Originally posted by An Eternal Now:No fanaticism
Of Buddhism alone can it be affirmed it is free from all fanaticism. Its aim being to produce in every man a thorough internal transforming by self-conquest, how can it have recourse to might or money or even persuasion for effecting conversion? The Buddha has only shown the way to salvation, and it is left to each individual to decide for himself if he would follow it.
- Prof. Lakshmi Narasu, "The Essence of Buddhism"[/quote]
But this time, this statement applies to all of the contemplative traditions as mentioned above.
Also posted in the ISLAM FORUM in sgforums, the Sufi teachings (Sufism is the 'PATH OF LOVE')
[quote]Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
The true Jihad, is the Jihad against the Self.
http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismstruggle.html
In this regard, the struggle with one's own nafs has been called the greater struggle or greater "holy war" (al-jihad al-akbar) in contrast to the lesser struggle (al-jihad al-asghar), which is against injustice and oppressors in this world. The concept derives from the popular hadith of the Prophet, in which he said to Muslims returning from a battle, "You have returned from the lesser struggle to the greater struggle." And he was asked, "What is the greater struggle?" He answered, "The struggle against one's self (nafs), which is between the two sides of your body." Needless to say, in Sufism these two struggles are mutually reinforcing and occur simultaneously. In particular, the practice of "engaged surrender" in the "greater" struggle with one's own nafs diminishes certain obstacles in the consciousness of the Sufi, obstacles that--if not stuggled against--will hinder the Sufi's capacity to engage in the "lesser" struggle in their life in the world.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:...the greater Jihad is the inner struggle against the inner enemies, the Seven Deadly Sins ( lust, greed, anger, jealousy, sloth, covetousness & gluttony)...
I have read that different gnostic gospels seems to put importance on different disciples. Like Mary, Thomas, Judas, etc. Personally I love all these three gospels and I believe Jesus has unconditional love for all of them without bias.Originally posted by laoda99:Even gnostics are divided......and think again if gnostic theologies are to be accepted in the mainstream......will be disastrous becoz they teach the body is evil and the soul should leave the body A.S.A.P....
sound cultish to me....
like i said, even gnostics are divided, if Judas is the chosen one, then obviously mary magdalene is not....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I have read that different gnostic gospels seems to put importance on different disciples. Like Mary, Thomas, Judas, etc. Personally I love all these three gospels and I believe Jesus has unconditional love for all of them without bias.
As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.Originally posted by laoda99:AEN>
if someone take ur buddhist scriptures.......cut it into half.......distort it by saying something else rather than wat buddha has taught.....do u still think it is rising spirituality or dun recognise it like the falugong and tien dao?
since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.
Anyway, it is my personal belief for years that there are many distortions created by the Romans on the bible.
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:As much as u say open mind, but do u know what gnostics teach do not conform with christianity?
[b]
As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.
[b]
Falungong has nothing to do with Buddhism, and neither does it claim to be Buddhism. Its teachings do not conform with the dharma seals either, so it has nothing to do with Buddhism.Originally posted by laoda99:since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....
Ur second para is as good as saying the bible we have is false....haizzz.....open mind?
I am not asserting anything here, I am merely asking people to be open minded.Originally posted by laoda99:As much as u say open mind, but do u know what gnostics teach do not conform with christianity?
And I have to say this, u do not know how much gnosticism does not go inline with Christianity.....u only see their scriptures have the name "jesus"...and u deem them as Christians....
The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside the structures of the existing institutionalised religions. They were always pockets of spirituality even in mind-dominated religions, although the institutionalised hierarchies felt threatened by them and often tried to suppress them. A large-scale opening of spirituality outside of religious structures is an entirely new development. In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the West, the most mind-dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual franchise on spirituality. You couldnÂ’t just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you were not, they would quickly silence you. But now, even within certain churches and religions, there are signs of change. It is heartwarming, and one is grateful for even the slightest signs of openness, such as Pope John Paul II visiting a mosque as well as a synagogue.
how abt sokka, nichiren chousu etc...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Falungong has nothing to do with Buddhism, and neither does it claim to be Buddhism. Its teachings do not conform with the dharma seals either, so it has nothing to do with Buddhism.
Tien Dao also does not call itself Buddhism, and is merely a combination of many religions altogether, many of the teachings also does not conform at all to the dharma seals of buddhism.
