Will Buddhism become redundant?

[lobster]

http://www.buddhistgeeks.com/
hope the Buddhist geeks, Sam Harris and others provide answers . . .

thanks guys . . .

[catmoon]

I guess when everyone is a Buddha it will be kind of redundant. We'll all be sitting around chatting like this:

BobtheBuddha: Remember the good old days? All those glorious struggles, the epic successes and the glorious defeats?

BorattheBuddha: Yes I remember them perfectly actually. It was awful.

BobtheBuddha: Well yes it was, sometimes, but there were those amazing moments like your first kiss, and mastering Chopin, and fresh water after a hard days' work. Good old days they were.

BushtheBuddha: Dukkha, all dukkha, you can't just sit there being nostalgic about it!

BobtheBudhha: I suppose you're right. Still and all I remember some grand sunsets. So how are you doing, George?

BushtheBuddha: Perfect of course. We're all perfect, remember?

BorattheBuddha. Yes. Perfect. Blissful. Serene. At complete and undisturbed peace with all things.

BobtheBuddha: Yes indeed. Perfect. Quite perfect. All tasks completed, all maras defeated, all mantras recited. Done. Finito.

BushtheBuddha: Yup.

BorattheBuddha: Yessiree.

(Long pause)

BobtheBuddha: So, has anybody read any good books lately?

[dharmagoat]

So where did the sunsets go?

[catmoon]

So where did the sunsets go?

Cleveland. Rockwell and west 3rd St. , 7th floor, above the John Q steakhouse.

[freefromsamsara]

I guess when everyone is a Buddha it will be kind of redundant. We'll all be sitting around chatting like this:

BobtheBuddha: Remember the good old days? All those glorious struggles, the epic successes and the glorious defeats?

BorattheBuddha: Yes I remember them perfectly actually. It was awful.

BobtheBuddha: Well yes it was, sometimes, but there were those amazing moments like your first kiss, and mastering Chopin, and fresh water after a hard days' work. Good old days they were.

BushtheBuddha: Dukkha, all dukkha, you can't just sit there being nostalgic about it!

BobtheBudhha: I suppose you're right. Still and all I remember some grand sunsets. So how are you doing, George?

BushtheBuddha: Perfect of course. We're all perfect, remember?

BorattheBuddha. Yes. Perfect. Blissful. Serene. At complete and undisturbed peace with all things.

BobtheBuddha: Yes indeed. Perfect. Quite perfect. All tasks completed, all maras defeated, all mantras recited. Done. Finito.

BushtheBuddha: Yup.

BorattheBuddha: Yessiree.

(Long pause)

BobtheBuddha: So, has anybody read any good books lately?

The mundane man's mundane perception of enlightenment.

[DaftChris]

Will science become redundant? Will the search for meaning and spirituality become redundant? Will being human beings become redundant? Will these endless Hollywood remakes become redundant?

Okay, maybe that last one...

[catmoon]

The mundane man's mundane perception of enlightenment.

...followed by the humourless man's perception of humour.

[kirtu]

As science uncovers more and more aspects of the truth, religous ideas became redundant.....So what I am saying is, is Buddhism (like religions of the past) just filling a temporary gap in knowledge, and once technology fills that gap ... will it also vanish?

The advancement of science and technology does not bring enlightenment to the human heart. An illustration of this is the entire history of mankind but especially the river of blood know as the 20th century. A specific example is the barbarism that was created in Germany from 1933-1945 - please see Speer.

You are positing that the advancement of science and technology will eventually spontaneously bring about the enlightenment of human kind (so humans will become moral, and create the causes of happiness in karmic terms rather than the causes of suffering). Of course this is theoretically possible if we can find an actual scientific basis for karma (as Thurman claims, for example). But we see no real evidence for this in human history. Right now even first world nations use economic and sociological excuses for not being able to solve social problems (Germany for example wrt homelessness). Then we have rich and powerful 2nd world barbarian cultures like the United States refusing to act humanely ton solve these types of problems because of a dogmatic worship of their own view of economics coupled with a terminally cynical view of humanity.

So basically other ideas get in the way of your view of advancement leading eventually to another form of paradise on earth. However, coupled with religious views to tame people's hearts and minds, of course we could actually create a real paradise on earth.

Another way of putting it is that scientific and technological advancement alone do not show us what to accept and what to reject in order to advance ourselves to enlightenment.

Kirt

[songhill]

I don't get the OP. Redundant? (Redundant means exceeding what is necessary or normal.) As far as science is concerned Buddhism doesn't have anything to worry about. Science is not doing that well. To this day no scientist can explain exactly how a simple little toy like a radiometer works. I don't think scientists are all that smart.

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." — Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society

"Radio has no future." — Lord Kelvin

"X-rays will prove to be a hoax." — Lord Kelvin

"There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom." -- Robert Milikan, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1923

"There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean the atom would have to be shattered at will." ~ Albert Einstein, German-born American physicist, 1932

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons" ~ Popular Mechanics, 1949

[lowlydog]

Buddhism has always been redundant, but the dharma is timeless.

[Johnny Dangerous]

The only truths science is currently focused on uncovering are those relating to the material world, as it doesn't really acknowledge much of anything else. Increasingly the 'truths' science is uncovering are also directly tied to industry. If anything Buddhism offers a much needed alternative to the reductionist views of materialism - which I grant is not science, but the belief system is based on an unquestioning acceptance of scientific fact as being the same as a transcendent truth.

Unless science becomes something very different from what "science" means in terms of forming worldviews right now, then the answer is no, science does not- nor will it have the capability to address the same things that Buddhism does.

If you believe that "reality" is purely a physical thing, then Buddhism is already redundant, then again so is pretty much any philosophy beyond utilitarian fulfillment of human needs, since thoughts are just nonsense bouncing around in brains.

[pemachophel]

Buddhism will not become obsolete because it is not so much a description of reality as a path to change one's experience of so-called reality. This is exactly why any and all intellectual pursuit only gets you so far with Buddhism. The real deal is practice leading to the transcendence of all concepts. While any and all concepts may become obsolete, this transcendent state is not. It is timeless, changeless, and free to anyone willing to tread the path/do the practices to its realization.

[Karma Dondrup Tashi]

The mundane man's mundane perception of enlightenment.

...followed by the humourless man's perception of humour.

Hehehehe.

[CrawfordHollow]

That was pretty good. Snap!

[greentara]

I'm sure Buddhism won't become redundant seeing psycho therapists have embraced it. Every therapist worth his salt cherry picks from Buddhism/Hinduism to enhance his credibility and hip-pocket.

[KennC]

No. I don't think Buddhism will become redundant. The situation might be, with the advances in science, more of Buddha teachings are proven to be true. This will deepen our faith in Buddhism. Here a interesting video where buddhism meet science.http://www.buddhastation.com/buddhism-videos/general-buddhism/where-buddhism-and-science-meet/