NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

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Aemilius
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NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Aemilius »

"Reverend Dr. Andrew Davison, a priest and theology professor at the University of Cambridge, is among 24 theologians who are participating in a program sponsored by NASA at the space agency's Center for Theological Inquiry (CTI) at Princeton University.

The theologians are attempting to assess how major religions would react to news of alien life being found.

Davidson seeks to answer theological questions such as whether or not God made life in other parts of the universe and if he sent a savior to die for the sins of aliens.

Another question the British priest seeks to tackle is if discovering extraterrestrial life will require religions to rewrite the entire story of creation in Genesis.

Davison applied for the role after debating these questions with his theology students.

Davison spent an academic year at Princeton University in 2016 in a $1.1 million program sponsored by NASA, called: The Societal Implications of Astrobiology."

from http://prophecynewswatch.com/article.cf ... u9gBrS_Fqo

The theme of theology and ufology has gained some momentum in the ufo-platforms very recently, when do Dharma folks wake up to this?
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

:shrug:
We're okay with it, frankly.

If we trust the dharma, we know that there are countless beings in countless worlds, all of them wandering through samsara as best they can. Theological implications of meeting some of them? Almost zero.

If we don't trust the dharma on this point but do meet aliens, we are still okay with it: "Oh, they do exist after all. And yes, they are dealing with samsara as best they can, just as we are."

:coffee:
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Giovanni
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Giovanni »

If aliens exist..and mathematics suggest that it is likely, then they are subject to the Thee Signs OF Being.
That’s all Dharma students NEED to know. The rest is understandable curiosity.
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Malcolm »

Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:44 am
The theologians are attempting to assess how major religions would react to news of alien life being found.



The theme of theology and ufology has gained some momentum in the ufo-platforms very recently, when do Dharma folks wake up to this?
We already know there is intelligent life in countless planetary systems.
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Tongnyid Dorje
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Tongnyid Dorje »

We, as buddhists, know about them already, some of them are much taller than we are. :smile: For example, Lotus sutra:
Beyond these, there was a world by the name of Adorned with Pure Light. In that world was a Buddha by the name of Wisdom of Pure Flower Constellation King Thus Come One, One Worthy of Offerings, One of Right and Universal Knowledge, One Whose Clarity and Conduct Are Complete, Well-Gone One Who Understands the World, Supreme Lord, Regulating Hero, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World Honored One. He was reverently surrounded by a great multitude of limitless, boundless Bodhisattvas to whom he was speaking the Dharma.
...
When Shakyamuni Buddha’s light illumined his body, he immediately spoke to the Buddha Wisdom of Pure Flower Constellation King, saying, “World Honored One, I should go to the Saha world to bow to, draw near to, and make offerings to Shakyamuni Buddha...

At that time the Buddha Wisdom of Pure Flower Constellation King told the Bodhisattva Wondrous Sound, “You should not look lightly upon that country or think of it as inferior. Good man, the Saha world is uneven, its earth, stones, and mountains are filled with filth and evil. The Buddha’s body is lowly and small. The Bodhisattvas are also small in shape. Your body is forty-two thousand yojanas in height. My body is six hundred and eighty myriad yojanas in height. Your body is superb and upright, with a hundred thousand myriad blessings and fine and subtle light. Therefore if you go, do not look lightly upon that country, its Buddha, Bodhisattvas, or lands.
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Aemilius
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Aemilius »

Giovanni wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:56 pm If aliens exist..and mathematics suggest that it is likely, then they are subject to the Three Signs OF Being.
That’s all Dharma students NEED to know. The rest is understandable curiosity.
That sounds kind of logical, but in practice it is not like that. It is more like Europeans going to South and North America or in Africa and Australia. Europeans had new conceptual constructions and their own laws and new and amazing weapons with them, and they wanted their gold and other minerals, plus workers for their plantations, and other things...
For example, we hear in some ufo-reports that slavery exists in the stars,... Its methods maybe different and quite modern, but it is still slavery.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Tenma »

Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:27 pm
Giovanni wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:56 pm If aliens exist..and mathematics suggest that it is likely, then they are subject to the Three Signs OF Being.
That’s all Dharma students NEED to know. The rest is understandable curiosity.
That sounds kind of logical, but in practice it is not like that. It is more like Europeans going to South and North America or in Africa and Australia. Europeans had new conceptual constructions and their own laws and new and amazing weapons with them, and they wanted their gold and other minerals, plus workers for their plantations, and other things...
For example, we hear in some ufo-reports that slavery exists in the stars,... Its methods maybe different and quite modern, but it is still slavery.
So what are you going to do if aliens exist and we encounter them?
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Tenma wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:41 pm
Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:27 pm
Giovanni wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:56 pm If aliens exist..and mathematics suggest that it is likely, then they are subject to the Three Signs OF Being.
That’s all Dharma students NEED to know. The rest is understandable curiosity.
That sounds kind of logical, but in practice it is not like that. It is more like Europeans going to South and North America or in Africa and Australia. Europeans had new conceptual constructions and their own laws and new and amazing weapons with them, and they wanted their gold and other minerals, plus workers for their plantations, and other things...
For example, we hear in some ufo-reports that slavery exists in the stars,... Its methods maybe different and quite modern, but it is still slavery.
So what are you going to do if aliens exist and we encounter them?
Call this guy
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Knotty Veneer
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Knotty Veneer »

