God bless you Heiko, I wish you all the best, you probably haven't been on IB much, it's refreshing to get a different perspective.

Cheers,

Steve who cares to keep religion around for a while

Dear Heiko

Yes.

love, Heath

Yes! to your gentle vision and words that reflect the buddhist spirit. Thank you, Heiko for weaving logic with emotion. Your story brings to mind's eye a peaceful garden with you at the center. Thank you for sharing the garden that you nurture and share with us NOW. The world's people hunger for the fruits of this garden.

Trish ~~ Laughing Waters

Hello Heiko,

I think you;re tracking along in the right direction for sure. You seem like a truth seeker. Buddhism for you is a very personal thing, apparently, and you have integrated some of the Buddha's precepts in your individual approach to truth seeking.

I did, however notice a few things that you think characterize Buddhism in general, or as it is practiced in the East, which I think are not accurate.

First of all, let me state that I live with Chinese Buddhists, have been to temple with them and discussed many things with them and observed their practices.

I would characterize their kind of Buddhism as an organized religion, as opposed to your personal revelations concerning the deeper meanings of the Buddha's teachings.

Their Buddhism is absolutely community focused. It serves as the social hub for all the local Buddhists in much the same way that the local church serves as social hub for Southern Baptists. The temple is where people come together weekly as a whole, and the temple is very busy every weeknight with classes and such.

Members of the community gain recognition by participating in the activities of the temple, those who are wealthy and contribute a lot of money to the temple gain prestige and respect in the Buddhist Community.

Beyond the local temple, there is a huge Buddhist organization that runs Chinese language schools for the kids as well as coordinates many other community functions, including organizing festivals and celebrations as well as supports of various kinds for Chinese Buddhist families.

So I am pointing out that like many westerners, myself included, Buddhism has come through meditation, and our idea of Buddhism is very much influenced by Zen. We think of monasteries high in the mountains, where monks rigorously practice and study.

I am pointing out that Buddhism also exists as a social structure, as an organized religion. It has a popular form which is not based on solitary meditation and insights, but instead on a foundation of shared social customs.

Of my ChineseBuddhist friends, let me tell you - not a single one them - not a single one, mind you - practices meditation. Think about that. They do however, pray to the Buddha, whom they believe has some eternal existence in a spiritual realm.

Most Westerners come to Buddhism through experiments with Zen meditation. That is not at all how your average Chinese person comes to Buddhism.

They come to it through their family, with their parents taking them to temple starting in infancy, just as Christian parents take their babies to Church on Sundays. (In fact my friends have the same day - Sunday - as their temple day).

They are taught good karma and bad karma, and I can tell you its not much different from go to heaven/go to hell in the way it is taught to children.

I have seen Chinese teenagers reject Buddhism and strike out on their own spiritual search in exactly the same way western teenagers used to reject Christianity and strike out on their own spiritual search in the 1960s and 1970s, and for exactly the same reason: for them, Buddhism is a set of cultural conditionings pressed on them since infancy that they want to become free of.

Many of the young Chinese rebels embrace Christianity. For them, the kind of deep spiritual insights we got from reading about Zen and practicing meditation come from reading about Jesus and practicing deep prayer.

Am I making sense here?

I am simply pointing out that Buddhism exists as a traditional religion, with its own cultural trappings, and already many people are Buddhists that are not concerning themselves with any kind of deep spiritual truth seeking. They don't meditate, and in fact they may pray to Buddha for exactly the same reasons people pray to Jesus - for help with personal difficulties, for world peace, for healing for themselves and others, etc.

Finally, I'd like to point out that the Japanese warrior culture, that brought us thousands of Kamikaze bombers in WWII, plus hundreds of thousands of Japanese troops taught to fight to the death for the emperor, no matter the rightness or wrongness of the cause, was essentially a Buddhist culture.

It certainly does not characterize Japanese society now, any more than Nazism characterizes modern Germany.

I am simply pointing out that Buddhism also has given rise to cultures of violence at certain historical times.

Therefore I would be hesitant to claim that the world needs to adopt Buddhism as a religion for the entire planet.

I do, however, laud the idea that people all over the planet engage in the kind of deep search for spiritual truth that you have engaged in.

