams....i hoped he wont be confused.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Confuscianism cannot be described as Religion.
Confuscianism are worldly teachings, bounded by laws of secular world, constituing some form of academic ideology... confuscianism dealt with laws of this secular world. Taoism deals with laws that are... beyond this secular world... Buddhism deals with the laws that are both within and beyond this secular world. -
re·li·gion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-ljn)
You lose.
n.
Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion. -
a little joke for all
Kong Zi's english name is Johnny
cos his name is Kong Zhong Ni
ok, i say finish oredi
me go makan now