Buddhism isn’t really a religion, the way I understand it, it’s not trying to sell anything like religions do, it’s more of a philosophical system, with psychological exercises and disciplines that to this day have proven to be of profound positive mental health impact.
Then people went and built statues of Siddhartha Gautama, which he supposedly had asked not to happen. Then there’s the “fat Buddha” from China, who was actually someone who lived almost two millennia after, and is known there as “Budai”.
Those statues and idols have nothing to do with what Buddhism originally proposes, in a nutshell: there is suffering in this world and life, how can we be free of suffering?
Just as Christianity is not a unified church, and is divided into Orthodox, Protestants, Catholics, evangelists, Baptists, and the bazillion of other denominations, Buddhism is very different ranging from extreme practices of Shingon sect, to a very practical philosophy of Dogen’s Zen Buddhism.
Buddhism is many things, and religion as well.
Buddhism is a religion, just not in the Abrahamic sense. Like the three Abrahamic religions there is more and less philosophical interpretations that feel less religion like, taoism for instance. Also it’s not as proselytizing as the other main religions.
However it remains a supernatural interpretation of the working of the universe with an implied morality and subjugation to the tenets of that system.
There is a mysticism aspect that falls under the umbrella of Buddhism, too. Like if one is enlightened sufficiently, they can ascend to another life form after death, otherwise it’s reincarnation to try again. I think there’s more to it than that, but honestly haven’t delved too much into it because the philosophy is where the useful stuff is.
And ironically, an aspect of enlightenment is accepting that suffering is a part of life so that you don’t suffer more being upset that you have some suffering. Getting that one was like a switch for me and life has generally been much happier. Things don’t “ruin my day” anymore.
I don’t know that Jesus asked for a church to be founded either, or left behind any guidance on how to organize it or run it properly. If SG specifically said “don’t do this” then wow that’s even worse that they did. But it seems like much the same deal all around.
His noodleness is the one true savior! Ramen!
Praise Bob!
Heathen! Praise Joe!
🙏
Gods are mythical creatures,
Religious stories are fables,
Beliefs are opinions
Ignorance is bliss
Some delusions can bring comfort for life. Its not all bad.
A population trained to believe without critically thinking is dangerous to everyone.
Thats a fair point but eternalism is always harmful.
I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM). Bow before me, fools
Something can be untrue without being a lie. Generally we like to say that for something to be a lie requires an intent to deceive. If I tell you “the next bus is coming at 3:30pm” and it arrives at 3:32, was I lying? No, the bus was just late.
Anyway, most of these religions are very old and it’s hard to say we know anything about the mindset of the people who started them. Having said that, Scientology is not so old and based on Hubbard’s other writings we could probably make a solid case that he was intending to deceive people. So I don’t mind if you call that one a lie!
I’m not a myth! Could a myth type a comment on Lemmy?
Take that, atheists!
What a Buddhist thing to say.
Hindu lore is pretty sick. Any story that involves an individual named “The Destroyer” is pretty ducking sick.
Just read the stories,(just don’t take it seriously) they are like Avengers without any corporate bullshit. With my totally unbiased opinion some are more fun then others. (Polytheism>Animism>Monotheism). And their time line doesn’t change just because Disney stock didn’t rise.
Bad news about the social construct of ‘delusion’
whether a belief is a “delusion” or not has a lot more to do with whether it is socially convenient to those immediately surrounding you and a lot less to do with factual truth
The way I see it all religions are mythology, stories that cannot be proven yet stand as the foundation for civilization as we know it. They serve as the cornerstone for nearly everything and teach lessions that are objectively good. They also allow us to understand how we interact and perceive the world around us.
The way I see it, you’re allowed to be wrong
Do myths not teach lessions, I think we can simultaneously understand that they’re myths and also that tell alot about ourselves (and the people who make them).
What you are describing are human tendencies towards pro-social activity and cultural creation. Attributing them to the crappy hegemonic stories pushed by authoritarians and conquerors (all the pictured religions in the meme fall into this category) gives those crappy, boring, often antisocial stories more credit than they deserve.
Unless you have some really good examples for how a story about how some gimp-fet deity like Jesus or a family-abandoner like Siddhartha are foundational to, say, deconstructing global imperialism? Can I learn how to deconstruct global imperialism from Jesus, who suggested placating and appeasing violent imperialists? Is that “objectively good” to you?
not my religion.
Your religion is not a lie?
no, its nice.
deleted by creator
As a religious individual(/s), I totally agree with this. Except for my religion. Mine is totally right. Everyone else’s is crazy and wrong, but mine is correct.
Hey, me too!
That’s insane! Yours can’t be right because mine is correct.
Unless yours is the same as mine then I agree with you and are 100% in the right.
aLL ReLigiOnS aRE reALly AbOuT tHE saME uNdeRlYinG tHinG!! ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶
They are. It’s all about getting people to fall inline and kill those who won’t.
