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Agree to Disagree?
There is some quote out there that says something along the lines of discovering what you believe in, not blindly believing in what people have to say. And also, believing in some parts of what The Buddha had so say and not believing in other parts is okay.
I apologize for being such a newbie to Buddhism.
So when I got replies to my thread named "God?" I got replies of yes, no, maybe...
SO my question for this thread is...
Two different people can be Buddhist and believe in different ideas and that is okay? I mean, if you asked a Christian if they believed in God or not and they said no, they wouldn't really be Christian then.
Get what I'm saying?
Thanks for your replies.
I apologize for being such a newbie to Buddhism.
So when I got replies to my thread named "God?" I got replies of yes, no, maybe...
SO my question for this thread is...
Two different people can be Buddhist and believe in different ideas and that is okay? I mean, if you asked a Christian if they believed in God or not and they said no, they wouldn't really be Christian then.
Get what I'm saying?
Thanks for your replies.
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Comments
Buddhism isn't concerned with a creator god and so of course you'll get different answers, just as you would if you asked us all what we like on our pizza.
But if you asked us all if we "believe in" the for noble truths, the core of Buddhism, I imagine you'd get a unanimous response.
but hey, even Christians have different ideas what God is
Two Buddhists can have vastly differing beliefs and yet still be following the path of practice taught by the Buddha. You can even believe in God, or be a rebel and believe in Zeus and Athena etc.....
It is important to understand this to see the differnce between Dharma and Buddhism.
Dharma is the indubitable set of truths about all systems, how they condition experience and how there can be balance between the inevitable negative and the emergent positive of life. Dharma was true before the Buddha and would have been true without the buddha.
Buddhism is the religious, cultural, political systems that have evolved over twenty five centuries as the custodians/patriarchs of these dharmic principles.
If it can be doubted it is not dharma. I believe this principle to be the essence of the distinction. That which can be doubted may still be buddhism, but it is a msitake to think it is core dharma.
This is not at all a bad thing for Buddhism, even though it is taken badley when presented. Much of the living of dharma is the practice of dharma and this is always laiden with rich cultural heritages and signiigances, all of which are incompatible with each other, at various levels.
If people want to say the buddha taught rebirth was delusion and others think he was an uber mystic, that is fine. It is the same path of practice and insight and, apart from in some unprovable areas either way, right view.
Core dharma invites you to destroy it. Dismantle it. Obliterate it and reduce it to absuridty. But you cant. And I cant. And nobody can.
We buddhist can be sure of this. We simply cannot be sure about anything which can be doubted, like rebirth.
Peace
Mat
Believing in God doesn't make one a Christian. The question is which God are you talking about? In Hinduism, there are millions of them.
Going to church doesn't make one a Christian. Having Christian parents doesn't make one a Christian. Doing baby christening doesn't make the baby a Christian. A Christian by definition is a follower of Christ. It is having a personal relationship with the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
You completely misunderstood what she said. She didn't say God is the only requirement to be a Christian. She said that a Christian can't deny God and still be Christian.
Also, Jesus is no one's Savior. This is the Buddhist forums, so I don't think anyone is going to give you a sympathetic response. But by all means, try to convince us if you'd like.
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” - Buddha
"Because in this, there is no teacher, no pupil, there is no leader, there's no guru, there's no master, no Savior. You yourself are the teacher, the pupil, the master, the guru, you are the leader. You are everything." - Krishnamurti
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I did not misunderstand what she said. I don't think you understood what I have said. A Christian can deny God and yet be a Christian because the issue is in the meaning of "God".
This is what you said and this is what I responded to:
"Believing in God doesn't make one a Christian. ...It is having a personal relationship with the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."
No, a Christian can't deny God. A Christian can deny every God other than the Christian God, but they cannot deny the Christian God and still be Christian.
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Now we are in agreement.