R-E-P-E-C-T Find out what it means for me

[Shockman]

It's been a long time since I donated credits.

Actually I lost about a half million of them over the years playing blackjack and video poker here in the casino section.

----

The people in my family that are older than me is God fearing Christians. A lot of those younger are Buddhist (Diamond Way of the Karma Kagyu Lineage founded by Lama Ole Nydahl) I have met with Lama Ole a few times and Photographed him with the Portland Center Group. My son is to his right behind him.

I forget what it's called, but I wore basically a canister that night while taking that picture that has DNA of the entire lineage (hair, teeth, bones, etc.) supposedly dating back to Buddha.

Lama Ole is aging and slowing down, but still travels every day of the year, unless that has changed recently. The story of his life is interesting, as is his teaching style.

I never committed, and though he wanted me to he treated me as well as every one else.

He says you could believe in God and be Buddhist, but I think there is an assumption that you would loose that belief after you're seeking enlightenment by way of Buddhism.

 

[GSGregg]

... so far i haven't come across any pro or anti-homersexualism in buddhism

Hom-ER-sexualism?

Does The Buddha accept membership applications from addicts to The Simpsons ?

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

sure... but when break a buddhist tenet, you’re expected to scream "d'oh!" and when you achieve enlightenment you must raise your head and shout "woohoo" with a voice that echoes through the valley.

 

[LeeVanCleef]

'How do you do'_ that? I still don't know how to display a thumbnail or attachment from my local files...:dork:
"Sleepstania" Sounds like a real nice relaxing place. Or maybe the miracle ingredient for a good nights rest.

LOL! And you're asking me? That's a sign you're moving into dangerous territory right there, Coil! I ended up just saving the image to the computer, then just used the "attachments" paper-clip to stick it on here. It didn't show up in "preview" mode, but came through all nice 'n' pretty on the post. Thanks for the UFP flag! Now that I'm comparing the two, I actually find the North Korea flag to be a little more colorful!

BTW... thanks for the credits, Coil! Unfortunately, it would go against my very nature to "use them wisely", as you suggested, but I'll do my best!

 

[Shockman]

Does The Buddha accept membership applications from addicts to The Simpsons ?

Not since Family Guy

 

[LeeVanCleef]

. A lot of those younger are Buddhist (Diamond Way of the Karma Kagyu Lineage founded by Lama Ole Nydahl) I have met with Lama Ole a few times and Photographed him with the Portland Center Group. My son is to his right behind him.

So that's from Portland, eh? I'm beginning to think that town may be a bit of a religion buffet, where you can choose from just about any extant religion known to man... and a few that aren't! A friend of mine had a brother that joined an actual, no-substitutions-allowed cult in Portland... from what he described, one of those Marharishi-esque mishmashes of Eastern beliefs designed for maximum monetary benefit. Dude was a member for some 10 years! So... be careful of what ashram you walk in to in Portland... you may never walk out!

 

[Shockman]

Very liberal.

I don't know if it's different from everywhere else, lacking a frame of reference, but yes, every religion, many cult orders and a few unique ones.

Remember Rajneeshpuram?

 

[GSGregg]

sure... but when you break a buddhist tenet, you’re expected to scream "d'oh!" and when you achieve enlightenment you must raise your head and shout "woohoo" with a voice that echoes through the valley.

Well.....okay. But I will not tolerate anyone trying to eat my shorts! They're MINE! (urp)

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Well.....okay. But I will not tolerate anyone trying to eat my shorts! They're MINE! (urp)

very good. and feel free to contact me again if you have any further questions about religion.


EDIT: rajneeshpuram was a pretty interesting WP read! i sure don't remember that mess from back when it happened.

 

[StevOz]

Ah the whole Buddhist religion, is to me just another man made religion and I do not believe god practices religion, man made or otherwise. None the less perhaps the least offensive and disruptive of religions.

 

[Shockman]

It is more a philosophy than a religion, but it certainly does meet the criteria of a religion.

