I'm reading a pop-Zen book by Brad Warner, There is No God. — Shawn
From my recollection, the five hindrances are admonitions about behaviours and psychological obstacles to liberation. I'd love to be able to report on what life is like when you're free of them, but no can do :fear: — Wayfarer
I'm reading a pop-Zen book by Brad Warner, There is No God.
— Shawn
with the subtitle 'and He is with you always'. Read the intro, totally get it.
...
I had a debate with I Like Sushi recently where he was insisting that Buddhism is 'theistic', because of the worship of deities such as celestial bodhisattvas and meditation Buddhas - even though Buddhism has always eschewed any notion of creator-God. But because those figures are seen as deities, then Buddhism is stereotyped with the Biblical religions where really the underlying belief-structures are entirely different. — Wayfarer
I had a debate with I Like Sushi recently where he was insisting that Buddhism is 'theistic', because of the worship of deities such as celestial bodhisattvas and meditation Buddhas - even though Buddhism has always eschewed any notion of creator-God. — Wayfarer
True, Buddhism has no creator God, but it does have many gods and above all else an "omniscient one". — Janus
A saying I read on Dharmawheel - 'Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. Liberation has a beginning, but it has no end.' — Wayfarer
The Buddha, if it makes sense to say he "seeks" anything, seeks the cessation of "constants" (e.g. anicca, anatta, moksha). — 180 Proof
My propositions serve as elucidations in the following way: anyone who understands me eventually recognizes them as nonsensical, when he has used them—as steps—to climb beyond them. (He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder after he has climbed up it.)
He must transcend these propositions, and then he will see the world aright. — Wittgenstein ladder
To the OP's question, in a sense, "yes", the Buddha does make the fox's sour grapes move. Most of what is naturally pleasing, joyful, and desirable are ephemeral, in geologic time scales they're hardly even a blink of an eye — TheMadFool
The Buddha had an unusually keen insight into what people with everyday concerns need to know, and The Buddha's Teachings on Prosperity delivers the actual teachings that he gave to all those many people he encountered who were not monks or nuns or even meditators. This is practical advice on the important stuff of life, those things nearly all of us must deal with in order to enjoy a meaningful, lasting happiness:
- Taking care of children and aging parents
- Providing for our families
- Working with employees and business partners
- Finding and maintaining love relationships and marital partnerships
- Making responsible, ethical financial decisions
- Cultivating the best in your personality
We respond to the hindrances otherwise they would not hinder us, no? I thought the idea is pretty standard Buddhist fare. I just performed a search and found plenty of references. Here's one on the top of the list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_hindrances — Janus
The question is as to whether it is really possible (and desirable) to permanently cease responding to them, i.e. become liberated from them. Why would you try unless you believed it is possible?
Why would you try unless you believed it is possible?
True, Buddhism has no creator God, but it does have many gods and above all else an "omniscient one". — Janus
In Buddhist cosmology, the heaven realms are blissful abodes whose present inhabitants (the devas) gained rebirth there through the power of their past meritorious actions. Like all beings still caught in samsara, however, these deities eventually succumb to aging, illness, and death, and must eventually take rebirth in other realms — pleasant or otherwise — according to the quality and strength of their past kamma. The devas are not always especially knowledgable or spiritually mature — in fact many are quite intoxicated by their sensual indulgences — and none are considered worthy of veneration or worship. Nevertheless, the devas and their happy realms stand as important reminders to us both of the happy benefits that ensue from the performance of skillful and meritorious deeds and, finally, of the ultimate shortcomings of sensuality.
Buddhism enters the arena and says what we should really strive for/desire is the changeless, nirvana being the apotheosis. — TheMadFool
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