My faith is not reliant on the Pali Canon, and its contents as we know it today.
The entirety of the English translated Writings of Baha’u’llah are available to view in the original manuscripts, either handwritten by Baha’u’llah Himself, or have His official seal stamped upon them. They are available for your viewing pleasure at the Baha’i World Centre on Mount Carmel, Haifa.
Nothing was revealed, committed to memory and passed down from generation to generation. What is unique about the Baha’i Revelation is that recording implements had been employed “at the point of revelation”, and these were later verified for their accuracy by Baha’u’llah Himself with His seal of approval on them.
- This is, I am sure you would agree, as authentic as it gets when it comes to accuracy and precision. 2. I know my faith is built upon a reliable Word of God
I agree with number 1 then that I do not think there is any valid reason for me to say its not authentic or precise. But I cannot agree to number 2 just yet.
Baha’u’llah verified that the Buddha was a Manifestation of God.
He never verified the Pali Canon as being His authentic teachings.
My faith in the Buddha being a Manifestation of God is based on the reality that Baha’u’llah has got “so many other things right in His Revelation” that the minor issue of the Buddha being a Manifestation of God or not is taken on absolute faith in Baha’u’llah’s Word…
While its very convenient for Baha’ism to confidently claim that Husayn Ibn Ali got so many things right, how do Baha’is account for the numerous contradictions in all the religions where they adopted their founders as “Manifestations of God”, instead of just accepting whatever the man says without any investigation on their own that all these teachings are corrupted?
- With what do Baha’is verify against when Husayn Ibn Ali claimed that all their teachings are not the founders of these religions anymore?
- What measure and methods did you yourself take to ensure that the investigations for the truth is consistent and fair, instead of just taking Husayn Ibn Ali’s word that all the teachings are corrupted, except his?
What is unique about the Baha’i Revelation is that recording implements had been employed “at the point of revelation”, and these were later verified for their accuracy by Baha’u’llah Himself with His seal of approval on them.
While anyone may argue that these are unique for the current times, it does not render the recording of the Buddhist Pali Canon any less unique.
Nothing was revealed, committed to memory and passed down from generation to generation.
Was their method to keep fast to the authenticity of Siddartha Gautama’s teachings any less unique according to that time?
Do you think Ananda who was famous for his incredible memory which even the Buddha has commented upon, being able to recite all the sermons by hard, who has written down all the sutras which were later verified by the very same disciples, who also sat at the Buddha’s feet who listened to the very same sermons which Ananda did, were all lying or did his
ten principle disciples not have ability to verify the teachings that Ananda had penned down? Nothing was added and removed after the Pali Canon was locked away.
I take EVERY written teaching of Buddhism today with a grain of salt.
Not just Buddhism my friend, but all other religions in which Baha’ism has claimed their founders as “manifestations of God” and rendered all their teachings as corrupted so as to conveniently say Baha’ism is right and all 9 religions are wrong.
While you seem to respect the things you tell me that you are a scientist and like things that you can verify, etc…have you rendered the same respect to the these religions in which their founders were “stolen” by Baha’is by investigating and researching all of these religions & sources yourself before following the Baha’is accusation of their teachings being corrupted? Or did you just dismiss them all without giving them any fair analysis?
I know I did before become a Catholic. For me to become a Buddhist in the past, I read, studied extensively, attended both Mahayana and Theravada forest retreats & seminars in order to be a Theravadin. I did not want to be the messed-up Buddhist+Taoist Mish-Mash which my parents (who were Mahayana Buddhists+Taoist Mish-Mash) wanted me to be. I wanted the truth and the heart of Buddhism, and I am proud to say that I searched for it myself. Not through any other sources and certainly I did not study Buddhism under the guidance of the Church. The same steps were taken before I finally became a Catholic.
And now that Baha’ism has claimed the founders of these religions as Manifestations of God, do you not think you owe it to yourself and the people around you to research every crook and cranny of these religions before accepting a 3rd party view of them, especially the authenticity of the sources when these Buddhist teachings are against the existence of a Creator God, which is such a big contradiction against any religion which teaches of a Creator?
