Since there is no reason to take stories like that literally true, I don't, but I wonder if there might be a problem for those that do. I wonder if you might see what such problems might be.equilibrium wrote:If one wishes to then they can, if one don't then don't.....simple.....but only a piece of history.tiltbillings wrote:whynotme wrote: . . .So, are you two arguing that the text in question be taken literally, as describing an actual, literal history?equilibrium wrote: . . .
What is more important is the future and "NOW" is the time to create that future.
Everything is Cause and effect.
The Buddha's conception and birth
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Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
>> 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
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
Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
Yes, I take everything in the suttas as literally, historically truetiltbillings wrote:So, do you take everything in te suttas as being literally, historically true?
Regards
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Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
And there are those who take everything in the Bible as being literally/historically true, and there are those who take everything in the Puranas as being literally/historically true, and there those who take everything in the . . . . It is a strange world we live in.whynotme wrote:Yes, I take everything in the suttas as literally, historically truetiltbillings wrote:So, do you take everything in te suttas as being literally, historically true?
Regards
>> 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
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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Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
Only a piece of history hence it is not of great significance.....the teaching is more important.tiltbillings wrote: Since there is no reason to take stories like that literally true, I don't, but I wonder if there might be a problem for those that do. I wonder if you might see what such problems might be.
At best, it is a belief for those who wish to belief.....but this will not go well as it can back fire if revealed to the public, one can believe what they want but it is what one understands that matters more.
A good saying to this is never judge a book by its covers.
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Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
In spite of some mythical things like the (pre-Buddhist) 32 marks of a great man and this Sutta, the Theravada is pretty uniform in the doctrine that the Buddha was a human being -- a man who became the Buddha, the samma-sam-buddha; certainly a great being, but whose history is that of a human.
In the Mahayana, however, there is the Trikaya concept where mythologies appear to take more precedence, where I have even heard that some life events were just a "show" in the cosmic plan.
Personally, I prefer the Theravada account.
In the Mahayana, however, there is the Trikaya concept where mythologies appear to take more precedence, where I have even heard that some life events were just a "show" in the cosmic plan.
Personally, I prefer the Theravada account.
Re: The Buddha's conception and birth
Full of doubt where it does not matter and lack of doubt where it matters, full of believes where it does not matter and lack of believes where it matters. So it will stay an object of mind.tiltbillings wrote: It is a strange world we live in.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html
BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_