honda06si

see was that necessary?

you could just post and say hey im atheist or whatever its called and dont believe in religion but you had to go say it was bullshit.

firmhonda

I wasn't meaning to put down other religions, just offer up a happy medium between religion and everyday life. I consider myself a christian that reads the tao (even though I don't have the book anymore ), which is a perfect medium for me and a couple of other people that I have known. There's no reason to all out switch religions, just find something that's outside of his current religion that might help.

honda06si

no, all you said was you didnt believe in the bible. thats your opinion, which is fine, and you didnt put any religions down, nor did you tell someone else they were wrong for what they believe in. so your good

MBK

where you getting this from; have you read any Buddhist sutras?

MBK

Buddhism is quite the religion.

MBK

you can find the Tao online but id read it with a grain of salt, my opinion.

Type X

+rep

MBK

seems like its the flavor of the month to do so. whatever they want though

holikz

Here's my 2 cents,

On whatever you believe (faith, religion, practice, nothing, etc.) that's cool with me, there's no reason to say what's right and what's wrong to believe. Please don't try to put down other people way of thingking/beliefs. NO ONE IS PERFECT! If someone says their opinion it should be respected!!!

honda06si

bingo

MBK

the sad thing is that there are a few people out there that think they actually are and that they are right all the time. ah well.

victor

my girlfriend's buddhist and im Christian. But we both respect our religions, and if we get kids, we'll have them choose w/e they want. but yah buddhism is mostly related to christianity! you will be suprise how many similar things they have.

aki

Buddhism is a full-blown religion--if you disagree I'd like to know specific reasons why. There are many types of Buddhism. There's the original Indian Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese/Japanese Buddhism, and then all the lil sects in between.

Buddhism breaks down to the Four Noble Truths:
1. Life is suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment. Attachment leads to eternal rebirth.
3. Removing attachment removes suffering.
4. Following the Eightfold path removes suffering, thus allowing entrance into Nirvana.

As for Buddhism and Christianity being similar, they're completely different. In Christianity, attachment is embraced, whereas in Buddhism it is to be shunned. Buddhism ultimately seeks final death--that is, ending the cycle of rebirth by successfully ridding oneself of all attachment through the Eightfold path. This is called Nirvana.

What I find problematic for Buddhism, however, is that the Second, Third and Fourth Noble Truths are self-defeating. When you're set on removing attachment, you're attached to the notion of removing attachment. Following the Eightfold path (Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration) is but an attachment to a set of principles, which can arguably cause suffering.

This is exactly what Buddhist author Kamo-no-chomei lamented in his work Hojoki. And in light of that realization, he concludes he cannot say anything, which is supposedly showing Chomei reaching enlightenment.

Ultimately, then, Buddhism at its purist form calls people to do whatever they want to do, so long as they're not attached to it. Notions of doing right are only conventions of attachment that bring suffering and endless suffering.

MBK

i think its meant to mean material attachment, which is also preached in Christianity... I think Mahayana Buddhism goes into this further.

firmhonda

I wouldn't follow the Tao as in become a Taoist, but I do think that the clarity in the book itself is a wonderful thing. It's one of those "leadership" books that you can interpret in many ways, so it's helpful in many ways IMHO.

The funny thing is, if you ask me which religion I associate myself with based on the literature around that religion, I would rather claim Taoism than Christianity. :shrugs:

e60.deluxe

i suppose it depends on your definition of religion. some definitions write it as the concepts relating to humans relation with spiritual beings and other transcendental concerns. from this, ive had people tell me, that atheism is a religion, because it is *belief* in the absence of all of that.

Bootsie

Christ was a real person as well, just thought that I would point that out.

I personally am Christian, LDS to be exact. But I respect others religions as well, any belief that helps you to make it through everyday life is good. I love to learn about other religions and beliefs it helps me to understand and be empathetic toward other people.

civsnake

But do we really need to respect the opinions of the people who preach hate? The Westboro Baptist Curch tells that 9/11 was god's punishment for allowing homosexuals to exist and hold signs up at funerals that say "GOD HATES FAGS". That may be there belief, and while we do have to accept it, do we have to respect it? Just something for thought.

And +1 for whoever it was that recommended Tao (I'll go back and look). To the OP, if you desire peace and contentment, Tao is going to be your best bet. My father's an active buddhist, and while does enjoy a certain peace from it, it does keep him busy and it is definitely a religion with dogmatic beliefs. Tao is simply about "The way of things". I give Taoist the atheist stamp of approval.

e60.deluxe

thats not what he means by that. he means more like mortal.

Skyline4life

HOLY SHIT! Remind me to NEVER post anything like this again..I wasnt expecting to go all out war haha..

Shit!