I am Buddhist, not atheist. My scriptures have tens of thousands of gods.Nothing survive death if you believe that we are mere matter.
Does where and when you are born affect your life? Would being born today in Syria or Yemen affect your life?Where is karma accumulated? How could it possibly affect our lives?
Karma is a component of the non-material part of the universe. It can affect the material part, as can gods, but it is primarily immaterial.Yes, there is a chain which evolve based on laws of nature. Where is karma?
That is a great point and I had not thought of it in terms of the Oneness of God. Truth and Freedom are joined, also in that truth is the foundation of rationality, which is the basis of freedom.TFreedom, for example, implies the existence of truth and truth is the basis of freedom:
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
True and Darwinism is deterministic and that destroys freedom.All of them imply the existence of One Being who is their Source and Fulfilment. In contrast to theism Darwinism is sterile because it restricts explanation to physical causes and excludes holistic, teleological and spiritual explanation.
Are we mere matter?I am Buddhist, not atheist. My scriptures have tens of thousands of gods.
You need to show that there is really a soul. You don’t believe in soul, Do you?Does where and when you are born affect your life? Would being born today in Syria or Yemen affect your life?
How anything immaterial could affect matter? What we know that matter evolves based on laws of nature. Do you have any evidence to show that karma affect matter?Karma is a component of the non-material part of the universe. It can affect the material part, as can gods, but it is primarily immaterial.
rossum
I asked rossum the same question many years ago.How anything immaterial could affect matter? What we know that matter evolves based on laws of nature. Do you have any evidence to show that karma affect matter?
We should be all purified if the cycle of birth goes back into infinite.I asked rossum the same question many years ago.
He is one of the most passionate defenders of evolutionary theory on CAF.
I asked if karma or the Buddhist gods affected evolution in any way.
He replied that it might have some small effect on how things evolved, but not enough to change any evolutionary science (which assumes no such effect from immaterial entities).
I didn’t follow up and keep arguing, but there are problems with what he said long ago.
Perhaps his answer changed now, which is certainly fine and understandable as do change as we learn more.
No we are not.Are we mere matter?
No, Buddhism denies the existence of souls:You don’t believe in soul, Do you?
If you want evidence then follow the instructions in Chapter 13 of the Visuddhimagga on how to remember your past lives. I cannot remember your lives for you; you have to do that for yourself. Observing the effects of your actions through those lives will show you karma at work.How anything immaterial could affect matter? What we know that matter evolves based on laws of nature. Do you have any evidence to show that karma affect matter?
It is not just evolutionary science which assumes that, but all of science. Physics assumes that humans cannot walk on liquid water. If one does so, then it is called a “miracle” and “unexplained by science”.He replied that it might have some small effect on how things evolved, but not enough to change any evolutionary science (which assumes no such effect from immaterial entities).
The only thing I would question is whether miracles are extremely rare.It is not just evolutionary science which assumes that, but all of science. Physics assumes that humans cannot walk on liquid water. If one does so, then it is called a “miracle” and “unexplained by science”.
Miracles, and similar events, are extremely rare, so science is very successful because it deals with the vast majority of events. Exceptions, being rare, are not common enough to disrupt things to any great degree.
rossum
It is impossible to know how many miracles occur given that science is restricted to the explanation of physical events. It cannot analyse, for example, personal experiences or reduce human activity to genetic and environmental factors. Belief in karma implies that there is far more in life than meets the eye - or the microscope! In fact spiritual factors are far more valuable and significant than the results of evolutionary science.It is not just evolutionary science which assumes that, but all of science. Physics assumes that humans cannot walk on liquid water. If one does so, then it is called a “miracle” and “unexplained by science”.
Miracles, and similar events, are extremely rare, so science is very successful because it deals with the vast majority of events. Exceptions, being rare, are not common enough to disrupt things to any great degree.
rossum
Karma is affected by observable events. Theft is observable and generated bad karma. Giving to charity is observable and generates good karma. Some mental actions are indeed unobservable, but much of the (name removed by moderator)ut to karma is observable actions.The only thing I would question is whether miracles are extremely rare.
First, reincarnation itself is something not explained by science and I think we’d call it a miracle.
The same would be true of karmic actions. These are events affected by other, non-observable events.
So, wouldn’t miracles be very common in the world in that case?
What else?No we are not.
If we have no soul then how the present person could be possibly be the same person after death? There should be something which survive death.No, Buddhism denies the existence of souls:
“All the elements of reality are soulless.”
When one realises this by wisdom,
then one does not heed ill.
This is the Path of Purity.
– Dhammapada 20:7
Where is the memory held?If you want evidence then follow the instructions in Chapter 13 of the Visuddhimagga on how to remember your past lives. I cannot remember your lives for you; you have to do that for yourself. Observing the effects of your actions through those lives will show you karma at work.
rossum
Are your memories part of you? Your memories today are not the same as your memories yesterday – today you can remember what you had for breakfast this morning. Your body changes, your knowledge changes, your memories change. You are not the same you even when you are alive. Being the “same” implies no differences and it is obvious that there are differences over time. In Buddhism everything changes, including ourselves. To paraphrase Heraclitus, "You can never step in the same river twice because it is not the same river and you are not the same you.If we have no soul then how the present person could be possibly be the same person after death?
