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Christianity and how it relates to Buddhism
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But Buddhism does not regard all religions as being the same.
This is where your thinking conflicts with Buddhism.
Buddhism is a religion of love but primarily it is first & foremost a religion of wisdom.
Buddha = wise one = one who knows
The mental states of love, non-duality, etc, you are offering are on the level of concentration.
In Buddhism, they are called the realm of Brahma (God).
They are not yet on the level of Buddha wisdom, even if they feel selfless.
Wisdom sees the impermanence & selflessless of all things. Wisdom results in dispassion.
Thus making no hierarchy in religion. They are all empty.
Woo, this conversation is so on topic. I'm still waiting for a moderator to close it. :P -waits-
I did not say this.
The emptiness you appear to be referring to is the mind empty of thought.
Where as the emptiness I am referring to is emptiness of self.
For example, thinking itself is empty, that is, empty of self.
But for you, it seems, emptiness means empty of thought.
Buddha taught thought itself is empty.
Where you appear to be saying emptiness is no thought.
There is a difference.
I have said all things are empty, including thought.
(Thank you, Dhamma D.)
Empty of thought does not infer the emptiness of all things.
All things themselves are empty regardless of non-thought.
Self is also empty. It is not a real self. Just delusionary thinking.
Thought is also empty.
i totally agree with you 100%
"not-self" in Buddhism is freedom from suffering
.
Or not-self has to be experienced. Whatever you want to call it.
it can attach to & regard all kinds of things as being "oneself" or "belonging to oneself"
if we are not so sure what "self" is, it is thoughts, such as "I", "me", "mine", "ours", "yours", etc
this is why the Prince spent six years searching for the truth
what you are trying to assert, the Prince discovered in his first week of searching
for example, in the scriptures, a woman lost her child and was mentally derranged. the buddha said to her, if you can bring me one mustard seed from a household that has not experienced death, i will raise your child from the dead. after her fruitless search, the woman realised death is universal and she was healed from her suffering
as I said, inexpressible truth is not the truth of Buddhism (such as verse 1 of the Tao Te Ching)
to say truth cannot be expressed is not Buddhism
The Buddha stood beside a lake on Mount Grdhakuta and prepared to give a sermon to his disciples who were gathering there to hear him speak.
As the Holy One waited for his students to settle down, he noticed a golden lotus blooming in the muddy water nearby. He pulled the plant out of the water- flower, long stem, and root. Then he held it up high for all his students to see. For a long time he stood there, saying nothing, just holding up the lotus and looking into the blank faces of his audience.
Suddenly his disciple, Mahakashyapa, smiled. He understood.
the Buddha taught suffering happens in life because of "self-view"
for example, if my mother or father die, you may feel sympathy for me but you will not suffer in a manner as if your mother or father died
suffering occurs due to self-view
so, yes, one mind can dwell without thoughts of "self" and another mind can dwell full of thoughts of "self"
one mind is free of self and the other mind is full of "self"
but it is not a real self. just thought or mind creation
you need to understand it is considered a downfall in Mahayana to disparage the original (Theravada) scriptures but the opposite does not apply to Theravadins
the original scriptures do not report such a Flower Sermon
in fact, Mahakashyapa was the foremost ascetic, spending time in solitude
it is doubtful Mahakashyapa would be at such a gathering
plus it is against the Buddha's Vinaya to destroy plant life
the Buddha would have never pulled a plant out of the water
:eek2:
there is such thing as suffering. it our society, there psychologists, suidcide counselling services, etc. the world is full of suffering
the Buddha did not teach non-duality
it is best to abandon this delusional kind of thinking
non-duality = Advaita Hinduism
non-duality = 'white darkness', 'bright delusion' or 'blinded by the light', like looking at the sun
So, DD, by his own admission, is delusional.