Why Buddhist? Why not Jewish? Or Catholic? Or Protestant?

UbahOne

As title suggests...

ecksor

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108286

UbahOne

I mean why did you choose Buddhism as your religion...

ecksor

I don't have a religion.

UbahOne

its not directed at you...thats my [...] question!!!

Karl Hungus

Because everyone is so mind numbingly short-sited that they cannot go and try out all the religions for themselves. Might as well be pulling religion suggestions out of a hat, tbh.

I've studied 3 Faiths in depth so far tbh, Catholisism, Satanism, and Freemasonry. I'm currently studying Scientology, which is quite honestly very cool. Best of the lot so far, tbh.

I've also had dabblings with the Buddhist, Mormon, Pagan, Jewish, Hari-Krishna and Muslin faiths. But I've not really gone into enough depth to make any real opinions, expect that Buddhism seems to be the runt of the litter so far.

Dont mean to piss on anyone's faith here, so dont take the comment to heart. I just dont find Buddhism really that fullfilling at all, there just seems to be too much ideals that while wellmeaning, aren't exactly that purposefull. I think that a few people should just give up, and take up something like Feng Shui, which can really give you a deep sense of self-satisfaction and personal growth, while not being at all 'Self-reightious'.

Roll on a Scientology boards, though tbh.

Zaphod B

Well I must be incredibly short-sighted then, because I'm quite happy with no religion at all. 12 years of Christianity (the first 12 of my life) were quite enough to screw me up pretty well, without me needing more threats or platitudes from any other faith, religion or deity.

Sorry but to me, the suggestion of having a free sample of every religion and choosing the one you like is plain silly... "Hey, number 33 turns out to be the one true faith! Yeah, the prophets on this one have waaay more profound metaphors"
The idea seems completely devoid of any actual belief, and if there's no belief then all you're looking for is a set of rules to live your life by, and you can easily design those rules yourself. If you're only picking and choosing religions for the way they will make you feel about yourself, what does that mean? That without a religion you can't grow or be a good person? Gee, that in itself is a really reassuring thought...

(edit) 4am was probably not the best time for me to be writing. Sorry if it came across as too confrontational, nothing personal

Yoda

UbahOne, were you just asking generally "Why would someone choose Buddhism over Judaism or a variety of Christianity", or were you asking someone in particular?

Yoda

AngelWhore said
I just dont find Buddhism really that fullfilling at all, there just seems to be too much ideals that while wellmeaning, aren't exactly that purposefull.

I really don't know how to respond to this. I am not sure what sort of "fulfillment" you are looking for. But Buddhism is certainly a goal-oriented activity. Perhaps I should put up one more sticky, outlining the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Yoda

Zaphod, Buddhism is the one "religion" which is arguably not a religion at all. It's a practice. "Belief" is not essential in Buddhism.

UbahOne

Ye i was just asking everyone who participates. No1 in particular at all.

How some people can perceive otherwise beats me...its an open forum...

Yoda

Fair enough. So far I'm the only one declared Buddhist here. If you're interested in my biography, I'll quote myself from a thread on the Christianity forum.

It's hard to apply labels like this, but as I have started posting on this board I should give it a try...

Baptized Presbyterian -> a little generic Protestantism growing up -> interest in Wicca (11) -> interest in Star Trek and X-Men (i.e. no interest in religion) -> interest in Hinduism (15) -> interest in Christianity (15) -> confirmed Anglican Catholic (17) -> Theosophy &c. (20) -> Buddhism (21-40)

... is more or less accurate. A friend says that I am a rather Anglican Buddhist.

So that can give you an idea of the journey I took, if it's of interest.

Seaneh

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Buddhism actually the lack of religion?
As in you don't worship anything, you don't believein a "God" and that "inlightenment" comes from the self?
Also that you shouldn't have rituails or worship idols or statues but only worship the self and so on, which makes is kinda self defeating seeing as *MOST* buddists worship statues of the buddha and have lavish rituails involving praying to said buddha statue and burning insesnse and candles and so on...

Yoda

Is it "the lack of religion"? Well, I don't know – what is it that you think "religion" is? What is worship?

People tried to press Gotama on the question as to whether there was a God or not, and he told them that the answer, yes or no, didn't mean all that much, as what mattered was one's practice.

Enlightenment per se does not come "from the self". It comes, as if by Grace (if you will) after practice as removed as many impediments to it as possible.

Buddhism is essentially a set of propositions about how the world works for us who live here in it, combined with a set of practices to help cope with life's ups and downs.

