Buddha, please! I'm Christian!

[jackfaire]

Am I way off base, have I inadvertently stumbled unto a basic tenet of Buddhism, or somewhere in between?

Gonna start a new thread in religion to explain my views on Time and Soul.

[HYHYBT]

Hey, I've thought of that too! Never taken the idea seriously, nor thought to mention it to anyone else.

[infinitemonkies]

There's an interesting logical extension to that thought, Jack. Now, I'm not a Buddhist, nor have I made any serious study thereof, but this is something that occurred to me:

Assumption 1: reincarnation happens. 1 soul may live many lifetimes.
Assumption 2: Non-linear timeline. your past life may have been 5000 years ago, the one before that 200 years from now, etc.

Conclusion: If both are true, then every soul could in fact be the same soul in different reincarnations, and thus we are one and everything is the same


Am I way off base, have I inadvertently stumbled unto a basic tenet of Buddhism, or somewhere in between?

[jackfaire]

I don't personally look up to any monk.

The reason I don't believe the Dali Lama is the same as the last one. To grow and learn so as to help oneself reach a point of pure enlightenment. Doing the same thing over and over again is great practice but hardly a way to grow and learn.

Second the selection process assumes that time is linear. Though we experience it as such does not make it so all assumptions are that our past lives are in the past but personal chronology does not necessarily apply the same.

One may have had a past life that starts 2 centuries from now.

[Fryk]

Jewish people don't believe every tenet of their religion the same way, either. It's still a religion.

[Boozy]

Right. Sorry, I should have been more clear.

The belief in literal reincarnation is not central to the Buddhist philosophy. It is simply an interpretation of the sutras made by certain Buddhist sects.

For the record, I'm not Buddhist. It's simply a philosophy I studied fairly in-depth while I was in school. I've just never been able to see it in the same light as other major religions.

I'll admit that many forms of Buddhism can be considered religions. But many philosophies can be interpreted and adhered to in that way.

[Hyena Dandy]

Yup. The BF is Buddhist and he does not believe the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the Lama. There's another monk he looks up to, I guess, but I can't remember the name.

I'm not saying that all Buddhists follow the Dalai Lama. I am simply trying to say that Buddhism does require faith. Reincarnation, the whole circle of suffering thing.

[Hyena Dandy]

Yup. The BF is Buddhist and he does not believe the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the Lama. There's another monk he looks up to, I guess, but I can't remember the name.

I'm not saying that all Buddhists must believe the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation, I was saying that it seems to me like you need a leap of faith to believe in reincarnation.

[AdminAssistant]

I said that a Buddhist might NOT believe that, and they can still be considered "Buddhist". Buddhism does not demand any leaps of faith.

Yup. The BF is Buddhist and he does not believe the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the Lama. There's another monk he looks up to, I guess, but I can't remember the name.

[Boozy]

I said that a Buddhist might NOT believe that, and they can still be considered "Buddhist". Buddhism does not demand any leaps of faith.

[Hyena Dandy]

Buddhism does not recognize a supernatural supreme being, and it requires no faith.

A Buddhist may not believe that the Dalai Lama is the literal reincarnation of the Lama, and that's completely acceptable.

Could you please explain how believing that requires no faith.

[Boozy]

Buddhism does not recognize a supernatural supreme being, and it requires no faith.

A Buddhist may not believe that the Dalai Lama is the literal reincarnation of the Lama, and that's completely acceptable.

The Buddha told everyone to think for themselves and never take anything someone said on blind faith.

What you describe (the search for the reincarnation of the Lama) is ritual. It's a part of many religions. But it's a part of many non-religions too; like the Shriners, for example.

[Hyena Dandy]

How is Buddhism not a religion?


Edit: Expanding on my point.





Buddhism is more than just a philosophy, about how to treat people. Its a religion. Buddhism teaches about reincarnation, that all life is suffering, and that the only way to get out of suffering is to stop reincarnating, which you do by ceasing to desire things. If you do this, you are called a Buddha. If you are going to do this in the next few lifetimes, you are called a Bodhisattva.

And also, what about people like the Dalai Lama?

There's an abbot in a monastery, and whenever the abbot dies, the people in the monastery all go through the country looking for a boy born on the exact day and time that the old abbot died, because this means he's the same person, and he can keep leading them. That sounds a lot like religious behavior to me.

Not all Buddhists are in the same sect, but those people are still Buddhists. So if Buddhism isn't a religion, then either they're not religious, or they're right, and therefore its not a religion, its a fact.

Forgive me if I don't understand you, and please elaborate if I didn't.

[Boozy]

Not that Buddhists can't be vegetarians, just that Buddhism doesn't demand it.

I agree. Buddhism doesn't demand much of anything, because it's not a religion.

[Hyena Dandy]

Today, a Buddhist can easily survive on a vegetarian diet, because we're able to get foods from around the world cheaply. In Buddha's day, you really had to eat whatever was available.

Yes, but so can anyone else, so the faith and the vegetarianism aren't necessarily one and the same, was the point. Not that Buddhists can't be vegetarians, just that Buddhism doesn't demand it.