One God

[loverofhumanity]

Im statching my head. Id have a full reply when I get home. Manifestations of The Buddha is not manifestations of different people who are enlightened. Nichiren Daishin said he was enlightened as a votary of The Buddha. He found his understanding of life through Daimoku. Jesus found enlightenment after he was baptised. I dont know other stories but each person had their enlightenment.

The Enlightenment (not any enlightenment) of The Buddha was complete understanding of life and death and, thus understanding of suffering and rebirth. There is no god. The Buddha's teachings is about training the mind not finding an spirit or inner spiritual feeling in the heart some call god.

He was literally rejecting god and saying everything you, Bahaullah, Muhammad, and I etc experience are from our minds. When we have untrained minds and drawn to things like gods and acetic practices such as the Hindu traditions he opposed you fall into illusions and attachment.

According to The Buddha's teachings, right now you, Bahaullah, Aunt Mary, and Uncle Bob are attached to your religions rather than addressing suffering from the root: the mind.

Religions of abraham talk about The Heart. Old school Buddhism talks about the mind. Two totally different sources. You can use enlightenment if you like but there is a huge difference betwee Bahallauh enlightenment and The Buddha's Enlightenment. The former Bahallauh, jesus, muhammad, etc had revelations via god as the source.

The Buddha transend an dependence on an outside source to understand the nature of suffering. He said address the self.

The Buddha has over thousands of discources. Each one I read so far talks about the mind. It does not mention anything about a creator (to make it more specific). In buddhism, there are more than one god. There are devas and so forth.

Every single person, god, deva, etc are all on the same level. They all hear the words of The Buddha to be enlightened (understanding of life NOT union with a creator)

When I get home, I will address the quotes you gave. But cirst you have to understand the foundation of Buddhist teachings from a Buddhist perspective

Not Bahallauh and not your own.

Peace happens when we stop associating other peoples beliefs in our own when they factually do not belong. Seeing it spiritually is one thing but why and how woule The Buddha manefest into Bahallauh when Baha..believed in god and The Buddha did not?

That means he just turned into someone else. That isnt what The Buddha taught.


Later...

Only to add that each Educator teaches or specializes in a certain teaching such as Buddha - the mind, Christ - love and forgiveness, Muhammad - formation of a religious society and One God, Moses - the Ten Commandments, Baha'u'llah - the oneness of humanity. All these truths are complimentary not contradictory and we can embrace them all but it goes without saying that the further back we go in history the more difficult it us to ascertain Originality thus the Educators all of them have always prophesied One to come after them Who will renew the truth and clarify any misunderstandings or controversies.

All religions await a Promised One not just Buddhists. Christians await the second Coming, Muslims the Mahdi, Zoroastrians - Shah Bahram, Jews - the Lord of Hosts and so on. Baha'u'llah announced to all the world that He is their long awaited Promised One.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Only to add that each Educator teaches or specializes in a certain teaching such as Buddha - the mind, Christ - love and forgiveness, Muhammad - formation of a religious society and One God, Moses - the Ten Commandments, Baha'u'llah - the oneness of humanity. All these truths are complimentary not contradictory and we can embrace them all but it goes without saying that the further back we go in history the more difficult it us to ascertain Originality thus the Educators all of them have always prophesied One to come after them Who will renew the truth and clarify any misunderstandings or controversies.

All religions await a Promised One not just Buddhists. Christians await the second Coming, Muslims the Mahdi, Zoroastrians - Shah Bahram, Jews - the Lord of Hosts and so on. Baha'u'llah announced to all the world that He is their long awaited Promised One.

It isn't that your belief in and of itself is false. Religion or spiritual traditions aren't morally right or wrong. If I went off of historical facts, traditions, and what is taught by each of these religions, they severely contradict that of what you're saying of the Bahai faith.

Christ taught love and kindness through self-sacrifice

The Buddha taught love and kindness through training the mind to get rid of attachments (such as belief in god, for example)

Bahaullah, quote, "taught the oneness of humanity"

I'm not familiar with Hindu, Judaism, Paganism, et cetera. I say Paganism because like Buddhism it isn't an Abrahamic faith. If you are incorporating eastern educators why not those of the Pagans?

