If Jesus couldn't keep HIMSELF out of trouble...

[Sky Dancer]

And NOW Sky thinks she's been appointed to define what God is and isn't and can and can't have. Yeah, no arrogance and hubris THERE. I think we should ALL become Buddhists so that the sun can rise and set in our assholes.

Seriously, if this sort of attitude is really what Buddhists today are teaching, methinks Buddha is rolling over in his grave somewhere.

I have no interest in seeing you or anyone else become a Buddhist. I wish for all beings that they become Buddhas, not Buddhists. If your religion causes you to awaken to Buddhahood and to develop love, compassion, joy and equanimity, then I wish that you succeed in your religious goals.

Scriptures show god in a negative light; as angry, vengeful and judging, as punishing, and as jealous. God threatens alot.

I would think if God were God he would have positive qualities, instead of these negative ones.

The Lord gave all of us life, how is that not positive?

You claim to have read the Bible, I guess you are another one of those that have no ability to "comprehend" the Bible. Yeshua loved, healed, forgave, elevated, equated, and saved people. All have been invited to His table. If you want to throw a hissy fit because the "heavenly escorts" weren't sent for you, that is your choice. Stick with Buddha, see where he is on judgement day: hint: he will be on his knees in front of the Lord, just like all the rest of us. Maybe at that point you will realize, you chose wrong, but then again...........

You believe the "Lord" gave you life. I don't. My parents gave me life. My karma gave me "precious human life" which is something that Christians don't have.

I've read the bible enough. It makes me sick. I will NOT read it any more. It's toxic to me. It's poison to me. It's nectar to you.

There is no "judgment day". When I die, I will be reborn in one of six realms depending on my karma.

Even if I am reborn in a hell realm, it is impermanent. Eventually, I will become enlightened and fully realize my Buddha nature.

I am not trying to turn YOU against Christianity. Why are YOU trying to turn me away from Buddhism?

This is what YOU do. Christian arrogance. My way or the highway. You have NO fucking business telling me I chose WRONG. My path chose me.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Pretty sure of yourself. How exactly do you explain and justify your absolutes?

I read the bible. God's ordinary and negative emotions are on display.

When is the last time a person got sooooo angry, they flooded the earth?

That's right. God has more anger than anyone else. He killed off every creature on earth except for his chosen few.

 

[Sky Dancer]

That was my point!

God is a concept. He can't be God, because he has ordinary and negative emotions.

Says a person that claims not to believe in the Lord, but elevates people to godlike status.

You only say this, because you don't understand what Buddha is. Buddha is not God or god like. You think you know more about Buddhism than a Buddhist does. I don't think I know more about Christianity than a Christian does. I know about it, from being a cradle Catholic. I know only my own experience, and I trust myself. You trust YOUR own experience too, and I'm sure it's different from mine. I stand in the immediacy of my own experience, and I am VERY grateful to have found Buddhism.

Buddha is the highest potential a human being can achieve. Buddha means "awake". Awake to one's Buddhanature within. In Tibetan, the word for Buddha, is Sang Gye. It means "to clear away, and to unfold".

What is "cleared away "are negative emotions, and what "enfolds", are positive qualities, like love, compassion, joy and equanimity.

No one is "elevated to god-like status" in Buddhism. That would be total arrogance. Buddha is a non-egoic state of awareness.

The ones who seem arrogant to me, are Christians, because they think their path is the ONLY one ANY human being should practice.

Contrast that, to what the Dalai Lama says. He tells Christians to stay on their path, and he supports us Buddhists, to stay on ours.

What I think is possible, is that what some people call "God", may actually be the state of meditation of being in presence, awake and aware. I'm sure we don't agree. I find common ground with some Christians who are more mystical, rather than fundamentalist.

 

[Divine Wind]

That's right. God has more anger than anyone else. He killed off every creature on earth except for his chosen few.

So says one man's interpretations of God. Moses was inspired by God, but ultimately was still a man. Flawed and, in many ways, ignorant. How would you explain the Big Bang theory to someone once removed from living in caves?

