Religion Thread: I never metaphysics I didn't like

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Religion Thread: I never metaphysics I didn't like

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Thirteen Orphans posted:

Namo Trump Butsu

A shocking cutting act whose outrageousness forces us to contemplate that the buddha lives in all of us, that even the odious and obnoxious are valuable teachers of the dharma as they let us practice patience. One is also reminded of the great vow and of the buddha's statement that even Devadatta and Mara would one day achieve enlightenment. 10 out of 10 would skillful means again.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2021 03:39

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 07:16

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Lutha Mahtin posted:

this is an on trump, right?

no this is a genuine Buddhist thing

quote:

There was a great Buddhist meditation teacher named Atisha who was traveling to Tibet to meet with the people there. He had heard that, in general, the people of Tibet were all very good-natured, open-minded, and flexible. He chose to bring with him a mean-tempered tea boy to keep himself �on his toes� and to stay aware. Tea ceremonies are generally intended to be peaceful, methodical, and slow-paced rituals which serve as a contemplative experience for those involved. The Bengali Tea Boy�s ceremonies were different. He broke dishes, threw plates, spilled the tea, shouted, and was quite annoying to all involved. His tea ceremonies were a chaotic mess. Nonetheless, the meditation teacher chose to continue to bring the Bengali Tea Boy with him wherever he went. When asked why he continued to employ this terrible tea boy, Atisha stated �I want him with me because he is my greatest teacher. He reminds me to be patient. He reminds me to be compassionate. And, he gives me many opportunities to practice tolerance.�

# ¿ Mar 14, 2021 03:39

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

HopperUK posted:

I dunno I kind of assumed the Bengali kid in question was having a ball being a grumpy careless shithead. Living his best life.

Monks in buddhist thought serve as a "field of merit" to the laity meaning that giving them offerings is an easy and convenient way to get good karma like a Merit 7/11. The tea boy is cussing Tibetan kings out for wanting a refill all the way to heaven.

# ¿ Mar 16, 2021 01:06

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Lutha Mahtin posted:

i like the gospel where young jesus curses a kid to death for bumping into him. then when the kid's parents come to joseph and mary to complain about it, jesus strikes them blind

as someone who works in customer service i relate deeply to this version of jesus

# ¿ Mar 18, 2021 01:22

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

young me: i can't believe god would send a bear to devour some kids because they mocked Elisha for being bald. How awful!

old me: next time send a tiger

# ¿ Mar 18, 2021 03:00

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

The only argument I could make is that he means orthodox as in mainstream christianity rather than orthodox as in Eastern christianity and then you could get to how evangelicals talk about how marriage mirrors the relationship between Christ (man) and the church (woman) which does strongly imply that, theologically speaking, Jesus bones the church down

# ¿ Mar 20, 2021 00:03

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Spacegrass posted:

Could also mean there is more than one God. Sub-Gods or whatever. Anyway, the confusion is overwhelming to me.

Hmm sounds like you might want to consider Mahayana buddhism which is simultaneously atheistic, polytheistic, and monotheistic.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2021 02:58

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

White Coke posted:

L

I was seeing "Pagan" trend, and it was interesting to read people explain why Easter isn't just a repurposed pagan holiday Christianity stole.

Really just wish christians would embrace skillful means like buddhists do when this topic comes up

# ¿ Apr 4, 2021 20:49

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Christians imo are overly-obssesed with purity. Many christian rituals have pagan origins and nowadays Christians freak out about it instead of realizing that this was an intentional choice missionaries did. Similarly many people will say this thing or that possesses impure origins that it was devised as an evil thing and because of this it is impossible for it to be used for good. This is a rhetorical technique I see a lot in leftist spaces especially.

Skillful means has several meanings but one is basically recognizing that the world is impure and using that impurity against itself in order to bring about purity.

When the christian missionaries came to pagan europe they believed that the rituals possesed no meaning in of themselves and simply repurposed them to remind the converts of christian ideas.

The buddha did something similar when he encountered a man at a crossroads who worshipped the 6 directions for no other reason that everyone in his family had done so. Rather than telling him to abandon his ancestors and traditions the buddha instead told him to meditate on an aspect of a buddhist society when worshipping a particular direction and the obligations and respect he must afford that person regardless of whether they're high status or low status.

I know that isn't clear but skillful means is one of those things which is best described by showing it in action, that trump buddha statue was also skillful means because while shocking and seemingly blasphemous it did actually point to important buddhist ideas when you contemplated it.

