Ask a Buddhist
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Is enlightenment seen as a kind of perfection of the person?
If so, is the perfection of the intellect (wisdom) sought; or the perfection of the will (happiness) sought.....?
If so, is the perfection of the intellect (wisdom) sought; or the perfection of the will (happiness) sought.....?
Enlightenment is seen as one of the 10 worlds. The ten worlds are: Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger. These are the 4 lower worlds where there is so much suffering. The world of hunger is not just food, hunger for power, greed. Then there is the world of Humanity, Heaven (Impermanant happiness that can be here one minute and gone the next), Learning, Realization, Bodysatva, and Buddhahood. Each world has the ten worlds in it. An enlightened anger, for example, is when someone is angry because people were being victimized. Everyone can be a Buddha, or achieve enlightenment which is a state of wisdom and compassion. Not perfection because it has the ten worlds inbedded in it.
I am a member of the Sokkai Gakkai International which is a lay organization that is based in Japan. There are organizations all over the world. We chant to polish our lives. It is believed that when you chant you can effect members of your family all the way back 7 generations. I have seen a profound change in my family. My mother and sister are doing so much better now. My mother who does not practice had cancer last year. She is 71. She had surgery which is a big deal. She is cancer free. She just had a colooscopy and the Doctor said it look great. She said she knew it was going to be o.k. I was chanting for her. She knows the practice works. We polish our lives through faith, practice and study. The practice will effect us in this life and in the next life.What are your thoughts or beliefs regarding reincarnation. What sect of Buddhism do you study? I am a Tibetan Buddhist by birth but I do not know enough of it to study it in depth.
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Not exactly what I was asking regarding reincarnation. More specifically, I wanted to know the process of reincarnation.
I agree with the chanting. Many Buddhist families always seems to go to a monk for chanting when things go awry. And yes ancestral protection and connection is very strong in Buddhist Tradition. Many instances it has been said that your ancestor protects the younger generations to come.
What I don't know is if person is always reincarnated within their family.
In SGI, there are no monks, it is a lay organization. We chant for ourselves. People will encourage and chant with eachother to help people break through their obstacles. In all honesty, I can't speculate if someone is reincarnated with the same souls. I do know that we chant to have the highest life condition and fortune for good circumstances in the next life. I also know that when a child is born into a family that chants they are called a fortune baby. They are called fortune babies because they have the good karma to be born in a family that chants. I suppose that some are also called fortune babies because there are times when women have had trouble getting pregnant and were able to do so after chanting for it.
1. Is it true that Buddhism is more of a ''way of life'' then a religion?
2. What are the Buddhist views on controversial religious topics such as abortion, homosexuality etc.How are they different then Christianity and other religions?
3. How does Buddhism view other religions? does it condemn/neglect them?
4. How are Nirvana and Heaven different/similar?
5. What do you have to say about those current ''Buddhas'' who claim to have reached enlightenment? is it true that they can just stand there through any sort of environmental disturbance and still be unharmed? Is this achieved after some deep stage of meditation?
2. What are the Buddhist views on controversial religious topics such as abortion, homosexuality etc.How are they different then Christianity and other religions?
3. How does Buddhism view other religions? does it condemn/neglect them?
4. How are Nirvana and Heaven different/similar?
5. What do you have to say about those current ''Buddhas'' who claim to have reached enlightenment? is it true that they can just stand there through any sort of environmental disturbance and still be unharmed? Is this achieved after some deep stage of meditation?
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I like that you/they chant for themselves. I never believed in the monks as they are always deluded with power and not for spiritual welfare of the people.
No, Buddha's are human. That is a metaphor for when everything is going wrong that someone who is enlightened or in that state are able to have industructable happiness no matter what is happening. Your car won't start, the boss yells at you and you can still have a high life condition.
One of my leaders told me the following. 20 years ago or so people used to tell gay members to chant to be straight. When the leader of the organization heard this he apologized and said that would never happen again. He had everyone go to a retreat center and gave everyone a set of beads. Gay, lesbian and transgendered members are completely accepted. In fact they all get together and goe to Gay Pride together every June and represent SGI.
Hey Sataya, what is it with you and religion?
All that hate and frustration ain't doing you any favours.
Sure, many religions portrays homosexuality as a sin, but you have to remember that any religious scripture is strongly influenced by the time and soceity it was written within.
God didn't write the Bible nor any religious scripture, it was written by man. Any religion is mans perception of God, and that is why religions are so different yet share similarities.
There is no right religion, if someone are born in a muslim country they would most likely be a muslim, if they were born among a native tribe they would follow their belief, if they were raised by a christian family they are more inclined to be a christian.
And to quote Butters: " Because if I'm bicurious and I'm somehow made from god, then I figure God must be a little bicurious himself"
All that hate and frustration ain't doing you any favours.
Sure, many religions portrays homosexuality as a sin, but you have to remember that any religious scripture is strongly influenced by the time and soceity it was written within.
God didn't write the Bible nor any religious scripture, it was written by man. Any religion is mans perception of God, and that is why religions are so different yet share similarities.
There is no right religion, if someone are born in a muslim country they would most likely be a muslim, if they were born among a native tribe they would follow their belief, if they were raised by a christian family they are more inclined to be a christian.
And to quote Butters: " Because if I'm bicurious and I'm somehow made from god, then I figure God must be a little bicurious himself"
I sense much truth and enlightenment from this reply; Buddah and his Brothas would be proud.
My adoptive parents are Buddhists. I am not (maybe because I didn't grow up with them), although I have a lot of Buddhist beliefs. One of the things I've never understood is the chants. My mom tried to explain it to me, but it sounded like a bunch of gibberish (words that I would never remember). Is there a chant one can do in English?
I am not Buddhist for two reasons - I believe in a higher power, and I could never accept the first tenant "Life is Suffering." I also find Buddhism, at least how my parents are as very intellectual, and rather anti-feeling. That's not a criticism, just why Buddhism doesn't work for me.
I am not Buddhist for two reasons - I believe in a higher power, and I could never accept the first tenant "Life is Suffering." I also find Buddhism, at least how my parents are as very intellectual, and rather anti-feeling. That's not a criticism, just why Buddhism doesn't work for me.
1. Where do you usually find Buddhist gathering places? How do their temples look on the inside/outside?
2. What do you usually do then? Do you have it every Sunday like many religions?
3. Do you have any certain taboos on certain things such as Muslims having one on pork?
2. What do you usually do then? Do you have it every Sunday like many religions?
3. Do you have any certain taboos on certain things such as Muslims having one on pork?
Life is suffering is emphasized in many religions just never stated directly, Christians say it all the time..I don't think Buddhism is anti-feeling, it's just not so passionate I think, the problem with many other religions is that they are to passionate about their beliefs, this causes conflict and that leads to war(Hint: the crusades). Buddhism seems to be very peaceful, and understanding from what I heard so far, they accept many members including the homosexual community, unlike many other religions who are radical about their views. I do not think Buddhism is emotionless if so someone correct me.
The comment was mostly meant to be a joke. I know that Buddhism does not outright condemn homosexuality. In fact, I admire Buddhism because it judges actions in the context of the situation and does not ascribe an absolute value to some actions regardless of the situation. In Buddhism, a person can practice homosexuality either in a good way or in a bad way, whereas in most Christian and Islamic denominations, homosexuality can only be practiced in a bad way. Of course I recognize that since Buddhism is reliant upon interpretation of the context of the situation that varying cultures and societies have varying perspectives of what homosexual conduct is good and what homosexual conduct is bad.
