yeah, He told me to go look for my knife
its hard to meat without it
Originally posted by FngSaiYuk
I don’t like blind faith.
Do you mean faith supported and touted without thought to the contents of the system and/or the opposition thereof, or faith maintained despite an overwhelming lack of proof in the system?
Me, I’m a Christian, I guess. I love Christ, He’s my savior, but I don’t adhere to the teachings of any one church or organization. I read my Bible ( I prefer the King James version) and meditate upon the lessons therein.
Originally posted by Water Dragon
Bro,
He speaks to all of us, just not in the same way.
Water Dragon has taken the correct and offered it a clarion indulgence. :eek: 
He is also quite right.
And, as an aside, Jesus could’ve kicked Buddha’s @$$. Just look at His abs! They’re ripped!
man, the real jesus was more like bin laden style looks
shorter beard maybe
but he would just “turn the cheek” or some
not that good on fights
Where to start?
To me, all representations of god, either in polytheistic or monotheistic religeons, are man’s attempt at personifying god, bringing it within man’s ability to understand god. God is beyond comprehention, that is why there are so many similar but various religeons. I like the way the Dali Lama put it when he said that ‘love and compassion are the universal religeon’.
As for philosophy, you could say I’m an ‘existential-budhi-taoist’ whith just a touch of hedonism. Like Egg (from the movie ‘Big Trouble in Little China’) said, it’s like a buffet, you take a little of what you want from each.
lol @ the Jesus vs Buddha main event
Ch’an Buddhist myself, but I think we all have the right to practice or not what we chose. My 10 yr old daughter is greatly catholic ( thx to my father ) and I allow her to practiceand have her own beliefs. I even organise for her to go to church if she wants and speak freely with her about hers mine or the differences between philosophies and practice of each. We have a mutual respect this way and a nice spiritual intimacy and understanding. I think there is a place for all religion and belief.
practice what brings you peace and if kungfu is all that does that for you , work hard and do what brings you to your bliss.
That’s a beautiful relationship that you have with your daughter.
Originally posted by blooming lotus
[B]lol @ the Jesus vs Buddha main event
Ch’an Buddhist myself, but I think we all have the right to practice or not what we chose. My 10 yr old daughter is greatly catholic ( thx to my father ) and I allow her to practiceand have her own beliefs. I even organise for her to go to church if she wants and speak freely with her about hers mine or the differences between philosophies and practice of each. We have a mutual respect this way and a nice spiritual intimacy and understanding. I think there is a place for all religion and belief.
practice what brings you peace and if kungfu is all that does that for you , work hard and do what brings you to your bliss.
[/B]
That’s this thread down the ****ter.
:rolleyes:
But before Toby/cerebus arrive…
The only deep probelm I have with religion is with people who think their belief in an afterlife/salvation/a higher being somehow absolves them in any way for taking responsibility for their own action/lack thereof on earth. Which means, although I’m the ultimately tolerant (if you were to put a label on me…!) Anglo-christian-ethic-Pagan-animist-Buddhist-Taoist kind I would probably advocate armageddon against 90% of all Jews, Christians and Moslems. Especially those who support Bush, any of the mad mullahs, Sharon or fat people. If they can just keep the armageddon between themselves and leave the rest of us to fish, tend the herbs and get on with getting on.
Little bit of politics, a half-baked lefty rant a la Kung Lek’s usual style… just pressed the flush handle…!
I think you were looking for the chan thread if it was clarifcation on how that effects my world you wer after. I will say though that as a ch’an buddhist I am effected by changes of priority. Shaolin has three treasures its ’ practioners cultivate,
- doctrine ( becomming familiar with and getting a perspective on writings by other practicioners on how to bring yourself into a state of ch’an awareness and stay there )
- gongfu ( because as a chan buddhist health is utmost and this personally is part of one of the best ways to cultivate that healthy body)
- Sangha ( community which (as having and cultivating universal awareness) the entire world becomes , and
understanding impartially , making a contribution to and preservation and education of that world to the point where I’m now sub-conciously and in my concious daily life, geared toward little else.
Vash,
Blind faith, in this context, would be acceptance without question. I can understand how the vast majority of people need something to believe in to live with care and purpose. Myself, I don’t like to just believe something without it making sense. Basically, it needs to satisfy all my reasoning and logic and cannot contradict reality.
Yes, life and people are complex, so these subjects are equally complex - far more than a few posts could explore. Basically, as long as no one is harming anyone else (in the context of, extreme physical and emotional harm, unwanted physical and emotional harm, etc) things are cool and whatever belief system you live by is cool.
