un8- wrote: ↑Sun Sep 26, 2021 2:26 pm
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"Fake sutta" seems like a convenient excuse that people here resort to defend their lazy thinking.
Well the other option is that the Buddha really did think that rain was caused by gods. I'm not adverse to this interpretation, but I lean more towards it being the product of monks and nuns appealing to the laity. The same as we see with the 32 marks of a great man.
Fyi, I never said I believe Nibbana true, I said Nibbana is likely to be more true because it pertains to feelings, not rebirth and not devas. But again, that's besides the point, you're trying to deflect back to the old topic in order to cover up your hypocrisy. Even if we assume that rebirth belief is required for Nibbana, you're still being a hypocrite for having faith in one subject you don't actually know over another subject you don't actually know.
You have faith in the Buddha, and so accept nibbāna as being a truth that the Buddha knew. If you don't have that, i struggle to see what you are practicing for. The Buddha referred to nibbāna countless times, just as he did rebirth. Kamma and rebirth form part of the 2nd Noble Truth, and is a teaching found across all known canons and early schools. That we are born, die and are born again in a cycle of unending misery is what he taught. If you reject rebirth, it's because you do not have sufficient faith in the Buddha and if you do not have that then your practice won't come to much. It's as simple as that. Usually in modern times this lack of faith in the Buddha is due to some crass scientism, mostly found amongst those who have little understanding of science or epistemology in general. For myself, since I have faith in the Buddha and his awakening it follows that I have faith in the reality of both rebirth and it's escape via nibbāna. That doesn't then mean I have to accept every single thing that we see in the suttas or āgamas. There is no logical necessity that would drive me to do that and as I say, it is perfectly possible for the Buddha to have taught rebirth and for the texts to have undergone editing in order to better appeal to new converts (competing with other religions, as they were).