NART: Buddhism.

[LOLyourFace]

I'm raised as christian and I find buddhism very interesting as it is another predominant religion in the world. Could someone nicely summarize what buddists believe? only thing i know about them is reincarnation...

also buddhism doesn't seem to have any approach on who/what started life... could someone enlighten me?

 

[Legendary]

Click

 

[igowerf]

I've never viewed Buddhism as a strict religion, but more as a philosophy.

 

[m2kewl]

i know nothing about religion.

 

[LOLyourFace]

Originally posted by: m2kewl
i know nothing about religion.

then why did you post?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: m2kewl
i know nothing about religion.

then why did you post?

Because I know nothing about it either.

 

[SaturnX]

Originally posted by: igowerf
I've never viewed Buddhism as a strict religion, but more as a philosophy.

From what I've learned and studied about Buddhism, it doesn't have a basis in a "God" such as that of Western Religions (ie: Christianity, etc..) It is much rather focused on personal philosophy, much like igowerf said.

But I haven't dwelled deep enough into it to know be extremely knowledgeable.

--Mark

 

[RyanM]

Buddhism can either serve as a primary religion, or as a philosophy to supplement your primary religion, or as a philosophy with no religion. Being Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Atheist need not stop one from becoming a Buddhist.

 

[m2kewl]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: m2kewl
i know nothing about religion.

then why did you post?

to let the truth be known i'm a foo!? non-biblical religions are more non-violent, my parents believe in taoism - they tend to be anti everything. heh.

 

[Brutuskend]

Read the Tibetan Book of the Dead some time.

I found the preface as interesting as the book itself, esp. the process they went though to translate it into English.

(They should have done as well on the Bible)

 

[joohang]

In which aspect are you interested in?

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: igowerf
I've never viewed Buddhism as a strict religion, but more as a philosophy.

You are not the only one. It is because the term "religion" is usually associated with many elements of Christianity.

re·li·gion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-ljn)
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.

Idiom:
get religion Informal
To become religious or devout.
To resolve to end one's immoral behavior.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Middle English religioun, from Old French religion, from Latin religi, religin-, perhaps from religre, to tie fast. See rely.]

Buddhism fits in without much trouble to this definition.

 

[LOLyourFace]

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

 

[thirtythree]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

According to the 5 min introduction on the site Legendary gave you, it doesn't look like they are very detail-oriented. The last lines are: "This makes Buddhism less of a fixed package of beliefs which is to be accepted in its entirety, and more of a teaching which each person learns and uses in their own way." I dunno though .. just take a look around that site.

 

[blues008]

It's really difficult to try and explain Buddhism. There are several schools of thought within Buddhism, but to start take a look at the Four Noble Truths:


1. All Life is Sorrowful
2. The Cause of Suffering is Ignorant Craving
3. The Suppression of Suffering Can be Acheived
4. The Way is the Noble Eightfold Path

 

[LOLyourFace]

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

at least christianity answers those questions in its own belief system: God does not come from anywhere, "I am, who am." He has existed before and exists forever. God is so powerful because he is God. duh. Of course it may not make sense but it offers it's only explanation that has some logics.. (full logics to me)

let me take reincarnation for example: Christian belief explains everything for every actions and happenings. But it just feels hollow to me that Buddism deals with reincarnation but it offers no further view on how reincarnation is arranged, or what force drives it. It is just a phenonmena that just occurs by itself and is self-sustained? Also Budda was just a normal prince who reached enlightenment through sufferings and taught the proper way to live life. But where does reincarnation fit in? Did he merely discover the concept of reincarnation during enlightenment? did it exist before?

 

[joe678]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

at least christianity answers those questions in its own belief system: God does not come from anywhere, "I am, who am." He has existed before and exists forever. God is so powerful because he is God. duh. Of course it may not make sense but it offers it's only explanation that has some logics.. (full logics to me)

read wut u just wrote there fool...

