matt
Senior Member
Posts: 425
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Post by matt on Jun 7, 2013 19:35:22 GMT 1
Thanks Mandala for your exerpts of buddhist wisdom. It is something I need to remember. Jeff, I think the best answer for me to say is I don't know. I'm not a scientist nor a monk Lol I guess it's something that doesn't really matter. I get attracted to these kinds of debates but it doesn't help or go anywhere. It's easy to say this or that about politics or religion, but it doesn't change anything. I appreciate and value the Sciences just as much as I do Buddhism. I have my hang-ups from losing my faith in Christianity but it's something I NEED TO LET GO. It doesn't matter what others believe. I don't know why I've thought it did. I just want to find my inner peace and be a better person. I can't allow myself to get caught up with jugdements anymore and constantly trying to defend my position. It just seems like a no win situation. Thanks. Peace  To me, this is the smartest thing you have written on the forum, Brian. We judge others because we feel insecure in our own heats and minds. We all have patterns of thinking that are hard to completely let go of. If you are trying to break through this kind of pattern, to let it go and be done with it, then your mind follows a kind of spiral. It will repeat the pattern periodically, but if each time your mind gets caught in it again, you recognize it and repeat your determination to let it go and be done with it, then it will diminish in power each time. Keep up the good work. Improvement is an uphill climb, but in the effort it takes is every good quality or thing we hope to achieve. |
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brian
Senior Member
Posts: 83
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Post by brian on Jun 8, 2013 0:22:46 GMT 1
Thanks matt To know things intellectually, or scientifically, only satisfies half the brain (the left half I believe). But to know things spiritually, emotionally, intuitively, subconsciously...satisfies the right half of the brain. I believe we are dualistic thinkers because of how our brains evolved and function. I really like Dalai Lama's approach to synthesize and unite science and Buddhism. The fact that most of the dharma IS scientifically sound is what makes it so awesome. You don't have to deny reason or logic to have faith in Buddhism, unlike some other religions that rest upon archaic, supernatural explanations. You can have faith in God and miracles and Noah's Ark, but that inevitably has to cause some dissonance and discord with the left part of the brain that operates through logical precision. The Tao is my higher power. It represents duality of mind united. It reconciles all opposites. Not to mention the symbol is an excellent object of meditation and insight. I know that watching my own mind, subjective observation, is more useful and important than judging the outside world. I want to love more unconditionally and simply be like a Buddha lol. That's the whole idea right? Jeff, I don't "worship" science or take it all as gospel. But I think many people underestimate it's value in life. We rely upon it every single day in the modern world and it will only become MORE important as technology progresses into the "globalized" future. The scientific method is based on doubt and is self critical. Scientists are constantly searching to find the truth and better ways and means of producing things. Science has to be accepted and embraced in order to become enlightened because it represents the logical side of us which is grounded in morality and love also. Both the right brain and left brain have to become One. Yin Yang= Feminine/Masculine thinking. |
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Post by Jeff H on Jul 10, 2013 14:25:53 GMT 1
This was a remarkable thread! I’d like to add some late thoughts.
I don’t trust religions. I’ve chosen Buddhism partly because it’s a solitary journey. We cannot progress on the journey without the wisdom of lineage masters who have plumbed the depths of causes and effects. We cannot sustain the journey without sangha to support and guide us. But it is a solitary journey.
Ven. Robina Courtin presents Buddha as an experimental scientist who proved that when our thoughts and actions are in the nature of the causes of suffering, we necessarily perpetuate suffering. Scientific method requires that his results must be replicable in our own lives.
When external conditions bring about civil war most people will readily have the causes within them to react violently. But, as I understand the Buddhist journey, we are striving to create contrary causes within ourselves that we can activate as generosity, discipline, and patience instead – regardless of the conditions we meet. The religion is not the point; the results are. And that is the solitary journey.
To respond to Jeff’s original question, I think events in Myanmar are unbearably sad. Dharma tells us we each have total responsibility for our future, but our present is mostly the result of past ignorance. It’s extremely difficult to overcome that ignorance so it’s especially tragic when people who have touched dharma get drawn back into violent patterns.
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Post by schnoebi on Aug 27, 2013 11:35:55 GMT 1
Brian, I wonder if Atheism can be defined as a fundamentalist religion? it has all the ingredients. If so it may not be much help.
Agnosticism the "don't know" path, is kinder to ones health. If you have an enquiring mind and you are an agnostic, you will probably end up as an enlightened being. But whatever you do don't tell anyone, as someone might write a book about your journey, and then another religion is spawned...
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