Buddhists do not, as you suggest, "worship" the self. Most Buddhists find images of the Buddha to be inspirational. I have three around the house for instance. It's true that as Buddhism moved into different areas it intermixed with the local culture. Tibetan animism strongly affected the expression of Buddhism there, but the essential teachings remain the same.

A lot of cultures enjoy ritual. Catholicism makes use of "lavish rituals involving praying to" representations of Jesus "and burning incence and candles and so on...." doesn't it? Well, no; ritual wouldn't be the central focus of Christianity any more than it is of Buddhism.

Seaneh

Just so not to cause upset, I wasn't having a go, just asking, I'm annoying like that.


Secondly, Catholism, if you ask me, is messed up in a lot of areas, I don't agree with the whole statues and pictures thing.

But anyway, Christianity requires Fellowship, so "mass" can be justified by that, but it also requires a deep personal relationship with God so you are right about the whole "now we sing hym number 11231212.23232 in our books and light 15 candles" thing because that in a sence makes the whole thing inpersonal and limited, where as in truth we shouldn't limit God, because through him all things are possible (I realise I'm having an aimless rant here so please excuse me, I havent had much sleep lately, was on a mission trip to Glasgow all week), so yes you are right about catholics replacing the "central" theam of christianity with rituails and incense and candle burning, but I also believe not all catholics are the same, not all just sit there and spout off set "prayers" that are just sets of lines stuck in thier heads to spouted once a day.
I myself consider myself a non-denominational born-again christian, so I don't do the whole "our father...." thing because it seems too impersonal to me.

I'm really off tpoic here, sorry, I'll stop now, I need sleep.

DapperGent

Originally posted by Seaneh
I myself consider myself a non-denominational born-again christian

You actually sat down and classified your credulous stupidity?

First step on the road to emancipation one hopes.

Karl Hungus

Originally posted by Yoda
I really don't know how to respond to this. I am not sure what sort of "fulfillment" you are looking for. But Buddhism is certainly a goal-oriented activity. Perhaps I should put up one more sticky, outlining the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path.

Perhaps I'm being a bit too vague here.
I think as far as goals go however, I'd have to say that following a preset idea of growing as a person, as is usually set down by a 'religion' seems kind of ironic, and at times counter-productive. I beleive that as people we should try and find our own route and belief structure, and that organised religion is kind of the easy way. I understand however, that may make me seem like a hipocrite in the eyes of some people, but I think that looking into said religions can give you new perspective if you aren't bogged down and controlled by them, if you understand what I am saying. Getting trapped into an idealogy (Probably more accurate) is against what I consider personal growth.

And I think that looking to some kind of idealogy for inspiration, as you put it, is inherintly a good idea, as it can give you a reflection on who you are, and possibly strengthen your resolve and beleifs in some manners. But to devote yourself to something, I consider is stifeling(Sp?). Again, I mean not to piss on anyone's beliefs, or very well shove my ideas in people's faces, as this would totaly be against my ideas. You should always come to these things by yourself, and make your own realisations and descisions. I think one of the main factors in this was my curiosity combined with my upbringing in a very Catholic household, I came to find that the idea of it all was very wrong, and only clouded any kind of growth personally. Eg, the 'One True Faith' concept is inherintly off-cutting of any type of freedom to explore other ideas. I found it too much like a stubborn person shouting that they were right, no matter what!

Anyway, what I'm saying is that trying to find your own path definetly seems to be the most fullfilling of all ideals, and that looking to others for ideas is a good thing, just not to let yourself be dragged down into them.

Yoda

DapperGent used Wrong Speech in an ad hominem attack, viz.:
[...] your credulous stupidity

Read the charter right now, DapperGent. This is your warning.

UbahOne

Im a Catholic because i was baptised one and i feel safer being one that not being one. It must be the whole heaven and hell thing which i learned as a kid which has kept me keep it. Mind you, i have stopped practicing the last few years. Ill go back though. It just makes sense...

Yoda

AngelWhore, it makes good sense for a person to test out ideas he or she is presented with. It's a little bit fallacious though to think that anyone forges a path in a vacuum.

Everybody starts from somewhere. Gotama was raised in India, with Vedantic and other varieties of Hinduism everywhere. He forged a new path and spent 50 years or so teaching people about it.

I'm hoping that on this forum people will enjoy talking about those principles and their application.

DapperGent

Originally posted by Yoda
Read the charter right now, DapperGent. This is your warning.

Apologies Seaneh, Yoda.

I got a little intolerant there.:o

UbahOne

Ye your going to hell...

