<p>^ditto…</p>
<p>“Buddhists:
1.) Siddharta Gautama never rejected the idea of a God. So why are Budduists atheist? How can you belive in nirvana but not a higher being?”</p>
<p>OK, first off, im a Theravada Buddhist, and my views here only represent the Theravada tradition and to some extent my own personal views, as Buddhism is open to much interpretation.</p>
<p>You correctly say that Siddharta Gautama never rejected the idea of a God; yet equally importantly, he never accepted the idea of a God. Why? Simply because this debate has no bearing on achieving enlightenment. Similary the Buddha never completely said whether there is a soul or whether there is not one. This may seem awfully ambiguous, but for us Buddhists it has no point. They are only small fixations on the world, representing in one sense continued attachment to the world and life. Buddhists have no interest in how the universe began, because its in the past, it has no bearing on the here, the now, the moment. All that matters is the moment and achieving nirvana. Hence the answer to your question, at least in my point of view, is that Buddhists are neither atheist or theist; the existence or non-existence of God has no effect on the practice or life of a Buddhist.</p>
<p>Secondly you ask about how we can believe in nirvana but not in a supreme being. The only answer to this, I’m afraid, is that you have completely misunderstood the concept of nirvana (I’m speaking for the Buddhist nirvana/nibbana here, not the Hindhu). Nirvana is not a “heaven” where one goes after live(s) of good conduct etc, a land where there is no suffering and where people live eternally. No, it is a far more complex idea than that. The Buddhist Philosiphy’s first postulation (for lack of a better word) is that all life is suffering. A life in a “heaven” without absolutely any suffering is not at all logical or possible in our view, as eventually one simply will become weary of the most utopian life imaginable. Also, how can you live a “good” life by helping others, if everyone already has everything they need. Thus we believe that the idea of a permanent utopian heaven impractical. So then what is this “nirvana”? The easiest way to explain it is just the cessation of existence, life ends, so does suffering. We do not “go” anywhere. Where does a flame go when it is put out? So therefore a Supreme Being is not needed for the concept of nirvana.</p>
<p>I know these concepts are very difficult to digest; I myself have trouble sometimes. There are so many interesting areas of Buddhism, that what i have written, and my small knowledge, is really only the tip of the iceberg. For example, Buddhists believe that life and the individual are only illusions. All very complex, philosophical and difficult to wrap your head around.</p>
<p>Oh, and someone asked whether we worship the Buddha. No we do not, or at least we should not. We on the other hand freely pay our respects to him, much as a student would pay his/her respects to his/her teacher.</p>
<p>Go away I ain’t gumball.</p>
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<p>***?! I’m not w1cked, I was never wicked, get your facts straight a$$hole.</p>
<p>Here’s always my pressing question:</p>
<p>Why do Jews, Muslims, and Christians all fight with one another (ie: Israel) when they all believe in the GOD OF ABRAHAM?</p>
<p>Can’t we all get along?</p>
<p>It’s all about da Benjamin sonz…:(</p>
<p>Even though we all believe in the same God, I refuse to accept the Muslim doctrine… :mad:</p>
<p>Zelda,</p>
<p>Last I checked, not too many Christians and Jews are fighting in Israel. ;)</p>
<p>I think a lot of it comes down to the inherent belief of “my religion is right” that is built into most faiths. This is particularly strong in evangelical faiths like Christianity and Islam, whereby one of the goals is to spread said faith. This may be why Jews have historically spent less time/resources killing others for not converting.</p>
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<p>Just curious, UCLAri, isn’t Yom Kippur kinda the day of judgement? Afterall, it is the day where our names our inscribed in the “book” and our last chance to kinda make up for our sins of the last year before Rosh Hashanah. I could have just misunderstood the question though…</p>
<p>zpmqxonw (interesting name…),</p>
<p>I think the OP was referring to the more Christian notion of “Judgement Day” when Rapture happens and all that. As far as I recall, the Torah, Talmud, and Midrash do not deal with such a concept in the same way that the New Testament does.</p>
<p>Jews are much less concerned with the afterlife than other Abrahamic faiths. Jewish beliefs center more on fulfilling the mitzvah in the here and now in order to make the current life a better one.</p>
<p>Yeah, I like the sn too. It’s fun to type and easy to remember:)</p>
<p>That makes more sense too about it being more of a one-time final judgement day thing</p>
<p>It does seem like Judaism is more focused on just trying to be a good person and less on the whole “saving” people thing…</p>
<p>zpmqxonw (ever watch Superman? Reminds me of his one foe, Mr. Mxyzptlk)</p>
<p>Anyway, this is part of Judaism. Since Judaism is not evangelical in nature (at least in its current form), it does not focus on saving anyone.</p>
<p>This is particularly true since Jews since the time of Rambam (Maimonides) have concluded that all virtuous peoples shall have a place in the afterlife. However, as a Jew, we bring both God and ourselves pleasure by following the mitzvah and enjoying life on earth as righteous people. The point of mitzvah is not necessarily to buy a ticket to the good afterlife, but to make life that much more pleasurable on earth. Along those lines, one rabbi noted that the good afterlife would be like the pleasure of a perfect shabbos, only magnified fifty times and for all eternity.</p>
<p>haha, it is kinda like that guy from Superman! A lot of people don’t notice that it follows a pattern (Lower left, upper right, lower right, upper left, repeat) but I like it.</p>
<p>I agree with a lot of what you said. I’m not sure that I agree with everything I learned in Hebrew school and all but I think what I really like about Judaism is the whole “Jewish culture” part. I don’t know if that makes sense, but I like the whole being a good person and just fulfilling as many mitzvahs as you can to make your life more enjoyable and help others. </p>
<p>You seem really knowledgable about Judaism. Just curious, but were you raised Jewish when you were younger? I think I saw earlier that you’re an atheist and was just a little confused.</p>
<p>I consider myself Jewish culturally, and was raised in a completely Jewish home. I just don’t believe in a God.</p>
<p>Apparently, according to what I’ve read, many other influential Jews have suffered from similar lapses in belief. So I suppose I’m not alone or in bad company. Yay.</p>
<p>1.) Jesus was a Jew, so why a whole new faith?</p>
<p>umm cuz jews dont believe jesus was our savior.</p>
<p>2.) Why are there so many sects when the doctrine in the Old and New Testaments is fixed?</p>
<p>Idk </p>
<p>4.) Mormons dont belive Jesus is God’s son. Does that mean they’re not really Christian?</p>
<p>mmm prolly but again idk lol</p>
<p>5.) Tell me more about the Christian’s perception on the Day of Judgement.</p>
<p>yeah…</p>
<p>6.) Christian doctrines are contradictory to the theory of evolution, so why do Christians believe in the theory? Does that mean that the Word of God is unreliable?</p>
<p>To my knowledge we dont believe in evolution.</p>
<p>WoW,</p>
<p>Not true. Many more Christians believe in evolution than don’t. And many important leaps in evolutionary theory have been made by devout Christians and Catholics.</p>
<p>about the day of judgement…basically it’s considered the end of the world but it’s not supposed to be given that negative feel like people would have…everyone will be judged and will either go to heaven or hell. Purgatory will cease to exist. It’s pretty much Jesus coming down and giving us our salvation. When this will happen…we really don’t know.</p>
<p>Buddhism is so complex.</p>
<p>So are women.</p>
<p>While men are one-dimensional and simple. :D</p>
<p>D. All of the above.</p>
<p>This test is so hard. :??:</p>