The Chinese appears above each of these English phrases. I can vouch for the accuracy of the translation.Magnanimity is the most beautiful worship.Faith is the best virtue.Contentment is the greatest fortune.Health is the most genuine wealth.
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Four Sayings by a Buddhist Monk
The Venerable Master Hsing Yun is a famous Chinese Buddhist monk. Last year, someone I know went to a temple associated with him in L.A. and took a photo of a sign called "Phrases from Ven. Master Hsing Yun." I thought the sentiments they express are worth recording here:
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Religion as Life-Denying
After a bit of pondering, I have realized what it is about most religions that bothers me (such as Christianity and Buddhism, my two main interests before I wandered over to Paganism):
This appear to me to be a flat-out, head-in-the-clouds denial of the universe as we have it. Having a strong scientific bent, it seemed to me that the scientific evidence points to physics and evolution as explaining the world as we see it. Yes, much, probably most, of life is ultimately tragic, but in trying to find a solution to that, most religions paper over it with a promise of salvation, rather than trying to celebrate the tragedy that is the cosmos. Christianity is particularly guilty on this front because it claims that God created the world, but that should include the laws of physics, which gives us all the variety, good and bad, that we see today.
Clearly Neopaganism in many guises may fall victim to this tendency as well, especially when heavily influenced by the New Age, or by old-fashioned Christianity. It seems to me that "getting back to nature" as a Neopagan soteriology has its dangers if divorced from an earthy, evolutionary context. I also wonder about The Summerland as a copout, though I don't think it necessarily falls into this trap.
Having said that, however, Neopaganism seems much better able to integrate into its theology the death and evil that exists in the universe. They are not desirable, but they are part of the cosmos and to pretend we can make them all go away is a delusion. At least, I'd like to think that Neopaganism does a better job of this than other religions. Of course this must take into account the fact that there is no one Neopagan religion, and that each one has no dogma that its believers are required to follow.
Most highly developed religions (i.e. those that are the introspective product of a civilization rather than organically developed practices "on the ground") claim that there is something wrong with the universe or with humankind, and that their religion has the cure for it.Christianity has original sin. Buddhism has craving. The key to fixing your relationship with yourself, God, or the universe is the practices of the religion.
This appear to me to be a flat-out, head-in-the-clouds denial of the universe as we have it. Having a strong scientific bent, it seemed to me that the scientific evidence points to physics and evolution as explaining the world as we see it. Yes, much, probably most, of life is ultimately tragic, but in trying to find a solution to that, most religions paper over it with a promise of salvation, rather than trying to celebrate the tragedy that is the cosmos. Christianity is particularly guilty on this front because it claims that God created the world, but that should include the laws of physics, which gives us all the variety, good and bad, that we see today.
Clearly Neopaganism in many guises may fall victim to this tendency as well, especially when heavily influenced by the New Age, or by old-fashioned Christianity. It seems to me that "getting back to nature" as a Neopagan soteriology has its dangers if divorced from an earthy, evolutionary context. I also wonder about The Summerland as a copout, though I don't think it necessarily falls into this trap.
Having said that, however, Neopaganism seems much better able to integrate into its theology the death and evil that exists in the universe. They are not desirable, but they are part of the cosmos and to pretend we can make them all go away is a delusion. At least, I'd like to think that Neopaganism does a better job of this than other religions. Of course this must take into account the fact that there is no one Neopagan religion, and that each one has no dogma that its believers are required to follow.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
A Few Comments on Buddhism
Apologies in advance for another rambling, unfocused post.
Other than Christianity, my main religious interest has been Buddhism, mainly the Theravada and Chan (Chinese Zen) schools. Buddhism is sold in the West as a "rational" religion, in fact not really a religion at all, but more of a philosophy. It is claimed that there are no gods in Buddhism, that it is based on experience, not scriptures.This is probably what you think is true of Buddhism as well, among other things, such as that it is a "peaceful" religion. To an occasionally hyper-rational person such as myself, this kind of practice was quite appealing.
I cannot pin down exactly why I became disenchanted with Buddhism. I certainly haven't thought about it as much as I have about Christianity, mainly because I never spent as much time "dabbling" in it as I did with Christianity.
Anyway, a couple years ago I discovered, little by little, that the myth of Buddhism that I briefly sketched in the first paragraph was not really true; that Buddhism, almost from the beginning, placed a lot of emphasis on faith, prayer, and scripture, and that Buddhism has a violent past just like Christianity -- in opposition to its principles, just like Christianity, but there nevertheless.
But more interesting, I also discovered "folk Buddhism," both in my personal travels to East Asia and my reading about Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, which is the most accessible form of Buddhism. I think that my burgeoning interest in this more, well, folksy form of Buddhism was a major factor in softening me up to take a second look at Neopaganism. Chanting and praying to Amitabha or Guanyin, even if I didn't quite believe in them, made it possible for me to take a less literal, restricted approach to spirituality.
I hope this brief, personal post inspires readers to learn more about real Buddhism instead of the sanitized version you've been sold in the West. I will write more about my experiences with Buddhism (of all kinds) in the future.
Other than Christianity, my main religious interest has been Buddhism, mainly the Theravada and Chan (Chinese Zen) schools. Buddhism is sold in the West as a "rational" religion, in fact not really a religion at all, but more of a philosophy. It is claimed that there are no gods in Buddhism, that it is based on experience, not scriptures.This is probably what you think is true of Buddhism as well, among other things, such as that it is a "peaceful" religion. To an occasionally hyper-rational person such as myself, this kind of practice was quite appealing.
I cannot pin down exactly why I became disenchanted with Buddhism. I certainly haven't thought about it as much as I have about Christianity, mainly because I never spent as much time "dabbling" in it as I did with Christianity.
Anyway, a couple years ago I discovered, little by little, that the myth of Buddhism that I briefly sketched in the first paragraph was not really true; that Buddhism, almost from the beginning, placed a lot of emphasis on faith, prayer, and scripture, and that Buddhism has a violent past just like Christianity -- in opposition to its principles, just like Christianity, but there nevertheless.
But more interesting, I also discovered "folk Buddhism," both in my personal travels to East Asia and my reading about Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, which is the most accessible form of Buddhism. I think that my burgeoning interest in this more, well, folksy form of Buddhism was a major factor in softening me up to take a second look at Neopaganism. Chanting and praying to Amitabha or Guanyin, even if I didn't quite believe in them, made it possible for me to take a less literal, restricted approach to spirituality.
I hope this brief, personal post inspires readers to learn more about real Buddhism instead of the sanitized version you've been sold in the West. I will write more about my experiences with Buddhism (of all kinds) in the future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)