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Misconceptions
While living in the west, it is common to come in contact with misconceptions of Buddhism. Like 'you worship a fat guy?' and many others. The latest one I have heard is "Buddhism is just doing what you feel like and when you feel like doing it, pretty much a lazy religion"
Anyone have any good responses to someone saying this and clearing it up for them?
Thanks.
Anyone have any good responses to someone saying this and clearing it up for them?
Thanks. 0
Comments
Of course, the most Buddhist thing would probably be to let it go and not worry about it
Perhaps you could look at the monotheistic faiths as putting an exterior control on people, while Buddhism asks individuals to find that control for themselves?
So profound. I like that
Anyways, I have had a few people think I worship Buddha. More than that, though, people think I must be vegetarian. I actually had one guy tell me that he "tried" Buddhism once but that he couldn't stand being a vegetarian.
Perhaps the issue is that there is no "standard" or easy set of labels for Buddhism? Even within one tradition you can find several variations usually. Perhaps its this partially amorphous nature that prevents people from looking closer at it?
On the other hand, all the others have the same monotheistic (or simply lack of) beliefs at the core and its all a matter of semantics (oh how I simplify). My point is it's probably easier for a Christian to "get" Islam than to "get" Buddhism - the east/west divide.
Just some un-examined idle speculative rambling from someone sitting in the heat
Did that just make sense?
That is where I am now, just having started exploring to see if the answers to lots of my as-yet unformulated questions might be in Buddhism. Over the past 50 years, I have gone through progressive stages of Atheism (because it seemed logical considering our place in the cosmos), becoming a vegetarian (because i deeply believe animals would prefer not to be killed for food) and an increasing need to work through a feeling of isolation and angst and avoid the "is this all there is?" dilemma.
After just a few days of reading here, I have already found an impressively intellectual group of fellow Seekers.
Maybe, just maybe, I have found the path I needed.
people seem more accepting of a religion if it is bred into them, and if the religion seems like the norm...
"in god we trust" "god keep our land"
christianity has huge leverage over the people who are willing to just accept christianity is right and it is normal, because christianity is so keen on making people believers... its become part of our society
if you try telling christians they may not be right, theyre uninterested... most people are comfortable with the god/heaven/hell answer for everything... it seems we only search for other religions through our own will... this frusterates me, some of the most popular religions mean well at the core but misguided men have corrupted them for their own evil
I know only one person who is not the religion they were born into. Where i live, virtually everyone was born Christian and will remain that way. Increased immigration is adding more Buddhists to the community but that has no influence on the infrastructure of the Christian churches.
I recently asked a cousin what he knew about Buddhism. The man is Christian, is intelligent and not prone to harsh words or statements. His reply was "All i know is that it's one of those Eastern religions that worships Buddha and does not eat meat."
After I tried a brief explanation and he found that Buddhists neither worshiped Buddha nor a god, his comment was "Then that makes them athiests." Around here, the only thing worse than an athiest is a Secular Humanist. Go figure - I don't understand the reasoning either!
I cannot imagine a greater cultural gap than between a devout Christian and one who is not. In this case, there needs to be a stronger word than "misconception." :banghead:
Went something like this:
C: Hey, can you still kill bugs?
Me: Yep.
C: I thought that killing was wrong if you're Buddhist.
Me: It's discouraged, but it's kind of complicated. You can't live without killing sometimes. People interpret it differently, like the Christian commandment to not kill.
C: But don't you think you might get reincarnated into bugs or something and that's why you can't kill them?
Me: No. I don't believe in that kind of reincarnation. Many Buddhists don't. You might be thinking of Hindus.
C: But don't you believe you keep getting reincarnated until you reach Nirvana?
Me: (thinking: oh no, she read the encyclopedia entry) Well, there are some Buddhists that believe in that literally, but many don't see it exactly that way. There's a lot of diversity of beliefs, more so than Christianity since we have many books, many teachers, and since none are considered to be divine, there's no reason for the average Buddhist to think that any of them are infallible.
C: So you just pick what you want to believe in?
Me: Not exactly. I believe what I believe because, well, I believe it. I didn't choose to believe it, but I have chosen to expose myself to other ways of thought, examine my beliefs and allow them to change.
Of course, I probably could have saved a lot of energy had I just said, "Buddhism isn't about what you believe, it's about how you think." Or something like that.
I do think that most conversations I have had along those lines are with the person on the opposite side looking for chinks in my argument or statement or position so they can prove superiority of their viewpoint. They usually don't really want information; just a weakness.
Looking back at history, how many conflicts were basically started by "my god can beat up your god"? It still goes on.
Thanks, that's quite a compliment.
I just live over in Royal Oak. Talk about close. What sangha do you belong to?
Jerry
Mom- So where do Buddhists go to church on the weekend?
Me- Well some groups of Buddhism have temples that they attend frequently, but it's not a commandment or anything.
Mom-So where do they go to profess their faith?
Me- Buddhism isn't so much a faith, but a philosophy. Kind of an individual religion.
Mom- So do they believe in God?
Me- Some do, some don't. Buddha avoided the topic of God and left it more up to the people to decide.
Mom- Why are you so interested in Buddhism rather than Christianity?
Me- Buddhism seems to be a more logical path where doubt and questions are a good thing. Buddhism is very simple and does not contain the commandments western religions do. It is a very individual path where I don't have to conform with millions of others and a hierarchy.
The temple I go to (when I go, which is not very often
Welcome to our community!
Knight of Buddha:
Those are some good answers. Hard to argue with that
I finally took an official meditation class with real people instead of online courses. Working nights can make it a bit tougher to find classes. But I had an accident last fall and am not able to work right now so I'm taking advantage of the time while I can.
Glad to be here!
Actually, that made absolute sense. I had hardly heard of Buddhism until I decided I needed some kind of spiritual path. Fundamentalist Christianity didn't work, Liberal Christianity didn't either. So I took a long break (10 years) and a character on a show I watch mentioned they were Buddhist. I tucked that away for when I was ready.
A year and a half ago I started studying Buddhism off and on. What has fascinated me about it is that it makes sense on more levels than I will ever be able to know. Just a cursory reading of things make sense but I'm sure that it gets much deeper the more you study it. And then just a few weeks ago I finally was ready to go to a temple and one was in my neighborhood. So it's like the old saying "When the student is ready, the teacher will arrive".
She didn't say much after that. I was just told that my family would be disappointed if I stopped going to church when I was older. Then I was asked what religion I would raise my kids. Me? Kids? :bigclap:
Not that they aren't being raised without a church, but not their church most likely. Just because Buddhists believe differently doesn't make it invalid. I've had to tell fundamentalist family members that they have a right to their beliefs and to be respected for them, and I deserve the same and expect it. That threw them for a loop. I don't even try to explain things to my family anymore as they really don't want to hear it. They want to hear that I'm coming back to fundamentalism and that won't happen.
Yeah, I think I got interested in Buddhism when Lisa Simpson turned Buddhist. She and I were already intelligent saxophone playing girls. I also loved when "God" on South Park turned out to be Buddhist.
That Albert Einstein quote is what really started things in motion for me to start my studies in Buddhism. I am truly seeking a meaningful existence, and not some feel good Sunday morning experience. Buddhism requires some work, as Christianity does also but most Christians don't realize it. I'm sure there are Buddhists that don't realize it either.
For a number of people, Christianity works. I started asking way too many questions to make my ministers comfortable. I already told my teacher I ask a lot of questions. I just have to recognize which are valuable and which are just being nit picky like I've been known to do:)!