Yoda

Thank you, DapperGent. Dapper of you.

Now, now, UbahOne. Anyway in Buddhism Hell isn't a permanent exile.... It's just a place to go while you work out some particularly icky karma.

UbahOne

lol sorry.

Like Purgatory?

Yoda

In some sort of structural way, I guess. It's been a long time since I read Dante, and I didn't do the Catechism. Do you get out of Purgatory?

(Purgatory is not described in the New Testament, as far as I know.)

UbahOne

Ye you get out alright. Apparently can be a long time. Also, apparently Purgatory is like hell except not for as long and you do get out...

Yoda

In a way, you could consider each lifetime on the way to enlightenment to be a mini-purgatory. The whetstone upon which we sharpen ourselves as we progress.

UbahOne

Ye thats true...or for some even hell...that iraqi kid with no arms and no family was in hell...

Yoda

Don't try to make too much equivalence between the Catholic notion of Hell and similar concepts in Buddhism, though. I found this with a Google search, written about a document (which I have not yet read) by the Ven. Suvanno Mahathera.

The suttas describe the 31distinct "planes" or "realms" of existence into which beings can be reborn during their long wanderings through samsara. These range from the extraordinarily dark, grim, and painful hell realms all the way up to the most sublime, refined and exquisitely blissful heavenly realms. Existence in every realm is impermanent; in the cosmology taught by the Buddha there is no eternal heaven or hell. Beings are born into a particular realm according to both their past kamma and their kamma at the moment of death.

The text itself is at http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/allexistence.pdf – I'll have a look at it, but I think at this stage we might be better off starting with more basic materials. On another thread I posted the Four Noble Truths. Perhaps it would be good to retire there and discuss those!

Rev Hellfire

Try not to think of Buddhism as a singular religion but rather a particular branch of which there are many variants come quite removed from its Hinduism anothers still quite close with an almost complete pantheon.

Yoda

Pantheon? Tibetan Buddhism mapped a lot of Tibet's original gods to incarnations of the Buddha, used as symbols for meditation and so on. But Buddhism everywhere boils down to the Four Noble Truths.

DeVore

I've studied 3 Faiths in depth so far tbh, Catholisism, Satanism, and Freemasonry. I'm currently studying Scientology, which is quite honestly very cool. Best of the lot so far, tbh.

You cant have studied Freemasonry too hard then, cos the first thing they'd say (in exasperation) is: "We're not a religion!"

I know several Freemasons quite well now and they are from all sorts of religious backgrounds (One Jew, a couple of catholics and protestants). I mean, one of them is a priest ffs

Just thought I'd chip that in, fascinating topic about *why* you pick one religion over another. Personally I'd verr towards the eastern, philosophical religions if I were to pick one. They suit my personality better.

Unfortunately I think that beyond *reading*, absorbing and adjusting my life according to what I take from them, they serve little further purpose to me.

Its like reading a book, its gripping while you are reading/learning... then its been "borg"ed by you and it remains on your shelf, taken down the odd time if its a favourite. Meanwhile you go in search of other good books...

DeV.

Yoda

Gotama described his teachings as a boat. You use the boat to get to the other side of the water. Once there, though, you leave the boat behind. You don't pick it up and carry it over the hills.

Buddhism wants you to get enlightened. Buddhism doesn't want you to be a Buddhist, particularly.

UbahOne

You don't pick it up and carry it over the hills.

I had to do this...was part of a cross country course.

DeVore

Yeah, thats exactly what I was getting at Yoda. Hey, I'm all wise and sh*t!! Who'da thunk!

DeV.

logic1

Originally posted by AngelWhore

I've studied 3 Faiths in depth so far tbh, Catholisism, Satanism, and Freemasonry.

Yet you can't spell Catholicism and you fail to realise Freemasonry isn't a Faith in the common religious sense. It's a fraternity and not a substitute for your current religious beliefs.

I've also had dabblings with the Buddhist, Mormon, Pagan, Jewish, Hari-Krishna and Muslin faiths.

And yet you use the "mormon" nickname for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which even the so called "mormons" don't use.

How much exactly have you studied? HEard something about them on Gerry Ryan one day?

:rolleyes:

.logic.

Hobart

Originally posted by logic1


Yet you can't spell Catholicism and you fail to realise Freemasonry isn't a Faith in the common religious sense. It's a fraternity and not a substitute for your current religious beliefs.

[/b]

And yet you use the "mormon" nickname for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which even the so called "mormons" don't use.

