I'm Buddhist, and this is why. The infallibility of the

I often steal from supermarkets and other large corporations. Is this the kind of stealing that breaks the noble law, or is it restricted to stealing from individuals?

Good for you. I was raised in Theravada and for me salvation through Christ wa what gave me peace

>>19551196
The precept states: I undertake the training to abstain from taking what is not given. Stealing implies craving, which is the foundation of suffering. Calming that craving brings peace. If you need food, homeless shelters give food daily, and asking others for a donation brings less turmoil.

Buddhists are cool
they understand mental discipline which is completely anathema to modern western culture. Stupid Americans.

>>19551204
I agree, churches can offer places to cultivate compassion, love and harmony.

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>>19551182
>2017
>Not even able to not smoke
Weakness.

>>19551182
Christ drank from the cup of God's wrath so that I wouldn't have to, so that's the only king I'll bend the knee to.

>>19551204
And I consider love as the basis to the cessation of suffering, although an all encompassing one. The Buddha stated that ignorance leads to craving, and craving leads to suffering. Through wisdom, which accepts all, I've found greater peace. Love amplifies that

>>19551239
" Only the righteous shall inherit eternal life." Jesus never said that you'd have to bow to Him in order to be saved, but if you'd like to emulate his being, then by all means

>>19551241
I guess I said love as the basis because due to wisdom and love acting in harmony. Although using a heart without wisdom's guidance can still cause suffering to arise

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>relying on entities that aren't yourself
>not going for hard-mode enlightenment

>>19551250
I don't do it because I have, I do it because I choose to. I can't emulate Jesus because I don't have what it takes to willingly be tortured and murdered for the crimes of others.

>>19551182
If you think that
- not stealing
- not killing
- avoiding misconduct and harmful substances and thoughts

is something revolutionary which only Buddhism thought of, then I'm sorry to tell you that you are an idiot.

Jesus says in the Gospel that "It's easier to be a prophet in a foreign city".

But you were probably born Christian; and as many today, renounce it because other confessions are more attractive and interesting.

The sense of "new", of "other" always seems revelatory. Just as another women can be for a married man.

The problem is that most of you people proselytise faiths such as Buddhism out of favoritism; you don't even known your own religion to begin with - which is why you renounce it.

If you had attempted to approach Christianity and the message of Christ as you approach Buddhism and the message of the Buddha - without prejudice and ignoring the dogmatic problems (which Buddhism is also full of - but you don't live there to know them), you would be able if not to appreciate it, at least to understand it.

>>19551282
Jesus always brought people closer to The Father. In John 17 His wish was for others to be one with Him just as He was one with Him. "Love the Lord your God with all your..."

"in my Father's house." In Genesis 18 it explains where the House of God is. It's mind.

"The Kingdom of God is within you." "Be still and know that I am." Jesus led to God, of Whom's Spirit you were given.

It's about discovering your inner nature, brother.

>>19551308
I'm not stating there's anything false with Christ's message, I'm simply saying the Pali canon is better.

Why does Jesus have two different genealogies?

>>19551282
>I can't emulate Jesus because I don't have what it takes to willingly be tortured and murdered for the crimes of others.

I think you take things too literally and overly-dramatic. Jesus did not ask of his followers to emulate him blindly.

There is even one passage in Matthew where Jesus says to his Apostles "Take my yoke; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Read the message of Christ as it remains today in the Gospels.

Make up your own mind after this to what it means to you.

Don't blindly take paths you did not choose yourself.

>>19551182

I like becoming though. I don't want to stop yet.

>>19551314
So much truth here. People should use Christ as a mediator to establish a connection with the father or source, then dig deep and explore that kingdom using eastern techniques of meditation and mindfulness, and become more divine in nature

Dogma is as dogma does. Which seems to be: metastasize. You can certainly live however you wish, without upsetting the powers above you. All the better if that makes you feel like the best version of yourself. That's my uncalled-for opinion.

However, received moral instruction, rather than natural moral precepts derived from observation contemplation and experience, stunts growth in the end. You will continue to insist the elephant is just a trunk and the Christian will insist that it is merely a leg. Then some Hare Krishna will show up and start claiming the elephant is the sound of a trumpet without having touched it at all. Somewhere in the back a Thelemite insists that you can only know an elephant by fucking it.