BIG FLUFFY DOG fucked around with this message at 22:37 on Apr 12, 2021

# ¿ Apr 12, 2021 20:50

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Reason is fundamentally dualistic and therefore inadequate in detailing and understanding non-dualistic concepts that dominate religion. Its at best a crutch used for when you are not yet capable of approaching the divine on its own terms

# ¿ Apr 28, 2021 18:11

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Crossposting from the buddhism thread jn the interest of ecumenicalism

BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:

consulted amitabha and he said these videos will answer your questions and bring enlightenment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mULvGLOKVCA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssx67FDiYFI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_4AoQvIQ_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UN8x1ZRdYI

# ¿ Apr 30, 2021 01:08

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

there's a definite strain among conservatives, Scalia being the most prominent example, that really really likes using big words needlessly and its always struck me as coming from a place of insecurity where they're aware of how much the intelligentsia leans left/liberal and thinks knowing what munificent means validates their opinions.

In happier news, just as the buddha converted Angulimalla a depraved serial killer to goodness and calmed a drunken elephant intent on killing him, a goose, the most evil of all creatures, has taken refuge within the 3 gems.

# ¿ May 7, 2021 03:01

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

In Mahayana thought all creatures are capable of understanding the dharma and achieving nirvana. There is no soul in buddhism but alll beings possess a buddha-nature.

There are 6 "worlds" a being can be reborn into. They are the realm of Gods (Heaven), the relam of Demi-gods (Asura), the realm of humans, the realm of animals, the realm of hungry ghosts who have an overwhelming obssession of some kind that can never be filled , and hell.

They are arranged like a pyramid where as you go up Gods has the fewest beings but the most pleasure (it still experiences suffering thougjh) while Hell has the most beings and the most suffering. All beings in the 6 worlds are impermanent, when you are in heaven you are not there forever but will eventually die and be reborn based on the unmanifested karma from your time in heaven.

As a british person (I assume based on your name) a good way to think about is like the promotion/relegation system in Football. If you do poorly you get knocked down, if you do well bumped up and if you're midtable you stay where you are next season.

Now a 6th level football club is going to have an extremely difficult time making its way to the premiership because while in theory its possible in real life they're going to not have enough money or fans to sign the kinds of players they'd need. In buddhism too there are not as many opportunities for a being in hell to gain the karma necessary to be promoted to the next world, not only that but the only role models they have are other beings in hell. Because of this you have a lot of practices, rituals and doctrines which are based around loving around with Karma that the buddhas and bodhissatvas set up due to the unfairness of the karmic system (the buddhas are not creator gods so there's no theological issues with buddhists just going yeah no this system does suck thats why we're trying to undermine it.) So Kshitigarbha for example despite having insanely good merit dwells by choice in the lowest level of hell where the worst of the worst live so that they can learn how to escape the cycle of existence or at least hell.

Amitabha, whose name the monks and goose are reciting in that video swore a vow that anyone who asks will be taken upon death to a special "pure land" where there are no distractions of any kind at the end of which they will either escape existence or return to Samsara as a boddhisatva to help others.

In buddhism the goal is to either escape Samsara or become a buddha depending on the school so generally overly focusing on karma and where you can be reborn as isn't helpful. Humans are actually considered the best world in buddhist philosophy because the Gods and Demigods tend to have little desire to escape Samsara or do good works that will prevent them from falling to the hell worlds due to being too sheltered to understand how omnipresent suffering is.

# ¿ May 9, 2021 18:28

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Fritz the Horse posted:

TIL apparently Buddha prescribed cow urine as a medicine for most/all diseases and ailments. It's one of the Buddha's most ignored teachings.

http://www.meditation2.net/htdocs/Books9/Bhikkhu_Dhammajiva_The_Buddha_Medicine.htm

I don't have a better link, was just told this offhand

Uh excuse me Mr "most ignored" but the BJP has been promoting this as their preferred treatment for COVID in the absence of oxygen

# ¿ May 10, 2021 20:39

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Under the laws of the universe matter is never created nor destroyed, merely transformed. Energy is never created nor destroyed merely transformed. Momentum is never created nor destroyed merely transformed. The laws of karma amd rebirth are taking these things observed in the physical world and saying that they apply to the mental/spiritual world as well.

