>> ^Shepppard:

Woah woah woah, say what you will about religion.

Don't fuck with Santa.


Hell yeah. All I ever got from Jesus was some crappy tasteless wafers and some watered down wine.

Santa got me a Millenium Falcon!

Santa > Jesus/Buddha/Allah/FSM

Well if this doesn't sell over-priced shoes made in 3rd world sweatshops, then I fear for my country.
Buddha bless Tiger Woods! *a tear*

Eat it Buddha!

That was excellent!

I'd like to dedicate this post to my extreme luck at having miraculously been able to survive to my current age without ever falling victim to:

AIDs, nuclear war, terrorism, salmonella, rabies, penis removal by a jealous lover, carpal tunnel syndrome, H1N1, hostage crisis, arson, skin cancer from global warming / ozone layer depletion, nanotechnology attack, killer bee stings, school gun violence, erectile dysfunction, guerrilla insurgents, sex-crazed porn addict serial killers, wrath of God / Muhammed / Shiva / Buddha / Flying Spaghetti Monster, testicular cancer, flesh eating bacteria, sticky pedals or exploding gas tanks in my car, stingrays piercing my heart, earthquakes / tsunamis / hurricanes / tornadoes, cellphone brain tumors, prostate cancer, anal probes (except to prevent prostate cancer), fundamental loss of reality due to playing video games, spontaneous human combustion,
...
..
.

In reply to this comment by GeeSussFreeK:
That is the same sound I make when the limited format of text fails to fully convey the ideas in my head! Like when 2 missiles pass each other in flight hehehe (they don't call them missiles for nothing I guess!)

Anyway, I didn't mean to exasperate you. This was not my intent. You are always a very insightful and humble person here on the sift, and for that you have my greatest respect. Here's to the next delightful convo!

i find you an interesting person also.
and one i feel i can discuss things with that others may either take offense or become indignant.
thats why i wrote you.not to be inflammatory but to suggest your over-simplification of buddhism/christianity may not be close to a reality but rather closer to the western worlds abridged and condensed version.
western philosophy/theosophy could not exist without eastern philosophy/theosophy, not the other way around.

i pointed out that many in the western world take a myopic stance,not intentionally i would presume but rather one set by culture.i was not implying that you are myopic but that you were espousing certain well-grooved tracks used by many concerning buddhism.soundbytes usually perpetrated by the church itself and then parroted.

it is interesting to note that even teillhard de chardin remarked on the similarities of christs teachings and buddha.this was rejected by the church but i tend to agree with chardin.

while i agree that text is not a suitable and contextual medium to express such dynamic concepts and philosophies let me make a few observations and you tell me what you think.
1.you stated that buddhism does not recognize the "changing soul".this is an incorrect statement due to the fact that just about every precept of buddhism stems from ones journey and the self realization that one must change,grow to move on to a greater consciousness.
the primary vehicle for this is forgiveness,but while in buddhism this is a starting point and eventually should lead to an awareness where forgiveness is moot due to the fact that your choices will no longer need to be forgiven,christianity tends to view forgiveness in the latter stages of awareness.
which one is correct?that is for you to decide.
2.you stated that KARMA is not a vehicle of divine salvation,but that is a misnomer,it is very much a vehicle of divine salvation due to the fact that buddhist view all life as divine.while christianity views humans as dirt,sinful and unclean and the only path to salvation is through jesus christ.this is a very complex paradigm and i do not do this subject justice but that can wait for another conversation.while the concept in itself is simple,to express it in all its simplicity takes volumes.(just look at all the writings on this subject,many many perspectives).

these are only a few points.points i make to show that coming from a christian perspective may color the beauty and depth of buddhism.i do not feel you are a fundamentalist and that is a good thing because the teachings of jesus are beautiful as they are succinct but if viewed only from the eyes of the church i have always felt the meat of jeus christ's teachings have gone either misinterpreted or outright twisted.then again,i view religion with a suspicious eye and read the teachings from a different vantage point.
does this mean i am right and my views infallible?
no..that would arrogant.
but it does mean i have the ability to glean understanding that is not tainted by the church because i view the teachings from a different angle.
studying cultural religious history has given me context to better understand those teachings.
that has been a work in progress for 25 years and im still going,still learning and still fascinated by it all.
as always my friend..a pleasure discussing my favorite subject with you.
till our next conversation.
namaste.

Our Lady Rosa Mystica has been a source of friction between Catholic and Buddhist communities in Crooswatta for years. In the last four years, extremists have stopped the construction of the church, which is near a Buddhist monastery. In 2006 and 2007, the Church was targeted by Buddhist extremists, and construction was halted.

