Buddhism
- Thread starter Johnny Pneumatic
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Everything requires faith.triadboy said:What are you...writing Fortune Cookies now?(If rewritten properly - it could be a Hallmark card)
Please give me some examples of "acts & actions" that demonstrate faith. (Non-religious please)
The farmer has faith his seed corn will grow into tall stalks bearing ears of corn.
Everyone has faith the sun will rise tomorrow. It is going to rise tomorrow, isn't it? We'll find out.
I have faith I won't get the Blue screen of death using XP. Some things require more faith than others.
triadboy
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Riddick said:
Is faith the right word? (There was a good thread about this - I can't find it)
The farmer has planted the seeds before, so he has some knowledge of what will happen.
The sun has risen before, so it is more than faith that leads me to believe it will rise tomorrow.
However, you won't be able to realize your faith until you are dead. But once you are dead - you will attain the status of non-existence...nothingness. So your faith is inconsequential. It means nothing.
Do you suggest a buddha would disagree?
]seayakin
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One issue that others have hinted about is that defining Buddhism as a religion depends on which sect you follow. Some sects accept a whole pantheon of supernatural beings but there are a few sects that actually define themselves as atheists. Buddhism is not nearly as uniform as other major religions like Christianity and Islam.
[semantics garble]Riddick said:
You are using the word "faith" as a substitute for "trust" and "confidence", this is an usual semantics veil.
Most people distinguish the contexts of faith (as in "trust") and religious faith.
[/semantics garble]
epepke
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Yahweh said:
Besides, it's fairly bogus an argument anyway.
Does the farmer have "faith" that his and/or her crops will grow? Maybe. But if they don't grow this year, or the year after that, such a farmer would probably go to the city to find a job.
Lisa Simpson said:I'm Buddhist and I would say its more of a philosophy than a religion. But that could just be my own personal issues about religion.
That's just because you're not living in a monastary. Any Bodhisatva will tell you it's more religion than philosophy. Well, a any Theravada one. A Mahiyana Bodhisatva might tell you it's neither a religion or a philosophy, but a state of mind.
The Buddha said:
Suffering exists
Suffering arises from attachment to desires
Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path
I don't see any religious dogma on it. I only see a philosophical and ethical practice that will help people to erradicate attachments to desires and reach true freedom (nirvana).
People who have no knowledge about Buddhism usually find similarities with other religions. Nirvana is not the paradise, it is just a mental state where people do not feel attached to any material or immaterial thing.
The Buddha refused to talk about God because God was irrelevant to this practice. I am a hard atheist and I also consider myself a buddhist. There is no clash because there is no God, no dogmas, no reincarnation, no rituals, nothing.
Q-S
Suffering exists
Suffering arises from attachment to desires
Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path
I don't see any religious dogma on it. I only see a philosophical and ethical practice that will help people to erradicate attachments to desires and reach true freedom (nirvana).
People who have no knowledge about Buddhism usually find similarities with other religions. Nirvana is not the paradise, it is just a mental state where people do not feel attached to any material or immaterial thing.
The Buddha refused to talk about God because God was irrelevant to this practice. I am a hard atheist and I also consider myself a buddhist. There is no clash because there is no God, no dogmas, no reincarnation, no rituals, nothing.
Q-S
Wudang
BOFH
So you're a "True Buddhist"? As I said it depends how you define Buddhism. D.T.Suzuki (zen) was one of the contributors to Erich Fromm's (neo-Freudian) Zen Buddhism and Psychoanalysis where the suggestion was made that Enlightenment was the unification of the conscious and unconscious.
There's a good case for Freudianism being considered a religion. I say that with a BSc in psychology and a Masters in Agnostic Studies.
There's a good case for Freudianism being considered a religion. I say that with a BSc in psychology and a Masters in Agnostic Studies.
Wudang said:
I am a practioner of buddhist philosophy. The real buddhists are the Tibetan monks.
I stick to what the founder of Buddhism said and taught, he was Gautama Siddharta. Along the years, different versions of Buddhism have spread around Asia, some of them include similar beliefs to other religions, like the existence of karma and reincarnation. But those beliefs are outside and are irrelevant to the original teachings of the Buddha.
Well this is interesting because reaching a state of nirvana and becoming enlightened possibly will lead you to realise that (in effect) there are no boundaries between your consciousness and everything else. In reality there is no self, get rid of your ego, thinking, feelings and attachments and you and I are exactly the same consciousness.
Q-S