 

[Uncensored2008]

That's right. God has more anger than anyone else. He killed off every creature on earth except for his chosen few.

Many years ago, I got a virus on my PC. I worked with it, did registry cleans, file checks, HiJackThis, all sorts of things. But in the end the only option was to reformat the drive.

I didn't do the reformat because I was angry, nor because I wanted to punish the files on the drive. I did the reformat because the system was corrupt and that was the way to remove the corruption.

I don't actually believe the story of the flood, but it doesn't show anger - not even close.

 

[Divine Wind]

That's right. God has more anger than anyone else. He killed off every creature on earth except for his chosen few.

Many years ago, I got a virus on my PC. I worked with it, did registry cleans, file checks, HiJackThis, all sorts of things. But in the end the only option was to reformat the drive.

I didn't do the reformat because I was angry, nor because I wanted to punish the files on the drive. I did the reformat because the system was corrupt and that was the way to remove the corruption.

I don't actually believe the story of the flood, but it doesn't show anger - not even close.

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

 

[Sky Dancer]

That's right. God has more anger than anyone else. He killed off every creature on earth except for his chosen few.

Many years ago, I got a virus on my PC. I worked with it, did registry cleans, file checks, HiJackThis, all sorts of things. But in the end the only option was to reformat the drive.

I didn't do the reformat because I was angry, nor because I wanted to punish the files on the drive. I did the reformat because the system was corrupt and that was the way to remove the corruption.

I don't actually believe the story of the flood, but it doesn't show anger - not even close.

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

 

[Divine Wind]

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

I think you are taking a human conclusion and attributing it to God. Isn't this what some people do when they point to Buddhists warring on each other as a means to refute the religion? Oxford University Press: Buddhist Warfare: Michael Jerryson

Further, if Buddhism was so clear, how come there are three versions of it? The fact is, regardless of what God, Jesus of Nazareth or Siddhartha Gautama did, their actions are veiwed through a prism of flawed glass known as the human mind.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

I think you are taking a human conclusion and attributing it to God. Isn't this what some people do when they point to Buddhists warring on each other as a means to refute the religion? Oxford University Press: Buddhist Warfare: Michael Jerryson

Further, if Buddhism was so clear, how come there are three versions of it? The fact is, regardless of what God, Jesus of Nazareth or Siddhartha Gautama did, their actions are veiwed through a prism of flawed glass known as the human mind.

First of all, my computer is acting up, and I haven't had the chance to check out that article.

The Buddha taught 84,000 different methods. There are nine yanas. There are four schools of Tibetan Buddhism alone.

What you don't understand, is this is not the same, as attributing human qualities to the divine. Buddha is not a god.

All these schools of Buddhist thought come out of the realization of enlightened masters.

Christianity cannot wrap itself around there being more than one way to view a teaching. Buddhism can.

And, its also true, that there have been petty, sectarian, disputes among Buddhists too.

I am "Rime", which means, I honor and embrace all schools of Buddhism.

Apparent contradictions are resolved in meditation. That's why the teachings are taught, then contemplated, and then meditated on, until one has insight.

 

[Divine Wind]

What you don't understand, is this is not the same, as attributing human qualities to the divine.

What do Buddhist teachings say about "assuming" what others understand or not?

 

[Sky Dancer]

What you don't understand, is this is not the same, as attributing human qualities to the divine.

What do Buddhist teachings say about "assuming" what others understand or not?

Buddhism teaches that we're human, and that we have Buddha nature. Apparently, you expect us to be perfect. What does Christ say about casting the first stone?

 

[Sky Dancer]

What you don't understand, is this is not the same, as attributing human qualities to the divine.

What do Buddhist teachings say about "assuming" what others understand or not?

You assumed something to me. Here are your own words:

"I think you are taking a human conclusion and attributing it to God".

 

[Uncensored2008]

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

That isn't the point. The Genesis flood story doesn't demonstrate "anger," but rather a "reset of the system."

