Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
User avatar
Sam Vara
Site Admin
Posts: 13460
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:42 pm
Location: Portsmouth, U.K.

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Sam Vara »

Let's send the man a little good will, whatever we think of his organisations and beliefs. He is 85, and has admitted to being mentally and physically too frail to do what he presumably thinks is the most important task in the world.
Fully worn out is this body, a nest of disease, and fragile. This foul mass breaks up, for death is the end of life.
Something very similar will come to all of us.
User avatar
Jay1
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:37 pm

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Jay1 »

LonesomeYogurt wrote:
Jay1 wrote:The website is biased.
The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
It showcases a fundamental misunderstanding of the Christian faith. It doesn't expose evil acts of God because it does not understand scripture.
beeblebrox
Posts: 939
Joined: Thu Dec 31, 2009 10:41 pm

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by beeblebrox »

Sam Vara wrote:Let's send the man a little good will, whatever we think of his organisations and beliefs. He is 85, and has admitted to being mentally and physically too frail to do what he presumably thinks is the most important task in the world.
Fully worn out is this body, a nest of disease, and fragile. This foul mass breaks up, for death is the end of life.
Something very similar will come to all of us.
Hi Sam,

Thank you for making this post.

:anjali:
Kim O'Hara wrote:
LonesomeYogurt wrote: The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
Just how can a non-existent disembodied intelligence be cruel?
Exactly... I think this sort of thing is a bit unfortunate. It's a bizarre world that we live in.

:anjali:
Coyote
Posts: 845
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2011 12:42 pm
Location: Wales - UK

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Coyote »

Personally I find the history of the modern Catholic church fascinating an await to see which direction the next pope takes the church. The man was a great scholar and theologian (so I'm told) so it will be interesting to see where his influence takes Catholic doctrine and practice. I think we live in "interesting times" with regards to traditional ecclesiastical Christianity. Just from my nerdy historian point of view it has been really interesting watching from the sidelines to see how he has influenced the church and how he contended with his predecessors legacy, not to mention the various scandals ect. It's a pity this history has to happen in the real world though, it's easy to forget that.
"If beings knew, as I know, the results of giving & sharing, they would not eat without having given, nor would the stain of miserliness overcome their minds. Even if it were their last bite, their last mouthful, they would not eat without having shared."
Iti 26
User avatar
Jason
Posts: 595
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2009 1:09 am
Location: Earth
Contact:

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Jason »

Personally, I can't say that I'm sad to the pontiff — who, among other things, called Buddhism "self-indulgent eroticism" and thought it was OK to say that condoms increase the problem of AIDS in a country where 22.5 million people are living with HIV — go. Not really a huge fan, although I'm sad to see that it's because his health is declining.
  • Like massive boulders,
    mountains pressing against the sky,
    moving in from all sides,
    crushing the four directions,
    so aging and death
    come rolling over living beings:
    noble warriors, brahmans, merchants,
    workers, outcastes, & scavengers.
    They spare nothing.
    They trample everything.
    - SN 3.25
Last edited by Jason on Wed Feb 13, 2013 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya" (AN 7.58).

leaves in the hand (Buddhist-related blog)
leaves in the forest (non-Buddhist related blog)
User avatar
ground
Posts: 2591
Joined: Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:01 am

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by ground »

Lucky Pope, he is able to let go being aware that capacities are limited in the sphere of aging and death. Wisdom is independent of religion. :sage:
alan
Posts: 3111
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:14 am
Location: Miramar beach, Fl.

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by alan »

In a more rational world, the Pope would be a subject of mockery.
Take over the Vatican, sell it's assets, and spread that money to all the poor families in the third world who have suffered from the idiotic policy that bans contraception. That's what we should do.
User avatar
tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by tiltbillings »

  • Buddhism

    Though his advent was congratulated by Buddhist leaders around the world, [3][4] critics remembered that in March 1997 Cardinal Ratzinger predicted that Buddhism would, over the coming century, replace Marxism as the main "enemy" of the Catholic Church. Some also criticized him for calling Buddhism an "autoerotic spirituality" that offered "transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations", though that might be a mistranslation from the French auto-erotisme, which more properly translates to self-absorption, or narcissism.[37][38] Also the quote did not address Buddhism as such, but rather about how Buddhism "appears" to those Europeans who are using it to obtain some type of self-satisfying spiritual experience.[39]
    -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology_o ... nedict_XVI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
>> 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
jonno
Posts: 52
Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 7:34 pm

