I've Been Studying Buddhism Recently

wallyj84

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So I've been studying Buddhism recently.

I used to study Eastern religions in college, but as an academic thing and not something where I was trying genuinely learn the religion. I've attempted this with Christianity before and didn't care for what I found and I guess in my atheistic ignorance I assumed all religions had the same underlying problems. But after really looking at it, Buddhism is very different from what I expected and I'm interested in learning more about it.

The thing that most appeals to me about Buddhism is that it is a very skeptical religion focussed more on critical thinking than faith. The Buddha encouraged people to reject delusion and think critically about his teachings and not blindly follow them. I can respect that. I think building critical thinking into the foundation of the religion gives it a much stronger moral foundation. I think true morality can only be achieved through honest and objective thought. Without that you're just doing whatever feels good and justifying it later.

Is anyone here a Buddhist? Do you want to share your story of how you got involved in it or which sect you're a part of? If you were previously a Buddhist and aren't anymore, what made you leave?
 
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There are a lot of different "Buddhisms". Compassion is a central tenet.

I have an affinity for it, philosophically and spiritually; and particularly the zen-buddhism facet of it. I also have an affinity for Taoism, and for the west it would be Greek and Roman Stocism.

They all share similar ideas.
 

wallyj84

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There are a lot of different "Buddhisms". Compassion is a central tenet.

I have an affinity for it, philosophically and spiritually; and particularly the zen-buddhism facet of it. I also have an affinity for Taoism, and for the west it would be Greek and Roman Stocism.

They all share similar ideas.

Yeah, there are many different schools of Buddhism. My ex practices pure land, but that's a bit too out there for me. I like the more practical, real-life elements of the religion.
 

michael_3165

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I've dipped in and out over the years (casually). It is by far the least restrictive and preachy religion I have found and I struggle to even identify it as a religion because of its lack of supreme being. The mindfulness that it advocates and the knowledge that all human life is about suffering and we have to ride it out are things I personally take from it.
 

wallyj84

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I've dipped in and out over the years (casually). It is by far the least restrictive and preachy religion I have found and I struggle to even identify it as a religion because of its lack of supreme being. The mindfulness that it advocates and the knowledge that all human life is about suffering and we have to ride it out are things I personally take from it.

It is definitely the least similar to the Abrahamic religions. Studying it has really expanded my idea of what religion can be and its purpose.
 

ronin001

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OK,I will bite

Can you acknowledge that life though beautiful, is full of suffering and unfairness
Can you acknowledge that all things happen for a reason both good and bad
Can you acknowledge that craving, desire ; and envy and attachments are no healthy ( no more why is my penis not 9 inches )
Not to mention no more hamburgers

I do not know a lit about the beliefs; but it requires renouncing a lot of things , we take for granted
If this is your goal, I wish you luck,
 
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wallyj84

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OK,I will bite

Can you acknowledge that life though beautiful, is full of suffering and unfairness
Can you acknowledge that all things happen for a reason both good and bad
Can you acknowledge that craving, desire ; and envy and attachments are no healthy ( no more why is my penis not 9 inches )
Not to mention no more hamburgers

I do not know a lit about the beliefs; but it requires renouncing a lot of things , we take for granted
If this is your goal, I wish you luck,

I think you're misinterpreting Buddhism. Not much of what you wrote really seems relevant to what I've been reading.
 

wallyj84

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I just bought In The Buddha's Words. It is an anthology containing texts from the Pali Canon. I'm looking forward to actually reading some suttra and seeing if I still find Buddhism interesting.
 

wallyj84

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35. The Divine Messengers

As I wrote previously, I started reading the Buddhist suttra. This story of the three divine messengers has really stuck out to me.

In the suttra this guy goes to hell and Yama the Lord of hell asks him if he ever saw the divine messengers of old age, sickness and death. The guy confesses that he saw them but never made the connection that they were all going to happen to him and that he should act morally. He is then punished in hell.

This story is kinda interesting to me because it speaks to something a lot of people do, and that is think that they're special and that bad things that happen to other people won't happen to them. It is a very common way of thinking that messes people up all the time and is something we should all be mindful of.

I know that isn't really the point of the suttra, but it's what I thought of when I read it.
 

seventiesdemon

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I prefer to remain raw when it comes to spirituality. There are nearly 7 billion human inhabitants of the world. Each with beliefs as individual as their fingerprints. While some are happy, more than willing to follow the "crowd", deep within, not all answers will be given to their questions, but answers to 90-95% is enough.

Walking a path of true spirituality, or not, in life, is a very individual experience. As humans we question everything. Humans battle against the preserving our individuality, and the instinct to follow a leader who satisfy most of our beliefs, but not all.

I don't believe in organised religion. It's an overtaking, education of the raw belief we are all born with. It negates us of our individuality of expression within a group.

There is no learning without respect, and no respect without understanding. You can study all you wish, studying who you are though comes with more answers than questions.