 

[ABikerSailor]

Many years ago, I got a virus on my PC. I worked with it, did registry cleans, file checks, HiJackThis, all sorts of things. But in the end the only option was to reformat the drive.

I didn't do the reformat because I was angry, nor because I wanted to punish the files on the drive. I did the reformat because the system was corrupt and that was the way to remove the corruption.

I don't actually believe the story of the flood, but it doesn't show anger - not even close.

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

Actually, not if you get it from the original Hebrew writings Sky.

God didn't really have a beef with anyone, it was the fact that the Sons of God had mated with the daughters of man and created Nephilim. When God saw what had happened to His original experiment (mankind), He decided to have a do-over, because the original creation had become corrupted by mating with the Sons of God. Matter of fact, that's one of the reasons they say that giants once walked the earth.

If you look at it from the point of a scientist, it was more or less a re-start of the experiment, with the viable ones being allowed to continue.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

Flood Stories from Around the World

The fact these stories exists neither confirms nor denies the existence of a Supreme Being. They just exist as part of our collective history.

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

Actually, not if you get it from the original Hebrew writings Sky.

God didn't really have a beef with anyone, it was the fact that the Sons of God had mated with the daughters of man and created Nephilim. When God saw what had happened to His original experiment (mankind), He decided to have a do-over, because the original creation had become corrupted by mating with the Sons of God. Matter of fact, that's one of the reasons they say that giants once walked the earth.

If you look at it from the point of a scientist, it was more or less a re-start of the experiment, with the viable ones being allowed to continue.

I believe you, ABS. It's just that my own life experience has led me to another conclusion.

 

[Divine Wind]

Many cultures have flood stories. If the 2004 tsunami had taken place in ancient times, it would have generated a "flood" story.

That isn't the point. The Genesis flood story doesn't demonstrate "anger," but rather a "reset of the system."

Anger or "reset", both are human interpretations of an event. Obviously flooding the entire planet is impossible unless God chose to violate the laws of physics and create more water than exists then make it disappear afterward. More likely, the area of Noah was the one flooded, not the entire planet. If so, then it wasn't a "reset" since the entire planet's population of human beings wasn't destroyed.

Genesis Files

One of the principle arguments today on a Genesis Flood is time scale. How long ago did the flood occur? Most theologians accept a period between 6000 to around 5,000 years ago. Some extremes have been placed at 200,000 years ago (this is outside of scripture, due to the chronologies given in the Bible).

The Great Human Migration | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

today's scientists believe that from their beginnings in Africa, the modern humans went first to Asia between 80,000 and 60,000 years ago. By 45,000 years ago, or possibly earlier, they had settled Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. The moderns entered Europe around 40,000 years ago, probably via two routes: from Turkey along the Danube corridor into eastern Europe, and along the Mediterranean coast. By 35,000 years ago, they were firmly established in most of the Old World. The Neanderthals, forced into mountain strongholds in Croatia, the Iberian Peninsula, the Crimea and elsewhere, would become extinct 25,000 years ago. Finally, around 15,000 years ago, humans crossed from Asia to North America and from there to South America.

Read more: The Great Human Migration | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

 

[ABikerSailor]

The bible flood story teaches how powerless humans are, and how flawed, and how powerful god is that he could wipe EVERYONE except his CHOSEN few off the planet.

I think it shows how judgmental, and violent god is.

Actually, not if you get it from the original Hebrew writings Sky.

God didn't really have a beef with anyone, it was the fact that the Sons of God had mated with the daughters of man and created Nephilim. When God saw what had happened to His original experiment (mankind), He decided to have a do-over, because the original creation had become corrupted by mating with the Sons of God. Matter of fact, that's one of the reasons they say that giants once walked the earth.

If you look at it from the point of a scientist, it was more or less a re-start of the experiment, with the viable ones being allowed to continue.

I believe you, ABS. It's just that my own life experience has led me to another conclusion.

Hey.......ALL paths lead to the top of the mountain eventually, it's just that you came up the south side, whereas a Christian may take the easy path meandering up the west.

