Buddhist network that actively promotes peace, culture and education.

[d_guy1024]

---

I would like to share this to you...i have posted this already to the religion forum before, this is also my purpose in creating this thread...Hope you understand.

@Brian_d: talking about God is very delicate to christians who are reading this thread, hope you are not destroying my purpose of promoting peace, culture, and education. Be careful. Thanks.

SGI President Ikeda's Daily Encouragement
Religious strife must be avoided at all cost; under no circumstance should it be allowed. People may hold different religious beliefs, but the bottom line is that we are all human beings. We all seek happiness and desire peace. Religion should bring people together. It should unite the potential for good in people's hearts toward benefiting society and humanity and creating a better future.

[lightbringer]

Peace is good. Culture is good. Education..? It's not bad. I'd exchange my wealth to have these things.. to experience peace.. to have culture.. to get a good education..

except...

If it teaches contrary to the truth. I'd rather make a stand for the truth than these three. True peace is from within.. the peace the passeth all understanding. The Word of God rather than culture and wisdom than education.

Sad to tell you that there shall be no true peace on earth till the Prince of Peace cometh. Whether you like it or not..it is true, my friends. If you replace the one true God with these teachings...you better be sure where you stand. Good day!

[brian_d]

» Basic Buddhism Guide » Question & Answer » The Five Precepts







Other religions derive their ideas of right and wrong from the commandments of their god or gods. You Buddhists don't believe in a god, so how do you know what is right and wrong?


Any thoughts, speech or actions that are rooted in greed, hatred and delusion and thus lead us away from Nirvana are bad and any thoughts, speech or actions that are rooted in giving, love and wisdom and thus help clear the way to Nirvana are good. To know what is right and wrong in god-centered religions, all that is needed is to do as you are told. But in a human-centered religion like Buddhism, to know what is right or wrong, you have to develop a deep self-awareness and self-understanding. And ethics based on understanding are always stronger than those that are a response to a command. So to know what is right and wrong, the Buddhist looks at three things - the intention, the effect the act will have upon oneself and the effect it will have upon others. If the intention is good (rooted in giving, love and wisdom), if it helps myself (helps me to be more giving, more loving and wiser) and help others (helps them to be more giving, more loving and wiser), then my deeds and actions are wholesome, good and moral. Of course, there are many variations of this. Sometimes I act with the best of intentions but it may not benefit either myself or others. Sometimes my intentions are far from good, but my action helps others nonetheless. Sometimes I act out of good intentions and my acts help me but perhaps cause some distress to others. In such cases, my actions are mixed - a mixture of good and not-so-good. When intentions are bad and the action helps neither myself nor others, such an action is bad. And when my intention is good and my action benefits both myself and others, then the deed is wholly good.


So does Buddhism have a code of morality?


Yes, it does. The Five Precepts are the basis of Buddhist morality. The first precept is to avoid killing or harming living beings. The second is to avoid stealing, the third is to avoid sexual misconduct, the fourth is to avoid lying and the fifth is to avoid alcohol and other intoxicating drugs.


But surely it is good to kill sometimes. To kill disease-spreading insects, for example, or someone who is going to kill you?


It might be good for you but what about that thing or that person? They wish to live just as you do. When you decide to kill a disease-spreading insect, your intention is perhaps a mixture of self-concern (good) and revulsion (bad). The act will benefit yourself (good) but obviously it will not benefit that creature (bad). So at times it may be necessary to kill but it is never wholly good.


You Buddhists are too concerned about ants and bugs.


Buddhists strive to develop a compassion that is undiscriminating and all-embracing. They see the world as a unified whole where each thing or creature has its place and function. They believe that before we destroy or upset nature's delicate balance, we should be very careful. Just look at those cultures where emphasis is on exploiting nature to the full, squeezing every last drop out of it without putting anything back, on conquering and subduing it. Nature has revolted. The very air is becoming poisoned, the rivers are polluted and dead, so many beautiful animal species are extinct, the slopes of the mountains are barren and eroded. Even the climate is changing. If people were a little less anxious to crush, destroy and kill, this terrible situation may not have arisen. We should all strive to develop a little more respect for life. And this is what the first precept is saying.


The Third Precept says we should avoid sexual misconduct. What is sexual misconduct?


