Does Buddhism make sense?

Question

Sunman, that was beautiful.

Answer 1

I'm surprised more Americans, being very very very religious, are not more Buddhist in number. After all, it places the onus of personal development squarely on the shoulders of the practicioner--as opposed to Christians who believe a supernatural being from outer space controls their destinies, and that god is either a happy one or a vengeful one.
BTW Buddhists don't pray to a god. They don't pray to Buddha.

Answer 2

Regarding the statur comment and any idle remarks that may come up it may interest you all that prior to the statue the early devorional oject was a simple seat with two footprints on the ground in front of it indicating that averyone can become a Buddha and it was a testamoney to his humility.

Korean Three Jewel Temple Teaching I believe. A monk told me this who was associated with these three Zen Buddhist temples.

Peace.

The core of Buddhism makes a lot of sense to me it is some of the adaptations where I get a little lost as with Jesus verses the CHurch.

Answer 3

When you believe in karma or what goes around come around, it will make sense. Sin cannot be forgiven but good deed cannot be left unrewarded - that is a principle of Buddhism - Mahayana Branch. If you believe that not one has enough authority to forgive your sin but you are the only one who can redeem it, Buddhism will make sense. When you believe that any divine being can only give you advises but you are the one who will decide what you want to do, Buddhism will make sense!

Answer 4

It does not, to me, in its core belief that everything is suffering.

This has NOT been my experience. I would NOT like to dedicate my life to working towards annihilating my individual consciousness.

I personally hope that the adventure continues throughout lifetimes and if I run out of what to do on this Earth, then well, the Universe is a big place ....

(That's the difference between paganism and everything else. A pagan loves life together with all its difficulties. )

Answer 5

That is an extremely general question. Maybe it was meant to be making it hard to know how to get a, "best answer." I was raised a Christian. But today, Jesus suffering a crucifixion for our sins makes no sense to me what so ever. I considered myself an agnostic for several years. But I have gotten into Buddhism more and more. I have read Buddhism for Dummies and I have viewed many discs and tapes on the subject. I would recommend looking up the, "Discovering Buddhism," series. It is a 13 part series. But it is possible to purchase the tapes individually. What is nice about it all is that there is no condemnation, no preaching of damnation. It doesn't coerce us into living for a God but it is there for us. It's objective is the illimination of suffering.

Answer 6

i'm hoping it relatively works out for you. Buddhism does not make sufficient sense for me, nevertheless. I save getting caught on the objective for the entire cycle of existence, dying, and rebirth. i understand this is instantaneous objective is enlightenment, ultimately the dissolution of my self in Nirvana, yet why have the cycle in any respect? what's the ingredient of incarnation if it leads to dissolution? To be sincere, a Buddhist would say that my difficulty is the call for for an the two/or answer. My want for it to make sense is ultimately a barrier to enlightenment. that would desire to be real. yet i'm no longer prepared to supply up the regulation of non-contradiction. For me a minimum of, the die is forged. peace ---------------------- i'm sorry for no longer being clearer. As you assert, we are caught in the cycle. yet why start up the cycle in any respect? it variety of feels to me that suggests reason on Brahma's section. yet what attainable purpose would desire to this variety of *being* (this is not clean to me the thank you to indicate the god of Buddhism) have for beginning up the entire ingredient? Why create in any respect, if the end result's our annihilation? We may be conversing approximately categories of Buddhism. From my understanding, Nirvana isn't a state of bliss, however the loss of self identification. One isn't self-conscious in Nirvana. One is absorbed? into the basic oneness of certainty. That, to me, is annihilation.

Answer 7

Simply speaking, this is to avoid harming others and to help them as much as possible. Another way of expressing this is, Abandon negative action; create perfect virtue; subdue your own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha. By abandoning negative actions (killing, etc.) and destructive motivations (anger, attachment, close-mindedness, etc.), we stop harming ourselves and others. By creating perfect virtue, we develop beneficial attitudes, like impartial love and compassion, and do actions motivated by these thoughts. By subduing our mind, we cut away all false projections, thus making ourselves calm and peaceful by understanding reality.

The essence of Buddha’s teachings is also contained in the three principles of the path: definite emergence, the dedicated heart and wisdom realizing emptiness. Initially, we seek definitely to emerge from the confusion of our problems and their causes. Then, we see that other people also have problems, and with love and compassion, we dedicate our heart to becoming a Buddha so that we are capable of helping others extensively. In order to do this, we develop the wisdom understanding the real nature of ourselves and other phenomena.

Answer 8

Old Buddhist saying: " It is better to remain silent and let people think you're a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." If you have to ask, you will never understand. But there's always hope. Trot off to your local library and take out a book on the subject.
Short message to Fish. The "fat idol" isn't the Buddha ! That's "Hotai", Buddhist god of happiness. He is a Buddha, but not The Buddha.The Buddha was'nt fat. Might want to do some reading before you make another ignorant comment.

Answer 9

Each religion makes sense to the followers/practitioners. I think Buddhism is a beautiful religion.

Answer 10

More so that any other "faith" out there. More of a way of living than religion.

They don't worship a statue, ignorant morons