voidisyinyang Posted April 9, 2013 As I see it, both Buddhism and Christianity have hopes to transform the world we live in by transforming the people who live in it; however, there that transformation takes place on the internal plane. When the external plane is in chaos, the best that can be done is to be like the water trigram (of two passive lines surrounding one solid line): there are external situations that need to be acted on, but if that internal line is disrupted the whole thing is destroyed. As we can see by how this situation developed, it was people who got angry and fearful of being taken over and this reaction led to a destruction of the external and internal worlds. What's going on is directly political. True Christianity and true Buddhism can effect politics indirectly by changing behaviour, but what's going on is a departure from the confidence in the power of the teachings of the religion and engaging in external politics instead. To say that these situations are related to the religion is just an illusion created by the external politics which has no more confidence in the power of what those religions teach. This is not to say that fearing for the safety of your neighbors and family is only for weak people, I'm just talking about the mob mentality and other reactions that resulted. Christianity has spread through genocide. It is an error of logical type -- to say -- well individuals internal process is the hope of Christianity compared to what the group does as a whole. So supposedly there is separation of religion and government in the U.S. but Christian missionaries work with the CIA and this has always been the case -- religion and the military work together. The same is true with Buddhism. So anyway the real issue is the male's inability to control his lower body -- ejaculation = war. Christianity does not have yoga so makes it worse than Buddhism. Islam also does not have yoga - but the Christian monks and Sufis have fasting - and mind yoga. Anyway Western Buddhism is a sort of commodity fetish for Westerners looking to justify their bourgeois lifestyle by feeling smug about it. Certainly non-western religion needs to be protected against the Communists -- but Buddhism -- it's like the Nazis claiming some of the Tibetans were Aryans while others were not. Buddhism is on decline in Thailand since Westernization is taking over -- and so you get fake Buddhism with no real emphasis on meditation. It's kind of like the Western occult scene -- Ex-Christians turn to Buddhism since it is so similar to Catholicism. Western occult is just the opposite of Christianity - so you get all the rituals and b.s. like that but claim it's magic and pagan. haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RongzomFan Posted April 9, 2013 (edited) Terma history is not actual history. Apart from extremely tiny historical nuggets, there were no Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Garab Dorje etc. These are literary characters and/or manifestations of a terton's wisdom. The same goes for Bon terma history. Bon is a post-Buddhist religion http://books.google.com/books?id=La1CWinaDR4C&pg=PA99&dq=Tibet+Sam+van+schaik+In,+fact+the+Bonpo+religion&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JpQWUeW-No2v0AHL94H4Bg&ved=0CDMQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=Tibet%20Sam%20van%20schaik%20In%2C%20fact%20the%20Bonpo%20religion&f=false P.S. 17,000 years ago is squarely in prehistory. Learn basic world history. Edited April 9, 2013 by alwayson Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted April 9, 2013 Yeah Buddhism is actually Islam That reminds me of when I joined a Buddhist monastery to become a monk. I was told to wear only white. So I wore a Muslim traditional religious robe that was all white. The person who set up the monastery told me that sitting in full lotus and fasting was not Buddhism. haha. Then he sent me all those anti-Islam emails -- he is Burmese. I feel sorry for him. He is overworked and wants to stay connected to his culture, etc. The monk living there was a perv! So I just left in the middle of the night. But first I read the Buddhist books there as my friend told me to read them. Sure enough -- "Achievement of Cessation" - first level of samadhi -- after a week fasting. haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harmonious Emptiness Posted April 9, 2013 Christianity has spread through genocide. Well, just as I said, and you showed throughout this post, these are external illusion with borrowed labels. At least counter my point if you're going to "argue" with me.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RongzomFan Posted April 9, 2013 The person who set up the monastery told me that sitting in full lotus and fasting was not Buddhism. Are you saying that is Buddhism? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted April 9, 2013 Terma history is not actual history. Apart from extremely tiny historical nuggets, there were no Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Garab Dorje etc. These are literary characters and/or manifestations of a terton's wisdom. The same goes for Bon terma history. Bon is a post-Buddhist religion http://books.google.com/books?id=La1CWinaDR4C&pg=PA99&dq=Tibet+Sam+van+schaik+In,+fact+the+Bonpo+religion&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JpQWUeW-No2v0AHL94H4Bg&ved=0CDMQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q=Tibet%20Sam%20van%20schaik%20In%2C%20fact%20the%20Bonpo%20religion&f=false P.S. 17,000 years ago is squarely in prehistory. Learn basic world history. Well now you're just repeating yourself like it's your mantra. haha. Still, it’s clear that it belongs to the genre of Buddhist polemics against non-Buddhist rituals, like the much better known Pelliot tibétain 239 (also the source of the appealing little tiger below). Now, the author of this little tract says at one point: “Previously in Tibet, interment was practised according to the Bon religion.” What I’ve translated as “Bon religion” is bon chos in Tibetan. This might look a bit odd, as we’re accustomed to seeing chos being translated as dharma and meaning Buddhism. But actually chos has a far wider range of meanings, and often in the Dunhuang manuscripts indicates a general set of beliefs and practices. Another Dunhuang manuscript talks about the non-Buddhist beliefs as chos chung ngu, “the little religion”.So I think it’s right to translate bon chos here as “the Bon religion” and say that yes, the author of this work did consider “Bon” a set of beliefs and practices (a “religion” if you will) centred on death and funerals. But having made that slightly bold assertion I will quickly step back and remin http://earlytibet.com/2009/08/24/buddhism-and-bon-iv/ So you're saying that a Tibetan religious document stating that Bonpos could either convert or be forcefully exiled - you're saying that is just some flowerly language and does not actually apply to what happened? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted April 9, 2013 Are you saying that is Buddhism? Hilarious! You know how many silly threads on this board have debated what Buddhism "is"? haha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted April 9, 2013 Well, just as I said, and you showed throughout this post, these are external illusion with borrowed labels. At least counter my point if you're going to "argue" with me.. O.K. watch this documentary and after that get back to me - but it's just a start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RongzomFan Posted April 9, 2013 First off, the author of the blog you cite is the author of the book I cited. Secondly, if you don't want me to repeat myself, grasp what I'm saying the first time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Samurai Mountain man Posted April 9, 2013 The news report said piles of burned bodies, including those of children, were found in the hills, no? The less we justify acts of brutality, the sooner we can start letting go of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harmonious Emptiness Posted April 9, 2013 (edited) O.K. watch this documentary and after that get back to me - but it's just a start. That's what happens when the external illusions don't give back the labels they borrowed. Not that they asked anyone, but these labels cannot not defend themselves, and it's hard for people to defend the labels that can't defend themselves.. A pear is always a pear, right and wrong create something else. Edited April 9, 2013 by Harmonious Emptiness Share this post Link to post Share on other sites