Seems like Wanderer already gave you a very good reply.. I'll
just add what I feel like saying.... knowing there are probably
others who can give better replies.
Originally posted by oldbandit:
I do not know if it is right for me to postit here. If there is any
offence taken, my sincere apology..
Don't worry, this forum is very open and we do not easily take
offence at any posts especially when the intention is good.
We do not often reject topics... which is why you'll
see that in my forum there are hardly any topics that are closed
My whole family are buddist, i was a buddist.. I offered prayer
jossstick and visit temple.. But suddenly i lost my faith, i lost
my direction. As mine was more to thai buddist, i stopped wearing
my thai pendant. I do not know y, but just maybe i could not figure
something out.
I think Wanderer already replied this part very well... that it
might be time to re-look into our old beliefs to gain new
perspectives and insights... to really find out what Buddhism is
all about? Is it just a matter of praying to Buddha, wearing
pendants, or even just having faith? How can Buddhism really help
us and how we can benefit from practising Buddhism? By the way
pendants are just a culture of Thai Buddhism, it's not the
essential thing in Thai Buddhism or Buddhism, nor the teaching of
the Buddha... such things are only things added to Buddhism due to
cultural influences along times as Buddhism spread to different
places from India.. so whether you wear the pendant is not a very
crucial issue. The essential thing in Thai Buddhism, or any other
traditions of Buddhism, is the dharma, the truths, the teachings of
the Buddha.
We are now living in a world and we only know abt the past from
history..
How sure can we be that buddha did exist?
How sure can we be there is christ?
How sure can we be that those hidus gods exist?
Again as Wanderer said, Buddha and Jesus are both real
people who lived on Earth 2000+ years ago, with historical
proof backing their existence, and marks of their existence found
all over the ancient civilisations till this day. Just like the
ancient emperors of China, like Emperor Qin, etc, you cannot doubt
that they existed 2000+ years ago. They are certainly not mythical
beings or some tales. Another thing I want to state is that...
Buddha is not a god. Buddha looks as ordinary as us (although he
looks very magnificant with 32 major marks and 80 minor marks of a
Buddha)... but he is in another sense extraordinary, even higher
than gods, and the gods took him as their Teacher (because those
gods themselves are not liberated from the sufferings of samsara
and the cycle of rebirth). But the point of his teaching is that
everyone of us has Buddha Nature that is already wholly complete
just yet discovered, if he can get enlightened, so can we, if he
can find liberation from sufferings and the highest lasting bliss
of Nirvana, so can we. He does not ask people to worship him, but
shows us the possibility for each of us to gain complete bliss,
liberation, enlightenment.
If you read the story of Buddha, you would know that the Buddha was
once a prince living in royalty, was going to become the King, he
was married to a very beautiful wife and even had a child (who
later renounced and attain enlightenment too), however he found
that all of that was ultimately unsatisfactory... that with the
best of his ability, he cannot save everyone from the sufferings of
life -- birth, ageing, sickness, death, and the 8 distresses, and
more of all from the fundamental suffering caused by dualistic
ignorance/illusions. Therefore, by being a king, or a ruler of the
world, he would still not bring his people lasting happiness and
end of sufferings.. that what he could do as a king is really
limited. So he renounced his worldly life, and attained the
realisation of the truth that leads to complete ending of
sufferings, the key to liberation from birth and death, to the
attainment of the highest bliss of nirvana... And this is the only
way that can truly bring people lasting bliss and liberation from
all sufferings. In his lifetime alone, thousands of his followers
attained enlightened and complete liberation from samsara and
samsaric sufferings through practising the Dharma teachings.. there
continue to be many enlightened people even today.
I mean i used to believe in them in a sense i offer my respect.
Wadever religion i make it a point to show my respect by not saying
bad things so is now. But just that now, i lost the faith, i m not
saying they are fake, juz that i cant convince myself that they do
exist before. Is there any advise i can get from here to be sure of
myself before i really go bonkers thinking of this.
In Buddhism, faith is not just by blind following or belief. We
have to practise the dharma and see ourselves... through practising
the dharma, we will gain confidence in the teachings because we
will see how it truly helps in our lives... and eventually we will
attain Enlightenment! Lot's of people have attained enlightenment,
almost countless in fact since the time Buddha taught the dharma...
Even today there are a lot of enlightened people.. whether they are
teachers or just practitioners of the dharma. Even in this forum,
there is quite a number of people who are already enlightened to
the ultimate nature of reality, to the truths that the Buddha
taught... and they are just common practitioners of the dharma, not
some great masters or reincarnated teachers. And of course when you
are enlightened, you will certainly have no doubts about what the
Buddha taught because you have truly seen them yourselves! It is
truly possible... although I am just a beginner (started learning
about buddhism about 4 years ago, currently just turned 17, so
still quite a novice) and I'm not enlightened yet. But the thing is
this... Once you have a taste of how practicing dharma results in,
you will never be able to resist the path, you can't forget it, you
can't discard it. There is a natural compulsion to continue
practicing all the way to enlightenment.
Learn and practise the dharma, one day you will awaken to your
Buddha Nature and ascertain what the Buddha said is true... and
that this Buddha Nature is really one with all the Buddhas and
Bodhisattvas of the 10 directions and 3 periods (past, present,
future). And what is the Buddha? Is the Buddha just an appearance,
an image, or the statue you see in temples? Is he just someone who
appeared 2500 years ago and passed away at 80 years old? Please see
my next reply on this topic
By the way, like a scientist, the Buddha encouraged the Buddhist
practitioners to find out for themselves the truths that the Buddha
said, to put it to test, and to see for ourselves, and to get
enlightened. Buddhism does not encourage any blind belief and
dogmas (see Kalama Sutra), and also encourages analytical
questioning -- whether this teaching actually helps us.
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
Note: this is just a summary, please read the entire sutra here:
http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/resources/kalama_sutra.html
