Thread: Why buddhism?
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Old 12-08-2017, 04:23 PM
Jyotir Jyotir is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ground

'Why buddhism?

1. Because buddhism can be rationally applied based on valid knowledge just like a science.

2. Because buddhism can be applied if a persistent unease is observed that spoils too much in life (which actually is the condition for being interested in buddhism at all).

3. Because buddhism can focus on cessation of unease exclusively and therefore can be based on valid knowledge through direct perception and does not have to rely on speculative belief.

4. Because buddhism can follow the scientific approach: logical hypothesis -> experiment -> valid theory that can be applied to modify reality.
Hello Ground,

Ha! Why Buddhism indeed!

Adding another veneer of reason onto the spiritual furniture…

All of those criteria could also be satisfied by any legitimate form of Yoga, which would have to include Buddhism.

However, another criterion that is curiously absent in that list - and might subsume all of them - is the one whereby:

5) The spiritual aspiration arises spontaneously out of ignorance as a conscious deliberate consecration of life energy and purpose, and seeks Enlightenment for its own sake by exclusively utilizing a wholly irrational faith.
And I’ve known Buddhists who fulfill that criterion.

In any case, this recently released book:
Why Buddhism is True”, by Robert Wright, (published in the US by Simon & Schuster), might provide more rational justification for those who need it.


~ J
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