There are all sorts of seemingly causal relationships in journalism, social sciences, natural sciences, nutrition, etc. that appear to be pointing in one direction of causality, but upon closer examination, multiple other causes and effects are located. Logic and reason are good, must be deep and u...

You seem to want to be skeptic AND abandon skepticism at the same time. This reminds my of this zen koan: Kyogen said: `Zen is like a man hanging in a tree by his teeth over a precipice. His hands grasp no branch, his feet rest on no limb, and under the three another person asks him: `Why does Bodh...

TMingyur wrote: There is no absolute logic. You have to rely on these rules, have faith in them or belive that they are right in the first place.

So how does this make Buddhism any different than other faith-based beliefs like Christianity, where we are not to challenge the 'rules'?

Wow, scary how a different choice of word in sutta translation makes all the difference. Now it boils down to what "specious" means. Would a line of reasoning presented by a monk or teacher or anyone other than oneself be considered specious in this context? How does one know if something ...

Hi Dave Snyder, thanks for those references in the sutta which are very helpful. Yes I've walked away from mainstream religion precisely because they failed the logic test with flying colors. Hi TMingyur, and that's the part I like most about Buddhism. You personally discover truths rather than have...

Hi, Like Buddhists, believers of theistic religions also claim to feel calm and happy after doing what they do and to them, that's all the evidence they need. How did you deal with this impasse? Where is the impasse if you have found what you have been looking for? I have not found what I'm looking ...

Thanks Retro. Having gotten thoroughly disenchanted with the world, I too am serious about seeking a way out and if I was a character in the simile of the raft, I am now frantically trying to locate a boat without holes (=illogic) that might not look like it'll sink halfway. :smile: I don't know, wo...

Hi Retrofuturist, Thanks. The Maha-cattarisaka Sutta says, "And what is wrong view? 'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no p...

Hi friends, does anybody know if there's something more to this story than is being reported? I find strange that a monk who was allegedly proven to have broken the basic precepts (child rape) is still serving as a monk. It is causing a lot of bad crosstalk in social media. http://www.huffingtonpost...

Hi friends, I'm most attracted to Theravada, which I feel appeals to my need for reason than belief, and I do find occasional Zen one-liner hilarious. One question. If our senses are defiled and not to be trusted, should we trust the choices we make, including the type of Buddhism we that we find ap...

Thank you my friends for your insights. I've been on the road for a couple of weeks; my apologies for appearing unresponsive in this thread that I've started. I like the idea about not worrying about things that don't seem plausible and to just practice - meditate and do things for the benefit of th...

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Thanks Ben. That square guy didn't happen to be Spongebob, did it. LOL. People compare the cultivation process to a journey. It doesn't matter which road you take because they all lead to the same place. Funny because I thought its more like baking a cake. Use different amounts of the same ingredien...

When I first picked up a discarded book on Buddhism, I wasn't quite prepared for the impact it had on me, in a good way that is. The trail of breadcrumbs soon turned into an overwhelming torrent, thanks to Google. It would've been a simple slam dunk for me if not for that fork in the road that crept...

Hi Kim, thanks for the tips and I'll certainly look up sasana.org. Yes you're right I did mention karma as its popularly used - as something that applies in a next life. Its clear to me that cause and effect does happen in this life although it doesn't always balance. Not all drug lords, killers and...