Originally posted by Mat
The only deep probelm I have with religion is with people who think their belief in an afterlife/salvation/a higher being somehow absolves them in any way for taking responsibility for their own action/lack thereof on earth. [/B]
BINGO! Whatever belief system one lives by, there must be responsibility for their actions, there must be acknowledgement and forethought for the consequences of their actions and there must be forethought and acknowledgement of their effect on their environment and those around them. Ultimately, everything we do affects everyone else, and so should consider the harm we may be subjecting others to.
Of course, again, life and people are complex, and as similiar as we all are, there are still quite enough differences between upgringing, belief systems, culture, etc. I say best thing is to just tolerate, provided no one is hurting anyone.
Originally posted by Mat
[B]But before Toby/cerebus arrive…
The only deep probelm I have with religion is with people who think their belief in an afterlife/salvation/a higher being somehow absolves them in any way for taking responsibility for their own action/lack thereof on earth. [/B]
The Bible actually addresses this a lot. Read what the Word has to say about hipocrates and Pharisees. It’s not a pretty picture.
Jesus the Taoist, Love your Neighbor…
Fu-Pow said “Its called Empathy ie putting yourself in someone elses shoes”
I would have to disagree a little bit. Most people miss the simple and profound nature of Love your neighbor as you love yourself, and its not just empathy. Actually it is one of the most taoist statements Jesus made.
to paraphrase…
If you truly love your neighbor as yourself, than you begin to put into practice the concept that as I and my father are one, you and I are one.
If you are I are truly one, and I love you as I love myself,why would I ever lie to myself,it makes no sense. Why would I harm or steal from myself? Why would I covit myself. We should begin to see that our actions upon others are as actions upon ourselves. (karma et. al.) This simple statement takes care of most of the ten comandements.
We back that up with the #1 Love God above all, and follow it with #3 judge not lest the be judged.
Christians have the most basic message and they miss it. The esoterics of Christianity are meaningless untill we master these three simple comandments. Most do a fairly good job of the first one ( love God) we fall short of the second (love your neighbor…) and fail misserably on the third. (judge not)
FngSaiYuk said “I say best thing is to just tolerate, provided no one is hurting anyone.”
To follow my premise of Love thy neighbor. If your actions harm yourself they also harm me as well. Tolerance is an over used concept to basically allow people to do what ever they want whenever they want as long as “it doesnt harm anyone else” Rarely do we see the consiquences of our actions before we commit the action. But we have to balance this with Judge not.
Only God has all the pieces of the information, only that which made you can know the thoughts in your heart, the path that lead you to a point, and thus only “I am” can truly judge.
Taomonkey, I agree… and my previous posts support your statement on those who harm themselves. ‘As long as it doesn’t harm ANYONE’ includes the self. Of course everything within reason -
Father Guido Sarducchi once told of a story that life is a job and we recieve payment for each days work, then at judgement we must “pay for our sins” Big sins like murder or adultry carry high prices but small sins like masturbation are only like $0.25
Then if you have money left you can enter Heaven.
He feared that after the final talley he would be short a quarter.
lol. Anyone got $ .50 I can borrow?
Greetings..
Upon close examination of the scriptures “omitted” from the commonly used text referred to as the Bible, the Gnostic Gospels.. we can see the enlightened Christ, a truly enlightened being.. but, that image and those teachings were counter to the best interests of an established religious system.. The portrayal of Jesus by the Gnostic Gospels has a decidedly Taoist flavor..
It is my personal belief that Jesus ascended to his birthright (Son of “God”) upon his enlightenment.. his time with the Essenes (sp), his unaccounted time of his teens and twenties, are subject to speculation.. There are some credible accounts of travels to far away places.. but, it is at his baptism by John the Baptist, the “The Lord” spoke, “this is my Son.. in whom i am well pleased”.. this, at a time consistent with a well traveled and learned Christ’s enlightenment.. if one chooses to indulge their curiosities.. i sense that we are ALL “Sons (and Daughters) of God”, Jesus simply had the awareness and will to claim his birthright.. and, he taught ancient Hebrews according to their customs and cultural beliefs (when in Rome do as the Romans do)..
Be well…
Originally posted by Taomonkey
[B]Father Guido Sarducchi once told of a story that life is a job and we recieve payment for each days work, then at judgement we must “pay for our sins” Big sins like murder or adultry carry high prices but small sins like masturbation are only like $0.25
Then if you have money left you can enter Heaven.
He feared that after the final talley he would be short a quarter. [/B]
lol man