Ask a Buddhist, ask me anything Options

Hello, I am here to help you all develop a better understanding of Buddhism, and clear up any misunderstandings you may have. I am from the Theravada sect, which is the following of the original teachings of Buddha. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about Buddhism.

Glad to see a true buddhist to the site. First thing is welcome and hope you stay a while and lend us your insight on buddhism and other threads from a buddhist point of view. Don't worry will be back with questions later. There are many here I believe who also have questions.

To what extent is Buddhism theistic? Are there any good introductory books on Buddhist thought?

To what extent is Buddhism theistic? Are there any good introductory books on Buddhist thought?

Many who learn about Buddhism become shocked and started labeling it an "atheist" religion. This is not entirely true. It depends on your interpretation of the word "atheist". If atheism means not believing in the existence of God/Gods, Buddhism is surely NOT atheistic. If atheism means not believing a God/Gods was the beginning and created the universe, then Buddhism would be considered atheistic.

We believe in the existence of Gods, and we also are aware how much more powerful they are than us. However, we believe that they (like anything else) are impermanent, therefore subject to death and rebirth elsewhere. We also dont believe that these beings created us. We see existence as a never ending cycle without a beginning or an end. When most Gods came into existence, they witnessed the formation of the solar system, as well as evolution of life on earth, and this lead to the assumption that they must have created everything which formed before them.

"good question, good answer" is a very informative book, the way the author words things makes buddhist beliefs much more understandable to outsiders than most texts I've seen. here is a link to it: http://www.cambodianview.com/questionandanswer.html

This post has been edited by mrbrycel: Dec 23 2007, 04:24 PM

Thank you for the answer and the link.

...and welcome to MuslimOnline! I'm the token Christian moderator

So what is the differnce between the indian style budda and the oriental style budda.

Yay you joined. so happy to see you hear mate. Hope you like it. You can be more open about what you say here compared to ctf. So glad you are here.

Can you remind me of what the 4 noble truths are please?

What there is differnt sect? Please explain on that also.

and welcome.

some questions.

- what is the aim of Buddhism?

- do Buddhists have a holy book?

- do they have something like a pilgrim?

- what is the difference between Hinduism?

- how old is your religion?

- what are the benefits?

thanks in advance

Here is a quick site to look at and maybe answer some questions or create more. We don't want to overwelm our new friend do we.


mrbrycel you can answer mine when you have a free moment, no rush.

and welcome.

some questions.

- what is the aim of Buddhism?

- do Buddhists have a holy book?

- do they have something like a pilgrim?

- what is the difference between Hinduism?

- how old is your religion?

- what are the benefits?

thanks in advance

-The Dalai Lama said the purpose is, "to be happy." It's basically to renounce this world and achieve enlightenment through the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths (basically, man suffers, he suffers because he desires, release from desire = release from suffering, the way to do so is the Eightfold Path. This is the simple version, without the full intricacies).

-Holy books. The Tipitaka is the main one for the Therevadas (strict doctrine of the Elders), while there are many sutras as well for the other sects.

-The visiting of the four holiest sites is usually considered optional, but is supposed to be a moving experience.

-Hinduism has castes. Buddhism doesn't. Hinduism says there has to be a singular consciousness from which all the divine being stem. Buddhism doesn't place as much importance on a higher being. Hindus love their holidays, and many do drink. Buddhist actually have a precept against drinking/use of intoxicants. There are many other differences as well, these are just a few bigger ones.

-Buddhism is generally seen as dating to around 500 BCE, but I don't know the exact dates off the top of my head for the enlightenment of Siddhartha Guatama, etc.

-Benefits include that it is generally peaceful, tolerant, non-violent, virtuous, and open to individual interpretation. I greatly admire Buddhists, actually, and I think it's a wonderful life philosophy and/or religion, depending on your view. It's not my choice, but hey, why destroy their so called "idols" when they are not what they're claimed to be (the Buddha was not a god, he claimed to be only a man)?

Buddhism is my "home away from home" and I'm really enjoying the addition of this thread so thanks very much!

and welcome.

some questions.

- what is the aim of Buddhism?

- do Buddhists have a holy book?

- do they have something like a pilgrim?

- what is the difference between Hinduism?

- how old is your religion?

- what are the benefits?

thanks in advance

-The Dalai Lama said the purpose is, "to be happy." It's basically to renounce this world and achieve enlightenment through the Eightfold Path and the Four Noble Truths (basically, man suffers, he suffers because he desires, release from desire = release from suffering, the way to do so is the Eightfold Path. This is the simple version, without the full intricacies).

-Holy books. The Tipitaka is the main one for the Therevadas (strict doctrine of the Elders), while there are many sutras as well for the other sects.

-The visiting of the four holiest sites is usually considered optional, but is supposed to be a moving experience.