If you burned a campfire would you say that smoke is the same thing as the wood and the fire? And if you would say they are different does that mean burning did not take place that rather the logs disappeared to another world while the smoke simultaneously popped into existence?

Consciousness, emotions, will, the senses and the body do not disappear upon death, they are separated and then transformed into other things. What they are transformed into depends upon your actions and whether they were good or bad. Eternalism and Nihilism are not the only two options, there is a middle path and this path is buddhism.

# ¿ May 11, 2021 14:24

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

White Coke posted:

So, in this analogy the logs are the individual, the fire is the passage of time leading to their death, and the smoke is the immaterial part of the being that persists after death? But the smoke will then turn into another log, and will keep doing so until it decides that it doesn't like fire. I don't know a whole lot about the Ship of Theseus Problem, but it seems to usually be applied to objects not people. I don't feel I can comment any more on the subject other than to say that even if all of the original components of the mind/spirit are replaced, and all of the initial replacements are replaced too, unless it all happens at once there's a continuity there which says to me that you can't just say that after a certain point you've got an entirely new entity that also somehow has continuity with another entity even though they have nothing in common.

this continuity is the reason why we persist in the delusion of self. buddhism treats the you of now as different than the you of 5 minutes ago as the conditions surrounding you are different. if you disagree with this you disagree with this. there's no more that can be said about that. i'm not trying to convince you just understand the concept although i am certain you will disagree with it. Anatta is one of the hardest concepts to grasp in buddhism and is extremely prone to misinterpretation . It can be understood as a restatement of Sunyata or emptiness the other hardest concept in buddhism extremely prone to misinterpretation. Sunyata is the doctrine that nothing is self-existent, an idea which i know you disagree with as a christian but which is critical to the buddhist worldview.

Who you "are" comes not from an interior place but rather from your friends, your family, your experiences, your likes dislikes and so forth. But those things too are not self-existent your friends have who they "are" come from their friends, family, experiences etc which does not entirely overlap with yours. Who their friends' friends are comes from their friends, family, experiences and so on until you realize that your identity depends in part upon a 19th century Mongolian sheep-herder or a 1930s Egyptian factory owner. Therefore everything you do will affect everything else, everything else will effect you.

In short, the best summation of it imo is the old cliche: We are all connected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxh6bRreTjA

# ¿ May 11, 2021 22:32

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

The genesis of the universe is considered an imponderable when his disciples asked the buddha about it, he responded with the parables of the poisoned arrow.

A hunter who is struck with a toxic poisonous arrow in his leg that is killing him. He goes to a village nearby and finds a doctor. Through luck the doctor is familiar with poison and in fact has an antidote prepared. However first he must remove the arrow from the mans leg so it will stop putting poison into his system. When he tells the man this the man refuses. He demands to know where the poison came from, what kind of marksman shot him, where the marksman may have been hiding, what reason the marksman had for shooting him. The doctor pleads with him to let him remove the arrow but the man refuses until all his questions are answered. The man dies due to his insistence on asking irrelevant questions.

The buddha has provided the antidote to Samsara and suffering. Through adopting his teachings this can be observed through the improvements in our own life.

In my opinion no religious or scientific explanation of the genesis of the universe that has been provided is completely satisfactory. All explanations eventually run into the problem of explaining of how of a thing came into being from nothing. There is no difference I can see between saying that the universe was always been here or that a particular deity has always been here. I really don't understand why people might say the former is foolish but the latter is just common sense.

Of all the religions I actually appreciate that buddhism is the only one that's honest about this insufficiency.

BIG FLUFFY DOG fucked around with this message at 19:40 on May 14, 2021

# ¿ May 14, 2021 19:37

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

zhar posted:

The Dalai Lama is recognised as the reincarnation of Avolekiteshvara the bodhisattva of compassion which informs the ruling style.

Should be noted that Tibetan practice places a higher emphasis on wisdom kings and wrathful manifestations of the buddhas/bodhisattvas than other schools so this dude, for example is also a form of Avalokitesvara.

Nowadays the Dalai Lama doesn't really do this but his previous incarnations would lead armies in battle, and invoke Mahakala to burst dams and wash opposing armies away etc. Good write-up on the subject from a Tibetan buddhist in the buddhism thread when asked about this:

Paramemetic posted:

Okay so I'm not a Tibetan culture scholar. I'm a white guy what speaks Tibetan and has been around Tibetan culture, but I'm not a Tibetan or a scholar of it. I am gonna base this on what I've been told by Tibetan people and people in the Tibetan milieu but I encourage you to remember that that's coming to you through a filter.