They all taught kindness, love, unity, etc but the way to get to that is severely different. Because it is different the experience of love a Christian feels would be different than what a Muslim feels. A Muslim would feel different than an atheist (though they both experience love: no aliens) A Pagan is different than a Jew and so forth. We can use the same terms: love, unity, peace, kindness, etc...

but to understand them, you got to understand it from that particular religion's eyes not yours and most definitely not Bahallauh's.



For example, Christians believe that the only way to achieve love and kindness is the literal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is an offering to the creator as a scapegoat for their sins. Without that sacrifice, there is no salvation and no love and kindness.

If Bahai sees things in unity, then this should go along with The Buddha's teachings. It does not.

The first tenant of The Buddha is not to take lives. That's defeating the purpose of saving lives from suffering if you cause suffering and karma on yourself for doing so. So, love and kindness comes from training the mind to not be attach to things like a creator, practices like purging oneself of food and drink thinking that fasting will make one spiritually awakened. I forgot what it was called, but that's another thing The Buddha was heavily against. He tried believing in the gods (not god and not creator) of India and it didn't work for him.

Jesus, Muhammad, Bahuallah, etc on the other hand do depend on an outside source. They do believe and depend on a creator. According to The Buddha, they are all in delusions. There is no unity in depending on something and someone outside of yourself for spiritual revelation and enlightenment of full understanding of life, suffering, and rebirth.

As long as you are looking up to god, you are not follow The Buddha's teachings and you are not in unity with The Buddha. Yes, you can be enlightened in your faith but the definition of Enlightenment as described by The Buddha goes beyond definitions that you gave of the amita. Plus Amita Buddha isn't traditional Buddhism as so said by a monk I spoke to couple of years ago. Everyone has their own opinions...

but why would I trust Bahallauh's opinions about other people's beliefs rather than the people who practice those beliefs themselves?

... to be continued....

 

[loverofhumanity]

Well, that's convenient!



But I'm not speaking about names of people we have no record of. Why is it that he only speaks of those parts of the world with which he is familiar? There are plenty great teachers in other parts of the world, of which he appears to have no knowledge..



Maybe not in the time in which he lived, but in the future.. A time like now, for example, or 400 years in the future, when we might know even more about people who have come and gone.



Oh, but I can challenge his solution for today's problems. You talk as if world unity is the be all and end all. But that all hinges on how one defines today's problems..



Again, you talk about all of these things as if they are fundamentally good things.. Not everyone agrees (I'm not a huge fan of the modern notion of human rights, for example, and am pretty sceptical of the current models of multiculturalism).



What about Baha'u'llah's pronouncements on same sex marriage (or the possibility of it)? Or the equal status of married and non-married couples?

Baha'u'llah had all knowledge of everything that went on in the world. For instance He addressed all the kings, rulers, religious leaders and all humanity, some collectively and some individually.

See Proclamation of Baha'u'llah

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/

He made mention of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Balinus, Murtus, Hippocrates and more.


Baha'u'llah's knowledge was from God. He had no formal education.

"“Thou knowest full well that We perused not the books which men possess and We acquired not the learning current amongst them, and yet whenever We desire to quote the sayings of the learned and of the wise, presently there will appear before the face of thy Lord in the form of a tablet all that which hath appeared in the world and is revealed in the Holy Books and Scriptures.”

Excerpt From: Bahá’u’lláh. “Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh.” Bahá’í

The examples I used are just the beginnings of a world united and have still to go through many stages before they become principles of a world civilization acceptable to all humanity. For instance in the Baha'i community we don't have multi culturalism we are just one family. We already accept all the major Faiths, their Founders and Holy Books so we don't need interfaith amongst ourselves but society can't transform so fast so these are 'baby steps' but still important progress towards lasting peace.

As for same sex marriage. Love is promoted everywhere in the Baha'i Teachings. Love for all. But sex is only allowed between married men and women. Love is not the issue with same sex marriage but sex.
Baha'u'llah teaches us to love everyone but sex is not love and is only permitted between husband and wife.

 

[buddhist]

This Buddhist is not awaiting a Promised One.

The future Metteya Buddha is neither a savior nor an intercessor, just like Gotama Buddha was neither.

Metteya Buddha will arrive to restore knowledge of the Dhamma after Gotama Buddha's Dhamma teachings has been completely lost, just like Gotama Buddha restored knowledge of the Dhamma after Kassapa Buddha's Dhamma teachings had been completely lost.

