The Final Prophecies Documentary. Thoughts?

DaltheJigsaw

http://www.thefinalprophecies.com/

federica

Boy, Leon, you sure do pick them...
Why do you waste so much time cruising the internet to find claptrap like this, when you should be dedicating your last remaining days to practice?

let me tell you something:

We're all going to die.
Within this lifetime.


Thoughts?

DaltheJigsaw

Boy, Leon, you sure do pick them...
Why do you waste so much time cruising the internet to find claptrap like this, when you should be dedicating your last remaining days to practice?

let me tell you something:

We're all going to die.
Within this lifetime.


Thoughts?

I don't.
This was emailed to me...hehe.
Thought it was an interesting read and an interesting preview.
Wanted to know what others thought.
And my practice is actually doing very well:)
Thank you!

federica

I think you shouldn't let yourself become so distracted.

That's what I think. :rolleyes:

DaltheJigsaw

I think you shouldn't let yourself become so distracted.

That's what I think. :rolleyes:

You are absolutely rightt! Thanks for the reminder!

Thao

I see nothing wrong with getting distracted. We do it every day, reading a book, watching tv, etc. Nothing wrong with that. Of course you can spend your life distracted. It is a matter of balance. My first teacher used to play this game that someone gave to the monks where you have a table and hit this ball around. Don't know what it is called. That too was a distraction. Really end time prophecies are fun in a different way, but still fun. Some people think that being on these boards is a distraction, and that we should be meditating or reading Buddhist books instead.

Thao

Leon, I used to be in a religion that relied heavily on prophecy, but their prophecies never came true. When 2012 comes and goes you will find that that Mayan prophecy was just misunderstood by the masses. Ever since Christ died people have been looking for his return, and so over the thousands of years, the time has always been near to these people. Even Time magazine once put out an article on the end times showing how many times in history it has been prophesied. They all base their belief on Matthew. You may find this interesting:
http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/eschatology/end_of_the_world.htm

Simonthepilgrim

Leon,

It made me laugh and made me think:
http://simonpilgrim.blogspot.com/2011/03/httpwww.html

soulive1112420

Something interesting that i feel is usually not talked about is Jesus preaching about the imminent apocalypse.

"For in those days shall be afflictions, such as was not from the beginning of the creation. Neither shall be..... the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven will fall"
"Here jesus merely accepted the prevailing apocalyptic conceptions but he was utter earnest in his belief that the end was coming." (Karl Jaspers Great Philosophers volme 1)

Why do you waste so much time cruising the internet to find claptrap like this, when you should be dedicating your last remaining days to practice?

let me tell you something:

We're all going to die.
Within this lifetime.


Thoughts?

I definitly agree with that and thinking about a cataclysmic disaster has no value besides maybe a source of motivation to devote oneself even more


I just found it interesting that he felt this way.

Also
i had a question i remembering reading somewhere that that Tibetans believed that padmasambhava was the reincarnate of Jesus Christ is this a widely held belief in other forms of Buddhism??

soulive1112420

remember*

compassionate_warrior

Elaine Pagels, the noted Biblical scholar and gnostic text specialist, is preparing a book on precisely the topic of the film. She's giving lectures around the US on the topic "The Cultural Impact of the Book of Revelation". Seems Leon's post is very timely. The interesting thing about Pagels' lecture and research is that she covers "the many OTHER 'books of revelation'--Jewish, Greek, Egyptian, Buddhist and Christian, written around the same time". She says all these prophetic texts were circulating at approximately the same time, and only one of the many was included in the Christian tradition. She examines why the now established version was chosen. I'm interested to find out what she's referring to when she speaks of the Buddhist book of revelation.

I hope that in the future we don't have any more disparaging of people's thread topics, unless they're repeats of recent topics. Let's bear in mind that Leon has brought us many fascinating links to scientific research on meditation and other phenomena relevant to Buddhism. If some might feel he (or anyone) misses the mark occasionally, I would hope they would be considerate and polite enough to keep their opinion to themselves, and remember that no one bats 100%.

Thank you for a timely thread, Leon.

soulive1112420

i apologize leon should of stayed on topic

compassionate_warrior

i had a question i remembering reading somewhere that that Tibetans believed that padmasambhava was the reincarnate of Jesus Christ

I wouldn't accept this as truth without examining the source and speaking to a few Tibetans or Tibet scholars. I wonder if this is something some early missionaries taught? A few Christian missionaries did make it to Tibet. If so, I doubt it was widely accepted, if at all.