-Hinduism has castes. Buddhism doesn't. Hinduism says there has to be a singular consciousness from which all the divine being stem. Buddhism doesn't place as much importance on a higher being. Hindus love their holidays, and many do drink. Buddhist actually have a precept against drinking/use of intoxicants. There are many other differences as well, these are just a few bigger ones.

-Buddhism is generally seen as dating to around 500 BCE, but I don't know the exact dates off the top of my head for the enlightenment of Siddhartha Guatama, etc.

-Benefits include that it is generally peaceful, tolerant, non-violent, virtuous, and open to individual interpretation. I greatly admire Buddhists, actually, and I think it's a wonderful life philosophy and/or religion, depending on your view. It's not my choice, but hey, why destroy their so called "idols" when they are not what they're claimed to be (the Buddha was not a god, he claimed to be only a man)?

I found that very helpful.

Sorry for my delay. I haven't had a chance to hop on a computer yet, and before it wasn't letting me post on my sidekick, but now it works. MuslimMusician answered most of the questions pretty accurately but I'm going to give my answers as well.

4 noble truths:
-there is dukkha(suffering/unsatisfactoriness/unhappiness)
-attachment, clinging, and craving is the cause of dukkha
-ending attachment, clinging, and craving will end dukkha
-following the path to ending dukkha through the eightfold path

Asian and Indian Buddhism: Therevada is the original sect from india, which is now mainly found in sri lanka, burma, thailand, laos, and cambodia. You may be confused by the laughing buddha (fat laughing monk looking character) who is a much more recent chinese buddha than the historical Buddha. But the historical buddha (Guatama Siddartha) is from India and is the founder of Buddhism. Theravada follows the original teachings of the historical Buddha, and other more modern sects like mahayana, zen, tibeten, etc. Have different interpretations of the teachings.

What sect are you?: I am from the Theravada sect

What is the aim of Buddhism?: to end dukkha, which leads to Nirvana and out of the endless cycle of rebirth

Does Buddhism have a holy book?: yes, its called the Pali Canon

Buddhism and Hinduism:
-Hinduists believe in Atma(soul/self),
-Buddhists believe in Anatta(non existence of a self).
-Hinduists believe in Reincarnation
-Buddhists believe in Rebirth
-Hinduists believe that the God Brahma is creator
-Buddhists don't believe in a creator and believe Brahma's delusions lead to his belief that he created

How old?: Buddha's enlightenment and beginning of teaching of the dhamma was around 480 BC.

Benefits?: Peacefulness, ending dukkha, learning the highest level of love and compassion (to all beings), developing a more complex understanding of everything. One thing I love about Buddhism is that it does not at all contradict proven science, yet it doesn't deny spirituality.

I'm in the process of writing a text which I will adress all common misconceptions about buddhism. But there is one I'd like to adress here to make sure nobody wrongly judges buddhism:

"Buddhists worship the historical Buddha and think he's a God":

Like MuslimMusician said, Buddha was not a God, and he made it very clear that he never wanted to be worshipped or known as a God. He also was against any statues or pictures of his image as it might one day appear to be idol worshipping. However, after his death, Buddhism started to die down a lot and many followers went back to Hinduism. Buddhisms only symbols were a pink lotus, an 8 spoked wheel, and a bhodi tree. Statues and images were made as a symbol that Buddhists could identify with.

A Buddha statue is not an Idol, but a symbol. It is no different than using a cross as a symbol of Jesus Christ.

"Well if you don't worship him, why do you bow to his statue at the temple?"

In most parts of the world, where the level of respect has dropped so greatly during the years, bowing might appear to be worship. But in Asian and Indian culture, this is an expression of high respect. We bow before the symbol of our teacher(because he is no longer here in the physical form), to pay respect to him. We also bow before the monks, to pay respect to them. I assure you this is not worship, but paying of respect to the teachers which bless us with their knowledge and wisdom.

"Then why have I heard Native Theravadins call Buddha God?"

I will quote a topic from a topic on E-Sangha where i explained the answer to this question:

"Most of you have probably figure this out already, but for those who haven't, and are wondering this questions, I will explain what I have figured out.

When I began studying buddhism, this confused me a lot. My girlfriend's mom, who is from Cambodia(a theravadin buddhist country), when speaking English, would refer to Buddha as "God". She would say "just how in America, the people who go to church have Jesus as God, and in our temples, he is our God." But when she would speak khmer, she would call him the khmer word for Buddha which is "Preah". I was confused when doing further research on buddhism and reading that Buddhists don't believe in God, or that Buddha is a God. She would describe "when he turned into God", which confused me even more. This was not just her, but many of my friends parents as well. After doing my own studies on buddhism, I finally understood what it was, and even though I had been calling myself buddhist for a while, it was not until I understood buddhism that I really considered myself buddhist.

