Post: #26

(05-04-2016 02:09 PM)911 Wrote:  Furthermore, it was imported with an agenda, to undermine Christianity and disrupt western traditional values.

This is true, but perhaps we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss everything it contains. A common way to distract one from seeing the true picture is to force them to think in black and white. Because one side (new age Buddhism) has been coopted and is being used to undermine Christianity does not necessarily mean that Christianity, in it's current form hasn't also been coopted. Perhaps there are more than two aspects of the whole picture, and perhaps the two aspects that you see are being orchestrated by the same player.

- Keeping an open mind, read the four gospels, and consider if they are consistent, or if they present mutually exclusive testimonies.
- Consider the history of the various factions in Israel around the time of Jesus: The Sadducees, The Pharisees, Also the Zealots and Essenes to which there is little or no mention.
- Look up the punishment that Israelites reserved for their criminals. Also look up the punishments that the Romans reserved for their criminals. Consider who would perform a crucifixion and under what circumstances.
- Read the circumstances surrounding the council of Nicaea, the geopolitical goals of Emperor Constantine, and the Sol Invictus cult.
- Read the geopolitical motives for the Catholic church to make a pact with Clovis of the Merovingians; and the consider that the individual relationship with God in Arianism/Catharism would make the Roman Catholic hierarchy superfluous.
- What is the myth of Isis and Osiris? What happens to Osiris?
- What is the myth of Semiramis and Tammuz? Adonis? Baal Hadad?

On a side note, Lazarus died, but was reborn with the help of Jesus. Jesus' mortal being died at age 33, but was reborn, though this was only known to his initiates. Perhaps there is symbolism there.

It is also interesting to consider that many ancient religions share remarkably similar accounts. Nearly all tell of an epic flood which wipes out humanity. Nearly all worship a winged serpent.

Official state sanctioned archaeological religion science maintains that this is mere coincidence. Everyone knows that the original amerindians crossed over the bering land bridge by the 10th millenium BC at the latest, and that civilization did not develop until the 4th millenium BC, in the near east. Ignore that mummies contain coca and nicotine, which could only be cultivated in South America. Ignore the presence of Haplogroup X in amerindians, which does not appear in northwestern Siberia.

Perhaps there are reasons that certain theories of history are not entertained. Geology is consistently pointing towards a great global deluge around the 11th millenium BC. Perhaps religious accounts should be taken more seriously.

Are there any similarities between Murugan/Skanda/Sanat Kumara of the Hindus, Al-Khadir (the “Green Man,”) of the Moslems, King Melchizedek of the Jews, St. George of the Knights Templar, Enki of the Sumerians, Dionysus of the Greeks, Osiris of the Egyptians, Quetzlcoatl of the Mexicans, Masaw of the Hopi Indians, The Planetary Logos of Theosophy?

Why are ISIS (who many repute to be a western controlled asset) committing genocide on the Yezidis? What is the Yezidi's belief system, and what will be lost from history if they were to disappear?

According to the Bon tradition, it was founded by Shenrab Miwo, who lived thirty thousand years ago. Hindu astronomers were aware of the precession of the equinox and were able to calculate it to within a few hundred years of a 26,000 year cycle. What would be the purpose of knowing such vast scales of time if supposedly their civilization would only emerge for a millennium or two?

I am not trying to intentionally be coy, but these are the questions that I would encourage everyone to explore on their own and come to their own conclusions.

On a serious note, I've become interested in exploring spirtuality beyond a purely intellectual and material level. For those who practice, how would one go about exploring deeper spiritual experiences? Meditation? Vision quests? Listening to binaural beats at different frequencies? Thanks in advance

Post: #27

(04-30-2016 10:11 PM)Spectrumwalker Wrote:  Look to the man who started it. Siddhartha Gautama. A spoiled little brat who couldn't cope with the fact that life is tough and he would one day die. A man who abandoned his own family to escape reality opting to "seek enlightenment". Sure.

Out of context straw man-assumption of superiority extravaganza on your part. Coping with adversity and death is extremely difficult and most people ignore it by ignorance or superstition. Buddha had the courage to deal with it once exposed to it, and at a young age.

"Spoiled" is an envy-based shaming word by lower income people.

