Why cant I start my own religion?

[mewtwo]

So I have kind of always wondered why Laotzu or the Buddha where never thought of as loonies? I meen now adays people try and start there own religion people think your crazy suicidle cult thing. What changed? What was special about these people and other people in other religions like islams mohamid?

[Marblehead]

Do you think it might be because back then they didn't have those crazy suicidle cult things?

 

But why would you want to start a new one for anyhow? There already many inexistence.

 

For the money? the fame? Or so you can marry an eleven year old girl?

 

Just wondering.

 

Happy Trails!

[Apech]

The youngest major religion in the world is Sikhism - or so I am told. Its probably time for another one.

[trailmaker]

So I have kind of always wondered why Laotzu or the Buddha where never thought of as loonies? I meen now adays people try and start there own religion people think your crazy suicidle cult thing. What changed? What was special about these people and other people in other religions like islams mohamid?

 

 

right mewtwo - nice post - so when a teacher comes along and puts across clarity of thought, action simplified,

and what everybody might expect from that combo (with luck and a couple of epiphanies), i guess is what's special.

 

helping to enlighten along the way, simple message: 'there's more'. something that can quiet the internal dialog when it gets too noisy.

[Zhuo Ming-Dao]

I think you need to read some more history.

 

There is not a single religious founder that I can think of who had an easy time of it. The Buddha had many enemies in his life time, some of whom tried to kill him. People thought that he was nuts, but he would usually use some psychic powers on them or teleport or something, and they would back off.

 

Mohamed was thought completely crazy, so he gathered up the homeless and the poor, converted them, left Mecca, trained them into an army, and then started conquering everyone that disagreed with him. Then he returned to Mecca with his now huge army and got the last laugh.

 

Jesus was killed for his beliefs.

 

Lao Tzu was probably fictional, but even so, he was just a lonely librarian until after he disappeared off the face of the earth. Then people started reading his poems.

 

Confucius spent his entire life trying to get a king or governor to listen to him, and he failed in his life time. He died poor with only a small number of followers, having made no impact at all in his lifetime.

 

Moses had to magically kill the first born sons of an entire city before anyone listened to him, and still his own people continued to worship golden calf idols.

 

I could keep going with Zoroaster, Nanuk, Mahavira, and many others, but I think you get the point. Founding a new religion is never easy, and people will pretty much always think you are crazy.

[Sloppy Zhang]

I think you need to read some more history.

 

There is not a single religious founder that I can think of who had an easy time of it. The Buddha had many enemies in his life time, some of whom tried to kill him. People thought that he was nuts, but he would usually use some psychic powers on them or teleport or something, and they would back off.

 

Mohamed was thought completely crazy, so he gathered up the homeless and the poor, converted them, left Mecca, trained them into an army, and then started conquering everyone that disagreed with him. Then he returned to Mecca with his now huge army and got the last laugh.

 

Jesus was killed for his beliefs.

 

Lao Tzu was probably fictional, but even so, he was just a lonely librarian until after he disappeared off the face of the earth. Then people started reading his poems.

 

Confucius spent his entire life trying to get a king or governor to listen to him, and he failed in his life time. He died poor with only a small number of followers, having made no impact at all in his lifetime.

 

Moses had to magically kill the first born sons of an entire city before anyone listened to him, and still his own people continued to worship golden calf idols.

 

I could keep going with Zoroaster, Nanuk, Mahavira, and many others, but I think you get the point. Founding a new religion is never easy, and people will pretty much always think you are crazy.

 

Seems to me the common thread is to either 1) bust out some psychic powers or 2) raise an army.

 

So, mewtwo, if you want to start your own religion, do one (or both) of those options

[Zhuo Ming-Dao]

Edited October 4, 2009 by Zhuo Ming-Dao

[Moon Knight]

Along similar lines, sometimes I reflect on how today we revere sages/philosophers/hermits of ancient cultures as well as those of modern times who are exotic to us (China, India, etc), yet in another setting these same people would be viewed with derision as homeless beggars, or feared as crazies. Some modern day sages probably do go through that, especially in their home cultures whether in the West or East.