So Tibet is a warrior culture first. The Tibetan empire was one of the largest empires in the world at its height. Its history is one of warlords. I did an editing pass on my lineage's history for the lineage at one point and even Buddhist lineage histories are like "at this point the monastery was destroyed by a warlord but then the Lama fled and came back with his warband and restored it and then..." Tibetans will refer to themselves as "a warlike people, difficult to tame" and mention this as evidence of why Buddhism is good as hell- if Buddha's teachings could tame the Tibetans, they must be amazing.

One of the greatest heroes of Tibetan culture is Guru Rinpoche, Padmasambhava. His shtick as a tantric master was cruising all over Tibet and subduing the demons and land-owning spirits and making them sign contracts not to hurt people and to practice Dharma. One of the protectors of a monastery I stayed at is a pact-bound gyalpo spirit, not an enlightened being. He was sworn to serve the Dharma by a tantric warlord that basically beat him up.

This is the culture from which the aesthetics arise. So the artwork reflects the nature of a spirit and its function. They are all full of symbols. In general, if you understand the cultural symbolism, you can look at any thangka (a type of Dharma painting of a deity, story, etc) and figure out that being's nature.

Spirits come in three flavors: peaceful, wrathful, and semi-wrathful. Peaceful spirits have smiling faces, wrathful ones have fangs showing and are angry, and semi-wrathful have fangs showing angrily but smiling faces. These represent their methods of interaction. Intense flaming dudes like Mahakala with swords that are jacked and standing on bodies and things are symbolic of the function. Mahakala for example is on fire (wisdom fire) with wrathful face (wrathful means of defeating Dharma enemies), a sword (cuts through ignorance), a bow and arrow (nails the Dharma into beings and nails the teachings to the earth) standing on a body (conquering ignorance), wearing a tiger sash (unconquerable heroism, conquest of fear), with a garland of skulls (conquest of the various ignorances), three eyes (the three wisdoms), a crown of five skulls (the five Buddha families), and so on and so on.

But the aesthetics are those of power because this appeals to the culture. This dude is a badass, and that gets a warlord into your Dharma center, right? The warlord rolls in and he's like "drat, yeah, I'm into this." Then the monks go "yeah that's our protector hang out we'll tell you about him." And the lessons appeal to the person but also, they learn about compassion and wisdom and how the only enemy that it's impressive to conquer is your own mind, and we're off.

A peaceful being will have the same things. Green Tara is peaceful, sitting on a sun and moon disk (wisdom and method), on a lotus (enlightenment, in the lotus family) holding a lotus (granting wishes and healing? Not sure I remember) with hands in the mudras of protection and wish-fulfilling, in the half-lotus position representing that she's in the process of standing up to help beings, so she's an action-doer.

Achi Chokyi Drolma rides on a wind horse (rapid activity) with a damaru drum (sounds the truth of the Dharma in all directions) and a skull cup (conquest of ignorance, fulfilling blessings) in her wrathful form, but in her peaceful form she's standing (action) with a mirror that sees the suffering of all beings and a wish-fulfilling gem that grants Dharma according wishes.

There's no idle details, nothing is purely aesthetic, everything is symbolic. If I understand correctly, even the dimensions and angles of postures have Dharma meaning.

The general aesthetics are based on Tibetan culture. Lots of five colored pennants in blue, yellow, white, green, and red, which represent the Indian or Chinese elemental systems (depending on sequence and context). These also represent the five Buddha families, the five wisdoms, and so on. So on say a long life bracelet they represent the five elements being stable and harmonized, on an empowerment garland that represent the five wisdoms and the five Buddha families and so on.

Lots of skulls and bones and such are reminders of impermanence, but also the affects of the enlightened beings. Drinking from a human skull cup is a taboo! But enlightened beings are free from taboo, so let's go! You'll see this also in some practices you'll offer a meal of the five unclean meats (human, elephant, dog, horse, beef) and the five nectars (poo poo, piss, cum, blood, marrow) and then those beings transform these into pure things and return blessings. But it's about violating taboos. It's about rising above attachments and aversions. The horns that tantric practitioners use are made from a human thigh bone because this is hosed up! But it is meant to be unsettling, the practitioner starts unsettled and then over time overcomes this and is transformed. If you can be happy summoning flesheating spirits to a graveyard and offering your body in a big melting pot and visualizing yourself being chopped to pieces and melted into stew and so on and offered, then what can possibly bother you?