Second para: my opinion after reading up on history. Not just 'I don't like this bible so I think its distorted'. But of course it still contains very valuable truths. But it can never be perfect under the hands of man's manipulation.
In fact...there are many sects which buddhism do not recognise becoz they go against Buddhist teachings. Is it a double standard when Buddhism can dun recognise unorthodox sects/cults but Christianity can't?Originally posted by bohiruci:The teachings of Chinese Gelugpa Society is not recognised by Wisdom Bliss and Compassionate Affinity
as this rinpoche is not a welcome visitor of HH Dalai Lama Office and H H Ganden Dripa in Dharamsala
Rinpoche Quan Xi is different from Ven Chuan Xi
Ven Chuan Xi is under Ven HaiTao practised Esoteric Buddhism in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism
Quan Xi Rinpoche is under Tibetan Gelugpa Tradition (the yellow hat)
the Dolgyal master have used magic to subdue their opponents in the past
a thing that is not allowed in Buddhist teachings .
open-minded abt learning from each other's faith i agree....like buddhism/christianity, but if u are saying we should tread more into "Christian Mysticism" then I would say most probably u do not know what u are reading.....becoz they are not really compatiable with "orthodox" christianity.....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
how abt sokka, nichiren chousu etc...Discussed before. Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu doesnt even recognise the Shakyamuni Buddha as our original teacher
I do not practise Tibetan Buddhism, but the mythical feeling in Tibetan Buddhism is partly inherited from the old Bon religion in Tibet although the teachings remained the same. It has nothing 'evil' whatsoever. Very often there are misunderstandings - for example why are there wrathful figures in Tibetan Buddhism? It symbolises the wrathfulness towards ignorance and ego... but the underlying essence of it is Compassion.Originally posted by laoda99:And as far as I know, esoteric buddhism like tibetian buddhism always look a bit "evil" to me......I prefer the Buddhism practiced in China/Taiwan.......more Zheng4 Pai4....
I know u just want to share....i just want to point out something which i read the last paragraphs which is not very correct....it seems to put mysticism at a very high level....it is as good as saying it is superior to orthodox teachings...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Discussed before. Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu doesnt even recognise the Shakyamuni Buddha as our original teacherFor more info pls read the topic in my forum in regards to that.
I honestly do not know about Gnostic gospels well enough to comment, but I'm sure mysticism is not against mainstream Christianity as has been discussed.
Anyway, this is way off-topic. I will not discuss Christianity into details here, I just merely wanted to share this wonderful book and those open-minded may wish to read it. Eckhart Tolle is the author of the international, ny times best-seller The Power of Now. A New Earth, the latest book, is published in October 2005.
hmmm.....but I think it is the same for burma buddhism as well....the king can't stop the pple from folk spirits practice that's why he incorporate into burma buddhism......Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I do not practise Tibetan Buddhism, but the mythical feeling in Tibetan Buddhism is partly inherited from the old Bon religion in Tibet although the teachings remained the same. It has nothing 'evil' whatsoever. Very often there are misunderstandings - for example why are there wrathful figures in Tibetan Buddhism? It symbolises the wrathfulness towards ignorance and ego... but the underlying essence of it is Compassion.
For more details you may want to ask in my forum although I am not an expert in Tibetan Buddhism.
I am not sure about Burma Buddhism, but I believe it will be the same case as Thai Buddhism.Originally posted by laoda99:hmmm.....but I think it is the same for burma buddhism as well....the king can't stop the pple from folk spirits practice that's why he incorporate into burma buddhism......
syncretism takes place everywhere.....
This is why your own intuition is so important. Use your discernment to discriminate fact from fiction.Originally posted by laoda99:AEN>
if someone take ur buddhist scriptures.......cut it into half.......distort it by saying something else rather than wat buddha has taught.....do u still think it is rising spirituality or dun recognise it like the falugong and tien dao?
if intuition can be trusted to descriminate fact from fiction than there would be world peace!Originally posted by shade343:This is why your own intuition is so important. Use your discernment to discriminate fact from fiction.
let me share with you the tien dao teachings: they believe that tien dao is the origin of all religions, ie buddhism, islam, christianity etc all originated from tien dao, tats y u will see all sorts of deities on a typical tien dao altar.Originally posted by laoda99:since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....
Ur second para is as good as saying the bible we have is false....haizzz.....open mind?