There is. A human is formed from three (name removed by moderator)uts: sperm and egg are the material (name removed by moderator)uts; a gandhabba is the non-material (name removed by moderator)ut carrying accumulated karma and memories from the previous life. However the gandhabba is not a permanent soul. It will not carry over into your next life; that will be a different gandhabba with different memories and different accumulated karma. Like everything else, gandhabbas are impermanent.There should be something which survive death.
Deterministic is not possible within an eternal infinite truth. Worldly knowledge is not sufficient to qualify creation which depends continuously on God. Each moment in creation is already known to God. Special creation is where freedom has potentiality. God created persons with free will. That free is equal to virtue in response to grace.That is a great point and I had not thought of it in terms of the Oneness of God. Truth and Freedom are joined, also in that truth is the foundation of rationality, which is the basis of freedom.
True and Darwinism is deterministic and that destroys freedom.
Why do you use the terms “I” or “you” if we have no lasting identity? Why are we responsible for what we did many years ago? Are we **completely different **persons from what we were five minutes or years ago?Are your memories part of you? Your memories today are not the same as your memories yesterday – today you can remember what you had for breakfast this morning. Your body changes, your knowledge changes, your memories change. You are not the same you even when you are alive. Being the “same” implies no differences and it is obvious that there are differences over time. In Buddhism everything changes, including ourselves. To paraphrase Heraclitus, "You can never step in the same river twice because it is not the same river and you are not the same you.
There is. A human is formed from three (name removed by moderator)uts: sperm and egg are the material (name removed by moderator)uts; a gandhabba is the non-material (name removed by moderator)ut carrying accumulated karma and memories from the previous life. However the gandhabba is not a permanent soul. It will not carry over into your next life; that will be a different gandhabba with different memories and different accumulated karma. Like everything else, gandhabbas are impermanent.
Buddhism emphasises change over stasis. Any stasis we think we see is an illusion, either our own internal projection or slow-moving change.
A quote from ‘Funes the Memorious’ by Borges:
Not only was it difficult for him to comprehend that the generic symbol dog embraces so many unlike individuals of diverse size and form; it bothered him that the dog at three fourteen (seen from the side) should have the same name as the dog at three fifteen (seen from the front).
Beauty is Truth and Truth is Beauty.Deterministic is not possible within an eternal infinite truth. Worldly knowledge is not sufficient to qualify creation which depends continuously on God. Each moment in creation is already known to God. Special creation is where freedom has potentiality. God created persons with free will. That free is equal to virtue in response to grace.
God is the source and summit and present with us in The Eucharist. Virtue frees us to truth and leads us to seek and find Him in the heart of His church. There is no other freedom for persons of special creation than hearing His voice and learning of our true self formed by God.
Psychology with no God is a falsification of the human person. Our soul leads our body to the true goal or the constraints that bind us are forever. Find yourself forever in freedom that comes only from the source of our freedom.
Those terms refer to a causally connected chain. Each link in the chain is caused by the previous link and in turn causes the next link. The terms “I” and “You” are a convenient shorthand.Why do you use the terms “I” or “you” if we have no lasting identity?
Not completely different; some parts change more slowly than other parts.Why are we responsible for what we did many years ago? Are we **completely different **persons from what we were five minutes or years ago?
Is it not self evident that there is one continuous “i”. Even if you lost your memory you would still be the same “I” despite ones personality completely changing.Those terms refer to a causally connected chain. Each link in the chain is caused by the previous link and in turn causes the next link. The terms “I” and “You” are a convenient shorthand.
Not completely different; some parts change more slowly than other parts.
rossum
You still need to explain how a link in a causal chain can be responsible for the activity of a previous link. Does the entire chain have an individual identity in which each link knows what previous links have done and chosen to do? Does a person in the legal sense of the term actually exist?Those terms refer to a causally connected chain. Each link in the chain is caused by the previous link and in turn causes the next link. The terms “I” and “You” are a convenient shorthand.
Not completely different; some parts change more slowly than other parts.
Reread the linking and correspondence of I and you. Not the same as northern bhuddism, in terms of the fragmented koans traversing enlightenment. This presentation of knowing “past lives” does not reflect Karma as wa, centered energies, as Jungian constructs. Not as pinnings, if you will, to the wheel of life.You still need to explain how a link in a causal chain can be responsible for the activity of a previous link. Does the entire chain have an individual identity in which each link knows what previous links have done and chosen to do? Does a person in the legal sense of the term actually exist?
Actions have consequences. The consequences are not always immediate.You still need to explain how a link in a causal chain can be responsible for the activity of a previous link.
Yes and no. The actions of previous links can be remembered, with some effort. However many people do not have total recall of what they have done in their current life, let alone in their previous lives. The technique for remembering past lives starts with recalling, in reverse order, your current life.Does the entire chain have an individual identity in which each link knows what previous links have done and chosen to do?
We are discussing the religious/philosophical nature of a person, not the legal definition. I am a UK national, so legally I am a subject of Her Majesty the Queen. That legal definition does not apply to citizens of America.Does a person in the legal sense of the term actually exist?