I could go into a ramble about how this is consistent with other initiations in other cultures (freemasons will find it relatable) but this was meant to be about aesthetics and I'm doing it on my phone because I haven't had a chance to be at a computer at length lately and welp.

Basically, the aesthetics of Tibetan Buddhism reflect the culture of the Tibetan people and the adaption of Buddhist iconography to Tibetan symbolism to communicate Dharma in a local context. My Lama taught me that when we're doing offerings, we, as westerners, shouldn't necessarily visualize silk and coral as signs of wealth. We should offer fine suits and iPads and other symbols of wealth, because that's what's meaningful to us.

In that reflection of Tibetan culture, a lot of the symbols are also based on taboos. It's not that Tibetans love bones and dead bodies! It's that those things are unsettling and disturbing because of our attachments and aversions, and that by normalizing them and working with them we start on a process of challenging ourselves to overcome fears and ultimately suffering. By being constantly with these disturbing things, we challenge ourselves to undergo transformation, and that self-transformation is ultimately the goal.

And also having your gods be super jacked badasses and beautiful women and loving moms is rad as hell.

# ¿ May 19, 2021 00:43

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Any follower of the mahayana path is a bodhisattva. A mahasattva which is who people pray to generally has their existence revealed by the buddha

# ¿ May 23, 2021 04:29

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Lutha Mahtin posted:

i once went to a talk by a buddhist teacher who told us that the word boddhisatva is sometimes just used as a very nice complement towards a person, when you want to express that you you think they do a good job applying the teachings of buddhism to their life/community. i don't know if all schools of buddhism do this though

Boddhisattva means like 8 different things. It means one of the "gods" (technically not gods but they function the same) you pray to, a person who will eventually become a buddha (the south-east asian version of aesop fables is something called the Jataka tales where the main character is always the past life of the buddha as like a pigeon where he learns a moral he carries with him into buddhahood) any buddhist who has decided they're just going to stay in Samsara to help everyone, someone who acts in a morally upstanding manner reminiscent of one of the "gods" you pray to like what your guy was talking about etc. etc.

Bodhisattvas are recognized in theravadin buddhism (the buddhism of southeast asia minus vietnam but plus sri lanka) but they're pretty irrelevant there. They're very much a mahayana thing where they're the defining feature of the denomination.

# ¿ May 23, 2021 05:02

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Hell is real, awful, and we have a moral imperative to destroy it through transferring our good karma to those inside of it and attaining liberation in order to teach others.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2021 16:17

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Fritz the Horse posted:

Now I wonder what the official record of the Catholic Church and the general understanding among its adherents are re: Native American boarding schools. Kind of. In the more general sense of "to what extent does the Church acknowledge these historical abuses," I certainly don't want to cast blame on our thread Catholics or add fuel to the fire in this discussion.

I've done a lot of advocacy this summer with our tribal youth organizations trying to get remains repatriated. I won't go into more detail because that would doxx me more than I'm really comfortable. Let me just say it's very emotionally heavy and the legacy of boarding schools (many run by the Church) on tribal communities is tremendous. In the 1920s more than 80% of all Native American kids in the US were in boarding schools. It's a generational trauma that is responsible for much of the suffering and challenges on reservations today.

there was an article in the american conservative defending them because they "brought souls to christ" and there is literally no ends that doesn't justify that means, the Manitoba premier is facing calls to resign because he struggled with saying "the residential schools are bad actually" without equivocating, an ontario parish priest resigned because he defended them post mass-child-grave news for some reason and the church/pope francis have yet to issue an outright apology so there's some work to do there definitely.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2021 00:14

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Viscardus posted:

Hello, I have never posted here before, but I have a sincere (if slightly silly) theological question for any Catholics (or other Christian denominations that recognize sainthood): can a dog (or other animal) be a saint, and if not, why not?

Come to Buddhism where you cat might one day end up being the next Buddha.

I�m joking of course the Maitreya currently dwells in Tusita heaven awaiting Shakyamuni�s dharma to perish so that he may reestablish it. Now the Buddha after the maitreya�

# ¿ Jul 21, 2021 21:30

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

NikkolasKing posted:

I'm not the best at history but I don't think we've been doing animal sacrifices for a long, long time, in spite of the OT going on and on about how to di it properly.

TITUS!!!