How much exactly have you studied? HEard something about them on Gerry Ryan one day?

:rolleyes:

.logic. [/B]

I like squid. It's also called Calamari. Not sure if I have spelt it correctly. But I know it and like it. What is this a spelling contest or a blantant attempt at trolling??? Back on the (interesting) topic FFS!!:rolleyes:

Yoda

[Aside] Aw, now be a wee bit less snotty, Logic1. You misspelled "Heard". You omitted the hyphen in "so-called". Actually I find the "quality" of grammar and spelling and lack of attention thereto on the boards troubling. It doesn't say much for the Irish educational system, which is said, by the Irish, to be excellent. (And no, I don't mean the "euro" thing. That is a different travesty.)

Now then.

What is "a Faith" in the common religious sense? Religion is many things. It is philosophy for some. It is a deeply spiritual mystical practice for others (like Gotama and Jesus and the author of the Cloud of Unknowing). For most, it's a social and community activity, having little to do with genuine spiritual growth. For some, it is "believing" (which sometimes seems to be merely holding an opinion regardless of the available evidence).

Buddhist practice is philosophical, well, practice.

Do we "substitute current religious beliefs" when we "change" religions? Surely it is more than that.

By the way, the Mormons do in fact use the name Mormon for self identification. I knew many when in high school in Arizona.

Yoda

I sent the Death topic to http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109934

logic1

Originally posted by Yoda
[Aside] Aw, now be a wee bit less snotty, Logic1.

No.

You misspelled "Heard".

No I didn't.

You omitted the hyphen in "so-called".

Apologies, did the omittance offend you?

Actually I find the "quality" of grammar and spelling and lack of attention thereto on the boards troubling. It doesn't say much for the Irish educational system, which is said, by the Irish, to be excellent. (And no, I don't mean the "euro" thing. That is a different travesty.)

Of course everyone that posts on the boards has been educated in Ireland?

By the way, the Mormons do in fact use the name Mormon for self identification. I knew many when in high school in Arizona.

No they don't. I know this for fact because they call to me frequently. I enjoy talking to them and the first topic I raised with them was the use of the word "mormons". They specifically avoid it.

.logic.

Yoda

I am not offended by your having left out the hyphen in "so-called", Logic1. I was endeavouring, in a light-hearted fashion, to draw your attention to the fact that your comment to AngelWhore was inappropriate. We will have decorum on this board. If anyone doesn't like that, they can go and vent their spleen on other boards.

UbahOne

Logic whats your problem? Im not a Buddhist and i have no intention of becoming one but i find this all fascinating and your just wrecking it.

Karl Hungus

Oh for crying out loud, cop the **** on, logic.

Dont bother pointing out a spelling mistake in an arguement.
And that freemasons thing was an obvious joke.
As for the Mormons, my Aunt is one, thank you.
I didn't hear any such thing on Gerry Ryan or some crap.

I wonder, what I have done to offend you so much, logic, that you have to keep trolling me every chance you get. Is there some deep pain I inflicted upon you at some stage that you care to tell me about? Perhaps you can get it out of your system?

UbahOne

did u two go out with each other or something?

Karl Hungus

Thank god I've never even had the displeasure of a licking from him.

Yoda

That's enough now. Back to the topic or we'll lock the thread.

mickmacdublin

People come to Buddhism, in my experience, for a whole lot of different reasons some more thought-out than others.

Certainly the rationality of Buddhism - the lack of necessity of taking anything on trust or as a matter of faith attracts some people.

Buddhism is also non-theistic - there is no belief in a creator God or gods and that also rings true for many.

Also many people are drawn to the positive benefits of silent meditation or the many other tools Buddhism offers for working with the mind.

Some people find a authenticity in it that other Western religions seem to have lost.

Other people get attracted for other reasons.

Mick

god's toy

Originally posted by UbahOne
I mean why did you choose Buddhism as your religion...

To most it's not a religion.
It is a way of life.

Peace

Yoda

mickmacdublin said
Some people find a authenticity in it that other Western religions seem to have lost.

I think that was one of its attractions for me. Indeed, for me, it is only through the glass of Buddhist thought that the mysticism of Jesus or of the author of mediaeval Christian Cloud of Unknowing makes sense to me.

UbahOne

I just want to die peacefully and go to what i believe in. its scary...its only a matter of time before we all know/or may not know what the hell happens...scary or wat to think about? Honestly...its scary.

Yoda

You might want to look at Sogyal Rinpoche's Tibetan book of living and dying for some food for thought, UbahOne.