 

[The_Fisher_King]

All religions await a Promised One not just Buddhists. Christians await the second Coming, Muslims the Mahdi, Zoroastrians - Shah Bahram, Jews - the Lord of Hosts and so on. Baha'u'llah announced to all the world that He is their long awaited Promised One.

My religion doesn't..

 

[The_Fisher_King]

Baha'u'llah had all knowledge of everything that went on in the world. For instance He addressed all the kings, rulers, religious leaders and all humanity, some collectively and some individually.

See Proclamation of Baha'u'llah

http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/PB/

He made mention of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Balinus, Murtus, Hippocrates and more.

But where are the references to traditions and wise women and men from other parts of the world that he was not familiar with?

As for same sex marriage. Love is promoted everywhere in the Baha'i Teachings. Love for all. But sex is only allowed between married men and women. Love is not the issue with same sex marriage but sex.
Baha'u'llah teaches us to love everyone but sex is not love and is only permitted between husband and wife.

In these things, he was not ahead of his time..

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The name Buddha is simply a title meaning 'enlightened one' and that can also mean Buddha received a 'Revelation' of truth as Buddha was not initially enlightened. Like Muhammad in the cave received a Revelation and Baha'u'llah with the Maiden in prison, Gautama too had an experience which made Him unique and a Buddha not just an ordinary person with ordinary knowledge.

buddha (small -b) means enlightened. When I (and many) say The Buddha or Buddha, with caps, we are referring specifically to the enlightenment taught by Gautama only. If you like, you can call Jesus, Muhammad, and Bahaullah buddhas; but, none of them are Buddhas and none of them are manifestations of The Buddha. That's just a contradiction in terms solely on their definition of enlightenment and the method they got their (sacrifice, obedience, or seeing everyone as one). Jesus taught if you believe in him you believe in his father and, by sacrificing yourself as he sacrificed himself for god, you will be one with the father. The Buddha did not teach human sacrifice. The only sacrifice The Buddha taught was getting rid of delusions. That's a bit more healthier a person carrying the sins of the world. The two are completely different.

How can a Bahai see unity in those faiths when the method towards that unity is so different?

You can't have love and kindness on human sacrifice. You also cannot have love and kindness if you don't respect other religions in their own right without incorporating their morals into your own without the culture and traditions that shape them. According to The Buddha, you can't have love and kindness if you keep thinking of defining what love and kindness actual is without practicing it-being attach to defining it rather than letting the practice define it. That, and just by believing in a creator to get to that love and kindness is contrary to what The Buddha taught. If Bahallauh is a manifestation of The Buddha, there should be no conflict between The Buddha's teachings and the Bahallauh's teachings. There is. A huge one.

Not morally bad. You just got to look at it from a Buddhist perspective not yours and not Bahallauh's.

All these Educators experienced an 'enlightenment' or Revelation which made them all unique and eventually They all taught a law or dhamma and established a religion.

Enlightenment as in revelation, people have all the time. The Buddha taught enlightenment or nibanna as in knowing 100 percent the nature, cause, end of, and method of ending suffering in life. He also knew 100 percent about rebirth and conducted himself perfectly to where when he passed away, he no longer went through another cycle of rebirth. He actually died.

Jesus did not have The Buddha's enlightenment because Jesus was dependent on his father for it. Muhammad and Bahallauh both depend on the creator just as many god-of-abraham religions do. The Buddha Dharma is completely different.

There is just too much in common to ignore. Things such as lack of a God can be put down to the 2,500 since He appeared and the decay of His Teachings as mentioned below and the rising of a counterfeit Dhamma as mentioned below.

Lack of god is a crucial importance to this topic. Since The Buddha did not believe in a creator nor taught that a creator has in any way have to do with ending suffering, this is a huge support in contrasting not comparing the differences of The Dharma with that of god-of-abraham (GOA) believers.

Without that point of reference, I can still say that GOA believers believe in the heart nad The Buddha the mind but GOA believers foundation is the creator. The Buddha did not teach that. That is why they are not in unison at the core. On the surface, sure. We aren't aliens to each other. Religions promote peace, unity, and so forth. However, the methods by which we get there tells us who is "part of our club" and who is not.