# ¿ Jul 24, 2021 12:17

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Ancient Greeks: oh today is so morally corrupt unlike the pure world of the heroes
Ancient Romans: oh today is so morally corrupt unlike the pure world of the founders
Medieval Europeans: oh today is so morally corrupt unlike the pure world of the Greeks and romans
Colonial Americans: oh today is so morally corrupt unlike the pure world of the knights and chivalry
Modern Americans: oh today is so morally corrupt unlike the pure world of the founding fathers.

This is only the western world, not even getting into Hindus, East Asian societies etc all of which do the exact same thing.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2021 18:19

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

I thought it was pretty well-known that evangelicals aren�t doing too great given that their congregations are old as poo poo. That�s a huge reason why White evangelicals especially have been going ballistic in terms of Christian nationalism lately. This is the first time in all of their lifetimes where they actually feel genuinely threatened and they have no idea how to deal with it.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2021 18:07

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

TOOT BOOT posted:

I'm convinced it's not just a catholic church problem. I'm sure there's just as much messed up garbage happening in protestant churches, it's just happening in hundreds of different ones instead of the one big one so it's less of a news story.

the racial issues got all the attention at the SBC presidential election this year but the second biggest issue (and it was huge) was the failure of the denomination to respond to abuse in the churches and prevent predators from pastoring. in many cases rising to the level of an outright cover-up.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2021 05:38

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

big soda could not let something like that just hang about now could they

# ¿ Aug 20, 2021 06:39

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, meditating deeply on Perfection of Wisdom, saw clearly that the five aspects of human existence are empty, and so released himself from suffering. Answering the monk Sariputra, he said this:

Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence --
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness --
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:

Gat�,
gat�,
paragat�,
parasamgat�.
Bodhi!
Svaha!
Which means...
Gone,
gone,
gone over,
gone fully over.
Awakened!
So be it!

# ¿ Sep 3, 2021 01:07

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

D34THROW posted:

Now I find myself kind of curious. As I've read some Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians, I've found myself understanding that as Gentiles or non-Jewish Christians - not "God's chosen people" as it were - we are not held to the same standards as Jews. That's why our offerings are generally in the form of tithing to the church - but do modern Jews still sacrifice in the synagogue as they did in Biblical times? Or, because most people these days aren't agrarian, has that transitioned to monetary sacrifice as well, since you can't exactly go out every Jewish holiday and buy a fatted calf to slaughter?

No in Jesus� time sacrifices had already been centralized to the point that it was only valid if performed at the grand temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by Titus in the 70s as direct retribution for the Jews revolting against Roman rule. This is why Titus was Jewish people�s go-to bogeyman/evil person pre-Hitler. This also led to Judaism being radically reoriented towards rabbis to the point that quite a few religious scholars don�t consider Judaism pre and post-Titus to be the same religion. Jews have no animal sacrifice requirements (except for certain holidays) until the third temple is built on the Temple Mount.

BIG FLUFFY DOG fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Sep 9, 2021

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 16:14

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Jupiter Jazz posted:

What?!

I'd like to learn more about this.

Secular religion scholars (religion professors at a secular college as opposed to guys who go to seminary) like to think about religion differently than normal people who don�t waste away in academia like to think about religion. One of the big questions there is what makes one religion different than another and since it�s academia they need something more substantial than �I know it when I see it.� Obviously it can�t be what god you worship otherwise as pointed out on this page in a different conversation Judaism, Christianity, and Islam would all be the same religion, a conclusion nobody would accept.

One of the big distinctions between religions is soteriology:
1. Why do we suffer
2. How do we stop that poo poo

In Islam you suffer as a test god has provided for you, you stop that poo poo by submitting to god completely. In Christianity we suffer because we are born tainted with sin, you stop that poo poo by believing in one not born tainted with sin who chose to suffer voluntarily, in pre- and post-Titus Judaism the reason for suffering is the same: somebody in Israel is breaking the covenant the solution for that suffering pre-Titus was follow the covenant and sacrifice your livestock. The destruction of the temple made this soteriology impossible to follow and out of necessity Judaism changed so that its holy leaders were no longer the priests in charge of sacrifice who gained their position through appointment or birth (they can�t sacrifice they�re useless now) but dudes who just studied their rear end off when it came to the Torah. The only portion of soteriology possible is following the covenant so the guys who are best at helping us do that are now our priests. The method of resolving suffering and who the priesthood is changed as a result of that destruction which according to certain scholars makes it a different religion. Obviously lots of people would disagree with that but I saw the phrase Ancient Israelite religion a lot in my religion classes.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 17:07

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Jupiter Jazz posted:

I disagree with your conclusions. As we are human and life is hard, we will suffer whether we surrender to Allah or not. As Lot ascertained, suffering will happen even to the more surest of believers.

