Yahoo answers: Buddhists; can you give me the basic out line of yOur religion?

Buddhism fascinates me, especially the part about how it is an atheist religion ( as in no God(s)) and how it encourages education and creativity. An article written by a Buddhist psycyatrist helped me ou of a really dark place in my life. The article was abou elevating guilt and promoting self esteem through Buddhist principles. It was fascinating and inspiring. I feel like Buddhism might be for me.
But what exactly is it all about? Please, I only want answers from buddhists; I want to hear it straight from the horses mouth.

Read this: Good Questions, Good Answers
 
link: http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/gqga-4ed.pdf
 
Hope it will give you the answers you want, a few highlights about buddhism:
 
1. Buddhism rejects the notion or concept of a creator God as we believe in dependent origination, i.e. cause and effects and there is no first cause just like you cannot find the smallest or largest number. Also, buddhism rejects the existence of a self or soul as states of existence arises and falls at every moment where the origination of one moment is dependent on the previous.
 
2. Buddha regards metaphysical or theological speculations as irrelavent and unfruitful to the cultivation of the righteous path (As we can all see, people would quarrel, kill, and conduct other evils because of religious and theological differences which has absolutely nothing to do with the spiritual cultivation of the individual)
 
3. Buddha taught about the 4 noble truths, namely:
 
    1.Suffering exists
    2.Suffering arises from attachment to desires
    3.Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
    4.Freedom from suffering is possible by practising the Eightfold Path
 
 
4. The way to enlightenment is through the middle path, neither extreme sensual pleasure nor asectic self mortifications. This is also called the noble eightfold path, note that 'Right' in this context means not only correct, but also just the right amount i.e. the middle path:
 
http://www.beyondthenet.net/dhamma/nobleEight.htm
 
5. buddhists believe in the notion of cause & effect the same way a newtonian believes but goes even into more profound and deep levels that reach out to everything in the world physical psychological or metaphysical.
 
6.
buddhists believe that Karma should not be taken as destiny or fate (since that will be fatalism) but through your hardwork, the seeds of past bad karma cannot ripen. i.e. Our destiny is in our hands.
 
 
 
7. By means of self control through precepts, one can then go into practicing meditation that is not defiled, then during the highly concentrated state of mind in meditation, one can then focus and contemplate upon the various truths like suffering, impermenance to see reality as it really is to obtain penetrative insights into the truth.
 
8. in 3 sentences this is buddhism:
 
            Do good,
            Do not evil,
            Purify your mind.
 
and in the words of a famous chinese Zen master, "a theory that a 3 year old can understand but not even an 80 year old would practise."
 
 
Some people say that buddhism is a religion
Some people say that buddhism is a philosophy
Some people say that buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy
I personally however believe that buddhism is the truth

Dream of dad 16

爸，又梦见你了。 梦里我们在等巴士，我对你嘘寒问暖一起上车，你坐了下来，我心里庆幸还有机会祢补对你的一切， 醒来才知道一切都是梦。日有所思夜有所梦讲的就是这情况吧。

What proof is there that we have a soul?

Belief in an eternal soul is a misconception of the human consciousness.
Soul-Theories
With regard to the soul theory, there are three kinds of teachers in the world:
The first teacher teaches the existence of an eternal ego-entity that outlasts death: He is the eternalist.
The second teacher teaches a temporary ego-entity which becomes annihilated at death: He is the materialist.
The third teacher teaches neither an eternal nor a temporary ego-entity: He is the Buddha.

The Buddha regarded soul-speculation as useless and illusory. He once said, 'Only through ignorance and delusion do men indulge in the dream that their souls are separate and self-existing entities. Their heart still clings to Self. They are anxious about heaven and they seek the pleasure of Self in heaven. Thus they cannot see the bliss of righteousness and the immortality of truth.' Selfish ideas appear in man's mind due to his conception of Self and craving for existence.
Source(s):
http://www.purifymind.com/EternalSoul.htm
 
 

What do you think happens after death?

Atheist: You have no soul. you begin from nothing and end up becoming nothing

Abrahamic Theists: You have a soul that begins at your birth. You begin from nothing and end up eternally in Hell or Heaven

Hindus: You have a soul. Your soul is eternal and unchanging and you are reincarnated over and over again the way you slip into different clothes while yourself is intact

Buddhist: You do not have a soul. Your mental state 'lives'(arises) and 'dies' (cease) moment to moment based on principle of dependent origination and so does your physical body .

The combination of mental and physical states give one the illusion of a 'self' and thus the erroneous view of a soul or ghost in the machine.

As there is no soul, buddhists believe in 'rebirth' in opposed to 'reincarnation' . Rebirth is illustrated with the analogy of using the flame of one candle to light up the next - the flame is not the same flame, yet is a result of the previous flame.

First 2 views conflict with the law of conservation of energy.

Third view conflicts with the theory of change - since an eternally unchanging soul means there is no possibility of cultivation and development of the soul, since the soul is eternal and cannot be changed.

The buddhist view refutes the fallacy that Karma means there is such a thing as fate or destiny that cannot be changed.

Buddhists believe that the universe is in a constant flux of changes and everything is impermanent. Hence cultivation and personal salvation is possible through hardwork and abstinence in doing evil - i.e. you can change your own destiny.

Dream of dad 15

I dreamt of dad in march, in the dream, I saw him sitting on my kitchen floor, in the dream I dreamt that while his kidney had totally failed and had to be removed, it was ok, he did not have to die, I felt relieved, I cried and kneel in front of him, hugging his legs, seeking his forgiveness for my cruelty, he was very serene, he smiled at me with his usual smile, telling me that it is ok. Why can't this be real, why can't he be alive and reality of his departure be a dream?