There is no God figure, but there are people that are deities, or at least deified, and mythical entities that are metaphoric.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

Ah the whole Buddhist religion, is to me just another man made religion and I do not believe god practices religion, man made or otherwise. None the less perhaps the least offensive and disruptive of religions.

so god gets a pass in your book, but religion doesn't?


also, i don't have a huge knowledge of buddhist history and monastic life, but i'd say buddhists, like all humans, have the potential to be perfectly vicious towards each other.

when the various factions split following the life of siddhartha, there was evidently much violence and intolerance amongst the followers. it was as if they'd forgotten.

also, i get the sense that among monks, there are plenty of opportunities for manipulation, mind-games and sublimated aggression. example: in several modern varients, in order for a lama to become an abbot, he must undergo trials that last for years... effectively making him a plaything for his sometimes sadistic higher-ups.

to me, the appropriate disclaimer is very similar to the christian one-- the followers do not necessarily measure up to the way.


also, "deified" seems a little strong for the practices of major buddhist sects. i mean, even when you have a departed monk considered to have achieved enlightenment, become a buddha, and been embalmed with gold and kept in a display case to serve as highest inspiration... there is still not the 'god' aspect AFAIK. although, i'll admit... the use of the word "holy" does tread a certain line, there.

IME one of the biggest points of buddhism is that the buddha is -you-, not some figure in the lotus position wearing a mona lisa smile. the challenge is in trying to wake up to that fact. and again, very similar to a major point of christianity-- i.e., that's not just the historical yshua ben-yosef up on the cross, suffering his soul out. that's -you-. i.e., it's a powerful metaphor designed to get you past the idea of over-hyped historical figures and religious doctrine. designed to help you see reality for what it is.

 

[Shockman]

Abbot would be a step down for a Lama.

Buddhists are people so there is good and bad that they do. You are right about that. The Dalai Lama lived a life of wealth in a country where the citizens were in near constant strife.

You are right again about the looseness of the term deified, though it does fit best.

I disagree about the trials as being as a puppet. It's only solitude meditation, and a personal choice. Deprivation, yes, but not at anyone elses' expense or benefit. They don't have to be strung up by hooks in their chest or anything like that. The solitude does usually last years.

The Buddha is not you. He was a man and is a teacher. I think I know what you mean, because you are the subject, in mainstream Buddhism, others, in that your duty is to try to enlighten others, you being so or not, and of course I am not talking about true or pure enlightenment, but doing the best you can for yourself and everyone else. If you can live your life doing absolutely no harm and enriching yourself and others, you are enlightened. This is possible and it is nature less only humans, and that is about you.

I find no similarities to Christianity, other than the being good to yourself and others aspect, but that has a scope outside both, and should be in all. I disagree with the premise, Christianity being about 'you' and 'you' on the cross, therefor that as similarity.

You do not serve Buddha. He is not watching you, He is not judging you. He has no single demand of you. You do not strive to ever be in his presence, You are not expecting to be in a better place that he provides for you. He is dead.

 

[Shockman]

I can't back up that last sentence. If Buddhism is absolutely truth, he is Reincarnate.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

oh boy.

 

[StevOz]

Yes I do not believe in religion, though am certain God does exist. I thought you would have already read my synopsis of God. Here you go I'll post it again for the bemusement of all.

Nothing in the universe exists in isolation. All points in time and space are connected through the ether, information passes though the ether in an instant, the ether, the mind of God.

As for the creation, how did the big bang happen, did it happen at all, what came before the universe, God still seeks these answers, as does all life, it is what drives us to the unknown.

Life was created very soon after the big bang, as the universe strove for awareness, first chaos, then order within and unto the chaos (chaos theory), then God, then life.

This is why evolution has taken the path to sentient, intelligent life, why we strive for the stars, even though there is much work to be done on earth.

DNA for instance holds only the most basic information to recreate any organism, for life to occur the knowledge of the collective conscience of that species is called upon at the moment of fusion and once that life is ushered forth it becomes part of the mind of God, part of the mind of that planet, part of the mind of that species or sometimes the mind of the planet and/or God may summon forth a new species.