Islam is the world religion I know the least about so I was really saying that for the sake of example and I will defer to your explanation of islamic beliefs on this issue. However I am going to insist that the question of suffering is one all religions deal with, struggle with, and are integral to the religion itself. one of the first questions a child will ask when learning a religion is: "Why do bad things happen to good people?" religions require time, dedication, and effort. People pursue them because they believe they will make their life better and bring happiness either in this world or the next. I would say that achieving eternal life, paradise, reunion with Brahman, nirvana etc. are all final and complete alleviations of suffering. If I were to poll believers of assorted religions they would probably name these things as being goals in their pursuit of this religion.

quote:

Also, as an addendum, as the Buddha said,"life is suffering."

this is the first noble truth of four. the second is him explaining the reason life is suffering. the third is him explaining its possible to end suffering. and the 4th is him explaining how to end suffering. the buddha never said suffering is inevitable and irresistible, there would be no buddhism if this were the case.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 18:17

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Crazy Joe Wilson posted:

Most goons are weirdos. The goons in this thread tend to be less weird though.

Absolutely loving not, are you kidding me?

# ¿ Sep 13, 2021 19:51

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

If you haven�t castrated yourself like Origen you�re a himbo slut IMO

# ¿ Sep 14, 2021 04:38

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Captain von Trapp posted:

BTW though, "I'm single and looking for someone" is a fine thing to say. Even the most orthodox Christians want to get married and bone. (And they're supposed to!)

Pope? Pope?! Pope?!?!??

# ¿ Sep 14, 2021 13:32

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Thirteen Orphans posted:

One of the regulars at the cafe I work at handed me a Chick-Tract with his name and number on it and said �Read this and call me; I�d love to chat with you about it!� Fortunately he did not ask me my religious affiliation. Funny timing as I�m leaving for the monastery for 2 weeks on Sunday. If you could say a quick prayer for me that this experience is fruitful I would appreciate it.

He knows, I guarantee you. One of your coworkers probably mentioned it to him in small talk since it is pretty unusual and interesting and he took that as an invitation. Which one was it? The Buddhist chick tract is super-lame it�s just a rich Asian dude everyone loves going to hell, they don�t even print it anymore. All the other non-Protestant religions got delightful rabid nonsense about moon gods and satanic conspiracies and Buddhists just get a form letter.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2021 03:35

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Thirteen Orphans posted:

I�m Catholic, I�m not sure how unusual and interesting that is.

Edit: It was this one.

A monastery stay is and chick tracts and the people who give them out don�t consider Catholics �true christians�. There was a megaphone street preacher around here who got a slot in an Easter Day parade (it used city funds so it couldn�t discriminate on religion I think) where he made quite a few anti-papal viewpoints known. Same dude does his schtick for a big fundraiser the archdiocese holds for their orphanage each year because it sells beer, has gambling and also involves Catholics.

I spoke to a dude from his church filming him and they were actually anabaptist (I was surprised by this) and extremely angry and filled with grievance about persecution from the reformation era. They were naming specific events.

Gaius Marius posted:

Pretty sure chick thinks Catholics worship baphomet or some such thing. Idk las time a saw a chick tract it was on a urinal at the Costco. Appropriate location I think

I�ve found two chick tracts both urinal-based. This is a favored planting location apparently.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2021 05:01

BIG FLUFFY DOG: Feb 16, 2011; On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog.

Tias posted:

That kind of anacronism is super duper common among nordic heathens. People will still grog about the burning of the Irminsul pillar or the 'violent conversion' of 'their homelands', or even accuse each other of christian thinking, which is just insane given that no thought has been given to converting heathens by christians in who knows how many hundreds of years.

???????

An evangelical dude tried to contact and convert north sentinel island which is completely forbidden by the Indian government because its islanders will try to kill any non-islanders they see and was killed because he was a non-islander they saw like two years ago. they give great thought and effort to it as seen by the chick tracts on urinals we were just discussing.

BIG FLUFFY DOG fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Sep 22, 2021

# ¿ Sep 22, 2021 05:21