My personal opinion? I think that all religions are designed for 1 thing, which is to get us an understanding of who God really is. Some call Him Tao, some call Him HaShem, some call Him other things, but it's really all the same.

I also believe that God is limitless (why else would they say He is eternal), and cannot be understood by only 1 religion, because that cuts out the other 359 degrees of the circle.

I like what a friend of mine named Owen Robards (I can use his name, he died a long time back), told me back in '93 when I was having a problem with religion.

He told me to look for the similarities rather than the differences, and I'd get a lot farther. And, he's right, because ALL religions understand that there is a Divine Creator, it's just that we get tied up in knots over how to worship Him.

Me? I've got 3 different theologies that work pretty well for me, and 2 of them are very close, because the similarities between Judaic theology and Taoist philosophy are amazing.

Same with the teachings of Buddha and the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus). Both of them pretty much say the same thing as well.

 

[Uncensored2008]

[Anger or "reset", both are human interpretations of an event. Obviously flooding the entire planet is impossible unless God chose to violate the laws of physics and create more water than exists then make it disappear afterward. More likely, the area of Noah was the one flooded, not the entire planet. If so, then it wasn't a "reset" since the entire planet's population of human beings wasn't destroyed.

Again, that is irrelevant.

The flood myth obviously never happened. There was no Noah or any of the rest. It doesn't matter because SD claimed that the flood myth shows human emotion by the mythical god in the mythical story. It does not such thing, it shows a god who reset the system due to corruption by Angels breeding with humans.

 

[Divine Wind]

Again, that is irrelevant.

You are quickly proving yourself to be the duty expert in irrelevancy. Congratulations!

Now, you'll pardon me while I pay attention to more relevant posts.

 

[logical4u]

I have no interest in seeing you or anyone else become a Buddhist. I wish for all beings that they become Buddhas, not Buddhists. If your religion causes you to awaken to Buddhahood and to develop love, compassion, joy and equanimity, then I wish that you succeed in your religious goals.

Scriptures show god in a negative light; as angry, vengeful and judging, as punishing, and as jealous. God threatens alot.

I would think if God were God he would have positive qualities, instead of these negative ones.

The Lord gave all of us life, how is that not positive?

You claim to have read the Bible, I guess you are another one of those that have no ability to "comprehend" the Bible. Yeshua loved, healed, forgave, elevated, equated, and saved people. All have been invited to His table. If you want to throw a hissy fit because the "heavenly escorts" weren't sent for you, that is your choice. Stick with Buddha, see where he is on judgement day: hint: he will be on his knees in front of the Lord, just like all the rest of us. Maybe at that point you will realize, you chose wrong, but then again...........

You believe the "Lord" gave you life. I don't. My parents gave me life. My karma gave me "precious human life" which is something that Christians don't have.

I've read the bible enough. It makes me sick. I will NOT read it any more. It's toxic to me. It's poison to me. It's nectar to you.

There is no "judgment day". When I die, I will be reborn in one of six realms depending on my karma.

Even if I am reborn in a hell realm, it is impermanent. Eventually, I will become enlightened and fully realize my Buddha nature.

I am not trying to turn YOU against Christianity. Why are YOU trying to turn me away from Buddhism?

This is what YOU do. Christian arrogance. My way or the highway. You have NO fucking business telling me I chose WRONG. My path chose me.

Aren't you???? Trying to turn me from Chistianity?

I have found that the Bible "is toxic" to those that are under the influence of demons. Other people will just read it and say "interesting" or "good story", but those that have demons can't stand the Bible or any symbol of Christianity near them. In some cases it makes them physically ill.

"Enlightenment" always meant knowing the truth (to me). It is apparent that you are not interested in the truth, but having the world view things as SD does. I feel sorry for you. That is something that will never happen. It is just not human nature to look at the world thru someone else's eyes without it being slanted by our own views. Just the same, I wish you happiness, though my experiences have shown me that with views like yours (dependent on the actions of others), you will not make it.