Buddha says, "He who returns from the jungle to his home is like a man who returns to a dungeon." His "family" (arranged marriage?) was well-provided for. Buddhism isn't about "family values", or other middle-class Western views, but far more profound.

Quote:Authentic Buddhism is rooted and centered around monastic life. Men dodging societal responsibilities and choosing to beg for food. If Buddhism could be summed up I think it would be "why bother".

Nope--you know little about being a Buddhist monk, it is abandonment of some, but assumption of other, more difficult responsibilities. Modern example.

Nor it is about being apathetic; it is only being laid-back psychologically (from desire), but not physically.

Quote:Far from masculine. Which is why liberals are attracted to it like moths to a lightbulb.

The idea that modern western lefties are practicing actual Buddhist philosophy, have even read the Dhammapada, cannot rationally be entertained. They might only mention it because it is not Western, but they have nothing to do with it. Buddhism is about overcoming the body by the mind, and so is the opposite of feminine/addictive/hedonistic/cupcakes-in-the-city behavior.

Quote:Life is hard, embrace it as such and let it mold your character.

Nice cliche, and then solid but unhelpful advice: the devil is in the details of how to do that. Buddhism offers an actual plan to take away suffering instead of being caught in the endless cycle of "me, me, me!".

Post: #28

(05-05-2016 12:11 PM)scrambled Wrote:  "Spoiled" is an envy-based shaming word by lower income people.

I laughed. Envy based shaming word? What is this a university classroom? Dude, if you're going to sit there with a straight face and say Gautama wasn't a spoiled and pampered prince, I can't take anything in your argument from here on out seriously.

You are right though, the devil most certainly is in the details.

Post: #29

(05-04-2016 08:56 PM)911 Wrote:  Right, just like people just got bored with the patriarchy and its monopoly and wanted to bring in fresh ideas. Yes of course, people were sooo narrow-minded back then, thank G.. uh I mean vishnu for progress.

Are you familiar with the works of Gustave Le Bon, Edward Bernays, Walter Lippmann, Ivy Lee, or the influence of the Frankfurt School, the Tavistock Institute and the constellation of sister foundations?

Social engineering is a science that has been so brilliantly fine-tuned that people are made to eagerly embrace toxic and subversive change as progress. It's one of the driving mechanisms of cultural marxism.

You want to undermine a country or a culture, you go after its religion, its national character, its traditions (particularly traditional gender roles).

Patriarchy i believe was destroyed BECAUSE of Christianity. Prior to Christian Europe, most western states had their ancestral Indo European religions/cultures. Each had their customs, histories and traditions all going back to a common root some thousands of years ago.

But these were traditions where the religous beliefs and rituals intermingled and changed along with the culture. There was no culture and religion distinction. The religion was the culture. The concept of Belief was not so important.

These religions did not proselytise hence could not compete with Christianity when it emerged as strongly proselytising state religion. Christianity has a strong sense of dualism that is quite divisive. It managed to remain extremely powerfil for a long time. However, as Europe managed to pull itself out of the dark ages through periods of scientific and cultural progress, the status of Christianity weakened. Pre Christian ideas resurfaced through periods like the Renessaince and Enlightenment. There was no going back.

Christianity had destroyed pre Christian Indo European religion, which was patriarchal and non-conflicting with Science. Science destroyed Christianity. Ergo we are left with a spiritual and cultural vacuum. People dont have a culture or value system that can hold up to comtemporary knowlwdge and morality, with historical integrity. Christianity destroyed the real European traditions that could.

Buddhism is a purely Indo Europeam religion, and for that reason alone should be studied. This would be a step towards getting back to our Indo European original culture and spirituality.

Dont make the mistake of conflating Western and Christian Values. The two are conflicting at the highest level of Politics, Culture and Art. Where Europe reaches great heights, it is by inspiration from the decidely un-Christian (Renessaince, Enlightenment,Science etc)

Post: #30

(05-04-2016 08:18 PM)Atheistani Wrote:  Does it not occur to you that perhaps people just got bored of Christianity and it's monopoly in the West and wanted to bring in fresh ideas from the East. .

