Why seek "God"?

[ananda]

I would not call that a moral command, but what the hey; close enough. The Pagan's worshiped gods they made of wood and stone. They were driving out of the land a people who were of a very low moral grade.

Do you obey that command in your daily life?

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

I would not call that a moral command, but what the hey; close enough. The Pagan's worshiped gods they made of wood and stone. They were driving out of the land a people who were of a very low moral grade.

That is how the conquistadors justified butchering their way across the Americas.
That is what the "manifest destiny" settlers told themselves when they stole native land and butchered native children.
That is what the British said when they abducted Australian children to destroy their culture.
And, of course, that is the reason the Nazis gave for deporting and killing Jews and Romaby the millions:

"These are inferior people with low morals."

 

[Arthra]

If you consider that early Buddhism preferred symbolic ways of conveying the Buddha rather than the full body images that came later say from Gandhara... there were also specific social teachings some of which were displayed on the Asoka pillars... Buddhist monastic orders had very strict moral guidelines... Depending on the society there were specific guidelines to follow.

Islam in the context of it's rise in Arabia and beyond had specific laws and guidelines for treatment of slaves and prisoners as well as divorce and support in marriages.. that were not practised before.

The spiritual depth of Islam in the scholarly writings and philosophical inquiry are well known.

 

[habibii zahra]

Perhaps the sun god Aten created everything.

no ALLAH the god of jesus and moses and mohammad is the one who created everything

 

[habibii zahra]

This is akin to looking at a crystal and saying: "some supernatural artist must have designed and built this in a workshop"!

It's a blatant (and rather naive) anthropomorphism, i.e. taking human existence as the standard and projecting it upon the rest of the natural world.
The human way of creation (re-arranging matter, creating patterns, etc.) is actually the deviation from the norm. We are surrounded by order that comes into being without any sapient agency, from snow crystals to rock formations to the way stars group together in a pattern that follows the same mathematical principle as the seeds within a sunflower.

Looking at all of that and concluding "there must be an invisible god-man who has designed it" strikes me as the ultimate stumbling block on the road towards understanding reality.

For even if there was such an invisible entity, assuming their existence a priori would seriously impair our ability to actually figure it out. We've already got the answer, so why keep looking?

As it is, everything within the universe points to the absence of the kind of supernatural interventionist, personal deity that Abrahamic monotheists usually believe in.

he is there he created everything whether you deny it or not he exists

 

[habibii zahra]

This is akin to looking at a crystal and saying: "some supernatural artist must have designed and built this in a workshop"!

It's a blatant (and rather naive) anthropomorphism, i.e. taking human existence as the standard and projecting it upon the rest of the natural world.
The human way of creation (re-arranging matter, creating patterns, etc.) is actually the deviation from the norm. We are surrounded by order that comes into being without any sapient agency, from snow crystals to rock formations to the way stars group together in a pattern that follows the same mathematical principle as the seeds within a sunflower.

Looking at all of that and concluding "there must be an invisible god-man who has designed it" strikes me as the ultimate stumbling block on the road towards understanding reality.

For even if there was such an invisible entity, assuming their existence a priori would seriously impair our ability to actually figure it out. We've already got the answer, so why keep looking?

As it is, everything within the universe points to the absence of the kind of supernatural interventionist, personal deity that Abrahamic monotheists usually believe in.

he is there he created everything whether you deny it or not he exists

 

[CherubRam]

That is how the conquistadors justified butchering their way across the Americas.
That is what the "manifest destiny" settlers told themselves when they stole native land and butchered native children.
That is what the British said when they abducted Australian children to destroy their culture.
And, of course, that is the reason the Nazis gave for deporting and killing Jews and Romaby the millions:

"These are inferior people with low morals."

Among other things, the Pagans were sacrificing their children in the fire.

 

[ananda]

no ALLAH the god of jesus and moses and mohammad is the one who created everything

I know that's your assertion, but how did you verify it? How did you verify allah was the creator, and not Aten?

I never met Allah, Jesus, Moses, or Mohammad.

 

[ananda]

Among other things, the Pagans were sacrificing their children in the fire.

Do you believe that's what I do, as a Buddhist?

 

[CherubRam]

Do you believe that's what I do, as a Buddhist?

No!

 

[toLiJC]

What are the Buddhist wickednesses, sins, and spiritual lawlessnesses I practice that affect or cause evil to my neighbor?

there could be many things that are spiritual unrighteousness, for example, the worship of any god, lord(christ) or spirit that is not the true One can bring "death"(deterioration) to the world (Exodus 20:3), the maintenance of heresies(unrighteous spiritual/religious theories/practices) can also bring "death" to the world (Exodus 20:4-6), the unrighteous use of the faith can also be a cause of "death" for many (Exodus 20:7), the spiritual/religious negation/negativization/satanization/demonization of creatures/creations of the true One can also bring "death" (Exodus 20:8-11), etc., and there could be all kinds of "death"(deterioration): spiritual deterioration, mental deterioration, intellectual deterioration, physical deterioration, economic deterioration, etc. as a result of the practice of unrighteous spirituality/religiosity/religion, because spiritual unrighteousness/lawlessness/wickedness (as it were) opens the door to the manifestation(s) of the "darkness" to the world...