Cruelty 1

How can I be so cruel, I only gave dad 350 dollars every month, thinking that 10 per day is enough to sustain him. How did he survive with such little money, I will never know. The last time he asked for money, as usual I would complain that he is using it too fast. Although I later told him that he let me know if it is not enough, I never apologize to him. He mentioned to my mom that he felt embarrassed when his Friends gave him money, I ignored his need for self esteem, he had to endure the suffering of his illness and yet also had to endure my cruelty, the lack of love, the feeling of being abandoned. Only a brave man like him could endure all these unjust. He never reprimanded me, took all in silence and I abused that, I only have interest in my own happiness. How evil can one get?

克己以利他， 坚忍持净戒

克己以利他， 坚忍持净戒

如果布施与持戒做个比较，持戒会比布施更疏胜，更重要。这是因为佛教是以止恶行善为手段，而清净身心，再以清净的身心去止恶行善，这样循次渐进，最终走上解脱之路。

布施往往是用身外物来接济众生，而持戒的主要目的却是在于克制自己的欲望，和行动，由于心中的杂染欲望是无形的，所以比身外物更难割舍。许多时候正是这些欲望与杂念，自私，不能让人真心的布施，所以说持戒乃布施之本。

再者克制自己欲望能让世间达到和乐善生的境界。怎么说呢？如果能克制自己欲望，就能确保我们不做损人利己的恶行。比如持不盗戒，不是一日两日不盗，一人两人不盗，而是从此以后，对所有人的财产，给予尊重，和不侵害的保障。 这就是没有差别性的遵守不盗戒。

又如不邪淫，就是从此以后，不对任何异性以诱惑，强暴，威胁等手段来满足自己欲望，却破坏了他人的尊严，家庭等。

因此，佛赞持五戒即五大施。要认真受持戒行，得忍受痛苦，诱惑甚至胁迫，持戒得有宁持戒而死，不毁戒而生的决心。由于人的贪嗔痴和妄想，是漂浮不定难以捉摸与预防的， 唯有坚毅的决心，来克服环境诱惑，克制情欲时时警惕用心才能保持净戒。要知道，万一不慎犯戒，一辈子的努力将付诸东流，毁于一旦。有时还可能万劫不复 - 就如一人一生守法，一次犯法却得受法律制裁 - 不管你曾经多么守法。

Dream of dad 14

In this dream that happened only a few days after the last one, I saw dad working at a worksite. He donned a safety helmet and looked at me with anger. I thought about how he had to continue to seek for employment even when he was so frail and weak puts me in utter disgust of myself again, I said sorry to him to which he did not respond.

Later in the dream was when I dreamt that I was flying around the city without aid! I eventually came to this enclosed area when I was surrounded by a group of people who looked pretty normal but are 'demons' (somehow I knew, you know the absurdities of dreams). Being calm I sat Down cross legged. These individuals have not revealled their evil nature yet and sat down In the same way around me. I started chanting the heart sutra and the polite smiles on their face frozen, trying to hide the great sufferings they are encounter due to the powerful sutra. I woke up right after that

Dream of dad 13

Dream about dad again the other day. It has been a while since I dreamt about him. In the dream we were at this mountain ridge, he was standing along side a line of strangers, I held his upper arms tight and cried while apologizing repeatedly. When I woke up, I was soak in tears. A colleague of mine asked if I had moved on, I told her I am trying to to avoid concern from her but deep down I know it is not possible to recover fully. Dad's sufferings and my cruelty will always haunt me.

悔1

Had a casual discussion with a colleague about Ang baos today and about the right amounts to give. The image of dad giving me Ang bao when I was young sort of flood my memories.

I only give him around 100-150 on cny and refuse to think that he needed the money , in year 2006, he asked me if I could help to advance him some money to buy the necessities for the new year and I told him I will give him his Ang bao early. That was the first time he blew his top on me. He was not so much interested in the money but more disappointed with my calculating behavior . I never woke from my cruelty even during his last new year.

悔

想要把我对父亲的点点滴滴都写出来，真是罄竹难书，可是希望在未忘记前都写出来，这是我发的愿，也是警世和让他的后代能知道自己犯了这滔天大罪，希望警世起的功德都回向给他，一位曾经孤苦无依的老人

思念

刚才昏睡中听着文殊菩萨的歌曲，梦到父亲回头望的神情，如亲临其境，思念之心油然而生便惊醒了。还是非常思念他。在世时根本不理睬他，过世后才来后悔，可有什么用？

Consciousness only and Madhyamaka 唯识与中观

今天在qq提问有关唯识与中观的差别，一位朋友慷慨的分享现在放上来解答了我的疑问：

handynas师兄，现拷贝济群法师的一段开示，希望对你有帮助，要详细了解二派的观点差异，还须师兄花些时间，好好学习一下有关资料： 代表着两个修行的不同体系，这两个体系，尤其它们在知见上，差别比较大。唯识有唯识的中道观，中观有中观的中道观，唯识是用三性（空、假、中）来解释这个世界，是通过三性来帮助我们契入空性，契入中道实相。中观是用二谛（真空妙有）来解释这个世界，通过对二谛的说明，来帮助我们契入空性，契入诸法的实相。这两个体系是不一样的。中观的思想，一切法都是性空的， 不管是心和境都是空的。唯识是先讲心是有的，境是空的，所以一切都是我们心的显现，一切都是唯识所现。也就是我们每一个人的认识，我们所认识的一切对象，都是我们内心的显现，都没有离开我们的心，这是唯识的主要思想。这个思想和跟中观的思想，其实它是不一样的。 顶礼济群法师，阿弥陀佛！