Do you really think existence is an illusion

[conebeckham]

You should get the book and read it.
Niguma's "Gyuma LamRim" is amazing, as is her autocommentary.

[Pema Rigdzin]

your post made me feel like you belittle everyone tackling this outside of Buddhism..like it is exclusive and is somehow owned by Buddhist Control...

Rael,

This has nothing at all to do with belittling non-Buddhist traditions or asserting that Buddhism somehow owns the nature of reality itself or the subtle anatomy of the human body. That is not at all what is being asserted.

What is being asserted is that Buddhism has its own ideas about the self, the nature of reality, and the subtle anatomy of the human body, and other religions have their own ideas about these things. Buddhism has its own ideas about what constitutes liberation from our present condition and the ultimate fruit of the spiritual journey, and other religions have their own ideas about these things. So this whole discussion is apples and oranges. Buddhism has its own ideas and its own methods to work within its own paradigm and other traditions have their own paradigms and methods to work with them. If you tried to tell Christians, Hindus, Pagans, Jews, Muslims, etc that their beliefs are ultimately the same as Buddhists' and that there's no difference between our paths, you'd meet with some strong dissent and possibly some anger at the misrepresentation of their beliefs and approaches.

[Rael]

your post made me feel like you belittle everyone tackling this outside of Buddhism..like it is exclusive and is somehow owned by Buddhist Control...

Rael,

This has nothing at all to do with belittling non-Buddhist traditions or asserting that Buddhism somehow owns the nature of reality itself or the subtle anatomy of the human body. That is not at all what is being asserted.

What is being asserted is that Buddhism has its own ideas about the self, the nature of reality, and the subtle anatomy of the human body, and other religions have their own ideas about these things. Buddhism has its own ideas about what constitutes liberation from our present condition and the ultimate fruit of the spiritual journey, and other religions have their own ideas about these things. So this whole discussion is apples and oranges. Buddhism has its own ideas and its own methods to work within its own paradigm and other traditions have their own paradigms and methods to work with them. If you tried to tell Christians, Hindus, Pagans, Jews, Muslims, etc that their beliefs are ultimately the same as Buddhists' and that there's no difference between our paths, you'd meet with some strong dissent and possibly some anger at the misrepresentation of their beliefs and approaches.

I'm not saying any such thing...where have i said these religions are the same as Buddhism....

but there are paths that are....

the Buddhist Paradigm is not exclusive to Buddhists....

[gregkavarnos]

I'm not saying any such thing...where have i said these religions are the same as Buddhism....

but there are paths that are....

the Buddhist Paradigm is not exclusive to Buddhists....

Don't be silly, of course the Buddhist paradigm is exclusive to Buddhists, elements of it may be shared with/by other paradigms but the Buddhist paradigm is, of course, exclusive to Buddhists! Otherwise it wouldn't be called a Buddhist paradigm.

[Rael]

I'm not saying any such thing...where have i said these religions are the same as Buddhism....

but there are paths that are....

the Buddhist Paradigm is not exclusive to Buddhists....

Don't be silly, of course the Buddhist paradigm is exclusive to Buddhists, elements of it may be shared with/by other paradigms but the Buddhist paradigm is, of course, exclusive to Buddhists! Otherwise it wouldn't be called a Buddhist paradigm.

your not helping....

[Pema Rigdzin]

I'm not saying any such thing...where have i said these religions are the same as Buddhism....

but there are paths that are....

the Buddhist Paradigm is not exclusive to Buddhists....

Ok so would you care to name these paths so I can stop playing the guessing game? And would you care to explain in detail how they present the same paradigm as Buddhism, in terms of ground, path, and fruit? Maybe you're right, but I can't tell because you've yet to offer any proof or name these paths you have in mind.