I actually think that's a big reason for the popularity of Buddhism and other Eastern ideas with the intellectual and the hipster class in the West; the whole "grass is greener on the other side" mentality. You actually see the same thing in reverse with evangelical Christianity in Taiwan and also with Taiwanese/Chinese Americans. Evangelical Christniaity has been making more and more in-roads into Taiwan in the past 15 years or so and I wonder if it's for the same reason Buddhism has being doing in the West (thought of course it's not the ONLY reason).

Here in the US, evangelical Chinese/Taiwanese tend to be the more educated and middle to upper middle class while it's the blue collar working class Chinese (ie. the ones working in take out restaurants and laundromats) who adhere to Buddhism/traditional Chinese religion. It's the opposite with the native US population where education and wealth typically indicates the opposite when it comes to religious adherence.

Post: #31

^ Perhaps a little bit, but Buddhism is pretty good religion. If Christianity is "stop sinning!", and Islam is "ALLAH HU ACKKKBAAAAAAARR!!", Buddhism is "be calmmmm...". A lot of guys use it for internal calming purposes when their mind is cluttered or stressed etc.

Post: #32

Delete.

Post: #33

(05-05-2016 01:23 PM)Spectrumwalker Wrote:  I laughed. Envy based shaming word? What is this a university classroom? Dude, if you're going to sit there with a straight face and say Gautama wasn't a spoiled and pampered prince, I can't take anything in your argument from here on out seriously.

A University classroom would be the place to use phrases like "elitist", or "privileged"--"spoiled" is just the older version of that insult. It's an envy word.

I didn't say Buddha wasn't from the aristocracy, or had to worry about his next rent payment, so nice straw man to claim otherwise; I only pointed out you used a shaming insult / ad hominem argument, designed to cheaply delegitimize him.

He was a "pampered" prince in that he was protected from the masses in the street; but so what? That was just him as a young man, before he evolved to a mature one. That is the whole point of the story--the progression of understanding he goes through, and how he discovering suffering and tries to figure out how to avoid it.

Quote:You are right though, the devil most certainly is in the details.

Of which you still offer none . . .

Post: #34

(05-03-2016 02:18 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  My father was sent to China in the early 70´s (and my grandfather fought there in the late 1930´s). My mother made an arrangement with my father for my studies while we were there. I attended a Monastery and was taught martial arts. This created bonds that I continue to have to this day with classmates some of who are now senior monks at a few monasteries in China.

Which part of China did you live in during the early 1970's?

Post: #35

I tried Buddhism once and then realized it sucked. I really wanted something better but this just made it suck worse. Then one day I just didn't care about Buddhism any more, walking away saying I don't give a fuck. I finally straightened out and things sucked less.

Post: #36

(05-05-2016 03:31 PM)scrambled Wrote:  I only pointed out you used a shaming insult / ad hominem argument, designed to cheaply delegitimize him.

He was a "pampered" prince in that he was protected from the masses in the street; but so what? That was just him as a young man, before he evolved to a mature one.

Quote:You are right though, the devil most certainly is in the details.

Of which you still offer none . . .

You shall know a man by his fruits that's what. For the same reason learning about the lives and personalities of Muhammad, Jim Jones, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, you name it, can shed light on the ideology turned religion they created.

Doesn't matter if someone is spoiled; you can't pick what family you're born into. But when you form the basis for this spiritual death seeking worldview, turn yourself into a religious icon whose bones are still venerated for centuries to come, it's a different story. No doubt he made his mark in history, but should he be taken seriously? No way.

I don't need to delegitamize him, he did that to himself. I'm merely pointing out the obvious based on what's known about him. Doesn't matter when or where you lived, any man who walks out on his infant son as a grown man at 29 years old to go sit under a tree and contemplate life isn't worth his salt. He was not a mentally healthy or a "mature" man as you put it. But per the OP's question, if this is a man who you feel comfortable putting on a pedestal and whose teachings you want to put your faith on to lead you to truth,happiness, and masculine development then power to you. Whatever blows out your candle.

But just like I would say to Muslims. When your cheerleaders in life are the human freakshows of the world, i.e., the SJW's, Marxists, Theosophists, celebrities, etc, know you're treading in deep water with no life preserver. Time to take a step back, question what you believe, and see the one common denominator among all of your allies.