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace
I'm raised as christian and I find buddhism very interesting as it is another predominant religion in the world. Could someone nicely summarize what buddists believe? only thing i know about them is reincarnation...

also buddhism doesn't seem to have any approach on who/what started life... could someone enlighten me?

I mostly studied Buddhism from Chinese intellectual history standpoint and approached it through its differences from Neo-Confucianism. So I only sort of scratched the surface. My friend understands it far better than I do, but too bad he's not a member here.

In some regards, Buddhism is nicely summarized in the Matrix. What is this world? What is real? Does the spoon bend or does your mind bend the spoon? Or is there a spoon?

My professor argues that one key function of a religion (in a broader definition that embraces non-Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions) is to explain the otherwise unexplainable. When did this world start and why do we live here? Christians believe that God created this world. Buddhists believe that this world is unreal but we are deluded to believe that it is real. Generally, Buddhists want to escape from this unreal reality, but different schools or sects/denominations differ in their explanation of what causes this delusion and how they seek to escape from it.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

at least christianity answers those questions in its own belief system: God does not come from anywhere, "I am, who am." He has existed before and exists forever. God is so powerful because he is God. duh. Of course it may not make sense but it offers it's only explanation that has some logics.. (full logics to me)

but all these systems of karma, incarnation etc is part of the buddhism belief system. imo it's not all that different from the concept of God in that they are both "just there"

of course i was raised as an atheist with a lot of exposure to buddhism so we might think a little differently.

but speaking as an atheist, they both require pure "faith" - you just have to believe it as it is.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: joe678

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

at least christianity answers those questions in its own belief system: God does not come from anywhere, "I am, who am." He has existed before and exists forever. God is so powerful because he is God. duh. Of course it may not make sense but it offers it's only explanation that has some logics.. (full logics to me)

read wut u just wrote there fool...

Why do you call him a fool?

 

[thirtythree]

"The moral code within Buddhism is the precepts, of which the main five are: not to take the life of anything living..." Does that mean Buddhists don't hunt/eat meat? I guess it would make sense since they believe in reincarnation but I've never heard anything about this.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: dighn

Originally posted by: LOLyourFace

Originally posted by: joohang
In which aspect are you interested in?

im just curious how Buddism approaches on the beginnings of life. It seems like they offer no pespective on it. I'm a very detail-oriented guy and if I was raised a buddist, I would question what or who arranged the workings of reincarnation and etc...

utimately you are gonna have to take some things for granted. where did God come from? why is God so powerful? etc

at least christianity answers those questions in its own belief system: God does not come from anywhere, "I am, who am." He has existed before and exists forever. God is so powerful because he is God. duh. Of course it may not make sense but it offers it's only explanation that has some logics.. (full logics to me)

but all these systems of karma, incarnation etc is part of the buddhism belief system. imo it's not all that different from the concept of God in that they are both "just there"

of course i was raised as an atheist with a lot of exposure to buddhism so we might think a little differently.

but speaking as an atheist, they both require pure "faith" - you just have to believe it as it is.

Actually, many Buddhists use logic to prove that this world is empty. So in this sense, one may say that they do not really start off from any premises or assumptions.

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Deslocke
"The moral code within Buddhism is the precepts, of which the main five are: not to take the life of anything living..." Does that mean Buddhists don't hunt/eat meat? I guess it would make sense since they believe in reincarnation but I've never heard anything about this.

buddhists shoud not eat meat. it's a "sin".

you don't seek wealth etc. it's pretty restrictive.

 

[LOLyourFace]

let me take reincarnation for example: Christian belief explains everything for every actions and happenings. But it just feels hollow to me that Buddism deals with reincarnation but it offers no further view on how reincarnation is arranged, or what force drives it. It is just a phenonmena that just occurs by itself and is self-sustained? Also Budda was just a normal prince who reached enlightenment through sufferings and taught the proper way to live life. But where does reincarnation fit in? Did he merely discover the concept of reincarnation during enlightenment? did it exist before?