God is the collective conscience of all life and all itself, there is much life other then that of this planet we know as the Earth.

The Earth is an organism, it is a entity on to itself, it is the Earth and all life on Earth form it's collective conscience, yes it strives to survive as does all life.

God is an organism.

All life exists so God may become aware, so that the universe may reconcile itself, all life is God.

Enter the ether and be aware...

God does not practise religion, God is the universe, we are a part of God, part of the mind of God, all that is known is knowable and what is unknown shall be known.

 

[Coil_Smoke]

In 4 Little Words

God Is The Organism ?

 

[sleepy]

If anything, the establishment of Religions is God's greatest joke on mankind.
He surely has a wicked wit.

 

[Isaac Sauvage]

his wit is directly enhanced by listening to his older, smarter brother, sometimes.

god means well, essentially.

 

[Shockman]

oh boy.

I didn't expect that, but I should have.

I was not calling you wrong. You gave your opinion and I gave mine, pointing out where it differs. On my end it's trivial, unschooled, philosophical, mumbo jumbo, but I enjoy it. A lot of 'you' in that post was not directed at you, but the 'you' (anyone).

 

[sleepy]

I've had some pretty wicked coincidences in my life that I might attribute to a higher being, but Religions themselves are a mortal concept that is too often controlled by people out to control me or us or them, and usually for money or power.

 

[Shockman]

Yes I do not believe in religion, though am certain God does exist. I thought you would have already read my synopsis of God. Here you go I'll post it again for the bemusement of all.

Nothing in the universe exists in isolation. All points in time and space are connected through the ether, information passes though the ether in an instant, the ether, the mind of God.

As for the creation, how did the big bang happen, did it happen at all, what came before the universe, God still seeks these answers, as does all life, it is what drives us to the unknown.

Life was created very soon after the big bang, as the universe strove for awareness, first chaos, then order within and unto the chaos (chaos theory), then God, then life.

This is why evolution has taken the path to sentient, intelligent life, why we strive for the stars, even though there is much work to be done on earth.

DNA for instance holds only the most basic information to recreate any organism, for life to occur the knowledge of the collective conscience of that species is called upon at the moment of fusion and once that life is ushered forth it becomes part of the mind of God, part of the mind of that planet, part of the mind of that species or sometimes the mind of the planet and/or God may summon forth a new species.

God is the collective conscience of all life and all itself, there is much life other then that of this planet we know as the Earth.

The Earth is an organism, it is a entity on to itself, it is the Earth and all life on Earth form it's collective conscience, yes it strives to survive as does all life.

God is an organism.

All life exists so God may become aware, so that the universe may reconcile itself, all life is God.

Enter the ether and be aware...

God does not practise religion, God is the universe, we are a part of God, part of the mind of God, all that is known is knowable and what is unknown shall be known.

That reads as a prequel to 'Gods' debris'

What God does not know could certainly hurt him

 

[Shockman]

I've had some pretty wicked coincidences in my life that I might attribute to a higher being, but Religions themselves are a mortal concept that is too often controlled by people out to control me or us or them, and usually for money or power.

My trivial, unschooled, philosophical, mumbo jumbo mode,

- It might not be a good idea to use the slang wicked. Or is it wicked things you attribute to a higher being?

- What you said was that you might attribute coincidence to a higher being.

The rest is true if not enough of the truth. They are often sexist, elitists, and racist, if not down right bigots. Their motives serve them, not us, or any higher being. I think too often (in the past with a couple of major exceptions) they are not religions at all but a state in hiding. Examples of that, not including the two, might be the crusaders (Christian) and the Templar (Christian) among other (Christian) Knights.

Could God be the first false flag event?

 

[Shockman]

....God is the collective conscience of all life and all itself, there is much life other then that of this planet we know as the Earth....

He either did us first, and then got it right, or he has a lot of sons.

 

[StevOz]

Nice triple post Shocky, little wonder you have such Rep Power, though none of it is relevant.