Post: #37

Quote:a man who you feel comfortable putting on a pedestal and whose teachings you want to put your faith on

I'm pretty sure he said NOT to do exactly that.

The idea is not to take anything on faith but to do self inquiry and discover things for yourself.

Post: #38

(05-05-2016 10:40 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(05-03-2016 02:18 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  My father was sent to China in the early 70´s (and my grandfather fought there in the late 1930´s). My mother made an arrangement with my father for my studies while we were there. I attended a Monastery and was taught martial arts. This created bonds that I continue to have to this day with classmates some of who are now senior monks at a few monasteries in China.

Which part of China did you live in during the early 1970's?

The entire forum needs to know the answer to this NASA Test Pilot. There are several issues with what you just posted.

Here are the problems with this story:

1. Buddhism was illegal in China during that time.
2. The Cultural Revolution in China ended in 76.
3. How did you manage to get a visa to stay?
4. The US Govt had no normal relations with China until Nixon visited (1972), but it was not immediate either. It took time before things took fold.
5. I recall from my Foreign Policy classes back in college "Ping Pong Diplomacy" being done in the early 70's and even if your dad was one of the ping pong players, how does that enable you to stay and study something illegal?
6. Your dad couldn't be a missionary or religious worker either. All religions were illegal back then.
7. You said your grandfather fought in China in the 30s. What does that even mean? I cannot critique that part too much because the US did support the Chinese govt back then and we had an embassy there back then.
8. If you were there because of Vietnam War reasons that is even more suspicious because the US foreign policy issues the US had with China during the war because they openly and covertly supported the Vietcong and General Ho. I won't say more because Vietnam War is not one of my areas of knowledge history wise, but those are basics that most historians know and you could clarify for us.
9. Pending upon what you say, I will reserve comments about Tibet.

If any of your reasons were US government confidential back then, be aware that The Freedom of Information Act has been allowed on damn near anything from that time and if you make claims like that, it can be verified.

Post: #39

(05-05-2016 11:02 PM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  I tried Buddhism once and then realized it sucked. I really wanted something better but this just made it suck worse. Then one day I just didn't care about Buddhism any more, walking away saying I don't give a fuck. I finally straightened out and things sucked less.

Can you go into more detail of why it didn't work out for you? How much time did you spend with Buddhism?

Post: #40

(05-06-2016 04:37 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  

(05-05-2016 11:02 PM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  I tried Buddhism once and then realized it sucked. I really wanted something better but this just made it suck worse. Then one day I just didn't care about Buddhism any more, walking away saying I don't give a fuck. I finally straightened out and things sucked less.

Can you go into more detail of why it didn't work out for you? How much time did you spend with Buddhism?

I'm not saying it didn't work out entirely, it just seemed like all headaches to me. The more I wanted to do it the more issues seemed to arise. I just gave up on it after a long struggle and felt a relief. The path I took after that day was a lot more rewarding.

Post: #41

(05-06-2016 10:57 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:  The entire forum needs to know the answer to this NASA Test Pilot. There are several issues with what you just posted.

Here are the problems with this story:

1. Buddhism was illegal in China during that time.
2. The Cultural Revolution in China ended in 76.
3. How did you manage to get a visa to stay?
4. The US Govt had no normal relations with China until Nixon visited (1972), but it was not immediate either. It took time before things took fold.
5. I recall from my Foreign Policy classes back in college "Ping Pong Diplomacy" being done in the early 70's and even if your dad was one of the ping pong players, how does that enable you to stay and study something illegal?
6. Your dad couldn't be a missionary or religious worker either. All religions were illegal back then.
7. You said your grandfather fought in China in the 30s. What does that even mean? I cannot critique that part too much because the US did support the Chinese govt back then and we had an embassy there back then.
8. If you were there because of Vietnam War reasons that is even more suspicious because the US foreign policy issues the US had with China during the war because they openly and covertly supported the Vietcong and General Ho. I won't say more because Vietnam War is not one of my areas of knowledge history wise, but those are basics that most historians know and you could clarify for us.
9. Pending upon what you say, I will reserve comments about Tibet.

