one has to become a buddha.
Except for that, there is no worship, no prayer.
You don't need any priest, you don't need any scriptures,
you don't need to be in any religious organization,
you have to be just yourself --
silently, peacefully settling within your home." Osho
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path,
But Buddhas clearly show the way. -- Dp 165"
The Buddha
I believe these statements to be some of the most powerful in Buddhism. They speak to me of freedom from fear, freedom from repression and freedom to find my own path. It empowers me to think for my self. In fact, it forces me to make my own choices, and live up to the consequences of these choices. When we come to the understanding that our world is created by us, by the choices that we make, it gives us the power to understand the world and create happiness for ourselves.
Good Question, Good Answer
Ethics (or lack thereof) are what drive our choices. When we are told how to choose, we erode our ability to make choices for ourselves. When we are allowed to make up our own minds, we live the effects of the choice, good or bad. That can be a very powerful lesson.
When we make choices in a vacuum, and do not take into account what the repercussions will be on others, we tend to hurt them. Only by not following edicts from on high, and rather exercising our 'Ethics Muscle' can we hope to be able to face the world as whole people.
We should not rely upon some one else to make these choices for us. We need to be the Buddha, and forge our own path. We need to learn from our mistakes and victories.
-Tsyko
4 comments:
But what if we choose to follow and believe those who tell us what to believe? Does that make it any worse than believing something just because we choose to on our own without outside influence? (Rhetorical question, really. I have no answer, myself. Still working on that.) Is it truly possible to have no outside influence?
I think that the point is to take in what others believe and say and process it yourself. If it can stand up to your internal filters, then great! If you are left with questions, perhaps you need to ask more, process more, or move on to a new hypothesis. In the end, I feel that it is personal. It is between you and yourself. If you can accept, follow and whole heartedly follow a religion, spiritualism or what have you, then do so. If you cannot, then you need to make the choice - move on or stay put. Even in some of the more dogmatic Christian faiths, to accept Jesus is your choice.
No one saves us but ourselvesWe are each responsible for our own salvation. For our own happiness. When we take that responsibility, we empower our selves to do good things in our own lives, and by extension, the world. Even if we follow, if we follow by our choice, by examining our belief structure with a critical eye, and feeling good about our choices then we made a good choice.
If we follow a leader that orders us to do things that we do not agree with, and we quash those feelings and drink the kool-aid, that is the problem. When we turn responsibility for our lives over to someone or something else, that is the problem. We need to own up to what we do and feel.
Only through accepting responsibility for our actions will we learn, and do better next time.
Ok, I am totally rambling now. :)
It is always interesting to me how many people ignore Christian mysticism, which has a long history and many parrallels with Buhdism and other 'mystic' religions. The prime difference between the two is over the theological need for a redeemer or not, but in practice they remain remarkably similar. My main point is that the nature of 'Eastern Religions' is found in many purely western traditions as well.
Obviously of course, Autocratic Religions have tried to stamp out such mysticism, all the more fervantly when it resembles their own beliefs in some way.
Note: I do not consider myself a Christian mystic, but I love examining all manner of religions. Theo-philosophical debate is endlessly fascinating to me.
Ok, I need to reply to this, it is irresistable. "No one saves us but ourselvesWe are each responsible for our own salvation.", made my Greg. I agree with that wholeheartedly. I feel that that is true to the core, it is just variant in the execution. I feel that my execution of that self-preservation is done through belief in God and Jesus. I am responsible for myself to ensure that my faith remains strong, and in consequence I remain saved. The other thing that I love is that I have no right to judge others of their convictions, which relieves me of the duties to convict out of ignorance, as I am a simple person. Just as all others are themselves.
I rarely get into the religion stuff, as my friends will attest too; however, I just felt the desire to respond with my own 218 haypennies this evening.
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