Mountains

I wish I had a nickel for every end of days prophecy that's come and gone. I could retire and go live in Belize...

taiyaki

it would be interesting to explore why man has the need to project a destructive future or at times even a better future.

zenff

it would be interesting to explore why man has the need to project a destructive future or at times even a better future.

Drama, I suppose.
Our ego needs a dramatic future, a dramatic past, a dramatic enlightenment.
(Nobody wants to be nobody.)

Ordinary life is too small for our ego, it simply doesn’t fit in.

Dakini

it would be interesting to explore why man has the need to project a destructive future or at times even a better future.

Drama, I suppose.
Our ego needs a dramatic future, a dramatic past, a dramatic enlightenment.
(Nobody wants to be nobody.)

Ordinary life is too small for our ego, it simply doesn’t fit in.

But why the gloom and doom? Why not a dramatically bright future?

zenff

Pff.. why.. I have to guess again!

I simple success story is completely boring.
The hero suffers.. and suffers..we think he gives up.. he appears to be dead..
That’s what makes him interesting.
Suffering makes us more special than success?
If that's so please don’t ask me why.

Oh yes, in the movie the hero survives. That’s the whole point. If he really dies he can not enjoy his specialness.

federica

The 'dramatically bright future' occurs when we realise it's all a load of pants, not true, and yes, we are still alive!

Roger

What kills me?

Show that to the Indians or the Chinese and they will think IT IS INSANE!

They are looking forward to an extremely bright future!

My point: nobody knows what's going to happen.

Okay, say you might have an idea of "what" BUT you can't have any responsible ideation about "when."

I dunno. Just my two cents.

Party's at my house on 12/21/2012 :rarr:

compassionate_warrior

Show that to the Indians or the Chinese and they will think IT IS INSANE!They are looking forward to an extremely bright future!

So the world ending in apocalypse is a Western thing, or a Judeo-Christian thing? Is it due to Biblical influence, or is there something in the Western psyche that tends toward doomsday scenarios? Thanks for the cross-cultural perspective, Roger.

Mountains

It's the Judeo-Christian-Muslim fear based religious belief system if you ask me. We're taught to "fear" god (not in a literal sense, but nobody's ever been able to describe what it means other than that), and we're taught that if we don't toe the line, we're condemned to eternal damnation, fire, brimstone, and all the silly horse hockey. Any wonder doomsday scenarios arise from such a belief system?

caz

Ive only one thing to say with regards to this...That man has an epic voice !

nibbuti

Ive only one thing to say with regards to this...That man has an epic voice !

It's only the chain-smoking-since-age-12 plugin of the voice recording software.

Thao

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101020701/story.html This may have been the Time Magazine I read, and if it goes into talking about how often over the last 2,000 years people have been waiting for the end, then it is the article.

Matthew 24:21 was referring to the time of the end in the days right after Christ, AD70. Revelations, which Christians love to quote from almost didn't get into the Bible, in other words, maybe it passed by a 51 percent vote, like our congress is supposed to do but doesn't.

Cant' wait for Elain Pagel's book. She is pretty good.

federica, yes, we find that we are still alive. i was a Jehovah's Witness back in the 60s, and they showed bible proof that the end was coming in 1975. i got kicked out before then but still was a believer, and when 1975 came and went, i was no longer a believer. So were many other Jehovah's Witnesses.

I know of some gurus, much like Guru Christ, that prophesied, and what they believed was going to happen didn't. Prophesies fail. Just live in the moment, meditate, read Buddha's teachings and watch Bill Maher and Jon Steward on TV for a few good laughs.

Vangelis

It's the Judeo-Christian-Muslim fear based religious belief system if you ask me.

Yes, I call the Abrahamic religions what they are - primitive fear-based religions. They use the fear of hell to keep adherents, the fear of death at the sword to gain adherents and fear is used to generate end-of-the-world and tribulation prophecies. Fear, fear, fear - no thanks!

DaltheJigsaw

Thank you everyone!:)

Simonthepilgrim

It's the Judeo-Christian-Muslim fear based religious belief system if you ask me.

Yes, I call the Abrahamic religions what they are - primitive fear-based religions. They use the fear of hell to keep adherents, the fear of death at the sword to gain adherents and fear is used to generate end-of-the-world and tribulation prophecies. Fear, fear, fear - no thanks!

End Of The World scenarios are to be found well outside - and pre-dating - the 'Abrahamic' scriptures. All myth systems (including the current cosmogony, with its notion of entropy) envisage an end-point; some then follow it by a 'golden age'. C. S. Lewis gives us a good meta-picture of the myth structure in The Last Battle.

Many myth stories begin with a battle or a disaster too, as may the 'Abrahamic' stories prior to the Josianic redaction.

DaltheJigsaw

Thanks all!