If any of your reasons were US government confidential back then, be aware that The Freedom of Information Act has been allowed on damn near anything from that time and if you make claims like that, it can be verified.

I expect NASA Test Pilot is out to sea and may not be able to reply for a while. In the mean time, I figured I'd throw out a few points to consider.

- At the very highest levels of geopolitics, the motives for war and the concepts of enemies and allies is much different for the key players than what the common man believes and what history will record. The easiest way to win a war is to control both sides of a conflict.

It is relatively well known that the Bush family helped provide funding for the rise of Hitler and National Socialism. Less well known is the involvement By Carl Bosch, Edsel Ford, C.E. Mitchell (Federal Reserve Bank of NY), financing of Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG, or the involvement of public relations firm Ivy Lee in controlling the publicity of this matter.

A good resource for studying this aspect of modern history is the works of Professor Anthony C. Sutton. He provides volumes of documentation and evidence illustrating the financial and technological support Western powers provided to both the Soviet Union and the National Socialists during a time when they were ostensibly the mortal enemy. Some notable works would be the Western Technology and Soviet Economic Development trilogy, Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution, and Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler.

For his efforts, he was kicked out of the Hoover institution of Stanford, and as he put it, he was "persecuted but never prosecuted" for his research and subsequent publication of his findings.

Some notable figures in the highest levels of geopolitics and academia support the authenticity of his works:

In his book Between Two Ages: America's Role in the Technetronic Era (New York: Viking Press;1970), Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote:

Quote:For impressive evidence of Western participation in the early phase of Soviet economic growth, see Antony C. Sutton's Western Technology and Soviet Economic Development: 1917–1930, which argues that 'Soviet economic development for 1917–1930 was essentially dependent on Western technological aid' (p.283), and that 'at least 95 per cent of the industrial structure received this assistance.' (p. 348).

Professor Richard Pipes, of Harvard, said in his book, Survival Is Not Enough: Soviet Realities and America's Future (Simon & Schuster;1984):

Quote:In his three-volume detailed account of Soviet Purchases of Western Equipment and Technology... Sutton comes to conclusions that are uncomfortable for many businessmen and economists. For this reason his work tends to be either dismissed out of hand as 'extreme' or, more often, simply ignored. (p. 290)

- To understand the motives of financing and supporting two ostensibly opposing forces in wartime, it is imperative to understand the Hegelian dialectic.

Most people are inherently resistant to changes that would diminish their freedom and wealth. If the goal of an elite was to diminish the freedom of their subjects in order for them to exert greater control, the implementation of that goal must be done in a way in order for it to seem like the most palatable option.

In order to do so, a conflict or crisis must be engineered. For example, in order for Europeans to accept the loss of personal freedoms, privacy, and human rights, they must be placed in an environment of fear and danger. An elite could instigate and subsequently market the importation of a large, inassimilable, and culturally hostile population. This subpopulation could also include elements prone to violence and occasionally terrorism.

Once the environment of fear becomes intolerable, most Europeans would readily accept the loss of personal freedom in the form of "anti-terrorist" legislation in the hope that it would provide greater safety. Through this method of engineered crisis, the goal is reached.

The lower level groups will be too focused on the ostensible enemy (For one side, terrorists and radical Islam; For another side, infidels) to see the big picture and implicate the higher level players who engineered the crisis in the first place. The media will do their part in confining the discussion to a very narrow and superficial window that would not allow viewers to entertain the idea of an alternative.

Those who raise the logical alternatives that go against the end goal, i.e. "Why are we importing a huge population of potential terrorists? Why doesn't Israel or Middle Eastern nations take them in?" are dealt with by first not giving them a medium for which to speak, by destroying their reputation or credibility, or by imprisoning or assassinating (which the coroner determined an accidental suicide) them depending on the level of awareness their message has gained.

- These crises are instigated by those who remain above the conflict and who themselves are not drawn into it or bound by it. Most of the information regarding these players is hidden, though some information is available at the lowest levels. There are people and organizations who operate on an international level, above the system of national law.

One that most people will be familiar with the Federal Reserve, which, as a private international organization, controls the money supply of the US while not being beholden to it's laws.





