Search found 21 matches

by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:47 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Re: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

Is there really no scientific evidence in favor of higher realms? I'd really like it if there were.
by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:25 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Re: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

tkp67 wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:13 am However true realization/actualization through some facets of practice may require ABSOLUTE belief without any compromise of doubt.
Would that be absolute belief confirmed by personal experience?
by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:04 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Re: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

If all conditioned things are empty of inherent existence and the Dharmakaya is the only true reality, does it ultimately matter if higher realms are literal or not? If I were required to literally believe in something, I'd hope for some sort of evidence in favor of it.
by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 4:51 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Re: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

I know this question has been addressed in other threads, but how much of Buddhist cosmology are we really required to take literally? Is it like Christianity and Islam, in which one is branded a heretic for doubting or being agnostic about the literal existence of heaven and hell?
by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:25 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Re: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

Sādhaka wrote: Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:15 am Oh the reptilians shapeshifter are on tv everyday.
The Buddhist scriptures depict nagas as half-human, half-reptile beings.
by Bodhisattva509
Sat Aug 31, 2019 2:24 am
Forum: Media
Topic: Canada has a terrible system of government?
Replies: 10
Views: 2171

Re: Canada has a terrible system of government?

Considering that it's a fairly affluent and peaceful country, it's system of government can't be too bad. I don't know enough about Canada's political system to offer my own comments on it. I just don't see why, as an American, I'd be better off in Canada instead. The Canadian healthcare system has...
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:13 pm
Forum: Media
Topic: Canada has a terrible system of government?
Replies: 10
Views: 2171

Re: Canada has a terrible system of government?

He is blending facts, half-facts, opinions and untruths and delivering them as an overwhelming onslaught to overcome the critical faculties of his listeners. Reminds me of Ben Shapiro - same fast delivery, same lack of accuracy or nuanced understanding. I'll have to look into, point by point, the i...
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:39 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?
Replies: 25
Views: 4540

Scientific Evidence of Higher Realms?

Is there scientific evidence of higher realms, above our plane of physical existence? For example, while there doesn't seem to be half-humanoid, half-reptilian creatures on this planet, is it scientifically possible that there's a naga realm?
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:30 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Buddha does not recommend recitation
Replies: 26
Views: 5121

Re: Buddha does not recommend recitation

Theravada, as we currently know it, is a 19th century reformation in response to Western colonialism. Originally Theravada developed out of the Vibhajjavāda division of the Sthāvirīya. And the Sthāvirīya did not come into existence until after the second council anyway. Theravada came out of the th...
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:44 pm
Forum: Thien
Topic: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation
Replies: 9
Views: 8630

Re: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation

Astus wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:41 pm
Bodhisattva509 wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:49 pmWhat are your qualifications as a teacher, if you don't mind me asking?
I can quote some scriptures and treatises.
OK. I can too. If I were to quote them here, though, we'd probably end up arguing in circles over whose source is more legitimate than the other's.
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 8:57 pm
Forum: Media
Topic: Canada has a terrible system of government?
Replies: 10
Views: 2171

Canada has a terrible system of government?

This video is one Canadian's critique of his country's political system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU_CuvSOupU If you are a left-leaning American like myself, you might be very dissatisfied with our president and the Republicans in Congress right now. Instead of just insisting that we all move...
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 6:49 pm
Forum: Thien
Topic: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation
Replies: 9
Views: 8630

Re: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation

Astus wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:41 pm I'm questioning if single-pointed concentration can be qualified as zen meditation.
What are your qualifications as a teacher, if you don't mind me asking?
by Bodhisattva509
Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:01 am
Forum: Thien
Topic: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation
Replies: 9
Views: 8630

Re: Thich Thien An on buddhanusmrti as zen meditation

Astus wrote: Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:17 am That is (mis)taking zen to be a mind absorbed in a single object, however, such concentration practices are found in many systems even outside Buddhism.
Was Thich Thien An a Thien master? Are you a Thien master? Are you claiming that his teachings deviated from traditional Thien teachings?
by Bodhisattva509
Thu Aug 29, 2019 4:18 am
Forum: Jodo Shin Shu
Topic: Hi, my name is ____ and I'm a stumbling, bumbling idiot (Bombu)
Replies: 12
Views: 4204

Re: Hi, my name is ____ and I'm a stumbling, bumbling idiot (Bombu)

I don't like dwelling too much on my bombu nature, because that itself can turn into false piety, that I am holier-than-thou in seeing my fallen nature better than you. I don't see myself as particularly more foolish or ignorant or sinful than the average person.
by Bodhisattva509
Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:24 am
Forum: Sūtra Studies
Topic: What appeals to you about the Lotus Sutra?
Replies: 20
Views: 5634

Re: What appeals to you about the Lotus Sutra?

There is nothing unusual about the self-congratulatory nature of the Lotus Sutra. It's a common way that the Mahayana sutras establish their authority.
by Bodhisattva509
Wed Aug 28, 2019 2:32 pm
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Amida Buddha: Prayers for Guidance to the Pure Land
Replies: 2
Views: 1818

Re: Amida Buddha: Prayers for Guidance to the Pure Land

Great documentary. Thank you for sharing it.
by Bodhisattva509
Wed Aug 28, 2019 4:39 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Is the Pure Land an actual place?
Replies: 21
Views: 5691

Re: Is the Pure Land an actual place?

Where does Master Shantao teach this? :thanks: This is Shinran quoting Shandao: The land of bliss is the realm of nirvana, the uncreated; I fear it is hard to be born there by doing sundry good acts according to our diverse conditions. Hence, the Tathagata selected the essential dharma, Instructing...
by Bodhisattva509
Wed Aug 28, 2019 4:06 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Who was the author (or authors) of the Pure Land Sutras?
Replies: 16
Views: 4753

Re: Who was the author (or authors) of the Pure Land Sutras?

Sentient Light wrote: Thu Jan 17, 2019 11:58 pm To put it simply: to reject Pure Land is to reject the whole of Mahayana; they are implicitly bound to one another, and the Pure Land, PPJ, and samadhi texts all appear to sit at the earliest stratum of Mahayana Buddhism as we understand it.
:twothumbsup:
by Bodhisattva509
Wed Aug 28, 2019 4:01 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Buddha-mindfulness: Linking Theravada and Pure Land
Replies: 8
Views: 3368

Re: Buddha-mindfulness: Linking Theravada and Pure Land

This article is from a Theravada monk writing favorably on Pure Land teaching and practice: DOUBTS ABOUT THE PURE LAND: WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE? - Bhante Cintita - Keep an open mind toward the Pure Land. Much of what we call “life” and “my world” are fabrications. Most of our “world” consists of concep...
by Bodhisattva509
Wed Aug 28, 2019 3:47 am
Forum: Pure Land
Topic: Is the Pure Land an actual place?
Replies: 21
Views: 5691

Re: Is the Pure Land an actual place?

Be without doubt friend, the pureland exists in reality. Buddha never speak lies, They never deceive sentient beings suffering in the Samsara. While the Buddha never spoke lies, he did make a distinction between provisional truth and ultimate truth. On the ultimate level, only the Dharma-body in it...

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