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by jonno »

Hi all.I've no intention to enter into any contraversary , or to criticise anyone. I simply feel that as Buddhists we should practice forgiveness understanding and compassion for all beings. Namaste Jonno
User avatar
James the Giant
Posts: 791
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 6:41 am

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by James the Giant »

Waa-hee!
In 1990 Ratzinger commented on the Galileo affair, and quoted philosopher Paul Feyerabend as saying that the Church's verdict against Galileo had been "rational and just".
The Pope about Harry Potter books:
"these are subtle seductions which act imperceptibly and thereby deeply, and dissolve Christianity in the soul before it can grow properly."
Distributing condoms to help prevent HIV:
"would result in at least the facilitation of evil".
About Gay and Lesbian people adopting children:
"Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children."
On LGBT rights:
"The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity."
And
"although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."
Then,
saturated with joy,
you will put an end to suffering and stress.
SN 9.11
User avatar
tiltbillings
Posts: 23046
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 9:25 am

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by tiltbillings »

jonno wrote:Hi all.I've no intention to enter into any contraversary , or to criticise anyone. I simply feel that as Buddhists we should practice forgiveness understanding and compassion for all beings. Namaste Jonno
One can forgive him, but that does not mean that one cannot also reasonably critique some very atavistic teachings, pronouncement and such.
>> 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
User avatar
GraemeR
Posts: 136
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Thailand

Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by GraemeR »

Well he was no friend of Buddhism and I hope his successor may be more sensitive.

" Perhaps one of his most worrying comments was regarding Buddhism, which he called an "autoerotic spirituality" that seeks "transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations." He also made the point that, by the year 2000, Buddhism would replace Marxism as the church's biggest foe. (See National Catholic Reporter Vol. 35, No. 17, Feb. 27, 1999). Perhaps he was not aware that Marxism had all but disappeared by 1990. He has also made other blunders such as quoting a former Byzantine monarch's comment regarding Islam at a particularly insensitive time."

http://cathar-martyr.tripod.com/inquisition.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Graham
User avatar
GraemeR
Posts: 136
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2012 9:20 am
Location: Thailand

Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by GraemeR »

Dear all

I haven't seen positive confirmation of this, but it's circulating quite widely:

http://itccs.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

An arrest warrant may have precipitated his resignation

With Metta

Graham
Buckwheat
Posts: 970
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:39 am
Location: California USA

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Buckwheat »

:jumping:
Kim O'Hara wrote:
LonesomeYogurt wrote:
Jay1 wrote:The website is biased.
The website doesn't exist to give a comprehensive overview of all events in the Bible. It simply showcases, quite effectively, I might add, the depths of cruelty to which Jehovah sinks to on multiple occasions. No amount of positives on the other side could give pardon.
Just how can a non-existent disembodied intelligence be cruel?
:shrug:
Kim
:clap:
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
Buckwheat
Posts: 970
Joined: Thu Nov 24, 2011 12:39 am
Location: California USA

Re: Pope Benedict XVI Says He Will Resign

Post by Buckwheat »

tiltbillings wrote:
  • Buddhism

    Though his advent was congratulated by Buddhist leaders around the world, [3][4] critics remembered that in March 1997 Cardinal Ratzinger predicted that Buddhism would, over the coming century, replace Marxism as the main "enemy" of the Catholic Church. Some also criticized him for calling Buddhism an "autoerotic spirituality" that offered "transcendence without imposing concrete religious obligations", though that might be a mistranslation from the French auto-erotisme, which more properly translates to self-absorption, or narcissism.[37][38] Also the quote did not address Buddhism as such, but rather about how Buddhism "appears" to those Europeans who are using it to obtain some type of self-satisfying spiritual experience.[39]
    -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology_o ... nedict_XVI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
So, he basically said the watered down Buddhism taught in many western dharma centers is selfish feel-good-ism? Ain't there some truth to that?
Sotthī hontu nirantaraṃ - May you forever be well.
Post Reply