Buddhism question.

Postmaster,

I am not a Buddhist myself, but I have been learning about Buddhism and relate to many of its concepts. I will trust that less ignorant people than myself will correct me if I am wrong on these points...

The reason you find the concept of an impermanent self (or no-soul) to be "scarry" is because you are attached to your own ego. It is attachment to that which is beyond our control which brings suffering. This is the same with attachment of many types and suffering of many types, but in this case, your attachment to your own ego brings with it a fear of loss and this fear will forever be with you as long as you are attached so. The reason this fear will be with you is that, no matter where you are or what happens, you will always wonder if there might be some way to lose your ego and that translates to eternal suffering. Only through non-attachment can we escape suffering.

This means we must give up our notion of soul/ego/self for a higher and more beautiful truth, which is the eternal change of the complex system that is Nature. By accepting and understanding that process, and "walking in accordance with Nature" as the western Stoics would phrase the concept, we can achieve contentment.

As for creating one religion for all, you're going to find that difficult whenever involving supernatural and unseen entities. Notice that, while there are competing scientific theories in many areas, there are not several 'versions' of the scientific process. There is one scientific model. This is because science restricts itself to that which can be observed and measured. But when you're dealing with afterlife, souls, hell, gods, etc. there will always be differing opinions and ideas because no one can put them under a microscope, point their finger, and say "see?".

As far as this effort of making religions for others goes in the first place, it is better to seach for the truth for yourself first. Then worry about making religion for others once you have come to know everything.
 
As for creating one religion for all, you're going to find that difficult whenever involving supernatural and unseen entities.
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But if all religions are divine, they all do come from one divine source?
 
Peace, to not lie, do not steal, worship, prey. Are these not trade marks of the same source?
 
Yes, peace, honesty, and such are universal truths that people from any walk can understand and agree on. But these things are true regardless of any supernatural underpinnings. It is the relevance and application of these ethical truths in our Natural world which makes them universal.

When one gets into speculation on whether there are ghosts, angels, spirits, heaven, hell, gods, demons, and so on there is no basis for mutual agreement. One can always show how and why honesty is a wise practice to have a happy and contented life, but there is no basis for these other things than "I said so!" or "I've had some inner experience that's convinced me of this" which of course is not shared by everyone (and many have inner experiences convincing them of conradictory schemes of how the supernatural functions).

This isn't to say that any one person's concept of the supernatural isn't possible, but there's no particular basis on which everyone will ever be able to reach an agreement.

This, I believe, is why Buddha didn't get into such things. As I wrote in my blog recently...

...I was reminded in this instance of something I read in A History of the World's Religions by David S. Noss. It concerned Gautama's (the Buddha's) rejection of speculative philosophy as a way of liberation...

"Purely metaphysical issues were to him of little moment. He had an intensely practical outlook, and issues unrelated to the human situation offended his common sense."​
The author goes on to quote the Majjhima Nikaya 63 (Buddhist scripture) where Buddha notes that he has not elucidated on many things, such as if the world is eternal or finite, whether the soul and body are identical, whether we exist after death. Then Buddha says...

"And why have I not elucidated this? Because it profits not, nor has to do with the fundamentals of religion; therefore I have not elucidated this."​
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To me, the far more important thing is to ask ourselves, as the ancient philosophers (lovers of wisdom) did... what is the right way to live? How should we live this life in accordance with this Nature? How do we practice the good life for our well being?

These are practical matters of living life ethically and wisely and finding meaning therein. THIS is what true religion is about - not metaphysical speculation.
 
These are practical matters of living life ethically and wisely and finding meaning therein. THIS is what true religion is about - not metaphysical speculation.
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It would be a lack of faith not to believe certain people in history have had visits off angels, experienced various miracles, prophetic visions and dreams. These are real when they happen not speculation. Science can't see black holes yet we know they exist by the way the behave with the environment. Look how relgion reacts with millions of people, you can't say nothing is there.
 
I have never said "nothing is there" nor would I. Since I base my beliefs off of physical empirical evidence, and since we have none which would determine exitence OR nonexistence of unseeable entities, I can't possibly know whether "nothing is there" or not.

You are right that angels, miracles, etc are objective - they either DO or DO NOT exist, regardless of our speculation and beliefs about them. But I have no evidence to indicate to me which is true. They might exist or they might not. If you believe they exist that is your right and I respect that.

But my point is that, such things didn't matter to Buddha. He believed that these metaphysical matters 'profited not' and that they were irrelevant to the fundamentals of religion. Rather, practical matters of how one is to live this life wisely are what is central to religion (and any useful spirituality in my view).

In other words, your belief in such things as miracles, phrophesies, visions, angels, etc. shouldn't help or hinder your practice of Buddhist philosophy for wise living. You may believe these metaphysical matters have other benefits, and that's perfectly fine too.

Look at Buddhism as a technical manual for living a good life. As with a technical manual on building an engine, nowhere in it does it speak of angels and such. That doesn't mean that you have to be an atheist to follow the manual and build an engine. It means that anyone can use the information in the manual to their benefit, regardless of their beliefs on the metaphysical.

Again I submit this for correction to the many others here who are better schooled in the understanding of Buddhism than I, a mere beginning learner.
 
well, i dont know how much this will help u, but this is how i learned about karma and rebirth. its kinda like lighting a candle with the flame of another candle. the second flame is not the first in any way, but it was lit by the first candle. its like the same with rebirth. the first life is not the same as the second in any way other than it was birthed by the end of the first life. and the candles will continued to be lit by the previous candle until the person attains full enlightenment, then there is no more candles and the flame simply goes out, which in buddhism would be being reborn into nirvana. if u want to learn more about buddhism, i have many great sites that have a wealth of information for you. i know that they have helped me on my path through buddhism. and if u have any more questions, feel free to ask. i know that myself as well as others on here would be happy to help you out.


be well in peace.
 
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