Going higher, there are also other organizations such as the Bank of International Settlements (which cooperated with both sides during World War II). There are also organizations like the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission.

- Ideally, their identity would remain hidden for obvious reasons. If your identity and influence are known, you can be targeted or your power structure dismantled. If you remain hidden and direct attention away from yourself, potential threats won't know how to target you, let alone where to begin looking. This is how most power hierarchies work, as it isolates the major power players from threats. Even Mafia organizations follow this protocol. What we think of as power structures are just the formalized, visible aspect of them. They are low level players.

- While many classified documents have been made available through the years, I would argue that the ones which are truly sensitive will never see the light of day, or only be revealed through unintentional incompetence.

Take for instance, the CIA's MKUltra project. They employed former Nazi war criminals to refine the art of involuntary mental manipulation through means such as sexual abuse and torture. The records surrounding the project were destroyed in 1973. Out of sheer luck, 20,000 documents survived the purge due to being mislabeled and filed as financial documents, and these were subsequently revealed as a result of a FOIA request in 1977 following the Church Comittee hearings of 1975.

Before it was revealed to the public, the program was dismissed as conspiracy theory, and comments such as "Too many people would have to be involved, and someone would have blown the whistle on it already if it were true." It was a multi-million dollar program spanning over 20 years, involved at least 80 institutions (including universities), and incorporated at least 149 subprojects.

- The Office of Secret Services (OSS), the precursor to the CIA, funded and trained both sides (the communist guerrillas and the Kuomintang) during WW2, it may be possible that cooperation between the groups continued secretly even after the conflict ended.

- If what NASA Test Pilot says is true, revealing information that threatens the narrative woven by the high level geopolitical players would put him at personal risk. The best we can hope for is likely to be bread crumbs, and even then, the path will be further concealed by disinformation and obfuscation.

Post: #42

(05-06-2016 10:57 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:  The entire forum needs to know the answer to this NASA Test Pilot. There are several issues with what you just posted.

I've just been assuming NASA Test Pilot is the Second Coming of GManifesto.

Post: #43

TravelerKai is asking some righteous questions. It is refreshing.

Post: #44

Haven't we ditched the old "can we accept this particular philosophy as 100% verified truth and correct way to model our whole life according to", and started using more the approach "Are teachings of Gautama Buddha of any use to masculine men?"

Can we, as men, improve our spiritual and material existence, if we apply some of Buddha's teachings, and take some of his advice ? Can we profit by exploring and investigating further ?

Buddha is one of those men who was driven to act rather than to simply conform. It remained so even in his spiritual pursue. In this era of rapid processes, maybe we can find a way to lead a more balanced, and calm life, by applying at least some of his prescriptons ?

Post: #45

If you take the -ism part out of it, a lot of his teachings have been confirmed by psychological studies.

Post: #46

I have sent out a response via PM to about 15 people to include TravelerKai, if I missed someone that wants it, send me a PM and I will send it to you.

I would also re-iterate scrambled´s point that a large part of it is about mastery of the mind over the body.

Post: #47

(05-13-2016 06:07 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  I have sent out a response via PM to about 15 people to include TravelerKai, if I missed someone that wants it, send me a PM and I will send it to you.

I would also re-iterate scrambled´s point that a large part of it is about mastery of the mind over the body.

And now my curiosity will never be sated.

Post: #48

(05-13-2016 06:07 AM)NASA Test Pilot Wrote:  I have sent out a response via PM to about 15 people to include TravelerKai, if I missed someone that wants it, send me a PM and I will send it to you.

(05-11-2016 12:31 PM)Phoenix Wrote:  I've just been assuming NASA Test Pilot is the Second Coming of GManifesto.

Post: #49

(04-30-2016 10:11 PM)Spectrumwalker Wrote:  Look to the man who started it. Siddhartha Gautama. A spoiled little brat who couldn't cope with the fact that life is tough and he would one day die. A man who abandoned his own family to escape reality opting to "seek enlightenment". Sure.

Authentic Buddhism is rooted and centered around monastic life. Men dodging societal responsibilities and choosing to beg for food. If Buddhism could be summed up I think it would be "why bother". Your purpose in life is to mentally prepare yourself for death and avoid suffering or hardship. And hope that's it. Far from masculine. Which is why liberals are attracted to it like moths to a lightbulb.