There is no tolereance in the definition of peace. If you want peace, we need to respect people for their differences and stop seeing religions that do not believe in god in some way part of god-religious beliefs. Respect that a orange is an orange and an apple is an apple. They are both fruits, yeah. They may have the same color. However, they are completely different fruits.

You're saying that the fruits the same because they look the same and they both are fruits. I'm saying if you want to find that peace you asked about in the other thread, respect the differences and take out trying to see Buddhism as part of the Bahai faith when from the Buddhist perspective not your own, it is not. See it from their eyes not your own. You will find peace there.

Is what we have today what Buddha actually taught? And it's very possible that the counterfeit Dhamma is the one that is saying Buddha did not teach about God.

There is no counterfeit Dharma. That's like saying the laws of life and death, suffering, and rebirth are lies. The Buddha Dharma isn't hard to understand once you get through the thick discourses. Just you got to respect the message may sound the same but the methods to get to that message makes the experience different for a Buddhist than it would, say, for a Christian who believes the same morals but without sacrifice, they disagree with the practice.

We talk about progressive revelation. That from time to time another Educator or Buddha or Christ appears to guide us. He always comes with more advanced teachings as well as renews last truths and clears up misconceptions held by followers of previous Faiths.

That sounds like teachings from your faith. The Buddha didn't teach that.

This age is the age of Universal fellowship and Baha'u'llah is it's Buddha. If you study all the Buddhist traditions regarding Maitreya and AmitAbha and compare them with the life if Baha'u'llah you will find many similarities. Also the Great King of Glory is referring to Baha'u'llah.

Jesus had similarities to The Buddha because they are both taught from eastern traditions. Muhammad has similarities with Hindu because they both are from India. What else? There are a lot of similarities between the different educators of thought.

Remember, we are looking through their eyes not yours and not Bahallauh's. As such, because Jesus believed in sacrifice and The Buddha did not the methods of their getting to love and kindness contradict the goals both of them shared. If you get love and kindness from killing X and the other gets it from hugging X, they both have the same goal: love and kindness. They are similar in those regards. However, their methods and practices define their goals. Buddhism is about practice not beliefs. The two would totally be in contradiction regardless if they are after the same goal.

I'ma leave you with this:

"When a rainbow gets restricted, it becomes one color: White". ~Anne Wilson Shaef

It's alright to find unity among all beliefs. Just their methods contradict each other and as a result, since most beliefs look at methods defining their beliefs, unity comes by respect of differences not incorporating them into a one party system.

 

[loverofhumanity]

If you decide to disregard the Buddhist teachings because they are likely counterfeit, then why quote any of them at all?

Metteya will be born in an age when the average lifespan of man is 80,000 years. And, according to Buddhism, all Buddhas are to be born on the Indian subcontinent - not in the middle east. This excludes Bahaullah.

The reason I uphold the Buddhist teachings is because I can verify them for myself, in the here and now, and I personally know that they are valid. I cannot verify any of the Abrahamic faith-based teachings for myself, and that largely includes Bahaism.

The only way to verify things like correct interpretations and what is authentic from what is not us when a new Teacher appears like Baha'u'llah and we now have a very good idea that not all that is taught in current Buddhism is what was originally taught by Buddha.

"The founder of Buddhism was a wonderful soul. He established the Oneness of God, but later the original principles of His doctrines gradually disappeared, and ignorant customs and ceremonials arose and increased until they finally ended in the worship of statues and images. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 165.

“There are prophecies concerning this Manifestation in the Buddhistic books, but they are in symbols and metaphors, and some spiritual conditions are mentioned therein, but the leaders of religion do not understand. They think these prophecies are material things; yet those signs are foreshadowing spiritual occurances.”

Excerpt From: Bahá, Abdu’l. “Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.”

“Buddha Was a Manifestation Like Christ

“The Buddha was a Manifestation of God, like Christ, but His followers do not possess His authentic writings.”

Excerpt From: Hornby. “Lights of Guidance.”

We know of a certainty what is true and authentic and what is not through the new Buddha Baha'u'llah.

Unfortunately the same problem of attachment exists amongst Buddhists as it does among Christians and other Faiths to the lamp and not the light of truth within.

Attachment to the Buddha should not lead Buddhist away from the truth of Baha'u'llah. As Baha'is our attachment to Baha'u'llah has led us to the truth of Buddha not away from Him and we read from the Writings of Buddha in our temples but tell me do Buddhists or Christians or any other Faiths read any other truth but heir own in their Holy places?

