For me Buddhism is a religion as it still relies on faith. And like everywhere where faith is involved, it can turn ugly, just ask the Burmese people (or me actually, born and bred in a Buddhist based cult).
Not having a central authority, Buddhism is ripe for abuse. Very similar to other religions, it is very slow to recognize any wrongdoing.
I’d recommend anyone to put their ego to the side and read on cults and their mechanisms. It very easy for most people to step into one unknowingly, and turn a blind eye on it. I post this message because the best way to avoid getting into one is understanding the mechanism.
Faith is a powerful tool and driver in the human experience, I believe I have been vaccinated against it, but I won’t begrudge anyone for their choice. Just don’t try to tell me or others how we should live our lives, and we can stay on friendly terms.
What exactly do you mean by faith? Do you mean a belief in something unproveable? There are many things we take on faith, like the entire financial system. Is that the kind of thing you mean?
No criticism, just genuine interest.
I don’t disagree. All humans, including our leaders (religious or otherwise), have neuroses that can lead to serious problems. Buddhism doesn’t believe in anyone being evil. It tends to see humans as good but often led astray by greed, desire, and aggression. It then offers ways to return to that goodness. But your point is valid and power can corrupt.
I have “faith” (to @Bekloppt’s point) in Buddhist teachings because they have helped me. I use the word “faith” very intentionally because on some days nothing makes sense but I trust the teachings to eventually provide clarity (and it’s usually in the workings of my own kind).
I didn’t intend to force the Dharma on anyone. I apologize if I came across that way. I had just seen a thread on religion and thought I’d share I was taking the vows.
As a rule I am generally skeptical of westerners claiming to be Buddhist. I know @Alright_Now_Legend Indian credentials are weakened by his Korma, but he gets a pass.
One of my er… Friends who was agnostic before became rather interested in religion when he was having a relationship with a religious person. So faith in religions can change given proper motivation.
Or maybe it was him thinking with his dick.
Either way, he’s the same agnostic self after the relationship.
I do love to argue with missionaries from time to time when I’m bored and get interrupted by them in the street.
My trolling is based on the fact that if God is almighty and knows everything, then God would know exactly what to do to make me believe. Since this hasn’t happened, then it probably means God doesn’t exist.
I know what you mean, but most religions/philosophies/faiths claim to be universal and should thus be equally valid in Texas, Timbuktu or Tibet.
My problem with Buddhism, apart from its deeply patriarchal clergy, is the concept of reincarnation. I can see it in terms of atoms which have multiple existences over millenia, but not in the very literal way it is defined in Buddhism and Hinduism.
Here’s a very short overview:
Buddhists believe that when someone dies, they will be reborn again as something else. What they are reborn as depends on their actions in their previous life - Karma.
The cycle of rebirth is called Samsara and it is an ongoing cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Humans go through an unknown number of cycles of rebirth over many lifetimes. Skilful (Good) actions lead to a good rebirth and unskilful (Bad) actions lead to a bad rebirth. Through doing skilful actions in their life, a person can be reborn into one of the six realms:
the realm of the gods
the realm of the angry gods
the realm of the animals
the realm of the tormented beings
the realm of the hungry ghosts
the realm of humans
Buddhists believe that the human realm is the best one to be in if they want to reach
enlightenment. If they gain good karma and follow the teachings of the Buddha, they will be reborn into a more preferable realm.
Please feel free to dispute this description. It’s basically just nicked from the net.
This is my main issue with Buddhism too. Rebirth, based on past performance, so in the next life you get better/worse depending on your karma.
Practically speaking, my wife is good friends with a woman who runs a home in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for disabled children. In her experience the Thai authorities don’t care, at all, about the disabled kids, as the Buddhist system suggests bad karma previously.
In a complicated story, my wife’s friend actually ended up adopting one of the kids to save his life.
Anyhow, generally speaking Buddhism gets good PR and most people in the west see it as an enlightened sort of way to live, if that’s your bag.
But on a societal level there are huge issues, and rather than being a caring thing, it can stir up radical extremists (to be fair all religions can do this) and the karma/rebirth system is problematic, as rather than caring for some of the most vulnerable, there can almost be an unofficial shrug of the shoulder that says tough luck.