Once I went to a Cambodian temple, and being the only caucasian always seems to draw attention, so one of the monks who spoke little english asked me "do you believe in Buddha?" I said yes, but I didn't quite understand what he meant by "believing in buddha".

I think I finally realized the problem when looking up enlightenment in a english-khmer dictionary. I showed my girlfriends mom the word and asked her what it meant, and she said "when Preah turns into God".

It was then I realized that this was not a lack of understanding or knowledge, but a mistranslation of words. Cambodia is a buddhist country, where buddha, or "preah" is seen as the highest figure. America is a christian society where "God" is usually seen as the highest figure. When people from buddhists countries come to America, that's how they base their translations. They translate "Preah" to God because it is the word for the highest figure. Buddha became a Buddha through his enlightenment. So turning into Buddha, the highest figure, would in America commonly be translated to "turning into God". "Believing in God" is the most important thing in being a christian, so "believing in buddha" is a mistranslation of "following the dhamma" or "being a buddhist". I think my girlfriends mom also believes that Jesus was another enlightened Buddha. This is from Cambodia's highest figure being an enlightened Buddha, leading to the assumption that other country's highest figures are the same. Just as many Americans see asia bowing to a Buddha statue at temples and assume they are "worshipping him as a God", because America's highest figure is God.

So in conclusion, theravadins in America who refer to Buddha as "God" when speaking english, don't necessarily believe that Buddha is a God. Its simply a mistranslation based on similarities from their home society and America's society."

This post has been edited by mrbrycel: Dec 27 2007, 05:22 AM

Sorry about hijacking that, mrbrycel, I didn't answer very completely, just a few little basics I've picked up over the years (I dabbled in Theravada before deciding on Islam). I like Buddhists, and most of the bhikku and bhikkuni I've met are really nice and interesting to talk to.

No problem! People just want to learn about Buddhism, whether its from you or me, it doesn't matter. We both have knowledge in the subject and can both help explain

What is the buddhist perception of what happens at and after death?

Sorry for my delay. I haven't had a chance to hop on a computer yet, and before it wasn't letting me post on my sidekick, but now it works. MuslimMusician answered most of the questions pretty accurately but I'm going to give my answers as well.

4 noble truths:
-there is dukkha(suffering/unsatisfactoriness/unhappiness)
-attachment, clinging, and craving is the cause of dukkha
-ending attachment, clinging, and craving will end dukkha
-following the path to ending dukkha through the eightfold path

Asian and Indian Buddhism: Therevada is the original sect from india, which is now mainly found in sri lanka, burma, thailand, laos, and cambodia. You may be confused by the laughing buddha (fat laughing monk looking character) who is a much more recent chinese buddha than the historical Buddha. But the historical buddha (Guatama Siddartha) is from India and is the founder of Buddhism. Theravada follows the original teachings of the historical Buddha, and other more modern sects like mahayana, zen, tibeten, etc. Have different interpretations of the teachings.

What sect are you?: I am from the Theravada sect

What is the aim of Buddhism?: to end dukkha, which leads to Nirvana and out of the endless cycle of rebirth

Does Buddhism have a holy book?: yes, its called the Pali Canon

Buddhism and Hinduism:
-Hinduists believe in Atma(soul/self),
-Buddhists believe in Anatta(non existence of a self).
-Hinduists believe in Reincarnation
-Buddhists believe in Rebirth
-Hinduists believe that the God Brahma is creator
-Buddhists don't believe in a creator and believe Brahma's delusions lead to his belief that he created

How old?: Buddha's enlightenment and beginning of teaching of the dhamma was around 480 BC.

Benefits?: Peacefulness, ending dukkha, learning the highest level of love and compassion (to all beings), developing a more complex understanding of everything. One thing I love about Buddhism is that it does not at all contradict proven science, yet it doesn't deny spirituality.

awsome. Can you tell me of how another Budhist sect differs in belief to yours? any sect I don't mind. Also how did the laughing Budha arise and what is his purpose, what does he represent? We used to have a quite large one in our house but we had to get did of him cas as a child I had horrific nightmares of it coming to kill me and I would get so scared of it that myparents had to get rid of it.
don't think I could be a budhist I ahve loads of desires.

After death, one's consciousness or "spirit" is reborn into a new life in accordance to its karma. One with bad karma would be reborn in lower realms such as hell, realm of demons, realm of ghosts, as an animal. One with good karma would be reborn in higher realms such as human rebirth and the many different heavenly planes. Life on each of these planes of existence is impermant. So whether you a human, animal, in heaven, or in hell, your life will one day come to an end and you will be reborn elsewhere.

Nirvana is the only way out of the never ending cycle of rebirth. Human rebirth is the best rebirth for buddhists because it is easiest to reach enlightenment. Hell's great amount of suffering makes it hard, and heaven's great amount of pleasure makes it hard. Human life has an a pretty equal amount of pleasure and pain, so it is the easiest.