Buddha is fake

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BubbaBuddhist
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

Don't feel too bad--humor or metaphorical allegories don't sit well with this literal -minded bunch. I once posted a humorous anecdote about seeing a guy dressed as Jesus walking down the side of the road at 3 AM and the thread immediately devolved into microanalyses of religious points of view. I've just about given up on this forum. It seems to have attracted the anhedoniacs of the Buddhist world. Which is too bad, I've found the longer I've practiced the more I've learned to as they say, lighten up. May all sentient beings find something to laugh about once in a while. :namaste:

J
Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
Mawkish1983
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Mawkish1983 »

I was taught from an early age to question what I don't understand. I don't understand this story, so I questioned it. I meant no disrespect and apologise if the way in which my posts are read does not match my intention.

So back to the story, what does 'Buddha is fake' mean? Does it mean that Nibbana is unobtainable and, if so, how does anecdotal evidence of reincarnation suggest that Nibbana is obtainable?

Respectfully, I just don't get it.
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pilgrim
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by pilgrim »

So much heat over a little folk tale. Is this Defilement season or what?
Mawkish1983
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Mawkish1983 »

No heat, I just don't get it and am eagerly awaiting clarification :)
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mikenz66
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by mikenz66 »

Hi J,
Bubbabuddhist wrote:It seems to have attracted the anhedoniacs of the Buddhist world. Which is too bad, I've found the longer I've practiced the more I've learned to as they say, lighten up. May all sentient beings find something to laugh about once in a while. :namaste:
Thanks for extending my vocabulary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; :rolleye:

:anjali:
Mike
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sid
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by sid »

Mawkish1983 wrote:I was taught from an early age to question what I don't understand. I don't understand this story, so I questioned it. I meant no disrespect and apologise if the way in which my posts are read does not match my intention.

So back to the story, what does 'Buddha is fake' mean? Does it mean that Nibbana is unobtainable and, if so, how does anecdotal evidence of reincarnation suggest that Nibbana is obtainable?

Respectfully, I just don't get it.
All that the young monk could see was his elder's suffering, in spite of his wholesome actions, which he performed for the whole of his life.
So in his view the wholesome actions didn't lead to wholesome results.
This directly means(to him) that the law of karma as told by the Buddha doesn't hold good.
It then implies that the noble 8th fold path, which is based on purifying one's conduct by doing wholesome actions, which would then lead to gradual lessening of suffering uptill nibbana doesn't hold good too.
Since now the path doesn't lead to nibbanna (to him), therefore the person who first prescribed it can't have the attributes of a Buddha.
So whoever first declared the path was a "fake Buddha", ie Buddha only in the name, not in conduct & attributes.

I hope this answers your question.

bodom wrote: In the "read" is only the "read"..thus should you train yourselves Dhammawheel members. When for you there will be only the "read" in the "read" then, Dhammawheel members, there is no you in terms of that. When there is no you in terms of that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress."

:anjali:
:clap:
You nailed it bodom.
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BubbaBuddhist
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by BubbaBuddhist »

mikenz66 wrote:Hi J,
Bubbabuddhist wrote:It seems to have attracted the anhedoniacs of the Buddhist world. Which is too bad, I've found the longer I've practiced the more I've learned to as they say, lighten up. May all sentient beings find something to laugh about once in a while. :namaste:
Thanks for extending my vocabulary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; :rolleye:

:anjali:
Mike
Enhancing one's lexicographic prowess is an expeditious route to eschewing obfuscation!

J
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Author of Redneck Buddhism: or Will You Reincarnate as Your Own Cousin?
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Vepacitta
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Vepacitta »

Lighten up folks - it's a charming little fairy tale.

That's all. No big dhamma debate to be had here - go round the back and see what's happening!

And I'm called an Asura! :rofl:
I'm your friendly, neighbourhood Asura
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Hanzze
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Hanzze »

Thanks for sharing!
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 _()_
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Sherab
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Sherab »

The story strikes some chord with me as I was (and still am) in a rough patch for many years now. It tells me to take heart and that eventually the good karma that I have created in this life will manifest, though not likely in this life but in a future life.
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effort
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by effort »

just create a poll to vote:

- inspiring story
- fake
- i dont know

for me theravada means practical practices to come and find out, not stories.... but sometimes stories are really inspiring also, like the story about a monk who carried a woman to the other side of river and his colleague noticed it later and he replied i put that there but you still carry it on...
Laurens
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Laurens »

fabianfred wrote:My teacher, told about a boy who recalled his past life and remembered being shot. The person he was in his previous life was in the same village and everything he said was confirmed by his family. The place he had been shot showed as a birthmark.
Baloney.

Here's what could have happened; a kid make believes that he was shot, many, many kids have such fantasies. The parents believe this is a sign that he was shot in a past life, they put words into the kid's mouth and the whole story gets manipulated by people wanting to believe that it is rebirth. They find a case of someone being shot in the next village and persuade the boy to admit it was him in a past life. The birth mark may be an addition or manipulation to the story, or it may even just be a coincidence. What is was not, is proof of rebirth.

How do you know that story is true anyway? I have memories of a past life where I was a bank robber who got stabbed in the back by a mob of vigilantes out to protect themselves. I have a birthmark on my back. I found out there was a bank robber in the next city who died in those very circumstances. Proof of rebirth? Quite possibly, except for the fact that I just made all of it up.

There are more explanations to that story than just rebirth...
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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Viscid
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Viscid »

It's a sad truth that when a student loves their teacher, they'll convince themselves to believe just about anything their teacher says.

How can you doubt your teacher when he has taught you so much truth and wisdom? When you see he has so much more experience than you?

When are you supposed to have faith in your teacher's knowledge and experience, and when are you supposed to be skeptical of him?

If he says something you do not believe, then does that mean you may have been convinced of other falsehoods?

Is it better to just have complete faith and avoid all doubt?
"What holds attention determines action." - William James
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Kim OHara
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Kim OHara »

Bubbabuddhist wrote: Enhancing one's lexicographic prowess is an expeditious route to eschewing obfuscation!

J
Sesquipedalian
Entranced by one's lexical acumen, one may cheerfully obfuscate one's every utterance - at least so far as the hoi polloi are concerned - but sesquipedalianism is, fortunately, quickly curable by association with bogans.
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Marcus Epicurus
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Re: Buddha is fake

Post by Marcus Epicurus »

:stirthepot:

WOW....I am amazed at the attacks on fabianfred .

I didn't see anything wrong with the story, in fact I think it had a message that we could all learn from.

You can attack me for supporting fabianfred if you want, and it wont bother me one bit.

And what difference does it make if fabianfred is ordained or not? Does that mean we should treat him different than any other sentient creature.

Wow...I cant believe some of the non-buddhist behavior from not only this forum, but other so called Dhamma forums as well.

I may be a lot of things, I may not be enlightened...but I am not mean.

:soap:
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