Comment

Comment by James M. Martin on January 26, 2011 at 5:50pm

Not to denigrate polytheism.  Gibbon and other historians attribute the fall of the Roman Empire to the wiping out of the pagan deities and the institutionalized state monotheism of Constantine. And even then, they fudged since, like the Indian deities, Jebus has his manifestions, else what is the trinity?

Comment by Lyra Silvertongue on January 25, 2011 at 8:48pm

Hi SSL, just wondering what you mean by spiritual? I'm curious since people use it in different ways. I think I am also spiritual, but I don't believe in supernatural powers. If non-monotheistic, are you polytheistic?

Comment by James M. Martin on January 19, 2011 at 11:48pm

That would appear to be the purpose of meditation, which tends to be the major praxis of Buddhists.  One form of meditation (and there are many) requires the stilling of the mind so that phenomena may be examined for what they are: empty of all substance.  All negative emotions, including the ones you mention, are examined in the light of such emptiness, but it is the tracking of how such negative thoughts arise that is the important thing.

Comment by Philip Jackson Armstrong on January 19, 2011 at 8:19pm

I don't mean to offend anybody but everyone seems to know a lot about Buddhism but no one talks about the experience of not feeling jeaulousy greed and stuff. I might have missed something but I would like to hear about experiencing Buhhdism.

Comment by Philip Jackson Armstrong on January 15, 2011 at 1:55pm

Let me try to clarify, I'm sure the tone of my previous statement will be misinterpreted. I is an illusion of permanence and made of desire. To accept that I am an illusion is to I accept that I am what I am. About not caring in some circles... Buddha said you need to find the answer for yourself, so I did.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha
Kalama Sutta.

Comment by Philip Jackson Armstrong on January 14, 2011 at 7:19pm

Actually it's I ams what I ams and that is all that I ams.  And at any moment you are something. It just doesn't last. And I don't care about what would be regarded some where else. There is an I, but it changes second after second. We all have a construct of I,  and are not, at least most of us, realizing that it changes. We are just like bottle rockets. You travel your life thinking you are aimed at a destination but your you destination is undetermined

Comment by James M. Martin on January 14, 2011 at 6:46pm

I beg to differ.  Popeye did not say 'I am what I am,' he said "I yam what I yam."  Subtle difference.  In some circles, this would be regarded as sacrilegious since in Hinduism and in Buddhism, there is no "I" to be regarded in any way.  "I" is a false construct.  It is the ego telling the mind that the person itself exists, when it does not.  The Heart Sutra explains it all, I think.

Comment by Philip Jackson Armstrong on January 14, 2011 at 5:14pm

I don't call myself a Buddhist, but I found the 4 Noble truths to be the answer of how to live life in my teens. And if you seen me around on this site you heard me say before Popeye, at a young age, was my greatest influence, "I am what I am and that is all that I am." The noble truths just seemed to relate.

Comment by Francesco Lovati on November 29, 2010 at 7:56am

that's exatly the group for me! hi pals!

Comment by Vangelis Stamatopoulos on October 24, 2010 at 12:49am

I've just posted my first blog on Atheist Nexus! Yay! It relates to the way Buddhism and other non-theistic religions are being excluded from atheism in Australia. You can read more here.

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