 

This is not to say that every hobo or asylum patient is a secret genius or sage, nor to dismiss the ancient masters or their modern day counterparts, but rather just to consider what perspective can do, for better or worse.

[ralis]

I always thought human primates created religions for the sake of power. Since primates are fascinated with the higher cause, then many belief systems can be created to keep the system intact for centuries.

 

 

ralis

Edited October 4, 2009 by ralis

[mewtwo]

Well The title was kind of a retorical question I dont want to start my own religion, Well i kind of do I would like people to stop worieing so much about labels buddhism taoism and such and see the similaritys between them.

 

This thread has been very helpful in me learning about founders of different religions.

 

Thanks

[松永道]

Perhaps this comment is out of place, but..

 

Only a madman would set out to start a religion. The central figure in most of today's religions never wanted their philosophies to become a religion. Religions are political institutions - countries without boarders. And their objective is power, not enlightenment, salvation, etc. Worse than governments, they seek to control you on the mental level, filling the mind with dogma and fears. And the greatest shame is the root philosophies are all essentially good.

 

From a historical perspective, If you're a genuinely wise guy, looking to make the world a better place, a religion is the WORST thing that could happen to you.

[goldisheavy]

So I have kind of always wondered why Laotzu or the Buddha where never thought of as loonies?

 

Says who? Certainly some people thought Buddha was a loony. Read the Suttas carefully. Buddha did not have unanimous support during his time.

 

What helps Buddha is that his religion was not a strong deviation from the dominant one. While Buddha took one concept and turned it on its head (atman to anatman), many concepts received just minor tweaks (like karma) and otherwise were summarily borrowed, co-opted (meditation, contemplation, etc... none of this is new).

 

I meen now adays people try and start there own religion people think your crazy suicidle cult thing. What changed?

 

Nothing changed. Not everyone thinks you're crazy. Even the so-called crazy people have many followers and sympathizers. This is the same as it has always been. What will help, is if the new religion appears eminently reasonable, then you can have more followers. But even if you take great pains to make your religion as reasonable as you can, you won't get a wide agreement, at least, not right away. Buddhism started with 5 people. Islam started with Mohammed's family and friends. Christianity started with 12 apostles, and so forth. They were all cults at some point. It's just that due to various conditions some of these cults grew so large that they are no longer labeled a "cult". But there is no solid difference between a cult and a major religion except size.

 

What was special about these people and other people in other religions like islams mohamid?

 

Nothing special per se. They were crazy enough to try it. They thought they could succeed whereas another person would be discouraged.

 

But if you look at the fruits of their labors, many religions are a blight on the world and not a source of wisdom at all... Why would you want to start one? I think religions did as much harm as good, or more harm than good, so it's not a great thing to start. Religion, if it is to have any kind of self-identity, implies dogmatism, and dogmatism is antithetical to spirituality.

Edited October 5, 2009 by goldisheavy

[innerspace_cadet]

But if you look at the fruits of their labors, many religions are a blight on the world and not a source of wisdom at all... Why would you want to start one? I think religions did as much harm as good, or more harm than good, so it's not a great thing to start. Religion, if it is to have any kind of self-identity, implies dogmatism, and dogmatism is antithetical to spirituality.

 

Amen to that. Even Buddhism, when reduced to a religion, becomes as empty as any other religion. I recently met a man a party who comes from Sri Lanka. Even though he is a Buddhist, he has never heard of Vipassana meditation, and I don't think he practices any sort of meditation at all. For most Asian Buddhists, "Buddhism" simply consists of visiting a temple and lighting incense in front of a Buddha statue. They don't seem to know much beyond the Four Noble Truths. Even most of the monks don't meditate.

 

I was raised Catholic, but every time I went to Church I was looking forward to the end of the Mass, because the rituals had no meaning for me whatsoever. Religion is for people who like to be handed answers and who like to be told what to do with their lives...without thinking.