All about BUDDHISM.

[regnauld]

---

Siddhartha sits by a river and listens deeply.
He was now listening intently, completely absorbed, quite empty, taking in everything. He felt he had now completely learned the art of listening. He had often heard all this before, all the numerous voices in the river, but today they sounded different. He could no longer distinguish the different voices--the merry voice from the weeping voice, the childish voice from the manly voice. They all belonged to each other: the lament of those who yearn, the laughter of the wise, the cry of indignation, and the groan of the dying. They were all interwoven and interlocked, entwined in a thousand ways. And all the voices, all the goals, all the yearnings, all the sorrows, all the pleasures, all the good and evil, all of them together was the world, all of them together were the streams of events and the music of life. When Siddhartha listened attentively to this river, to this song of a thousand voices, when he did not listen only to the sorrow or laughter, did not bind his soul to any one particular voice and absorb it in himself, but heard them all, the whole, the unity--then the great song of a thousand voices consisted of one word: perfection.

[sizz-lorr]

i believe buddhism is a false religion....no need to refute this because its all false teachings...

translation: I know the TRUE religion. akong religion, maayong tawo gud lamang. the rest, YAWA na sha. sempol

[Hellblazer 2.1]

you got that right sir. it's like we're in the Inquisition once again.

[flying fish]

THE MIDDLE WAY

Pursue not the outer entanglements,

dwell not in the inner void;

When the mind rest serene in the oneness of things,

The dualism vanish by itself

[regnauld]

Do not keep company with evildoing friends nor with people who are base; associate with the good, associate with the best of men.- Buddha (The Dhammapada)

[regnauld]

No matter where you have read it, or who has said it, not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. - Gautama Buddha

[shimiyu]

Hmmmn, I never thought Buddha was unwittingly an early proponent of relativism.

[akimz]

Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: It transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and the spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.

albert einstein

Although Albert Einstein was certainly not a Buddhist, these statements sound much like it:

"A human being is part of a whole, called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest
- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affectation for a few people near us.
Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion
to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

[regnauld]

Hmmmn, I never thought Buddha was unwittingly an early proponent of relativism.

Yes that's why Buddha cultivated "The Middle Way" to avoid fanaticism and absoluteness!

[gargoyle]

Very nice bro! I hope the BIBLE FANATICS will learn from this enlightening post!

VERY NICE gargoyle,

indeed to some extent we are all like the "lost son" in that storey, its when we identify our sense of being w/ ideas, w/ scriptures, w/ knowledge that we lost sight of its significance, its taste, its meaning & purpose, vanity creeps in, blinded by its own finger pointing self righteous attitude, holier than thou,
its the abiltiy to be compassionate w/ other people w/o discrimination that places buddhism at a different pedestal,

thanks guys


i can relate this following story to current religious disputes:


The Parable of the Elephant

THERE was a mighty white elephant with a strong trunk and long tusks, trained by a good master, and willing and serviceable. This elephant, led by his trainer, came to the land of the blind. Very soon the rumours went in the land of the blind that an elephant had come to their country. So the wise men and teachers of the blind came up to the elephant and began to investigate him. And when the elephant was gone they met and discussed the animal among themselves.
There were some who said he was like a great thick snake; others said he was like a snake of medium size. The former had felt the trunk, the latter the tail.
Further, there were some who claimed that his figure was like a high column, others declared he was large and bulky like a big barrel, still others maintained he was smooth and hard but tapering. Some of the blind had taken hold of one of the legs, others had reached the main body, and still others had touched the tusks.
In the end they abused and scolded one another over their disagreements, and finally every one of them swore that everyone else was a liar and was cursed on account of his heresies.
Everyone of these blind men was honest in his contentions, sure of having the truth and relying on his own experience. But the elephant trainer knows that every one of them has a parcel of the truth, that every one is right in his way, but wrong in believing his outlook to be the whole truth.
Not one of these sectarians observed that the elephant was white, for all of them were blind who had investigated the truth to the best of their ability.
The master of the elephant is an Enlightened One. He has brought the white elephant of truth into the land of the blind, and he who listens to him well will understand all the claimants who have parcels of the truth. He who takes refuge in His doctrine will cease to bicker and quarrel."

* The purpose to which life is devoted, also gives worth to that life.

To see the white elephant (it may take time), avoid doing wrongs and let your heart be pure:

* Avoid wrong doings and let right and justice and loving-kindness prevail.
* "Let your heart be pure. / All Buddhas teach this; it will always endure." (Dhammapada 183)

What Is The Middle Way?