At any rate, the fact that you were willing to admit you had it wrong at first shows that there's hope yet. Just be careful about "absolute truths", in this world there is always a bodyguard of lies. The blindfold is self-assured certainty.

And there are many men with no moral precepts happy to take advantage of the blind.

>>19551754
>Somewhere in the back a Thelemite insists that you can only know an elephant by fucking it
kek

>>19551754
how crazy are buddhistic dogma?

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I prefer the philosophies of Genghis Khan myself. I've found myself much more enlightened after a night of drunken raping, killing, and pillaging. I feel zen as fuck.

>>19551754
>However, received moral instruction, rather than natural moral precepts derived from observation contemplation and experience
I was JUST meditating on this
Lessons on morality, if followed, initialize conditions conducive to the state from which morality was initially observed. Where it can finally be integrated as a part of one's own being.

>And there are many men with no moral precepts happy to take advantage of the blind

As true as this is, not all have to follow

Scruple followed by attention and concentration can deter one from falling into their grasps.

"Not to associate with the foolish, but to associate with the wise. This is the highest blessing."

>>19552095
Haha, I'd misquoted. "2. "Not to associate with the foolish, but to associate with the wise, and to honor those worthy of honor — this is the highest blessing." Maha-mangala sutra

>>19552095
>Lessons on morality, if followed, initialize conditions conducive to the state from which morality was initially observed. Where it can finally be integrated as a part of one's own being.

No. If you don't build your foundations, you won't see them yourself. If your received lessons start off flawed then you're building your house on sand. Reliance on the moral correctness of others subjects you to their failings. You'll have to work your way through those before you can even begin to approach your own.

Kill the Buddha.

>>19552134
>If you don't build your foundations, you won't see them yourself
Well of course,

>You'll have to work your way through those before you can even begin to approach your own.

"3. "To reside in a suitable locality, to have performed meritorious actions in the past, and to set oneself in the right direction — this is the highest blessing." Maha-mangala sutra

>Kill the Buddha.

I understand where that quote's from (it was from a Hindu), but in the sutras it states that even shedding the blood of a Buddha causes one to descend into the deepest pit of hell. So, might have to look at that. (I don't think you intended to have me really kill the Buddha).That would be scary.

>>19551801
Dogma is the assumption of truth. Implicitly without inquiry.
Not all Buddhists have the same dogmas, nor do Catholics and Protestants. For example: Catholics are known to drink and Protestants to teetotal. Neither are biblical, but Protestants can still be quite insistent on the point. Most dogmas are relative and incompatible, because there is no attempt at objectivity.

Ask the Burmese nationalist Buddhists about proper order. Do you agree with them? Do they seem objective or subjective? Many Tibetan sects aren't as nice as you would like to think either. They governed a strict theocracy before the Chinese infiltrated and destroyed them. Sadly, my guide was killed in violence during the rough year before the Olympics. Still, some people think that the Tibetan theocracy was pretty swell. And it may have been once, if you had the good karma and spiritual superiority inherent from being born male. Hierarchy is certainly a strong aspect of Buddhism. From where does it derive?

Evangelism and fervor, of course, are the scarlet letters of the convert. Buddhism can't be entirely blamed for the dogmatism of the OP. OP is newly in love, and thus blind to the faults of his beloved. OP divorced his last one though, this too shall pass.

OP has unquestioningly adopted a prohibition on stealing, because OP knows it is supported by the religious belief in the necessity of killing all desire. Many assumptions packed there into one single practice that are not examined. Even if OP did, s/he'd probably start by working backwards from the assumption that the religious precepts are true. The justification or support by logic is applied retroactively. Any experiment is started with the conclusion written and so contradictory results will not be accepted. Sufficiently intelligent people can justify just about anything they want to.

That's the trouble you get into if you don't tear down assumptions first.
You can't destroy the problems you can't see.

>>19552184
>I understand where that quote's from (it was from a Hindu)
Yikes, no you don't.
It's a reference to a famous Zen Buddhist Koan, attributed to Zen Master Linji.
“If you meet the Buddha, kill him.”– Linji

>>19551182
>The Four Noble Truths are, well, noble.
You take noble here to mean "distinguished" or "upper-class" don't you? Fool.