I'm becoming more and more godless with age

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Alex123
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Alex123 »

It has to be reasoned belief. Otherwise person can indiscriminately believe in Zeus, Jesus, some sea-monster that needs worshiping, or whatever.
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Hanzze
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Hanzze »

So what in this (your) case is the reason(ing) your are refering to? The 5,000km fish? Dangerous, very dangerous.
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Alex123
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Alex123 »

Hanzze wrote:So what in this (your) case is the reason your are reffering about? The 5,000km fish? Dangerous, very dangerous.
To put aside teachings that contradict facts, other aspects of the teaching and are not useful. Not to have blind faith that every word was literally spoken by the Buddha and didn't undergo any kind of alteration within 2,500 years. Ultimately one has to use one's own discernment what is useful and what is not.
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Hanzze
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Hanzze »

So what discernment can your use as reasoning to reject faith in what you do not know jet?
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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Hanzze
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Location: Cambodia

Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Hanzze »

Maybe you like to give it a read: Faith In Awakening
Just that! *smile*
...We Buddhists must find the courage to leave our temples and enter the temples of human experience, temples that are filled with suffering. If we listen to Buddha, Christ, or Gandhi, we can do nothing else. The refugee camps, the prisons, the ghettos, and the battlefields will become our temples. We have so much work to do. ... Peace is Possible! Step by Step. - Samtach Preah Maha Ghosananda "Step by Step" http://www.ghosananda.org/bio_book.html

BUT! it is important to become a real Buddhist first. Like Punna did: Punna Sutta Nate sante baram sokham _()_
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DAWN
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by DAWN »

It's better to have faith rather doubt.

Faith is the love. Faith brings knowledge
Doubt is the fear. Doubt brings suffering
Sabbe dhamma anatta
We are not concurents...
I'am sorry for my english
daverupa
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by daverupa »

DAWN wrote:It's better to have faith rather doubt.
It's quite important to distinguish saddha from 'faith', in order to understand that knowledge, not belief, underlies the removal of the hindrance of doubt.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
Mawkish1983
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by Mawkish1983 »

Alex123 wrote:
Mawkish1983 wrote:Given that IQ apparently deteriorates with age, how does this fit with the topic title?
Experience and knowledge grows (hopefully) with age. IQ decline might become too severe after really old age and partially can be held in check through mental exercise, right diet, etc.
Oh, my point really was that:
1) the thread title suggests that age is inversely proportional to monotheist belief,
2) m0rl0ck suggested that IQ is inversely proportional to monotheist belief, and
3) I suggested that age is inversely proportional to IQ.

Aside from the fact that I don't think belief cannot be objectively quantitatively measured, one (or more) of these three statements cannot be true.

Edit: One could argue that point 1 is an individual case and so generalisations cannot be drawn. That's fine, but it calls into question whether the other two generalisations can be made; hence, my objection to m0rl0ck's claim.
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manas
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Re: I'm becoming more and more godless with age

Post by manas »

Hi all,

I wanted to thank everyone who replied for their input, before requesting that this topic be locked so it can slide peacefully into the abyss of old posts. It encapsulated a mood I had at the time, which passed, but I enjoyed the resulting conversation and did not want to terminate the topic until this had run it's course.

My current feeling is that how I phrased things was open to misinterpretation, maybe. If 'godless' means I do not believe in a divine, white-haired father figure who dispenses harsh but (according to his sense of justice) fair punishments and rewards to his 'chosen' or otherwise, then yep godless in that sense I am. But that does not mean I am not quite open to there being other realms and dimensions that we can only dream of, actully existing beyond our current senses' ability to perceive. So maybe 'godless' is too negative a term, but it worked for me at the time.

Let's remember that although Buddhism does not claim any 'one, ultimate, supreme god who should be worshipped by all', that it does admit to the existence of millions of other beings in dimensions higher than this one. Not that we should worship demigods, no; but we should also remember how they got there: by the power of good actions. So I did not mean any disrespect to those gods by this topic. I hope that clears up any misunderstanding.

Ok gods or no gods, back to the practice!

:namaste:
To the Buddha-refuge i go; to the Dhamma-refuge i go; to the Sangha-refuge i go.
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