Belief in rebirth, realms, siddhis, etc

[Nosta]

Sometimes i dont know what buddhists think about some more mystical or "strange" (strange, to western people) concepts, like the existence of siddhis, or other realms of existence.

So, the questions in the poll, are meant to be answered both in the poll and in the thread. Also, have in mind that i would like to see answers about:
- What Theravada buddhism believe.
- What YOU believe.

The first question in the forum is about rebirth, rebirth after death, not reencarnation.

The second question is about your belief on the existence of other realms, like the devas world, hell, etc AND even Buddhas realms (Pure Land, etc). Please, dont start discussions like "Nothing is real, so, the hells are not real. Everything is illusion". NO, dont do that. When i use the word "real" its in a very simple way. For our purposes, when i say that the hell, heaven, etc are real, that means that they exist somewhere and are so real and solid like the computer you are using now, like your house, etc, even if you cant have any acess - right now - to such realms.

The third question is about siddhis or miracles or paranormal powers, etc. Do you believe that under certain circunstances (advanced stages of meditation, good kamma, etc) one may develop some "powers"?? If so, in wich "powers" do you believe?

Finally, the last question is about karma/kamma: do you believe that there is a kind of "moral" law in the world, that may affect people not only in this life but in others? Like, i kill someone in this life and in my next life i may suffer the consequences of that assassination. Its expectable that all buddhist believe in that, but even so, i decided to put such question.

POLL OPTIONS: you may choose for 4 options: A1 OR A2; B1 OR B2, etc. You may change your vote. Do it only if necessary.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

I find it hard to vote in your poll given the absence of "I don't know" options.

I also may agree with certain things, but not your definitions of them.

Sorry if that sounds like I'm being difficult, but I feel the Dhamma is subtle (nipuno) and not necessarily amenable to blanket Yes and No responses.

Metta,
Retro.

[meindzai]

yeah, I have to be difficult too. I don't believe in "believing" so much. I hold certain views, such as rebirth, for the sake of practicing right view. But I do not say "I know this and only this is true, anything else is false."

-M

[Goofaholix]

As per the previous posters I neither believe nor disbelieve so I could only tick D1

[meindzai]

so I could only tick D1

Yeah, I guess that'll work. Kamma is, IMO, pretty directly verifiable,though not necessarily all it's implications.

-M

[jcsuperstar]

Sometimes i dont know what buddhists think about some more mystical or "strange" (strange, to western people) concepts, like the existence of siddhis, or other realms of existence.

.

how is any of it strange to the majority of westerners? most of whom i think belong to a religious order that takes literally the existence of miracles, angels, demons, hell, heaven, a zombie saviour, a talking donkey, an ocean in the sky, a world wide flood, that the sun plays no part in the light that is daytime, that stars are just hanging out up there with the clouds and not in space and other such things simply because they are in a book?
and even beyond that we've got daily horoscopes in all major newspapers, telephone psychics, wide spread belief in ghosts, ufos, that sarah palin would actually make a good leader etc etc

[Modus.Ponens]

I believe them all, except where in the suttas it says that one can touch the sun and moon. I think that's just an expression of how powerfull one can be after developing 4th jhana.

[Goofaholix]

how is any of it strange to the majority of westerners? most of whom i think belong to a religious order that takes literally the existence of miracles, angels, demons, hell, heaven, a zombie saviour, a talking donkey, an ocean in the sky, a world wide flood, that the sun plays no part in the light that is daytime, that stars are just hanging out up there with the clouds and not in space and other such things simply because they are in a book?
and even beyond that we've got daily horoscopes in all major newspapers, telephone psychics, wide spread belief in ghosts, ufos, that sarah palin would actually make a good leader etc etc

Must be some mighty strange westerners in your neck of the woods.

[BlackBird]

Must be some mighty strange westerners in your neck of the woods.

I believe they call 'em Republicans.

metta
Jack

[jcsuperstar]

Must be some mighty strange westerners in your neck of the woods.

I believe they call 'em Republicans.

metta
Jack

and Democrats, though i think one might be a Muslim. Obama likes to tell us again and again how great of a christian he is.

[BubbaBuddhist]

Many polls show as many as 75% of people believe in the supernatural of some kind. If you include ghosts, ESP, angels and afterlife experiences. We can't take our own dis-belief as representing the norm. Of course, polls aren't always accurate either. But even the low-end ones show as high as 65%.

J

[Nosta]

In fact i forgot the "i dont know option".

Also, take the questions lightly. Dont go in to much detail. And people, you should try to discuss more and give less attention to the poll itself.

[Mukunda]

I voted that "I believe", but in reality, I believe in the possibility more than the actual thing. I don't really spend much time pondering any of the above, except the standard daily recollection of kamma. "I am the owner of my kamma, heir to my kamma, born of my kamma, related to my kamma, abide supported by my kamma. Whatever kamma I shall do, whether good or evil, of that I shall be the heir."

[BubbaBuddhist]

Things like this don't seem to bother me as much as it does some people. If I woke up tomorrow and Obama was on TV with space aliens, and then I saw someone levitating in Lotus position down the street, then saw ghosts of my parents plying bridge on my sofa, I'd sip my coffee and say, "Hmm--how 'bout that?' interesting." i guess I'm not all that attached to a specific world-view. Or maybe I'm just loonie.

J

[Tex]

Agreed with others, I would've voted "I don't know" a couple of times, specifically on siddhis and other realms. I'm skeptical in general, and I have no recollection of experiencing either of those. But I'm so convinced by the rest of the teachings, including the kamma and rebirth mentioned in the poll (which I find inseparable), and other teachings such as the nature and origin of suffering, that I'm willing to take his word on the stuff I'm not sure of yet.

[Ben]

Or maybe I'm just loonie.

Jon,
There's been something I've been meaning to say to you...

Welcome to the club!

kind regards

Ben

[BubbaBuddhist]

Hooray, I'm in a club!

J

[BlackBird]

Can I join guys? How much are the subs?

[Ben]

Yeah, you can join Jack, but not your invisible friends, ok?

[suriyopama]

I also miss the option "I don't know".

I am not a believer. I'm just learning to observe.