Buddhist Question: in the bible, it starts with In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth, while...

Question

in the Dhammapada, it's opening words are
"Mind precedes all things, dominates them, creates them."

*"Buddhists, or students of Buddhism, please kindly explain Siddhartha Gautama's
[The Buddha's] words here.

And also Please share all your insightful intelligent, encouraging thoughts on this.

Thank You for everyone's intelligent,
Non-Judging, and most encouraging answers.

It is great for us to reason together.

With Metta.

Answer 1

Those first lines you posted from the Dhammapada aren't parallel to the Bible. the bible deals with creation and ending, buddhism deals with life as it exists. that's why there's not really a problem for buddhists to accept evolution, or any other theory on life.

"Mind precedes all things, dominates them, creates them." the best way to explain this would be to say that there is no "real" world, everything is temporal to what we percieve it to be. there is no reality more then there is nothingness. in buddhism when we say nothingness we don't mean in a nihilistic way, but more so in a way that is inherent; there is nothing to begin with, and thus nothing is everything. i could go on for pages but this is what i take it to be.

Answer 2

Dude, look closer~ interior the commencing up God created the heavens and the earth. What day did he create them on? Now the earth became formless and empty. Darkness became on the floor of the deep. God's Spirit became soaring over the floor of the waters. What day did God create the floor or the waters, what greater darkness exists!!!! None of that stuff, became created on such and one in each of those day, woot! you're correct the earth became made earlier the sunlight, it does pass against actuality, yet GODS SUPERNATURAL, so it do no longer rely except your clever sufficient to no longer fall for that bull. in case you prefer to comprehend greater contradictions interior the creation i gives you them to ya, there is gota be a minimum of 20ty. Genesis1: 5 God called the sunshine Day, and the darkness he called night. And there became night and there became morning, the 1st day. there is not any such concern as night and morning, with no sunlight, it incredibly is previous supernatural its idiotic.

Answer 3

I recommend the Madhyamakalankara by the revered and most eminent abbot Shantarakshita. In this Adornment of the Middle Way, a synthesis of the Extensive Deeds lineage of Asanga and Profound View lineage of Nagarjuna can be found; an excellent and very, very detailed explanation of the two truths can be found in the commentary by Jamgon Mipham, a most benevolent Spiritual Friend. As it is said that no buddhas exist but through the Lama, it can be said that no concepts of anything can exist but through the mind. All things are not existent, not non-existent and are not both {or neither} Laughter! That's it! Emptiness is empty of inherent existence, too. More laughter! Anyway, I probably should keep my mouth shut, because I really don't understand any of this - well, I might understand some of it (intellectually) but I don't know what it means. I am my most kind and compassionate Spiritual Friends most stubborn, ignorant, and forgetful student. If I could be so bold as to call myself a student at all. I rarely study. I rarely go to attend teachings. I am too proud to prostrate, to forgetful to say the refuge prayer, to lazy to do the Seven Limbs, make mandala offerings or water offerings, hardly make time for Dharma practice at all - even though I might know that this is a meditation on emptiness! I might know that when I eat I am offering it to all the buddhas, or when I shower I am purifying negativity, or when I clean the house or do dishes I am washing the obscurations out of my mind, like cleaning a cloth of stains. I always say I am going to make time for practice, when instead I could look at tevery single thing I do as practice. I can "open the door" to enlightenment, I can "close the door" to negativity. I can circumambulate the tallest stupa or the most kind and precious Spiritual Friend when I walk, or drive to see the Buddha! I can orient my mind at anytime to see that any action or thing IS PRACTICE! It all depends on my motivation. To make my life meaningful and apply all things to the goal of realization, I could make this act of typing this response to your question an offering of practice which is the highest, highest offering of all. It is said that if one made an offering of jewels numbering as many grains of sand that it would take to fill all of space, it is not nearly as beneficial or pleasing to the buddhas of the three times ten directions as the offering of sincere practice, but this is something I just heard. I really am the garbageman and copied most of this from other people. I am mostly concerned just with myself and my own affairs and probably have the smallest scope or capacity and seek only to avoid rebirths in the lower realms. I am a phoney and a fraud and lie and cheat and steal and have done so since beginningless time. I engage in the ten non-virtuous behaviors and continue to create the causes for my future suffering and actually avoid the ten virtuous behaviors out of my own ignorance. I could be called an impostor and don't find fault with all of the six realms of cyclic existence and never resolve to definitely get out of cyclic existence for the benefit of all sentient beings, my mothers, who have, like me, slipped and fallen into the sea of this suffering life. Don't be like me. Listen to your Teacher. Imitate your Teacher. Don't hope for results or gratitude or attainments or praise or any of the Eight Childish Concerns, separate from the Four Clingings, study the Four Noble Truths and the Four Immeasurables and the Four Seals.

Answer 4

Great question and some really interesting answers. I definitely give you a star and others should too.

No matter what words are used to describe the concept of God,
or purpose,
or the why of existence,
or the eternal womb,
or the source ... whatever ...
there would be no debate if we never asked "Why?" to begin with. No names, no name calling, no dogma, no expectations, no differences of opinion, no wars.

Our most peaceful moments often come to us when we stop asking why and just accept the truth of what is. Sooooo ...

"Stop asking why the sky is blue and the grass is green, just shutup and enjoy the warm sun for a change!"

The hairless apes are such a child race!

;-)
.

Answer 5

As Edgar Cayce said, "Mind is ever the builder". In one way God is described as "Creator", in another way "Mind" is the Creator.

In a Biblical sense, in what way is man made in God's image? We have mind and are able to create .

How about John 1.1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". In Greek, the
Word is Logos, Reason. This is a reference to Christ being Logos.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to have just the actual words of Buddha and Christ without the corruption that has been done to the texts by rulers using them as tools to rule?

Answer 6

Buddha suggests we create all that is around us. Consider that all experience exists only via our mind.

If you correlate these together, you might conclude that man created god. Although that is probably the truth, it isn't really what Buddha was striving towards.

To Buddhists, it doesn't matter if god exists or not. It's all in your mind. The real question is, "Are you a good person?"

Answer 7

Buddhist study and practice doesn't concern external truths as much as truths specific to each particular person.

As a practice that is meant to reduce or eliminate suffering, you have to start with how you see the universe. We cannot perceive it directly, but only through our senses and our mind. That's where you have to start. From this POV, your mind is the universe.

Answer 8

MInd can be equated to God, the source. God said Let there be light assumes there was consciousness for the word to eminate from.

buddhism does not differentiate individual from all. That is duality.

Answer 9

Two approaches to explaining the same event. Buddhism takes a contextural approach, while judaism takes a more activist approach.

Answer 10

everything that is comes from your mind. Unless you create it with your mind, it does not exist.