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In Church History Class...

KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
edited September 2005 in Buddhism Today
Our teacher was talking about how Christianity had a unique view on the world and it was insulting to many people to say that all religions were basically the same. I agree with that, but he then brought up Buddhism, and that it was a view where our choices really did not make a difference in the world, and Nirvana is nothing. Is this accurate? I personally think that choices are very important even our smaller ones. But for those who know more about it, is this correct?

Comments

  • DharmaKittenDharmaKitten
    edited September 2005
    Wow, that is very ignorant, prejudiced, and downright discriminatory of your teacher. If anything, the law of karma teaches that even the smallest choices can have a huge effect on the world. And saying Nirvana is "nothing", well, it's a bit more complicated than that.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited September 2005
    Nirvana is described in so many ways that it's indescribeable.... It is the Great Emptiness, the Great Void the Utimate Reality The End of Illusion the Realm of Infinite Joy.... When I used to teach QiGong, I described the dense, inner "ball" of the WuJi as the All with Nothing, the Great Emptiness - not because it was empty, but because it was absolutely charged with everything you ever need to Be and to Know.... that it just "exploded quietly", internally, as a small grain of Gigantic Realisation....
    Really difficult to wrap your head around...!

    My guess is that maybe your teacher was constrained by time, to try to balance his lesson out, and that he was trying to give a brief summary of Buddhism.... he's obviously got the wrong end of the stick, or his method of self-expression is flawed.... Any reason, if you disagreed, why you didn't speak up? Just a question.... :winkc:
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited September 2005
    The Buddha's teaching on kamma make it very clear that every single one of our choices is important. Every action of our body, speech, mind (thinking) carries its own vipaka (result). I would say that your teacher does not have a very good understanding of Buddhism. In my view he is not correct, but then again I am a little biased here. ;)
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited September 2005
    The difference between Buddhism and other religions (if indeed Buddhism is a religion) is that we are in the driver's seat, not some deity or cosmic being or whatever. Our choices are extraordinarily important because that creates our karma. In other words, if we plant the seeds of happiness through our actions, we will reap happiness; if we plant the seeds of suffering, then we will reap suffering. We can't blame anything on God or Shiva or Jeffrey, the Talking Dog. It's up to us and us alone to create our happiness. As Einstein said, nothing happens for no reason. So your teacher was as wrong as wrong can be. Am I surprised? :rolleyes:

    Palzang
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited September 2005
    My guess is that this teacher does not even present the branch of Christianity which also challenges each individual to live authentically. Nothing can be 'blamed' on God. The reconciliation wrought by the Incarnation has assured us of the reality of what is termed metanoia, transformation from the imagined prison of self. There are close relationships between Existential Christianity and Christian Socialism, and Buddhism.

    Unfortunately, many RE teachers appear to be prepared only to teach their own brand of belief as 'normative'. When I was charged with teaching RE, I invited speakers from various churches and other 'faith families', rather than pretend that I could speak from their point of view. We all learned much more than way.
  • KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
    edited September 2005
    It was the end of class, and he only mentioned it as the bell was just about to ring. It might get mentioned again next week. He also mentioned as we were leaving that Buddhism like many other religions believed that the world had always been and always will be where Christianity believes the world was created by God and it will end when God comes again.
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited September 2005
    Yet another misconception foisted on you by your teacher. Buddhism does not believe that the world has always been and will always be. Again, quite the opposite. The Buddha taught that nothing at all is permanent, including the universe. He taught about kalpas, which are enormous stretches of time at the end of which the universe is destroyed and then a new one arises. In fact, he taught about 3,000 myriads of universes! On another level, Buddhists don't think so much in linear progression about time. Time is cyclical, as is taught in the Kalachakra (Wheel of Time) tantras. Christianity, by comparison, has a much more limited view.

    It's sort of like the old joke about the guy who died and woke up in heaven. He is shown around the premises by an angel who brings him to various heavenly realms populated by Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and so forth, all of which are really nice and are readily accessible from one to the other. All reflect the mental conceptions of the inhabitants according to their religious beliefs in their lives. Then finally they come to a big wall with a little hole that they could peek through. Squinting through the peephole, the man sees lots of angels flying around with halos and harps, streets lined with gold, and so forth. "What's this?" asks the man. "Why is it walled off from the rest of heaven?" "Oh," replied the angel, putting his finger to his mouth to indicate to the man to keep his voice down, "this is the Christian heaven. They think they're the only ones here!"

    Palzang

    PS What the heck is RE, Simon?
  • KnightofBuddhaKnightofBuddha
    edited September 2005
    So when it is said that time is cyclical, that means that worlds are always rising and ceasing? I think I got it right.

    Oh, and by RE, I am assuming Religious Educators...
  • _BeautifulSpringtime_BeautifulSpringtime Veteran
    edited September 2005
    Palzang wrote:
    PS What the heck is RE, Simon?

    Religious Education - a British institution of middle school!
  • PalzangPalzang Veteran
    edited September 2005
    I figured it was one of them thar Brit thangs... :o

    Yes, KoB, you're right. We in the West anyway tend to think of time as always progressing forward, but that's not the way Easterners think of it so much. Like you say, worlds rising and falling, empires rising and falling, lives rising and falling.

    Palzang
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited September 2005
    The sea rising and falling, the boat rising and falling, my lunch rising and falling.....

    Sorry, couldn't resist it...
    If his teaching of Buddhism is going to consist of one throw-away line at the end of the lesson, maybe you could write him an anonymous note, including comments on this thread, to put him right.... Sign it 'No-Self' and see what happens..... :hair: :lol:
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