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Re: Are You A Secular Buddhist ?
Rational or Emotional.. To be or not to be.......
"When the intellect ventures into where it does not belong, it becomes lost in its own confusion"
...But it's also a case of....
A middle ground has to be found
I guess this is also why both secular & traditional Buddhists are on the same Path ...to develop Wisdom & Compassion and to find the balance ...
Shoshin
Re: Are You A Secular Buddhist ?
I can understand it to some extent. Because I don't believe in anything. That is what my path has taught me. To believe in something is to cling to it. Be it God, science whatever. Nothing holds the answers. And yet, I am inextricably bound to this unknowable reality. Not the God of theism, but the Godhead of the mystics. Meister Eckhart's 'Divine Nothingness'. (Some great works by Kyoto School of Zen on how Meister Eckhart was basically a buddhist. Also Wholly Grounds podcast does some great episodes on Zen, Meister Eckhart and Heidegger) Do I believe it? Not for one second. It's completely bonkers by any stretch of the imagination. But yet its the only truth of my being. The intellect cannot grasp, and all the systems created by religions for me, they are ways to try explain, but thats all they are. Just words and systems, they are not reality. The Buddha's teachings, as he said, are like a raft. They are but a vehicle. But at the heart of it, of all religions and mystical paths is the divine ground or whatever you want to call it. I don't believe in it, rather I experience it as the ground which I am.
So, in answer to the question; no 
Re: Are You A Secular Buddhist ?
For me it isn't an either or situation. There's at least a third basket, if not an infinite amount of baskets, between accepting and discounting an idea.
This expresses my notion of human knowledge.
person
Re: Funny Stuff
A JFK conspiracy theorist dies and goes to heaven.
When he arrives at the Pearly Gates, God is there to receive him. "Welcome. You are permitted to ask me one question, which I will answer truthfully."
Without hesitating, the conspiracy theorist asks, "Who really shot Kennedy?"
God replies, "Lee Harvey Oswald shot him from sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. There were no accomplices. He acted alone"
The conspiracy theorist pauses, thinks to himself, then says "Shit! This goes higher up than I thought..."
person
Re: Buddhist v. Hinduism
Well, it's also that Hinduism believes in an eternal soul (Atman), while Buddhism supposedly doesn't. But I don't want to open that can of worms again.
OP, I think the Buddha in part was reacting to the spiritual environment around him, so in a way, was creating an anti-Hinduism, to some extent. But some of Buddhism's roots are in Jainism, which was around in the Buddha's time, too. The whole thing about not killing, not contributing to the suffering of sentient beings, for one thing.
Dakini
Re: Perfectly Imperfect
You should focus on doing your Buddhist practices, and developing compassion for others.
Rather than focusing on strengthening your attachment to your ego.
As for being imperfect, until enlightenment we are all imperfect. It is a given. But we become what we dwell on, so accept imperfections but focus on doing better next time (an ongoing process).