But that kind of truth seeking need not be attached to any single religion.

Chi and Chinese medicine

The reality of this life-force, or chi, is the center around which Oriental medicine is built. The atom and the cell are the starting points for the Western view of reality and medicine, but this vital chi is the starting point for the traditional Oriental view. It is chi that animates everything that lives, grows, and evolves-plants, animals, humans, even atoms and stars and unites them in one living whole. Western physicists see the universe as composed of matter and energy, and recognize the interaction of the two. Einstein's famous formula E=mc2 states that matter and energy can be transformed into each other in predictable ways. In traditional Oriental philosophy, both matter and energy are expressions of chi, and it is chi that governs their transformation into each other.

The traditional Chinese physician will acknowledge that we have cells and molecules in our bodies, but will say that it is the chi that moves them and makes them alive, and not the other way around. If the chi is strong and vibrant, the person will be in good health, be able to withstand stress, accomplish much in life, have a vital sexuality, and be more likely to live a long, natural life. If the chi is low and depleted, the person will be tired, run down, and in poor health. If chi is completely absent, the person will be dead.

Chi power demonstration...

Hi Yogi-One,

a good writeup, well said.

A Christian will have to learn freedom and truth, as a Christian. It can be done just as Buddha became enlightened and there is no reason to abandon anyone's faith to find the truth. The truth is there is all religions and it can be reached through all religions. The effort is in uniting of all religions by finding a common ground, not by eliminating the religions. Buddhism is as much of a religion as the rest of them. Same with a Jew and Muslim, as they will find the truth in their religion. And when we all find that one truth, then we will unite and not before. We still have a very long way to go. I think the problem is that when one becomes enlightened within a specific religion and tries to teach it, the truth never really comes thru and at many times, that's when a new religion begins or an old one transforms. Each of us has to reach the truth on our own and the minute we abandon what we perceive as a true path to pursue another path that we don't understand, then a shadow has been created, which is just another block in mankind's growth. Each of us needs to be what we are and from there reach for the truth. Even Jesus said that "the truth will set you free." Jesus reached enlightenment and knew the truth. I think the key is for each religion to expand enough to be tolerate of the other religions and then one day, we can all come together in truth, as we will know it when we see it. The light shines and cannot be hidden. Teach the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim, etc. - show them the light within, then they will know.

That's my 2 cents.

Love, Char

Jesus said, "If you do not believe in me, believe in my works". His works were the clarifying of the mind through healing and teaching.

I doubt daily.

weird!

How come?

I think that I understand you correctly: you are not saying to get rid of all religions, you are saying that in the future we should all focus on living together in harmony and peace and that buddhism gives you, personally, the freedom and the contents, i.e. the basis for such a life. Isn´t that something similar to Deepak´s thoughts?

Once the truth is organized it is corrupted. No longer the truth, but the organization. The organization becomes a way of life for people, who have offspring, and will defend the organization with their lives to protect their offspring’s future. The truth is long forgotten by this point. Religions, Unions, 'Political Correctness', Political Parties, particular issues.

I've become more of a Christian 'believer' by reading Buddhist authors (I recommend 'Living Buddha, Living Christ' by Thich Nhat Hanh). Buddhist thinking was much more effective at making me a Christian than any 'Jesus is Love' billboard. In this way present day Christianity has let down the masses. On one hand it's 'Jesus is love', which is a fine statement if you already have some piece of mind, but absurd to the point of cruelty to anyone in need. On the other hand is fear. If there is any fear in your worship (or whatever you want to call it) it's sure sign that your worship is skewed.

An hour of quantum contemplation (although, how long you did it really wouldn't matter, would it?) beats a lifetime of thinking I might be 'Left Behind'.

'They' have turned Buddha into a 'God'. I'm sure the same could be said for Christ. They were men who found a way, much like we could find a way. Quantum physics supports the resurrection.

Through my contemplation I also realize that all of this, the whole mess, serves the higher purpose, is what it is, and so no fault or judgment underlines these words. Compassion is the way, but my compassion, not my insisting on the practice of compassion of others, for I know they might be just having a difficult day (or life).