That sounds like a judicious use of tax payers' money.
This is not the wrong life.
Toenail
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Toenail »

ridicule it all you want but imma stack up on canned foods
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Konchog Thogme Jampa
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Toenail wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:45 pm ridicule it all you want but imma stack up on canned foods
Prepping?

Cheese and Honey supposed to be best with its long shelf life 🧀🍯🐝
Malcolm
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Malcolm »

Tenma wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:41 pm
Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:27 pm
Giovanni wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:56 pm If aliens exist..and mathematics suggest that it is likely, then they are subject to the Three Signs OF Being.
That’s all Dharma students NEED to know. The rest is understandable curiosity.
That sounds kind of logical, but in practice it is not like that. It is more like Europeans going to South and North America or in Africa and Australia. Europeans had new conceptual constructions and their own laws and new and amazing weapons with them, and they wanted their gold and other minerals, plus workers for their plantations, and other things...
For example, we hear in some ufo-reports that slavery exists in the stars,... Its methods maybe different and quite modern, but it is still slavery.
So what are you going to do if aliens exist and we encounter them?
See what kind of booze they like.
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Svalaksana
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Svalaksana »

Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:44 amDavidson seeks to answer theological questions such as whether or not God made life in other parts of the universe and if he sent a savior to die for the sins of aliens.
That line is absolutely priceless.
Looking but not seeing - that's my eye.
Thinking but not minding - that's my mind.
Speaking but not expressing - that's my tongue.
Traveling but not going - that's my path.
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Caoimhghín »

Malcolm wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:25 pmSee what kind of booze they like.
Andorian Blue

Image
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Norwegian »

Caoimhghín wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:59 pm
Malcolm wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:25 pmSee what kind of booze they like.
Andorian Blue
Romulan Ale and Saurian Brandy is where it's at.
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

They’ll have what he’s having ☄️
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Svalaksana wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:34 pm
Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:44 amDavidson seeks to answer theological questions such as whether or not God made life in other parts of the universe and if he sent a savior to die for the sins of aliens.
That line is absolutely priceless.
Lol, it really is. My initial reaction was some Monty-Python Esque mental image.

It is interesting how this would be a big issue for Christianity and Islam. For Buddhism it’s almost a no brainer. In Judaism I think it would not be a huge deal. Either, although I guess the aliens would just qualify as gentiles.

I can’t see other religions having a huge issue with it, the narrow cosmology and soteriology of modern day Islam and Christianity makes it a special problem for them.

Still pretty fun and that bit could create some amazing comedy sketches.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Kim O'Hara »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:00 am
Svalaksana wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:34 pm
Aemilius wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:44 amDavidson seeks to answer theological questions such as whether or not God made life in other parts of the universe and if he sent a savior to die for the sins of aliens.
That line is absolutely priceless.
Lol, it really is. My initial reaction was some Monty-Python Esque mental image.
I can't disagree but Davidson makes perfect sense within a conservative Christian worldview - which we're not really all that far away from, either in space or in time, so we shouldn't laugh too hard.
When Christianity was the only game in town, CS Lewis posed the question in a SF trilogy and answered it in the affirmative. He was a respected academic (colleague, at Oxford, and friend of Tolkien, btw) and Christian theologian, and people did not laugh.
When? 1930s and 40s.
And significant parts of American Christianity, of course, are still stuck there. :toilet:

Feel free to wonder which of our own ideas will seem equally peculiar when our children are old. :thinking:

:coffee:
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by conebeckham »

Caoimhghín wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:59 pm
Malcolm wrote: Wed Dec 29, 2021 10:25 pmSee what kind of booze they like.
Andorian Blue

Image
They drink Chardonnay? I suppose next you'll be telling me their spaceships are decorated like 80's Fern Bars.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
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Re: NASA Is Hiring Religious Leaders To Prepare For Encounter With Aliens ?

Post by Caoimhghín »

No, their spaceships look just like DC-8s.

I swear, some people just don't take the time to read.

:coffee:
Then, the monks uttered this gāthā:

These bodies are like foam.
Them being frail, who can rejoice in them?
The Buddha attained the vajra-body.
Still, it becomes inconstant and ruined.
The many Buddhas are vajra-entities.
All are also subject to inconstancy.
Quickly ended, like melting snow --
how could things be different?

The Buddha passed into parinirvāṇa afterward.
(T1.27b10 Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra DĀ 2)
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