(source)

There is an ongoing problem with over-aggressive Christian proselytizing conducted in a dishonest and unethical manner by some conservative evangelical groups. Missionaries have targeted the poor with offers of money if they would renounce the Buddha, for example. They have distributed inflammatory literature, such as pamphlets condemning the Buddha as a reincarnation of Satan.

(source)

Yeah, those innocent Christians just minding their own business....

Sometimes it's really easy to hate Christians, and totally understandable, too.

They prey on the weak. They constantly go around pushing their beliefs onto other people, and then they call anybody who finally gets sick of their shit and stands up to them an "extremist."

They've been doing it for hundreds of years.

I've been to all those places and then some. The wife and kid are going to Japan to see the wife's family this week and staying for some 3 weeks. I was to go, but had to cancel due to work obligations. I am rather upset about it actually.

If you get a chance. Go. Miyajima is very beautiful. If you time it right, you can see some amayzing 'No' plays. Go up the big hill there to see the monkeys. I spent a night in the area. It is worth it. Easy access to Hiroshima across the water. See the war museum (a humbling experience). Try Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki for lunch. Great stuff.

Fuji was also a wonderful trip. I spent 4 days at a Ryokan. Amazing traditional food. Bathhouse, and everywhere in was views of the mountain. From the room, the bathhouse, everywhere. Expensive, but worth every single darn penny. Also went up Fuji for some CRAZY panoramas. You do not have to go to the top to get amazing views. Easy to get a bus ride up to about the half way mark. Great for the young or old, or those who cannot hike the mountain. Shelter and services are there. Don't be fooled. It is a HUGE mountain you will be above the cloud line most likely. See the sunrise. It is something to not be missed. Scream banzai as the sun rises (leave the old WW2 movie prejudices behind.. shouting banzai has nothing to do with dive bombing).

Other places to see. Kyoto (temples, Maiko dance), Himeji (amazing castle), Nara (giant Buddha, temples, and wandering deer). If you can.. go west towards Beppu and Nagasaki. The Kyushu area has the best natural hot spas. Nagasaki has great seafood and fusion with Chinese and Dutch influences. The war museum is also a must stop. Learn a bit about the US and Australian POW's interned in a camp there that were killed by the 'bomb', which we in the west simply do not learn about in school.

Learn a bit of the language, absorb the culture. Have fun. It is easier to get around Japan than you realize. Most major train lines and roads in the larger cities have English lettering to help tourists.

Food isn't that expensive, and bargain hotels can be found easily enough. Even better if you know a local to tour you around!

>> ^gwiz665:We got a blasphemy law in Denmark too. It's bullshit!


Since you can't say it, let me help you out: God dammit, blasphemy laws suck more balls than Jesus, Allah, and Buddha in a threesome!

I thought these were supposed to be Buddha pears.

>> ^doremifa:
The bible needs to be revised.


Considering how much he is talking about Universities, I think the bible should be peer-reviewed. Mohammed, Abraham, Buddha, Vishnu, and the FSM can all have at it. I would pay enormous sums of money for that version.

that was a fantastic video!you should post it.i think its a valuable component and a great tutorial.
i agree wholeheartedly with the videos premise,and i think it also strengthens my position.
let me explain:
the reason why i stated it would be futile to argue one way other the other matters concerning faith was expressed quite eloquently in the video you shared.
i have no concrete evidence or data that can concretely convince you of anything.however,i do not reject or dismiss the findings of science in order for me to retain my faith.so while you will find me agreeing with you on many subjects concerning science,you will also find i will not put any facts on the table concerning my faith.because there are no facts and i am very aware of this.
maybe it would help if i gave you an idea how i view things:
http://www.videosift.com/video/Perceiving-Reality-A-useful-philosophy
notice the lack of dogma?of a bearded white dude with jealous,genocidal tendencies?
a total lack of judgment?
the video i shared is a very over-simplified explanation of how i view reality.
could i be wrong?
of course.my faith is not based on a book,or a theology so i have the freedom to be curious and ask questions.my faith is organic in its ability to evolve along with my understand of the universe.so if anything defines my faith,it would be science.
which is only limited by our ability to observe and test.
in my opinion,science is the testing and validating the observable physical universe.basically..the study of the creator.the more science uncovers the more that is revealed that is beautiful,poetic and far more complicated than any doctrine or dogma could ever imagine.

i state i am a man of faith because thats what it is..faith.i have faith that we all have a divine spark.a part of us that is sacred and connected to the creator/god/goddess/buddha/the All,whatever you wish to call it.we are all co-creators..we are all just "potential",raw and un-tapped.i cannot prove with any conclusive evidence that what i feel/think is correct.so it must be called what it is...faith.
we are mind/body/spirit.
i say this with conviction,but i have no way to prove this to you,and to try without any measurable means would insult you.so i dont try.