Truth is Universal not owned by one Faith but today everyone turns away from truth as a whole and only worships in their little corner rejecting all other truth.

Both Buddha and Baha'u'llah taught truth and I learn from both of them but as I learn from the Gospels and Quran but do any of these followers do likewise?

Prejudice is the reason Buddha came to free our minds of it.


“Light is good in whatsoever lamp it is burning! A rose is beautiful in whatsoever garden it may bloom! A star has the same radiance if it shines from the East or from the West. Be free from prejudice, so will you love the Sun of Truth from whatsoever point in the horizon it may arise! You will realize that if the Divine light of truth shone in Jesus Christ it also shone in Moses and in Buddha.

Excerpt From: Bahá, Abdu’l. “Paris Talks.” Bahá’í

 

[loverofhumanity]

But where are the references to traditions and wise women and men from other parts of the world that he was not familiar with?



In these things, he was not ahead of his time..

Which traditions are you referring to as His Teachings have all these things covered but you need to be more specific so I can find if He refers to them or not?

Same sex marriage is all about sex as we can all love each other and don't need to get married to love one another.

 

[loverofhumanity]

My religion doesn't..

Which religion is that?

 

[loverofhumanity]

It isn't that your belief in and of itself is false. Religion or spiritual traditions aren't morally right or wrong. If I went off of historical facts, traditions, and what is taught by each of these religions, they severely contradict that of what you're saying of the Bahai faith.

Christ taught love and kindness through self-sacrifice

The Buddha taught love and kindness through training the mind to get rid of attachments (such as belief in god, for example)

Bahaullah, quote, "taught the oneness of humanity"

I'm not familiar with Hindu, Judaism, Paganism, et cetera. I say Paganism because like Buddhism it isn't an Abrahamic faith. If you are incorporating eastern educators why not those of the Pagans?

They all taught kindness, love, unity, etc but the way to get to that is severely different. Because it is different the experience of love a Christian feels would be different than what a Muslim feels. A Muslim would feel different than an atheist (though they both experience love: no aliens) A Pagan is different than a Jew and so forth. We can use the same terms: love, unity, peace, kindness, etc...

but to understand them, you got to understand it from that particular religion's eyes not yours and most definitely not Bahallauh's.



For example, Christians believe that the only way to achieve love and kindness is the literal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is an offering to the creator as a scapegoat for their sins. Without that sacrifice, there is no salvation and no love and kindness.

If Bahai sees things in unity, then this should go along with The Buddha's teachings. It does not.

The first tenant of The Buddha is not to take lives. That's defeating the purpose of saving lives from suffering if you cause suffering and karma on yourself for doing so. So, love and kindness comes from training the mind to not be attach to things like a creator, practices like purging oneself of food and drink thinking that fasting will make one spiritually awakened. I forgot what it was called, but that's another thing The Buddha was heavily against. He tried believing in the gods (not god and not creator) of India and it didn't work for him.

Jesus, Muhammad, Bahuallah, etc on the other hand do depend on an outside source. They do believe and depend on a creator. According to The Buddha, they are all in delusions. There is no unity in depending on something and someone outside of yourself for spiritual revelation and enlightenment of full understanding of life, suffering, and rebirth.

As long as you are looking up to god, you are not follow The Buddha's teachings and you are not in unity with The Buddha. Yes, you can be enlightened in your faith but the definition of Enlightenment as described by The Buddha goes beyond definitions that you gave of the amita. Plus Amita Buddha isn't traditional Buddhism as so said by a monk I spoke to couple of years ago. Everyone has their own opinions...

but why would I trust Bahallauh's opinions about other people's beliefs rather than the people who practice those beliefs themselves?

... to be continued....

Carlita one thing I wish to say is that a lot of spiritual light flows through you and I see your goodness and I love reading your posts as just the name Buddha makes me feel at peace.

I have a heap of Buddhist Writings but if there are any digital books that you can recommend that I could buy from Amazon or some Buddhist online store I really, really would love that.

Also the story of the Buddha. How He became enlightened. Which is the best one and in digital form?

I know we thrash out things openly but I love your religion and teachings and although we have some different understandings I'm never going to say your wrong and I'm right as following the Buddha is right and I believe in Him too.

