Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
I like Buddhism, or rather, I was attracted to it because the Buddha is shown to be slightly overweight and smiling/peaceful. I figure he knows what the good life is
I was told this before... Fat Buddha is some other dude. But Buddha gave up his ascetic practice so I can't see him being too skinny as he got to the end. Maybe he isn't fat Buddha, but he's not emaciated Buddha, either.
I was told this before... Fat Buddha is some other dude. But Buddha gave up his ascetic practice so I can't see him being too skinny as he got to the end. Maybe he isn't fat Buddha, but he's not emaciated Buddha, either.
I wish he was fat though.
Like Santa.
Remember, Buddha did fast for 7 weeks, but I know of no indication that he was ever fat. And no one ever claimed that he was always that skinny.
I was told this before... Fat Buddha is some other dude. But Buddha gave up his ascetic practice so I can't see him being too skinny as he got to the end. Maybe he isn't fat Buddha, but he's not emaciated Buddha, either.
I wish he was fat though.
Like Santa.
Remember, Buddha did fast for 7 weeks, but I know of no indication that he was ever fat. And no one ever claimed that he was always that skinny.
Didn't he go through a period where he only ate a grain of rice a day? And he was going to die of starvation so he had to give it up? I'm sure i read that somewhere, and if it's true, he was probably looking a little worse for wear
I was told this before... Fat Buddha is some other dude. But Buddha gave up his ascetic practice so I can't see him being too skinny as he got to the end. Maybe he isn't fat Buddha, but he's not emaciated Buddha, either.
I wish he was fat though.
Like Santa.
Remember, Buddha did fast for 7 weeks, but I know of no indication that he was ever fat. And no one ever claimed that he was always that skinny.
Didn't he go through a period where he only ate a grain of rice a day? And he was going to die of starvation so he had to give it up? I'm sure i read that somewhere, and if it's true, he was probably looking a little worse for wear
"I thought: 'Suppose I were to take only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.' So I took only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup. My body became extremely emaciated. Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems... My backside became like a camel's hoof... My spine stood out like a string of beads... My ribs jutted out like the jutting rafters of an old, run-down barn... The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well... My scalp shriveled & withered like a green bitter gourd, shriveled & withered in the heat & the wind... The skin of my belly became so stuck to my spine that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine, I grabbed hold of the skin of my belly as well... If I urinated or defecated, I fell over on my face right there... Simply from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair — rotted at its roots — fell from my body as I rubbed, simply from eating so little.
Is it possible that maybe fasting helped indirectly, such as releasing chemicals and creating clarity? Many people have psychedelic experiences while fasting, so would this be all that difficult to imagine?
Is it possible that maybe fasting helped indirectly, such as releasing chemicals and creating clarity? Many people have psychedelic experiences while fasting, so would this be all that difficult to imagine?
Perhaps, but I don't really think so. The Buddha himself gave up such ascetic practices as a dead end. For example, the next three passages immediately following the one above:
"I thought: 'Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the past have felt painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None have been greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the future will feel painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None will be greater than this. Whatever brahmans or contemplatives in the present are feeling painful, racking, piercing feelings due to their striving, this is the utmost. None is greater than this. But with this racking practice of austerities I haven't attained any superior human state, any distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones. Could there be another path to Awakening?'
"I thought: 'I recall once, when my father the Sakyan was working, and I was sitting in the cool shade of a rose-apple tree, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities — I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. Could that be the path to Awakening?' Then following on that memory came the realization: 'That is the path to Awakening.' I thought: 'So why am I afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities?' I thought: 'I am no longer afraid of that pleasure that has nothing to do with sensuality, nothing to do with unskillful mental qualities, but that pleasure is not easy to achieve with a body so extremely emaciated. Suppose I were to take some solid food: some rice & porridge.' So I took some solid food: some rice & porridge. Now five monks had been attending on me, thinking, 'If Gotama, our contemplative, achieves some higher state, he will tell us.' But when they saw me taking some solid food — some rice & porridge — they were disgusted and left me, thinking, 'Gotama the contemplative is living luxuriously. He has abandoned his exertion and is backsliding into abundance.'
"So when I had taken solid food and regained strength, then — quite secluded from sensuality, secluded from unskillful mental qualities, I entered & remained in the first jhana: rapture & pleasure born from seclusion, accompanied by directed thought & evaluation. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, I entered & remained in the second jhana: rapture & pleasure born of concentration, unification of awareness free from directed thought & evaluation — internal assurance. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the fading of rapture I remained equanimous, mindful, & alert, and sensed pleasure with the body. I entered & remained in the third jhana, of which the noble ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.' But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain. With the abandoning of pleasure & pain — as with the earlier disappearance of elation & distress — I entered & remained in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. But the pleasant feeling that arose in this way did not invade my mind or remain.
for those who are buddhist, which criteria do you use to evaluate buddhism? for those who has left their old religion eg catholics, why? what i am asking is how do you choose a religion? is it an objective process or not?
I do not actually pursue Buddhism as a religion.
But that which is appealing to me is that with Buddhism my development is my own responsibility in the end and that the fruits and benifits of it is up to my own effort.
Unlike religions where the help or accknowledgement of a god is required.
Comments
I wish he was fat though.
Like Santa.
True story.
But that which is appealing to me is that with Buddhism my development is my own responsibility in the end and that the fruits and benifits of it is up to my own effort.
Unlike religions where the help or accknowledgement of a god is required.
/Victor