Any ideology embraced by Hollywood and other lefty loonies is guaranteed to not give you the peace and fulfillment a man is looking for.

Life is hard, embrace it as such and let it mold your character.

(04-30-2016 10:11 PM)Spectrumwalker Wrote:  Look to the man who started it. Siddhartha Gautama. A spoiled little brat who couldn't cope with the fact that life is tough and he would one day die. A man who abandoned his own family to escape reality opting to "seek enlightenment". Sure.

Authentic Buddhism is rooted and centered around monastic life. Men dodging societal responsibilities and choosing to beg for food. If Buddhism could be summed up I think it would be "why bother". Your purpose in life is to mentally prepare yourself for death and avoid suffering or hardship. And hope that's it. Far from masculine. Which is why liberals are attracted to it like moths to a lightbulb.

Any ideology embraced by Hollywood and other lefty loonies is guaranteed to not give you the peace and fulfillment a man is looking for.

Life is hard, embrace it as such and let it mold your character.

Buddha witnessed the suffering of the entire human race (and all living beings) and actually decided to do something about it instead of remain in his sheltered life. I strain to define this behavior as “bratty,” especially considering his efforts to find a solution for his sake and the sake of everyone else, he nearly died testing the limits of asceticism as a possible solution, using his own body as the excruciatingly painful testing ground. This man recognized that by staying with his family they would continually be bound in the life-death cycle and that in his powerless un-enlightened state, he would be powerless to free his family from endless suffering. After he attained enlightenment, he went back to help, and ultimately his wife becomes an arahat, attaining nirvana (liberation from suffering). These are hardly the results of the average rebellious brat.

The claim that Buddhism is only authentic when rooted and centered around monastic life is also incorrect. Buddha gave tens of thousands of teachings to lay and ordained practitioners alike and one of the primary ones is the Middle Way, which he espoused after realizing that a good path to enlightenment is a moderate and balanced life. Monastic living is not one of the requirements. I can’t speak for all monks obviously but since I actually know and communicate with many, I can certainly say that the ones I know didn’t decide to become a monks and become ordained to “dodge societal responsibilities”. Rather, they came to the realization that there have been societal responsibilities for thousands of years and still, suffering is still omnipresent – and having seen clearly that worldly living does not lead to happiness and the cessation of suffering, they decided to dedicate themselves to leading virtuous lives and following a difficult path, even if it means going hungry and without material comforts. No attempt whatsoever is made to avoid suffering or hardship. They are seen as great teachers in the Buddhist tradition. The life of a monk is a driven one with immense effort put towards learning, concentration, and doing good, working mentally or physically from the moment they wake until the moment they sleep. Summing up the attitude of a monk as “why bother” would be missing the point entirely.

For me, I can certainly say that Buddhism has given me the peace and fulfillment I’ve been looking for where doing “manly” and “masculine” things didn’t.

Post: #50

(05-13-2016 02:52 PM)StarcraftGG Wrote:  Buddha witnessed the suffering of the entire human race (and all living beings) and actually decided to do something about it instead of remain in his sheltered life. I strain to define this behavior as “bratty,” especially considering his efforts to find a solution for his sake and the sake of everyone else, he nearly died testing the limits of asceticism as a possible solution, using his own body as the excruciatingly painful testing ground. This man recognized that by staying with his family they would continually be bound in the life-death cycle and that in his powerless un-enlightened state, he would be powerless to free his family from endless suffering.

So he bails out on his wife and newborn kid, for the sake of humanity? What a guy...

Humanity would be so much better off if fathers took responsibility for their families.

Quote:After he attained enlightenment, he went back to help, and ultimately his wife becomes an arahat, attaining nirvana (liberation from suffering).

All's well that ends well then, a happy ending (and no hand job required).

Never mind the child growing up fatherless, dad's on every other statue from Rangoon to Tsingtao...

Quote: These are hardly the results of the average rebellious brat.

This is basically the story of every other wife who bailed out on her family to fly to some stupid ashram in India in order to find "enlightenment". It's a pretty common story actually, Oprah Book Club material... Eat Pray Love.