If we use trickery, emotional blackmail or force to compel someone to have *** with us, then this is sexual misconduct. Adultery is also a form of sexual misconduct because when we marry we promise our spouse we will be loyal to them. When we commit adultery we break that promise and betray their trust. *** should be an expression of love and intimacy between two people and when it is it contributes to our mental and emotional well-being.


Is *** before marriage a type of sexual misconduct?


Not if there is love and mutual agreement between the two people. However it should never be forgotten that the biological function of *** is to reproduce and if an unmarried woman becomes pregnant it can cause a great deal of problems. Many mature and thoughtful people think it is far better to leave *** until after marriage.


But what about lying? Is it possible to live without telling lies?


If it is really impossible to get by in society or business without lying, such a shocking and corrupt state of affairs should be changed. The Buddhist is someone who resolves to do something practical about the problem by trying to be more truthful and honest.


Well, what about alcohol? Surely a little drink doesn't hurt.


People don't drink for the taste. When they drink alone it is in order to seek release from tension and when they drink socially, it is usually to conform. Even a small amount of alcohol distorts consciousness and disrupts self-awareness. Taken in large quantities, its effect can be devastating.


But drinking just a small amount wouldn't be really breaking the precept, would it? It's only a small thing.


Yes, it is only a small thing and if you can't practice even a small thing, your commitment and resolution isn't very strong, is it?


The five precepts are negative. They tell you what not to do. They don't tell you what to do.


The Five Precepts are the basis of Buddhist morality. They are not all of it. We start by recognizing our bad behavior and striving to stop doing it. That is what the Five Precepts are for. After we have stopped doing bad, we then commence to do good. Take for example, speech. The Buddha says we should start by refraining from telling lies. After that, we should speak the truth, speak gently and politely and speak at the right time. He says:

"Giving up false speech he becomes a speaker of truth, reliable, trustworthy, dependable, he does not deceive the world. Giving up malicious speech he does not repeat there what he has heard here nor does he repeat here what he has heard there in order to cause variance between people. He reconciles those who are divided and brings closer together those who are already friends. Harmony is his joy, harmony is his delight, harmony is his love; it is the motive of his speech. Giving up harsh speech his speech is blameless, pleasing to the ear, agreeable, going to the heart, urbane, liked by most. Giving up idle chatter he speaks at the right time, what is correct, to the point, about Dhamma and about discipline. He speaks words worth being treasured up, seasonable, reasonable, well defined and to the point."
M. I, 179







Copyright © 2005 - BDEA / BuddhaNet. All rights reserved.

[d_guy1024]

Peace is good. Culture is good.Â* Education..?Â* It's not bad.Â* I'd exchange my wealth to have these things.. to experience peace.. to have culture.. to get a good education..

except...

If it teaches contrary to the truth.Â* I'd rather make a stand for the truth than these three.Â* True peace is from within.. the peace the passeth all understanding.Â* The Word of God rather than culture and wisdom than education.Â*

Sad to tell you that there shall be no true peace on earth till the Prince of Peace cometh.Â* Whether you like it or not..it is true, my friends.Â* If you replace the one true God with these teachings...you better be sure where you stand.Â* Good day!

My heart knows where I stand. We cannot expect anybody to follow our belief, and we could not say that this is the truth, and yours is wrong. Yours maybe just a fairy tale for somebody, and so on...That is why I discouraged those kind of stuff. Peace bro.

[Gwynhuever]

..there is no religion higher than the truth...

@lightbringer....welcome to the thread....please feel free to join us with your thoughts as well....pero di lang ta mag lalis who is right or wrong....free forum lang ni to express what is in our hearts...i read some of your posts in the religion thread and they were also enlightening....

@d_guy....we should not restrict the posts purely to buddhism right? or am i wrong? as this is your thread....

in my opinion we should just all share without debating...who knows maka enlighten ta each other...

[brian_d]

i agree....

..there is no religion higher than the truth...

@lightbringer....welcome to the thread....please feel free to join us with your thoughts as well....pero di lang ta mag lalis who is right or wrong....free forum lang ni to express what is in our hearts...i read some of your posts in the religion thread and they were also enlightening....