But you are very patient and I have great respect for the tolerance you have shown me.

I'm married to a Burmese lady and I lived in Burma in a village for 5 years and visited beautiful pagodas and temples and studied meditation. I loved the Buddhist culture there so friendly and so patient.

 

[loverofhumanity]

buddha (small -b) means enlightened. When I (and many) say The Buddha or Buddha, with caps, we are referring specifically to the enlightenment taught by Gautama only. If you like, you can call Jesus, Muhammad, and Bahaullah buddhas; but, none of them are Buddhas and none of them are manifestations of The Buddha. That's just a contradiction in terms solely on their definition of enlightenment and the method they got their (sacrifice, obedience, or seeing everyone as one). Jesus taught if you believe in him you believe in his father and, by sacrificing yourself as he sacrificed himself for god, you will be one with the father. The Buddha did not teach human sacrifice. The only sacrifice The Buddha taught was getting rid of delusions. That's a bit more healthier a person carrying the sins of the world. The two are completely different.

How can a Bahai see unity in those faiths when the method towards that unity is so different?

You can't have love and kindness on human sacrifice. You also cannot have love and kindness if you don't respect other religions in their own right without incorporating their morals into your own without the culture and traditions that shape them. According to The Buddha, you can't have love and kindness if you keep thinking of defining what love and kindness actual is without practicing it-being attach to defining it rather than letting the practice define it. That, and just by believing in a creator to get to that love and kindness is contrary to what The Buddha taught. If Bahallauh is a manifestation of The Buddha, there should be no conflict between The Buddha's teachings and the Bahallauh's teachings. There is. A huge one.

Not morally bad. You just got to look at it from a Buddhist perspective not yours and not Bahallauh's.



Enlightenment as in revelation, people have all the time. The Buddha taught enlightenment or nibanna as in knowing 100 percent the nature, cause, end of, and method of ending suffering in life. He also knew 100 percent about rebirth and conducted himself perfectly to where when he passed away, he no longer went through another cycle of rebirth. He actually died.

Jesus did not have The Buddha's enlightenment because Jesus was dependent on his father for it. Muhammad and Bahallauh both depend on the creator just as many god-of-abraham religions do. The Buddha Dharma is completely different.



Lack of god is a crucial importance to this topic. Since The Buddha did not believe in a creator nor taught that a creator has in any way have to do with ending suffering, this is a huge support in contrasting not comparing the differences of The Dharma with that of god-of-abraham (GOA) believers.

Without that point of reference, I can still say that GOA believers believe in the heart nad The Buddha the mind but GOA believers foundation is the creator. The Buddha did not teach that. That is why they are not in unison at the core. On the surface, sure. We aren't aliens to each other. Religions promote peace, unity, and so forth. However, the methods by which we get there tells us who is "part of our club" and who is not.

There is no tolereance in the definition of peace. If you want peace, we need to respect people for their differences and stop seeing religions that do not believe in god in some way part of god-religious beliefs. Respect that a orange is an orange and an apple is an apple. They are both fruits, yeah. They may have the same color. However, they are completely different fruits.

You're saying that the fruits the same because they look the same and they both are fruits. I'm saying if you want to find that peace you asked about in the other thread, respect the differences and take out trying to see Buddhism as part of the Bahai faith when from the Buddhist perspective not your own, it is not. See it from their eyes not your own. You will find peace there.



There is no counterfeit Dharma. That's like saying the laws of life and death, suffering, and rebirth are lies. The Buddha Dharma isn't hard to understand once you get through the thick discourses. Just you got to respect the message may sound the same but the methods to get to that message makes the experience different for a Buddhist than it would, say, for a Christian who believes the same morals but without sacrifice, they disagree with the practice.



That sounds like teachings from your faith. The Buddha didn't teach that.



Jesus had similarities to The Buddha because they are both taught from eastern traditions. Muhammad has similarities with Hindu because they both are from India. What else? There are a lot of similarities between the different educators of thought.

Remember, we are looking through their eyes not yours and not Bahallauh's. As such, because Jesus believed in sacrifice and The Buddha did not the methods of their getting to love and kindness contradict the goals both of them shared. If you get love and kindness from killing X and the other gets it from hugging X, they both have the same goal: love and kindness. They are similar in those regards. However, their methods and practices define their goals. Buddhism is about practice not beliefs. The two would totally be in contradiction regardless if they are after the same goal.

