There are at least two other Members here who could answer this better than I, but I’ll take a chance: I don’t see Buddhism as an atheistic system. Rather, I would call it a non-theistic system.
Buddhism is not atheistic, there are tens of thousands of gods in the Buddhist scriptures. It is indifferent to the gods. Their main function in the scriptures is to applaud at the right places. Just like us, the gods are living beings in the universe who need to follow the path to enlightenment. Each of us, god or human, needs to follow that path for ourselves.
Hey, I know that Wikipedia is accurate, I wrote part of it myself!
So the gods are like another race?
Yes, I am aware of the idea we are suppose to be born again and again and again, perhaps even endlessly.
An enlightened being is more superior than a god? But why is that?
But how did he attain the enlightenment? What is it you have to do?
How did he awaken?
Hey, I know that Wikipedia is accurate, I wrote part of it myself!
Get out of it, (n_n) even lunatics can edit some of that text. lol
I will definately get it, I once had it but after a thorough read I threw it away for a simular reason to you. It made too much sense. How annoying.buddha was an atheist yes. however his teachings go much further than this. i would advise you get the buddhist bible, which you can pickup at any barnes and noble, and read the the exchange between himself and his follower Annanda. it progresses to the point that teaches that nonexistence is even nonexistent. it really is a mind blowing read. i couldnt finish it. had to put it down, because in some respects, i started to “get it.” peace
So do they believe that humans control their own lives or a God?
So basically, it is based on the spin effect?From my experience reading Buddhist Scriptures and knowing some Buddhists, I would say there are some who would say it is more Non-Thistic than Atheistic. And there others (including the Dalai Lama, as a matter of fact) who do indeed to see it as an Atheitic religion.
Ultimately, I personally don’t quite see it as a Athestic Religion. The Buddha simply refused to discuss an afterlife----that is all. Does not mean he did not believe in Gods or an Eternal existence. Although it DOES state that ultimately when “we” achieve Nirvana (actually, not really “achieve” Nirvana-----just simply “awakening, opening ones eyes”) our essence or whatever “goes out” like a candle. Snuffed out, so to speak. We escape ReBirth and Jpoin the Infinite. No real “Existence” after that.
In THAT sense, it IS Atheistic.
Buddhism is ultimately a Religion of the Here and Now-----Enlightenement if to be achieved NOW, not the Hereafter. Don’t worry about what comes after-----just focus on “awakening” now. What will come will come.
Many folks agree with and follow this “path”----but I disagree with it and consider it Heretical .(like most devout Orthodox and Catholics)
But it does teach that life can be a never ending cycle for a single soul does it not?
They are just another way to be reborn.
For a very long time, but not endlessley. Once you attain nirvana (enlightenment) then you are not reborn when you die.
Because when gods die they are reborn. When an enlightened being dies he or she in not reborn.
To avoid all evil,
See above. More strictly, he followed the Eightfold Path and realised the Four Noble Truths. Karen Armstrong’s biography of the Buddha is a good introduction for non-Buddhists.
The cycle is long lasting but it does end. Buddhism does not accept the existence of a soul. Part of enlightenment is realising that what you thought was your soul actually wasn’t.
Then how can you be reborn if you don’t have a soul? How can it be you reborn again? How would you feel that? I thought I understood it but now I’m not so sure.
So, in a sense it is actually very christian.
When you go to sleep you are a few hours younger than the you that wakes up. Each day you add a few more hours of memories so when you go to sleep you are different to the you that woke up the previous morning. You are not even the same from day to day, let alone from lifetime to lifetime. You are in some ways the same but in some ways different. There is no unchanging eternal core, no soul. Greatly simplifying things, Christianity sees the world as essentially unchanging with a veneer of apparent change laid over it. Buddhism sees the reverse; the world is essentially changing with a veneer of apparent stasis laid over it.
There is not a great difference between the two moralities. There is a large difference between the two theologies.
All gods have finite, though long, lifetimes and eventually die and are reborn. All living things die eventually. No living thing is immortal. Impermanence is one of the three marks that apply to everything.
The gods are reborn. Every being, whether it be demon, god, human or ghost (as Buddhism says) is subject to the inescapable cycle of living, dying and living again. What happens after life is another life.
Actually I should not say inescapable cycle. Nibbana after all is the way out.
What do you mean by “real”. Nothing is permanent and nothing is unchanging. If “real” requires either of those two then nothing is “real”. Buddhist philosophy eschews all reifying; there are no Platonic ideals. If your “real” is just another Platonic ideal then Buddhism rejects it.
No. Merely a different approach. Just actions and their consequences. No need for any reified ‘evil’ or ‘good’:Mind precedes all conditions,
Your perception is not infallible. Do bad things happen? Yes. Is there a reified EVIL? No.
Neither do I. You have failed to describe enlightenment correctly. It is something that is extremely difficult to describe. It is something to be realised, not described. Angulimala, who had killed almost 1,000 people did it and so can others.
You are mistaken. Here are the panca sila, the five moral rules:* to avoid injuring living things.
Not all Buddhists are good Buddhists, I agree. Not all Christians are good Christians, as I am sure you will agree. Unfortunately all too many people fall short of the best of the religion that they profess to follow.