@d_guy....we should not restrict the posts purely to buddhism right? or am i wrong? as this is your thread....

in my opinion we should just all share without debating...who knows maka enlighten ta each other...

[d_guy1024]

..there is no religion higher than the truth...

@lightbringer....welcome to the thread....please feel free to join us with your thoughts as well....pero di lang ta mag lalis who is right or wrong....free forum lang ni to express what is in our hearts...i read some of your posts in the religion thread and they were also enlightening....

@d_guy....we should not restrict the posts purely to buddhism right? or am i wrong? as this is your thread....

in my opinion we should just all share without debating...who knows maka enlighten ta each other...

agreed. =)

let's share anything that would promote peace, not war. thanks a lot.

[lightbringer]

Agreed gentlemen! Let's just say some of us on the other thread we're provoked to use harsh words...well the truth is kinda hard, well it is. You have to "die" for the truth. As what like the apostle Paul said..

"But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things."
-II Cor. 11:6

Everytime I see fellow brethren depart from the faith..my heart grows weary. This day and age, people are becoming less and less open to Christ. Well, indeed..because it's been prophesied. Many will depart from the faith and some people think that Christ and His teachings are foolishness.

1 Cor. 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

True, Buddhism has it's good stuff. Like not killing, lying..etc. But aren't these things taught in Christianity? What I mean here is TRUE CHRISTIANITY.

I think people nowadays don't accept that there is only one true God. And that's the very basic foundation before we proceed further!

just one thing that caught my attention...

Is *** before marriage a type of sexual misconduct?


Not if there is love and mutual agreement between the two people. However it should never be forgotten that the biological function of *** is to reproduce and if an unmarried woman becomes pregnant it can cause a great deal of problems. Many mature and thoughtful people think it is far better to leave *** until after marriage.

That is called adultery and fornication.

Why do people die? I mean, why do we decay? Why do we rot? No matter how we try to stay physically fit, eat the right way.. we still die. Death is inevitable for us humans.

Because of SIN. No matter how man tries to study our own biology to try to defeat aging and death.. we still can't. Scientists can never figure it out why.. SIN my friends.

My friend told me when he was in Singapore he met this Filipina, ok I'm just going to say it outright.. she's a hooker, prostitute.. or whatever you call women who are involved in such business. My friend thought she was 35-45 up.. turns out she's still 24. I don't know about you sirs, but I believe it's the sin that she does almost everyday in her life that causes her to be like that. Y'all seen women like that right?

I love my God because no matter how sinful a man can get...he's ready to forgive! No works needed! That's why in other "religion" man searches for God. But in Christianity...God searches for man! Good day to you all!

[Gwynhuever]

guys...thanks for the open minds...i mean open hearts diay....

bitaw i am so glad we have this thread....where we can share and feel positive...didto sa pikas man gud very negative ang vibes....di sad ka ka pugong maka tubag jud ka kay grabe man maka provoke...but anyway as we have all agreed not to go that way...all is well that ends well....

@lightbringer....i can feel your frustration ...labi na you love The Christ so much and many people/religion use His name but do not understand what He stands for. Para nako Christ stands for LOVE....all encompassing love....it's a pity we use His name to advance other interests....i saw the movie Kingdom of Heaven (lots of fighting due to religion) and near the end of the movie one knight said " I thought I was fighting for God , and when I realized I was fighting for wealth and land...I felt ashamed".....

usahay man gud bro....others tend to claim things in the name of Christianity....unya diay to they are preaching na Churchianity....I am Catholic....but I do not believe and follow all the rituals and rules....I am Christ centered and love Jesus with my whole being....I also practice Buddhist teachings....as they are very LOVE focused....and I feel peace within myself when I am able to spread love....

d_guy and brian....keep the posts coming bro....they are very enlightening...

[brian_kd]

» Basic Buddhism Guide » Question & Answer » Rebirth








Where do we come from and where are we going?


