I almost became a serious Buddhist

[JosephineB]

Originally Posted by janielee

A practical book is "What the Buddha Taught" by Rev. Walpola Rahula

Thank you. Don't worry I'm down with Buddha :-)

[sky]

Originally Posted by Wally

yeah fair enough but Reincarnation sobered me up. I don't want to come back as an ant, ardvaak or antelope in the next life. There are some other challen ging beliefs I don't recall right now. But hardcore Buddhism doesn't sound that "moderate" to me.

If you want to just meditate and clear your mind of negativity, then yes, I can understand why people choose it.

Buddhist don't believe in Reincarnation

[JosephineB]

Watch out for the intellect, because it knows so much it knows nothing and leaves you hanging upside down mouthing knowledge as your heart falls out of your mouth - from Admonitions to a Special Person by Anne Sexton

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Wally

Some Christians might take offence to that. Being they believe that Jesus Christ IS the truth.

Everyone seems to be offended these days, but it is common knowledge that there are many horrific cults based on Christianity, and there's the 'God hates fags' mobs, violence perpetrated against abortion clinic staff, pedophile rings in the clergy, and other harmful practice - some of which is justified by scripture... so we have to accept what is true in terms of institutional abuse, but not be so disheartened by it all, because there is a good side and even though some apples are rotted right to the core, most of them are still good.

According to the Catholic Catechism, other religions can contribute to the truth and have fragments of it. But the fulness of truth is expressed in Catholic Christianity.

That seems like a bit of a stretch to me...

I myself fear that we who partake in theological discussions of the "truth" online may not be ideal ambassadors for our particicular faith. Yes, as you suggest, our virtuous behaviour is what counts most, but for me, the search for truth and God, will always have an intellectual element.

Agreed.

My father was a far more virtuous man than me but never spoke a word about God or jesus Christ. yet his whole life was like a prayer to God. But Im different to him. I had the opportunity to have an education and I feel it is my responsibility to approiach Christianity in a different way.

Well, being educated has the tremendous advantage of critical thinking skills, which enables greater discernment. In Buddhism we don't really have beliefs as such, like faith, but we tend to give any teaching we might be unsure of the benefit of the doubt. Of course some Buddhists swallow it hook line and sinker and we have our fair share of dogmatists, but according to the tenets, Buddhist ontology has three aspects 1) We hear the teaching as pure dogma or tenets; 2) We develop an intellectual understanding of the teaching and; 3) We discover what the teachings talk about for ourselves via direct experience.


For example, I cannot recall any past lives, but the texts speak of having many lives (the legend of Buddha's enlightenment says he remembered all of his lives), so I give that the benefit of the doubt, but because I can't remember any myself, I don't know if it is true or not. I'm not obligated by the Buddhist religion to believe it. No is obligated to believe in any of it and Buddhists don't go to hell for lack of faith (at least not according to Buddhism).

[Wally]

Don't get me wrong. I respect you Gem and what you say makes sense to an extent but ………...sorry im tired Id better go to bed.....

[JosephineB]

My father was a far more virtuous man than me but never spoke a word about God or jesus Christ. yet his whole life was like a prayer to God.

Do you think there's something wrong with this Wally?

[JosephineB]

Well, being educated has the tremendous advantage of critical thinking skills, which enables greater discernment.

I think these days it's more about parroting and results.

[LadyMay]

I also needed relationship with deity, but I connected with the Goddess.

Originally Posted by JosephineBloggs

Watch out for the intellect, because it knows so much it knows nothing and leaves you hanging upside down mouthing knowledge as your heart falls out of your mouth - from Admonitions to a Special Person by Anne Sexton

I like that

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Wally

But I started to see that independence and self-sufficiency aren't enough. Yes the mind can be the root of all evil and I think Buddhism is essentially free self therapy. You can address some mental health issues for sure. I mean I was and still am a worry wart. Anxious thoughts can still control me.
But now I try to hand my anxiety over. over to JC. let him handle it.
I felt a certain coldness in Buddhism. I needed relationship. Relationship with a deity. And letting God being in charge. because when I am in charge things seem to go downhill.

I am not a Christian but I understand you well here. The empty character of Buddhism does not appeal to me..
Surrender to a god you believe in is a humble approach..

I think the independent, self-sufficient attitude works better with people who live like that already, hence Buddhist thought is also popular in urban, cosmopolitan environments. I recall it also started out as more of an urban spiritual movement..