I'ma leave you with this:

"When a rainbow gets restricted, it becomes one color: White". ~Anne Wilson Shaef

It's alright to find unity among all beliefs. Just their methods contradict each other and as a result, since most beliefs look at methods defining their beliefs, unity comes by respect of differences not incorporating them into a one party system.

I think you pointed out one thing and that's the essence of what we have in common, things like the golden mean, are common to all Faiths. So we are united in that.

Our watchword if you like is 'unit in diversity'. But the thing about Bahá'í belief is that I couldn't become a Baha'i just by believing in Baha'u'llah. I would have to accept Buddha as well and all the other Educators as we are taught by Baha'u'llah that They all taught truth.

That's why in all our Bahá'í Houses of Worship we read from Buddhist Writings as well because Buddha is part of our core belief.

Personally I love all the Buddhist scriptures I read.

This is my favorite

The Thousands

A man may conquer ten times ten thousand men in battle but he is a true conqueror who conquers his own self.

That was written by heart and is with me everywhere I go.

 

[Marthandeshwara]

There is only one great energy that pervades the universe call it whatever you want. Only the great ones ever understood this. We also have the energy in us. It is the life energy within us that connects us with god. No matter what faith you belong to aft this life this body will perish but our soul which is the divine energy inside of us lives on in heaven or in another life. Polytheism is no wrong as it names different energies of god and gives them form. For asking a layman to understand the all pervading god who has no form is hard. There is only the one but some see god in human/animal/earthly form, some in divine form and some in the state of god (very few great souls). What ever you believe in the one true god resides in everything.

 

[loverofhumanity]

There is only one great energy that pervades the universe call it whatever you want. Only the great ones ever understood this. We also have the energy in us. It is the life energy within us that connects us with god. No matter what faith you belong to aft this life this body will perish but our soul which is the divine energy inside of us lives on in heaven or in another life. Polytheism is no wrong as it names different energies of god and gives them form. For asking a layman to understand the all pervading god who has no form is hard. There is only the one but some see god in human/animal/earthly form, some in divine form and some in the state of god (very few great souls). What ever you believe in the one true god resides in everything.

Lovely. Very spiritual and accepting towards all. Thank you!

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Carlita one thing I wish to say is that a lot of spiritual light flows through you and I see your goodness and I love reading your posts as just the name Buddha makes me feel at peace.

I have a heap of Buddhist Writings but if there are any digital books that you can recommend that I could buy from Amazon or some Buddhist online store I really, really would love that.

Also the story of the Buddha. How He became enlightened. Which is the best one and in digital form?

I know we thrash out things openly but I love your religion and teachings and although we have some different understandings I'm never going to say your wrong and I'm right as following the Buddha is right and I believe in Him too.

But you are very patient and I have great respect for the tolerance you have shown me.

I'm married to a Burmese lady and I lived in Burma in a village for 5 years and visited beautiful pagodas and temples and studied meditation. I loved the Buddhist culture there so friendly and so patient.

Real Quick. If you use a tablet or any "high tech" cell phone you can download the "In The Buddha's Words: An anthology on the Buddha's Discouses". I bought it at Barns and Nobles ebook on my Nook. Amazon, you can get it on Kindle. That as well as

1. The Middle Length Discourses of The Buddha
At the bottom of the Amazon page, you'll find similar books.

2. Great Disciples of The Buddha
The authors tried to put together scattered stories and bios of what they thought the disciples believed and how they lived. So its not all base on historical accuracy but the authors attempt to share the disciples lives in their devotion to The Buddha.

3. The Lotus Sutra
This is a mahayana text rather than based soley on Pali

I'm from the US, so the perspective of Buddhism I receive in person would be drastically different than how you experience since I dont have the cultural context and practices in a formal environment. Ive gone to a Vietnamese Zen temple where The Buddha statues and manfestations were adorn just as they would The Buddha. However, their view would not incorporate unity as Christ sees it and that of bahallauh (given he believes in a creator) since thats absent in Zen Buddhism.