There are three possible answers to this question. Those who believe in a god or gods usually claim that before an individual is created, he does not exist, then he comes into being through the will of a god. He lives his life and then, according to what he believes or does during his life, he either goes to eternal heaven or eternal hell. There are others, humanists and scientists, who claim that the individual comes into being at conception due to natural causes, lives and then at death, ceases to exist. Buddhism does not accept either of these explanations. The first gives rise to many ethical problems. If a good god really creates each of us, it is difficult to explain why so many people are born with the most dreadful deformities, or why so many children are miscarried just before birth or are still-born. Another problem with the theistic explanation is that it seems very unjust that a person should suffer eternal pain in hell for what he did in just 60 or 70 years on earth. Sixty or seventy years of non-belief or immoral living does not deserve eternal torture. Likewise, 60 or 70 years of good living seems a very small outlay for eternal bliss in heaven. The second explanation is better than the first and has more scientific evidence to support it but still leaves several important questions unanswered. How can a phenomenon so amazingly complex as consciousness develop from the simple meeting of two cells, the sperm and the egg? And now that parapsychology is a recognized branch of science, phenomena like telepathy are increasingly difficult to fit into the materialistic model of the mind. Buddhism offers the most satisfactory explanation of where man came from and where he is going. When we die, the mind, with all the tendencies, preferences, abilities and characteristics that have been developed and conditioned in this life, re-establishes itself in a fertilized egg. Thus the individual grows, is re-born and develops a personality conditioned both by the mental characteristics that have been carried over and by the new environment. The personality will change and be modified by conscious effort and conditioning factors like education, parental influence and society and once again at death, re-establish itself in a new fertilized egg. This process of dying and being reborn will continue until the conditions that cause it, craving and ignorance, cease. When they do, instead of being reborn, the mind attains a state called Nirvana and this is the ultimate goal of Buddhism and the purpose of life.


How does the mind go from one body to another?


Think of it being like radio waves. The radio waves, which are not made up of words and music but energy at different frequencies, are transmitted, travel through space, are attracted to and picked up by the receiver from where they are broadcast as words and music. It is the same with the mind. At death, mental energy travels through space, is attracted to and picked up by the fertilized egg. As the embryo grows, it centers itself in the brain from where it later "broadcasts" itself as the new personality.


Is one always reborn as a human being?


No, there are several realms into which one can be reborn. Some people are reborn in heaven, some are reborn in hell, some are reborn as hungry ghosts and so on. Heaven is not a place but a state of existence where one has a subtle body and where the mind experiences mainly pleasure. Some religions strive very hard to be reborn in a heavenly existence mistakenly believing it to be a permanent state. But it is not. Like all conditioned states, heaven is impermanent and when one's life span there is finished, one could well be reborn again as a human. Hell, likewise, is not a place but a state of existence where one has a subtle body and where the mind experiences mainly anxiety and distress. Being a hungry ghost, again, is a state of existence where the body is subtle and where the mind is continually plagued by longing and dissatisfaction. So heavenly beings experience mainly pleasure, hell beings and ghosts experience mainly pain and human beings experience usually a mixture of both. So the main difference between the human realm and other realms is the body type and the quality of experience.


What decides where will be reborn?


The most important factor, but not the only one, influencing where we will be reborn and what sort of life we shall have, is kamma. The word kamma means 'action' and refers to our intentional mental actions. In other words, what we are is determined very much by how we have thought and acted in the past. Likewise, how we think and act now will influence how we will be in the future. The gentle, loving type of person tends to be reborn in a heaven realm or as a human being who has a predominance of pleasant experiences. the anxious, worried or extremely cruel type of person tends to be reborn in a hell realm or as a human being who has a predominance of painful experiences. The person who develops obsessive craving, fierce longings, and burning ambitions that can never be satisfied tends to be reborn as a hungry ghost or as a human being frustrated by longing and wanting. Whatever mental habits are strongly developed in this life will continue in the next life. Most people, however, are reborn as human beings.


So we are not determined by our kamma. We can change it.


