If someone is wondering, Buddhists don't believe in a creator God. I think the reason is it's not important in Buddhism to blieve in a creator God because that really does not address the earthly issues of suffering and how to eliminate them. I learned from a philosophy class that we are just one of zillions of worlds for a creator God to care so much for (if there is one). Also, what if this world is a freaking flaw?! So the creator God abandoned us (which explains all the crap in this world )
How about this...follow Jesus...live a life like he suggested....and if you wake up after death, then great for you!!! I spent a great deal of my life reducing God to precise theological concepts. God's bigger than that. He's bigger than the constructs I put around Him to attempt to understand Him. My concern now is seeking to live out a life that I believe matches God's heart/passion. I'll spend my life trying to get that right, and I'm certain I'll fail miserably, but I'm also certain He loves me anyway. Read Ragamuffin Gospel and Velvet Elvis.
Do you really want to remember your past lives? What if your current mom was your wife in your past life? Mahayana Buddhism has been Chinesefied. Have you been to a Chinese temple? They worship Buddhas and Chinese gods as if they belong in the same religion. They don't. The teachings are different too. In Buddhism, you DON'T need to worship any Buddha to become a Buddha. But in Taoism, you do need to worship gods to get their blessings (like most religions). Just like Buddhism in Vietnam is also Vientnamfied too. Basically, Buddhism is influenced by the local religions because Buddhism does not force anyone into doing anything. But people pray to Buddhas to remind themselves to do good. In fact, most Buddhist chants in Mahayana Buddhism are actually just applauding the Buddhas or of Sakyamuni Buddha (the founder) telling his students to do good in order to get good returns (karma). That's it. The founding Buddha NEVER asked his students to worship him or any Buddha he talked about (he is the only Buddha in recorded history). Some few centuries later, an old Chinese Buddhist monk actually burned a wooden statue of the Buddha to make a fire when he and his student were in an abandoned temple and explained to his student that it's only a piece of wood and that what's important is the teaching. (About Taoism, I read somewhere that the disciples throughout the dynasties kind of messed up the theme of the religion by living a good life, but instead focus on fortune telling and making magical pills.)
I'm both. I was born in a Buddhist family, but I didn't read about Buddhism until just a few years ago.
Tree-Mac's view is largely correct that Buddhism as it has grown and spread has taken on different aspects in the various cultures it has been adopted in. In the Mahayana view there is the idea of deities that are worshipped and there are an infinite number of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other deities that can be appealed to for help in gaining enlightment. In some Mahayana sects like the Pure Land sect there is even a similar idea of Heaven as a paradise where people can be reborn into. Conversely there is the idea of a Hell(s) where people can be reborn into also. The original teachings of Sakyamuni though dealt with a more personal understanding enlightment without the trappings of other deities and, my understanding limited as it is, is that the Buddha isn't considered a god but as an example that all Buddhist strive for with the understanding that if Sakyamuni can do it then so can everyone.
Are there any religions that have remained "whole?" Looking at it from a remove, as it were, they all seem to have variations developed over the course of time. I'm not sure if that's because of the frailty of all religions, or the inability of man to keep from tinkering with anything within reach, religion included. Impeach Bush.
I think my problem is that issues about the afterlife and where me and my loved ones go will be stuck in my mind, and the religious places I've gone to seem to have a concise answer that my brain likes fiddling around with to no satisfactory conclusion. It's a work in progress. I'll look into reading the books. I've been to those temples and have chanted for the afterlife. It's quite amazing from a cultural perspective. I don't think Chinese Buddhism is that bad in its principles on compassion and well meaning. It's kind of a cop out statement though because China has 5000 thousand years of philosophical and theological writing, so one can pick and choose what actually isn't bad. Those Chan Buddhists were wacky fellows by employing pain and punishment to beat the dogma and preconceptions out of their students. Ideas like killing the Buddha later bled into Tao teachings and some of Tao would flow right back. Theravada Buddhism seems like a highly profound philosophy to me even if the practice can lead to greatly spiritual and sacred experiences. I enjoy reading and thinking about it. Calling it a philosophy might just be me reducing God and existence to precise or preconceived concepts... If it sounds that I read more than doing more, then that's probably fair.
