Allah, the only Creator.

[Riverwolf]

Shintoism drove Japanese into serious competition in warfare meaning Japan copied the West in arms development for their expansion dreams outside of Japan which WW II ended militarily but Japan recovered quickly by switching to economic warfare, a war which they won until serious economic competition from China developed. Buddhism didn't drive Japan's striving for economic superiority. Enlightenment never meant economic success as Gautama's example of deliberately forgoing wealth exemplified for Buddhists.

Shintoism didn't do that; all Shintoism is is praying to various shrines to the forces of nature. Buddhism didn't do that; that's a path to non-suffering. It was the political leader Tojo who caused Japan to invade other countries. Once again, it's all about politics, not spirituality. The Emperor had virtually no say in the matter.

Once again, you demonstrate that you don't know much about Buddhism. Not everyone in Japan is a Buddhist, and not everyone who is a Buddhist is enlightened.

 

[Riverwolf]

"Go read "What the Buddha Taught."

Any ideology or theology is only as strong as its weakest link. I am sent to point out the fatal flaws in existing theologies and philosophies because obviously existing theologies and philosophies haven't brought the world closer to world peace. Something is lacking in them that keeps their good points from becoming universal. I don't have to plow through Buddhist theological texts to discover Buddhism' s fatal flaw. Science found it for me and for you. Buddhist philosophy suffers a disconnect from human social reality by over-emphasis on avoidance of psychic pain in my opinion. It's another way of tranquilizing the brain that uses meditative technique instead of drugs. When you look at the world as a place of suffering, suffering is what you will see instead of the joys and heartbreaks of engaged life. Buddhism teaches detachment in all relationships in order to avoid psychic pain that comes from full engagement to everyday life in all its glories and miseries, i.e., throwing baby out with the bathwater..

Then you will never understand Buddhism, and you will always fail in your attempts to point out the flaws of Buddhism.

For your information, Buddha was NOT God and NOT a prophet; he said so himself. There's NO SUCH THING as Buddhist theological texts. If you actually knew ANYTHING about Buddhism, you'd know this.

Besides, Christianity hasn't lead the world to peace, even though the teachings of Jesus are sound. (And nearly identical, BTW, to the teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.) Here's a news flash: there will NEVER be peace between this species of humans, as we are warlike and competitive by nature.

 

[Riverwolf]

1820? What century are we in now? What happened and why are Buddhist nations now lagging so far behind? It takes egos to buck tradition and bring in social changes and Buddhism strives to subdue the ego and ego-driven need for achievement.

In other words, to subdue the part of humanity that is warlike and competitive.

I don't judge a country's worth by how much money it has or whether or not it has cell phones. Those are useless in truth, anyway. (Money only has value in the collective imagination of humanity, and modern Western society is fully dependent on technology at this point.)

 

[biomystic]

Then you will never understand Buddhism, and you will always fail in your attempts to point out the flaws of Buddhism.

For your information, Buddha was NOT God and NOT a prophet; he said so himself. There's NO SUCH THING as Buddhist theological texts. If you actually knew ANYTHING about Buddhism, you'd know this.

Besides, Christianity hasn't lead the world to peace, even though the teachings of Jesus are sound. (And nearly identical, BTW, to the teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.) Here's a news flash: there will NEVER be peace between this species of humans, as we are warlike and competitive by nature.

Why are you expending energy on strawmen arguments? I never said Buddha thought himself God or a prophet and why get twisted out of shape about semantics, theological or philosophical? Written texts are not where one finds out about a system of thought's fatal flaws. For example, no matter how much you defend Buddhist ideology saying I don't know anything about it you will find it impossible to counter my argument that without the biological goal of shutting down that area of the human brain that gives us our sense of self, there is no "enlightenment". Buddhist meditating monks proved this if you read the studies. No creation of a literal hole in the head where there's no electrical activity happening = what Buddhist call "enlightenment". There seems to be no other way for Buddhists to achieve this single state of mind which is the goal of Buddhism. When the brain's sense of self center is disabled it is much more difficult to even walk which is why there are thousands of reclining Buddha statues and even more where Buddha sits. It's just glorified brain manipulation using meditative technique instead of drugs and yes, that is my own personal observation but I'm not a prophet for no reason. Time and more research will spread this information about the Buddha mind.

 

[biomystic]

Shintoism didn't do that; all Shintoism is is praying to various shrines to the forces of nature. Buddhism didn't do that; that's a path to non-suffering. It was the political leader Tojo who caused Japan to invade other countries. Once again, it's all about politics, not spirituality. The Emperor had virtually no say in the matter.

Once again, you demonstrate that you don't know much about Buddhism. Not everyone in Japan is a Buddhist, and not everyone who is a Buddhist is enlightened.

From Wikipedia:

"Military culture, especially during Japan's imperialist phase had great bearing on the conduct of the Japanese military before and during World War II.

Centuries previously, the samurai of Japan had been taught unquestioning obedience to their lords, as well as to be fearless in battle. After the Meiji Restoration and the collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Emperor became the focus of military loyalty. During the so-called "Age of Empire" in the late 19th century, Japan followed the lead of other world powers in developing an empire, pursuing that objective aggressively.

As with other imperial powers, Japanese popular culture became increasingly jingoistic through the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century. The rise of Japanese nationalism was seen partly in the adoption of Shinto as a state religion from 1890, including its entrenchment in the education system. Shinto held the Emperor to be divine because he was deemed to be a descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu. This provided justification for the requirement that the emperor and his representatives be obeyed without question."

Technological preparations for winning wars often brings new innovations into the general society. Even Buddhism in its Zen form was commandeered for warfare.

 

[biomystic]

"Besides, Christianity hasn't lead the world to peace, even though the teachings of Jesus are sound. (And nearly identical, BTW, to the teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.) Here's a news flash: there will NEVER be peace between this species of humans, as we are warlike and competitive by nature."

And you won't understand the teachings of Jesus Christ until you know that Christ provided a way out of the otherwise dominating animal pattern of male territorial warfare. We don't have to be stuck in animal land forever.