9/30/2002 4:08:56 AM, Darwin Bedford <Darwin@atheists.net>
wrote:
>
>Dear K*****,
>
>I have not taken the time nor effort to learn about these other
religions
>and therefore cannot really answer your question. My initial
reaction is
>that atheism goes beyond just denying gods -- it is a philosophy of
holding
>everything open to criticism. So what do these
religions say about the
>beginning (how the world came to be)? Do Buddhists hold Buddha as
just a
>wise man? If they hold truths as "true so far" then I don't have
a problem
>with these religions. I do have a problem with monolibricity
(one-book
>living) however.
>
>Darwin Bedford
>
>
>At 11:07 PM 9/29/2002 -0400, you wrote:
>> Darwin,
>>I just wanted to know your stance on athiest or religions alien to
>>Islam/Judaism/Christianity such as
>>Buddhism, Hinduism, Bahai, Paganism, Shinto, Krishna, Shamanism,
Animism
>>and others is? I am a
>>Buddhist and do not believe in any god, afterlife or salvation- I
am
>>Buddhist simply because it is a
>>healthy and productive way of living that allows you in
concentrated
>>thought to cultivate your mind
>>and awareness of the meaning of life. Many polytheistic religions
like
>>Hinduism and Paganism simply
>>replace forces of nature or emotions with named dieities- they will
admit
>>that these gods do not
>>exist or they are metaphorical- of course none of them are as
disabling or
>>offensive as the three
>>monotheistic gods. Looking at the three religions (Islam,
Christianity,
>>Judaism) one can see the
>>obvious similarities and one could even wager that they are the
same
>>religion retold three different
>>ways with different names for key figures. My idea is that Jesus
was an
>>actual man, but he had
>>visited China or India and learned Buddhism, brought back his
Buddhist
>>beliefs and taught Buddhism.
>>All of Jesus's teachings (Which are described in detail in the
Bahai
>>religion) are athiest, he never
>>once mentions or notes a God(S) but he promotes several Buddhist
ideas. OF
>>course, Christians do not
>>follow these ideas anywhere near as devoted or skillful as the
typical
>>Buddhist but they are present,
>>mixed with false diety bearing ideas. What you have to take into
account
>>is that many religions are
>>nothing like the most popular ones- some are even athiest! Thanks
for your
>>time.
>>
>>K*****
>
>
>
>
Relating
athiesm to Buddhism, Buddhism chief task is to criticise everything, to question
all
things seen and then to ask oneself if it is skillful (positive) or
unskillful (negative). Buddhists
typically do not commit to things which are unskillful. Buddha was a simple
man, like any other man
that wanted something beyond the world of materialism- he sought this after
leaving his kingdom as
the prince Siddhartha Gautama. Living in his isolated life of wealth and
comfort he never left the
city gates to see death, disease and violence- and when seeing these things
was shocked so he went
on a quest to find the answer to the overall meaning of life. He became an
wandering mendicant, a
practice not alien to the Indo-Chinese culture. To make a long story short
he was awakened
(enlightened) to the notion that the only cause of suffering is craving.
The entire Buddhist
"relgion" is focused around this one key phrase: "craving leads to
suffering." Although there is a
"holy book" in Buddhism (Dharma), not every Buddhist reads it because all
it is- is a collection of
wisdom, poems and stories rather then a command. In truth, Buddhism has no
rules or dogma, no
clergy, no tithes and no religious hierarchy- and although I am
generalizing the several forms of
Buddhism it is generally completely athiest. The thing that makes Buddhists
buddhist is the constant
mind set that craving leads to suffering and "Refuge in Buddha" which means
to accept the Four Noble
Truths:
"To be fully understood: the universality of suffering.
To be abandoned: the desire to have and control things, which cause
suffering
To be made visible: the supreme truth and final liberation of enlightenment
that is achieved as the
cause of suffering is eliminated. The mind experiences complete freedom and
liberation.
To be brought into being: the truth of the eightfold ariya path leading to
the cessation of
suffering."
This is
Buddhism in its most primitive form, it is a very indepth religion, if not the
most
indepth. Buddha suggests that the world started scientifically, explaining
something very similar to
the Big Bang Theory. Buddhism is extremely scientific, Buddhists do not
believe in magical forces or
anything quasi-real, nor do we believe in anything that we cannot see. In
conclusion, Buddhism is
not a monolibricity. The point of Buddhism is to expand upon our minds so
we yearn for the thing
which means most, awareness and conciousness of all things- to do this we
must eliminate craving
(and thus materialism, greed, hate, desire, envy and other unskillful
emotions). Once the execution
of skillful actions is automatic and one has not a once of craving one
generally would call that
person "Enlightened."
The only
thing which one might not believe in is that after death the body goes through
rebirth
(Reincarnation) and your awareness and conciousness travel with you into
your new body. Many
Buddhists have questioned this far fetched concept and it is theoretical,
but there is proof
(personal accounts and testimonies ussually) and people who become
enlightened typically see all
their "previous lives" flash before them at least once. Thanks, gotta go.