Of course we can. That is why one of the steps on the Noble Eightfold Path is Perfect Effort. If depends on our sincerity, how much energy we exert and how strong the habit is. But it is true that some people simply go through life under the influence of their past habits, without making an effort to change them and falling victim to these unpleasant results. Such people will continue to suffer unless they change their negative habits. The longer the negative habits remain, the more difficult they are to change. The Buddhist understands this and takes advantage of each and every opportunity to break mental habits that have unpleasant results and to develop mental habits that have a pleasant and happy result. Meditation is one of the techniques used to modify the habit patterns of the mind as does speaking or refraining to speak, acting or refraining to act m certain ways, The whole of the Buddhist life is a training to purify and free the mind. For example, if being patient and kind was a pronounced part of your character in your last life, such tendencies will re-emerge in the present life. If they are strengthened and developed in the present life, they will re-emerge even stronger and more pronounced in the future life. This is based upon the simple and observable fact that long established habits tend to be difficult to break. Now, when you are patient and kind, it tends to happen that you are not so easily ruffled by others, you don't hold grudges, people like you and thus your experiences tends to be happier. Now, let us take another example. Let us say that you came into life with a tendency to be patient and kind due to your mental habits in the past life. But in the present life, you neglect to strengthen and develop such tendencies. They would gradually weaken and die out and perhaps be completely absent in the future life. Patience and kindness being weak in this case, there is a possibility that in either this life or in the next life, a short temper, anger and cruelty could grow and develop, bringing with them all the unpleasant experiences that such attitudes create. We will take one last example. Let us say that due to your mental habits in the last life, you came into the present life with the tendency to be short-tempered and angry, and you realize that such habits only cause you unpleasantness and so you make an effort to change them. You replace them with positive emotions. If you are able to eliminate them completely, which is possible if you make an effort, you become free from the unpleasantness caused by being short tempered and angry. If you are only able to weaken such tendencies, they would re-emerge in the next life where with a bit more effort, they could be eliminated completely and you could be free from their unpleasant effects.


You have talked a lot about rebirth but is there any proof that we are reborn when we die?


Not only is there scientific evidence to support the Buddhist belief in rebirth, it is the only after-life theory that has any evidence to support it. There is not a scrap of evidence to prove the existence of heaven and of course evidence of annihilation at death must be lacking. But during the last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that some people have vivid memories of their former lives. For example, in England, a 5 year-old girl said she could remember her "other mother and father" and she talked vividly about what sounded like the events in the life of another person. Parapsychologists were called in and they asked her hundreds of questions to which she gave answers. She spoke of living in a particular village in what appeared to be Spain, she gave the name of the village, the name of the street she lived in, her neighbors' names and details about her everyday life there. She also fearfully spoke of how she had been struck by a car and died of her injuries two days later. When these details were checked, they were found to be accurate. There was a village in Spain with the name the five-year-old girl had given. There was a house of the type she had described in the street she had named. What is more, it was found that a 23-year-old woman living in the house had been killed in a car accident five years before. Now how is it possible for a five year- old girl living in England and who had never been to Spain to know all these details? And of course, this is not the only case of this type. Professor Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia's Department of Psychology has described dozens of cases of this type in his books. He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year study of people who remember former lives is very strong evidence for the Buddhist teaching of rebirth.


Some people might say that the supposed ability to remember former lives is the work of devils.


You simply cannot dismiss everything that doesn't fit into your belief as being the work of devils. When cold, hard facts are produced to support an idea, you must use rational and logical arguments if you wish to counter them -not irrational and superstitious talk about devils.


You say that talk about devils is superstition but isn't talk about rebirth a bit superstitious also?


The dictionary defines 'superstition' as 'a belief which is not based on reason or fact but on an association of ideas, as in magic'. If you can show me a careful study of the existence of devils written by a scientist I will concede that belief in devils is not superstition. But I have never heard of any research into devils; scientists simply wouldn't bother to study such things, so I say there is no evidence for the existence of devils. But as we have just seen, there is evidence which seems to suggest that rebirth does take place. So if belief in rebirth is based on at least some facts, it cannot be a superstition.


Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?


Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the 19th century British school system and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book 'Evolution and Ethics and other Essays', he says:

In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.

Then, Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth." She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as commonplace; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory. Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. So with our possible spirit-emanation. It... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our per venalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until... they... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind. Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. Ford was attracted to the idea of rebirth because, unlike the theistic idea or the materialistic idea, rebirth gives you a second chance to develop yourself. Henry Ford says: I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point.. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is fume if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock... Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.

So the Buddhist teachings of rebirth does have some scientific evidence to support it. It is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering questions that theistic and the materialistic theories fail to do. But it is also very comforting. What can be worse than a theory of life that gives you no second chance, no opportunity to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and no time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this life. But according to the Buddha, if you fail to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. What a wonderful teaching!








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