Blessings

 

[ananda]

there could be many things that are spiritual unrighteousness, for example, the worship of any god, lord(christ) or spirit that is not the true One can bring "death"(deterioration) to the world (Exodus 20:3), the maintenance of heresies(unrighteous spiritual/religious theories/practices) can also bring "death" to the world (Exodus 20:4-6), the unrighteous use of the faith can also be a cause of "death" for many (Exodus 20:7), the spiritual/religious negation/negativization/satanization/demonization of creatures/creations of the true One can also bring "death" (Exodus 20:8-11), etc., and there could be all kinds of "death"(deterioration): spiritual deterioration, mental deterioration, intellectual deterioration, physical deterioration, economic deterioration, etc. as a result of the practice of unrighteous spirituality/religiosity/religion, because spiritual unrighteousness/lawlessness/wickedness (as it were) opens the door to the manifestation(s) of the "darkness" to the world...

Blessings

I've witnessed edification, illumination, and betterment on multiple spheres, as a result of my embrace & practice of Buddhism.

 

[toLiJC]

I've witnessed edification, illumination, and betterment on multiple spheres, as a result of my embrace & practice of Buddhism.

yes, if there was no illumination and betterment for you, you would not practice and boast about your buddhism so much - if the unrighteous spirituality/religiosity was not so blissful and sublime for its followers, then it would not be followed by so many worshipers, and maybe there would be no one to practice it at all if it was not beneficial to anybody at all...

anyway, i talked about the effect of the spiritual/religious practice on the neighbor/townsman/cohabitant...

Blessings

 

[ananda]

yes, if there was no illumination and betterment for you, you would not practice and boast about your buddhism so much - if the unrighteous spirituality/religiosity was not so blissful and sublime for its followers, then it would not be followed by so many worshipers, and maybe there would be no one to practice it at all if it was not beneficial to anybody at all...

anyway, i talked about the effect of the spiritual/religious practice on the neighbor/townsman/cohabitant...

Blessings

It was not meant to be a boast; it was meant to be a statement of fact - highlighting effectiveness & personal experience versus blind belief & ineffectiveness, one of the main points of this thread.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

The only effective belief and truth
for resurrection life, proven to all who are destined to live, hidden to all those not destined to live,
is CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
Resurrected, never to die again.

No one else;
nothing else;
nowhere, no time, no how, offers life.

 

[ananda]

The only effective belief and truth
for resurrection life, proven to all who are destined to live, hidden to all those not destined to live,
is CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
Resurrected, never to die again.

No one else;
nothing else;
nowhere, no time, no how, offers life.

Is this belief based on knowledge, or belief based on faith?

 

[toLiJC]

It was not meant to be a boast; it was meant to be a statement of fact - highlighting effectiveness & personal experience versus blind belief & ineffectiveness.

ok, but there is still/again one big "me" in such a worshiper as you instead of solicitude for others...

Blessings

 

[ananda]

ok, but there is still/again one big "me" in such a worshiper as you instead of solicitude for others...

Blessings

Embracing the Way taught by Buddhism, and abandoning our past (blind) faith, has been very effective in decreasing the dukkha & suffering in myself and my relations, so I would not say that it only concerns me.

 

[dlamberth]

there could be many things that are spiritual unrighteousness, for example, the worship of any god, lord(christ) or spirit that is not the true One can bring "death"(deterioration) to the world (Exodus 20:3), the maintenance of heresies(unrighteous spiritual/religious theories/practices) can also bring "death" to the world (Exodus 20:4-6), the unrighteous use of the faith can also be a cause of "death" for many (Exodus 20:7), the spiritual/religious negation/negativization/satanization/demonization of creatures/creations of the true One can also bring "death" (Exodus 20:8-11), etc., and there could be all kinds of "death"(deterioration): spiritual deterioration, mental deterioration, intellectual deterioration, physical deterioration, economic deterioration, etc. as a result of the practice of unrighteous spirituality/religiosity/religion, because spiritual unrighteousness/lawlessness/wickedness (as it were) opens the door to the manifestation(s) of the "darkness" to the world...

Using your argument and tying that to what we can actually see happening around us, the destruction, desecration and death of the biosphere here on this beautiful planet as well as the wars, hunger and huge populations of refugee's we see that they are primarily brought on by the followers of the Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, fits rather nicely with the warnings you give above. Not to mention the genocide of the Indians both in south and north America. I don't see the same unrighteousness in Buddhism.

 

[toLiJC]

Embracing the Way taught by Buddhism, and abandoning our past (blind) faith, has been very effective in decreasing the dukkha & suffering in myself and my relations, so I would not say that it only concerns me.

it focuses on oneself, including according to what you have witnessed to it, which indicates there is some kind of egoism at its base, and faith based on egoism is the root of all spiritual unrighteousness/lawlessness/wickedness, so in your place i would examine my faith (over and over again if necessary)...

Blessings