i shall give you one example where i hope you have experienced to relate,somewhat ,to what i am attempting to convey:
ever love a woman? ever love her so completely that when you were together it seemed you fell into her?and she you?where you both seemed to have created a space that was so lovely as to be over-powering?that when you were together time seemed to stop?
would you be insulted if someone said to you "bah,thats just chemicals and hormones.nothing more,nothing less".
but you KNEW..it was more,and to reduce it to mere chemicals and hormones just cheapened the experience.and if it IS just chemicals and hormones,electric synapses firing.then we should be able to replicate this affect yes?
but we cant..not yet at least.
is there something more? is it possible?
understand i am not trying to convince you of anything,i am just asking the same questions i ask myself.one of the millions i ask myself.
i left the church at 14 due to my pastors absolute failure to answer my questions.
because if you do a little research and study the history of the bible,qu'ran,torah et'al dogma and doctrine will fall short everytime.they are man made...its obvious.
but what of those questions?the answers is what i find most intimate and revealing.

i believe,through the experiences and encounters,that we are more than our sum parts.what that actually is,i do not know,but i am "faithful" we are more and shall continue to ask the questions.it is also for this reason i do not try to convince anybody else that my "faith" is valid in their eyes.that would be me seeking validation,and i need none.

the only thing i am wary of,and i think its a large reason why i do not attempt to convince anybody of my faith,is the trap of conflation.to use information and mold it to fit my world view.religious people do this ad nauseum,as do consprisy(sp?) theorists and politicians.while being faithful may fly in the face of logic,i do my best to employ logic as often as i can.
but when your questions deal with things outside the realm of the phyisical universe sometimes all you have is faith.

i am thoroughly enjoying this conversation my friend.i am doing my best to construct complete sentences and paragraphs for you.but i am the run-on-sentence king.you on the other hand,write beautifully.
thank you very much for your insight my friend.
the conversation continues.
till next time...namaste.

The Family does seem to be at least a secretive, powerful, religious fundamentalist organization, but nobody has any idea how accurate Sharlet's claims are. Authors routinely embellish things or make stuff up completely, and they have strong incentive to do so.

It seems to strain credulity that such a powerful organization that "fetishes secrecy" wouldn't do a background check on Sharlet before letting him view their innermost meetings.

A background check would have revealed that Sharlet is clearly a liberal who's against everything the Family stands for. Sharlet's uncle, who shares the same name, Jeff Sharlet, was a prominent Vietnamn peace activist, and Sharlet himself co-founded a clearly liberal religion magazine called "Killing the Buddha"(Wiki).

All I object to is media figures who don't respect how difficult it is to actually know something free of bias and inaccuracy. http://www.videosift.com/video/Richard-Feynman-on-Social-Sciences

Very good point Kagenin,

However the problem is that there is a difference between a philosophy and a religion.

If Jesus or Buddah had just written a book telling people to chill out and be nice to each other, that would have been great. The problem lies in that they (or the people who wrote their specific "holy text") took it a step further and said, this is MAGIC! Then, over the centuries that came after, people who had NOTHING to do with Jesus or Buddha came up with an endless chaotic list of random shit that had nothing to do with the original philosophy in order to solidify their own power and greed: gays are evil, priests can't get married, kill the infidels, kung fu is awesome.

The problem is that the so-called "legitimate" religions are just as tainted by imperfect humans who came up with their own bullshit in order to control people, gain wealth, and solidify power. To say that the American Evangelical Right, with all its hate-mongering, torture supporting, assassination endorsing has anything to do with Jesus is ludicrous.

Yes, Jesus, Buddha, Marcus Aurelius, Plato, Aristotle, Siddhartha, etc. all had excellent ideas, not all of them ended up being religions.

I'm not saying that Scientology is somehow legitimate, I'm just saying that the Boston Catholic priests were just as much pederasts as L. Ron Hubbard and their white-bearded god seems fine with an endless cavalcade of sex-abuse victims whose lives have been forever ruined by those who were supposedly "chosen by god" to serve in "his" name...

man, I love my sarcastic quotes and ellipsis!

I'd still say that Scientology is just plain wackier than nearly every other religion.

Jesus had some good stuff to teach, Buddha had some good stuff to teach, so did Confucious, Lao Tze, Muhammad, etc... As an atheist, I can acknowledge that history has a multitude of wise and enlightened people to draw upon for guidance.

L. Ron Hubbard was a failed Sci-Fi writer, and noted pederast. Scientology is bunk. If there's anything redeeming about it, I have yet to see proof.

Buddha frowned, I laughed.