What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

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MMK23
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by MMK23 »

pink_trike wrote:
MMK23 wrote: In accordance with that I would say that my understanding of the religious impulse is that which compels one to explore the numenous and perhaps motivates the recurrent question "why?".
Or perhaps the religious impulse and the recurrent question "why?" are respectively, ego-defending aversive and grasping reactions to an unconscious sense of the boundlessness of the Whole, and Siddhārtha Gautama's teachings were the antidote to these reactions.
I don't know that those words necessarily make the argument that you're trying to make. Perhaps you could flesh this out a bit more to explain the mechanics of it. Additionally, I don't appreciate the connotation. You're effectively telling me that I'm suffering from gross delusion. Do you really feel equipped to make that call? I'm not having a go at you I just think it's interesting because you're clearly intelligent enough to understand the context and consequences of what you're suggesting.

I don't think of the question "why" as ego-defending. I've always felt that the question "why" has been more prone to ego deconstruction rather than edification. I was conditioned to be upper middle class, protestant, heterosexual, indulgent, Australian, conservative, rationalist, modernist, humanist, capitalist. I'm none of these things and the only reason is the wonderful question "why"? I'm interested that you've come to a view of inquiry as being ego-defending as that seems quite atypical of my experience and that of most everyone I know! I'd love to hear more as it sounds fascinating.

MMK23
MMK23
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by MMK23 »

MMK23 wrote:I was conditioned to be ...
I should have said I was conditioned in this life to be... God only knows about the past lives.

;)
Individual
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by Individual »

tiltbillings wrote:
Religions are organizations or systems for spirituality and theology. Theology (theos) means, "An account of the gods," and spirituality (spiritus) means, "Pertaining to the spirit".

Since Buddhism rejects the soul and considers the gods to be minimally important, it is not a religion, because it is neither a form of spirituality or theology
.

And this THE official definition of religion from whom/where? There are no other definitions? All religions, to be a religion, MUST include a god and/or a soul?
Different people can have different conceptions of religion, but religions do tend to include gods and soul-theories, yes. Aside from a few exceptions, like Buddhism, this is true.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
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tiltbillings
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by tiltbillings »

Individual wrote:
tiltbillings wrote:
Religions are organizations or systems for spirituality and theology. Theology (theos) means, "An account of the gods," and spirituality (spiritus) means, "Pertaining to the spirit".

Since Buddhism rejects the soul and considers the gods to be minimally important, it is not a religion, because it is neither a form of spirituality or theology
.

And this is THE official definition of religion from whom/where? There are no other definitions? All religions, to be a religion, MUST include a god and/or a soul?
Different people can have different conceptions of religion, but religions do tend to include gods and soul-theories, yes. Aside from a few exceptions, like Buddhism, this is true.
And modern scholars of religion have adapted fairly well to this. Gods and soul are only part of it. It is the human involvement with what is held to be sacred is the direction most modern scholar point when defining religion, and for that one does not need a god or a soul. "Religion" has a fairly amorphous quality to it, even in the institutional expressions and definitions. But for me, what is more interesting is the personal engagement, which can be far more inclusive than the formal institutional definitions would allow.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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puthujjana
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by puthujjana »

Taking Back Religion - Bhante Yuttadhammo
"Thoughts on the problem with equating religion to God, and what religion means to me."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9teBb3Uz ... 47&index=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
:anjali:
"Once you understand anatta, then the burden of life is gone. You’ll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy."
- Ajahn Chah
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tiltbillings
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Re: What is your definition of religion/religious impulse

Post by tiltbillings »

puthujjana wrote:Taking Back Religion - Bhante Yuttadhammo
"Thoughts on the problem with equating religion to God, and what religion means to me."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9teBb3Uz ... 47&index=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta
:anjali:
Good talk. It actually has something to say to the invisble Overlap between Theravada sila and Biblical commandments thread.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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