Religion in all its Forms

Isn’t that exactly what christians believe? Sub next life for heaven and karma for conduct / belief? What you do in this life directly and absolutely defines what happens to you when you die.

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Reminded of this…

While his advocacy of the idea brought down Hoddle, it is not part of the typical Christian tradition of heaven and hell that being born with extreme disabilities is just punishment for a poorly lived prior life.

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I always thought he was into some form of Hinduism/Buddhism.

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Not going to. It’s pretty much similar to the concept of rebirth in Hinduism.

But the fear of ending up in a bad place shouldn’t be why people need to follow a religion.

I’ve had this discussion with my wife before. You pray because you have faith in a higher power and praying to him/her/it makes you feel better about yourself. You don’t pray for any other selfish reasons.

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He was labeled as a “born again Christian” which is typically evangelical, but he definitely has some ideas outside of that.

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Tell that to the 1.3 billion Catholics in the world.

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People in general are fuckwits.

And also why Sith code is the way to go.

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This!

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Compared to what?

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I actually feel qualified to dispute this, in the sense some Buddhist traditions view the whole cosmology as a construct which is only helpful to reach the Nirvana.

Once you get to that state, “you” realize that everything is beyond comprehension, emotions and concepts, and “you” transcend everything.

(If you’re interested in the subject, compare Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana)

I don’t reject Buddhism views on how you can approach life (and lives) in general, but I don’t believe in anything particular beyond death.

I’m rather fond of death works in Pratchett’s Discworld and would love for that to be how it all works out. :smiley:

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I struggle with rebirth too, but karma means something quite different in Buddhism than is commonly understood. The teaching is that your thoughts and acts (anger, kindness, gossiping, greed) imprint on your brain. So every thought and act is important as you establish patterns that shape your next thoughts and acts. You carry over that imprinted mind to your next life. So if you die angry, you will carry that angry mind with you. It isn’t the do good, don’t be reborn as an animal concept. Ani Pema Chodron’s How We Live Is How We Die is an amazing read on this subject.

Also, many think the Tibetan Book of the Dead can be read symbolically with each level representing a bardo, which is a transitional stage. We constantly have bardos in our every day lives and the teachings help navigate those groundless stages. But, yes many also read it literally.

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Compared to @aussielad

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Bloody hell, pints on me!

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We were supposed to meet in London for a pint before you texted me that you got lost drunk on the way and ended up in Cardiff. No one is going to take you up on a pint.

@SBYM was supposed to meet @maria and me in London as well but his ulcer hurt.

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Was this last summer??? I actually did have a bit of a night in London :joy::joy::joy:

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I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but it sounds like people are making up outlandish excuses in order to avoid meeting you.
Is it your aftershave?

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@RedJedi met me and I still have a headache

I don’t only enjoy arguing with monotheists, I also have the following for my Buddhist friends (and family):

  • If you believe in reincarnation, then you believe the passing of time to some extent
  • since you continuously get reincarnated (even if it takes eons to happen) and since all other beings reaching Nirvana are trying to help everybody else to get there, then you will eventually get there
  • since in the end the Nirvana transcends everything, then It shouldn’t matter for however much suffering you endure along the way, because at the end it won’t matter
  • then based on all the previous, I have no incentive right now to change anything, and it’s perfectly fine to not care at all about all this and just enjoy life, whatever that means to me
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Oh he’s a bad influence, just ask @Semmy

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