Hi, Buddhism is Spiritual, but strictly speaking it is not a
religion. We do not worship any higher beings nor believe in a
personal Creator. Buddha isn't exactly some 'higher being' either
-- he is the 'highest' that one can attain, but he is not some
omnipotent creator god. We all strive to attain the same
Enlightement as the Buddha himself.
The Buddha taught that it is possible through the Dharma to attain
complete emancipation, liberation from ALL sufferings, and the
highest Bliss of Nirvana through transcendental insights, realising
our true luminous Buddha Nature that has always been with us though
we have not realise it lifetime after lifetime of living in our
delusions/illusions. Through practising the dharma we are able to
be liberated from our dualistic attraction, aversion, and
delusions. Not only has he done that -- there are countless
practitioners since the Buddha who have attained enlightenment,
liberation, even today, and even some forummers here have attained
awakening... so what they found out and taught, we should practise
ourselves until one day we realise them ourselves.
Buddhism is an awakened and blissful living. The word 'Buddha'
means one that is 'Aware', 'Awakened'. Our Buddha Nature is pure
awareness, luminous. Through practising the dharma we become much
more aware of every moment of living, much more aware of ourselves
and no longer live in our deluded unconscious ways. This is also
the liberated and blissful way of living.
As you might have known, Buddhist teachings do not require blind
faith and is a form of 'Science' rather than 'Belief' -- we should
accept/practise teachings on the basis of whether it is good,
whether it works, and if the practices bears results. Whatever the
Buddha taught, we are not told to just blindly believe but to
practise and find out for ourselves.. as my moderator
neutral_onliner has said,
Originally posted by neutral_onliner:
for those who do not understand the meaning of ehipassiko , it means [b]come and
see.
The quality of Dhamma is that it's inviting us to check it out.
This is a very strong characteristic of the Buddha's teaching.
There's no heavy-handed demand: "Believe this." The faith element
doesn't have the same role as in some other religions. We're asked,
we're invited,to examine the teachings to see whether they fit.
This is also an expression of the confidence that the Buddha and
arahants had in their Dhamma; they realized it for themselves and
know that we can, too.
[/b]
Here is the Kalama Sutra taught by the Buddha:
Kalama Sutra
"Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on
the words of the teaching, but on the
spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience.Do not
believe in anything simply because you
have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been
handed down for many generations. Do
not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything because it is
written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely
on the authority of your teachers and
elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that
anything agrees with reason and is
conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept
it and live up to it."
- the Buddha
Also read the full version of the Kalama Sutra: http://www.buddhistinformation.com/the_kalama_sutra.htm
