I'm speaking of the original Karma that comes from the Vedas - but i honestly don't think it matters. In fact, Buddhism is far more logical in it's interpretation and implications of "karma" than Hinduism in my opinion. In Buddhism, the root cause of Karma is ignorance. You overcome Karma by knowing the true nature of everything. Again, Karma is something to be eventually cast off.
The afterlife in general is BS. The concept was created by powerful religious leaders in order to control the actions of the masses. Because no matter how much you preach doing good for good's sake, it all comes down to self-interest. Solution: Heaven and Hell. If they existed, then it would be in people's best interest to be nice, wouldn't it? I especially like how wealth supposedly hurts your chances of getting into heaven. How convenient... this couldn't possibly be a ploy to keep poor people in their place. Really.
Honestly that's just jaded bumpkiss. The Buddha never claimed to be a god, only a spiritual teacher and guide. He also claimed his teachings should not be accepted without critical examination and experience. His teachings are what they are, accept them or don't. Buddhism isn't out to convert you. It's there to show you the way to avoid the suffering inherent in life with an actual roadmap on how to train your mind. It's not fire and brimstone and do this or else. Buddhism teaches good and bad from the standpoint of ethics and utility. What is right intention, what is best for you, and what is best for society. If something is good for you but bad for society then it is not wholly good and it isn't recognized as such. The betterment of society is a benefit for all people and that's why doing good is important. It's not do good or go to hell. We also recognize teachings and stories from other religions and incorporate them with our own. This idea that Buddhists are trying to hold the sheep down and keep them in check couldn't be farther from the truth.
While you might be right about the "buddha", buddhism certainly is a religion like any other. And it has transformed the buddha into a god-like figure. Religion is religion. doesn't matter what the original ideas were. As someone said somewhere....god created man in his own image, and man returned the favor.
Unlike other popular religions, the Buddha never asked to be worshipped. He never claimed to be supernatural or godly. Other popular religions do claim that. It's not his fault that his followers disfigured his teachings. Also, not all Buddhists make him out to be god-like.
Uhhhhh... dude? I was talking about religions in general, and even moreso Catholics. Why the specific references to Buddhism?
I think it's become clear at this point that you don't know very much about Buddhism. The Buddha welcomed criticism of his teachings, and Buddhism readily welcomes science, and promotes tolerance of all religions. It's certainly not like Christianity or Islam. There's no worship, there's no god, there's none of that.
We've been talking about Buddhism for about 3 or 4 pages and I find it offensive when someone defames my faith from an ignorant viewpoint.
Depends on what kind of Buddist you are - there's so many variants - particularly lower and higher. Buddha was very much a scientific thinker, but it's odd that you don't wish to question your own thinking and take a page from the one you so admire..... But in modern Buddhism, there a great deal of worship and such. Buddha is seen as a god by many. In reality, Jesus didn't say he was a god either, it was post-mortem that they turned him into one.
John 10:28-30 (King James Version) 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one.
It doesn't matter how many people you murdered if you are very sorry deep in your heart and only God knows your heart he will forgive you. And what a lot of people don't know is God didn't promise us heaven he promise us everlasting life.
Hell should be reserved for any SOB responsible or party to the subprime/credit mess that is still at great risk of reducing the US into a poverty level unseen since the Great Depression. Those ****ers should be burned alive and their homes and families repossessed right in front of them
So he's a moron becasue he believes in God and everything else that comes with believing in God, yea that was a smart thing to say. But you know what you're right you can debate him all you want becasue all he can do is try and tell you he can't prove that there is a God. Just know when the day comes you will find out for yourself.
You're right some Christians do come on too strong and they try to make you believe what they believe and thats wrong. Your job as a Christian is to pass on the word and let people know what you have learded, not try to force them into it.
I was really looking forward to being debated into the floor......ah well. hayjon is aight in my book.
Yea he's ok in my book too. It just hurt me to see how many people don't believe in Jesus after all he did for us. He died for our sins, he took all that pain for us. And to top it off he didn't have to do that he's the son of God he could have just left us here and not died for us but he choose to. If he would have choose to not die for our sins we would be in hell right now. People don't know how lucky we are to have this chance to get everlasting life with Jesus.