The other temple I went to is Nichiren Shoshu. I practice off and on with their off shoot (political separation of sorts) with SGI. They base therir views on how Nichiren Shonin, an enlightened Buddhist Monk from Japan who sees The Buddha's teachings in summary throuh the eyes of The Lotus Sutra (or the Law of Causality) and Daimoku (the devotion of the law of causality-or life, really) and our responsibility to bring compassion and help people from suffering etc.

Just the very fact Bahallah believes in a creator sets the two enlightenments apart in definition. However, spiritually, Id never put down the spiritual view of Bahai view. I just disagree with the logic behind it.

But I dont know how you see it from a Burma cultural perspective. Most Buddhism I know are from Japan and China.

 

[Quintessence]

Which religion is that?

A whole bunch of them. The idea of some sort of "savior" is particular to Abrahamic traditions.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Real Quick. If you use a tablet or any "high tech" cell phone you can download the "In The Buddha's Words: An anthology on the Buddha's Discouses". I bought it at Barns and Nobles ebook on my Nook. Amazon, you can get it on Kindle. That as well as

1. The Middle Length Discourses of The Buddha
At the bottom of the Amazon page, you'll find similar books.

2. Great Disciples of The Buddha
The authors tried to put together scattered stories and bios of what they thought the disciples believed and how they lived. So its not all base on historical accuracy but the authors attempt to share the disciples lives in their devotion to The Buddha.

3. The Lotus Sutra
This is a mahayana text rather than based soley on Pali

I'm from the US, so the perspective of Buddhism I receive in person would be drastically different than how you experience since I dont have the cultural context and practices in a formal environment. Ive gone to a Vietnamese Zen temple where The Buddha statues and manfestations were adorn just as they would The Buddha. However, their view would not incorporate unity as Christ sees it and that of bahallauh (given he believes in a creator) since thats absent in Zen Buddhism.

The other temple I went to is Nichiren Shoshu. I practice off and on with their off shoot (political separation of sorts) with SGI. They base therir views on how Nichiren Shonin, an enlightened Buddhist Monk from Japan who sees The Buddha's teachings in summary throuh the eyes of The Lotus Sutra (or the Law of Causality) and Daimoku (the devotion of the law of causality-or life, really) and our responsibility to bring compassion and help people from suffering etc.

Just the very fact Bahallah believes in a creator sets the two enlightenments apart in definition. However, spiritually, Id never put down the spiritual view of Bahai view. I just disagree with the logic behind it.

But I dont know how you see it from a Burma cultural perspective. Most Buddhism I know are from Japan and China.

I'm watching a documentary called The Buddha. Enjoying it immensely. I'm in Australia now but was in Burma for 5 years. But we have family in Burma so we are in touch daily with them.

I'll have a look at the links you sent. I treasure all Buddhist scripture and want to have as much as possible in my library to learn and also the story of Buddha. Thanks for all your kindness and I'll go and look at those books. Thanks for your recommendations because there's so much it's hard to know what to get.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I'm watching a documentary called The Buddha. Enjoying it immensely. I'm in Australia now but was in Burma for 5 years. But we have family in Burma so we are in touch daily with them.

I'll have a look at the links you sent. I treasure all Buddhist scripture and want to have as much as possible in my library to learn and also the story of Buddha. Thanks for all your kindness and I'll go and look at those books. Thanks for your recommendations because there's so much it's hard to know what to get.

Yeah. It gets overwhelming. Once you start with the basics and foundations of each religion and their founders and their religion views outsiders, you get a better perspective in whether its an actual unity of religions (peace on both sides with both sides agreeing ) or is it one side saying X and another saying Y.

I want to share a mini experience of why I feel so strongly about seeing multple religions in one whether its an eclectic pagan, a diverse welcoming UU, a SGI member yearning for everyone to receive happiness via Daimoku, or Bahai view that educators of the times are pointing to the same goal as wrong.

But I will share it as a separate post when Im on my laptop.

If you decide to get the books, print versions are the best. I use online for reference when I practiced but if I go back to practice, Id always have the physical books. I feel you gain more insight.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

All religions await a Promised One not just Buddhists.

I think you can guess what I'm going to say here...

This isn't true at all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I think you can guess what I'm going to say here...

This isn't true at all.

The return of Christ? Maitreya Buddha? Lord of Hosts? Shah Bahram? Mahdi? Return of Krishna? I can can show you all the verses where these are prophesied.