The Buddha is My Christ (satire)

It is a flawed theology to fear a non-Christian would go to Hell practising their own faith, be it Buddhist, Islam, Judaism or any religion other than Christianity that promote moral conduct.

In assuming that if I don't believe in Jesus, then I'll go to Hell, the conservative Christian is endorsing a religious opinion that is based on flawed logic.

In my opinion, this is the devilish nature of that assumption: condemnation of non-believers and fear of non-Christian faiths.

Whether or not I go to Hell is not determined by what I believe, but by how I conduct myself. This too is true in Buddhism. Indeed, both faiths require their members to repent from immoral conduct.

Therefore, the religiously faithful of any religion who follow the tenets of their religion will not go to Hell by practising their faith.

Thus I question the condemnation of unbelievers by any religion. Though, Buddhism endorses us to not to blindly accept what the Buddha said but to test everything that is Buddhist.

Perhaps this is why I like Mormonism. While the history of the Mormon is complex, the willingness of Mormons to be open to limited religious pluralism is a good sign. It shows the ability to adapt to the influence of post-modern eucheminism on Mormon thought.

Because I know that unconditional love is the root of Buddhism and Mormonism, I am sure that it will be possible for me to moderate my Buddhist ideals with Mormon ideals. Yet it is unlikely that the mixing of the different flavors of both faiths will lead to strengthening of my core belief about unconditional love.

For that Love empowers both Mormons and Buddhists to improve their lives for the better.

As I grow in my experience as a neophyte Buddhist Mormon, I hope to disprove the assumption by naïve conservative Christians that the syncretism of Buddhism and Mormonism will condemn me to Hell.

In Mormonism, a member eventually will be reborn in one of three kingdoms, the Celestial, the terrestrial and the telestial. Yet the afterlife is not of this world. Even so, the metaphor of the Mormon afterlife can be applied to this life.

If you follow the moral code of Mormonism, then it is possible to achieve the glory of the Celestial kingdom. If you follow the moral code of a non-Mormon religion, then you may achieve the glory of the terrestrial kingdom. If you follow your own moral code, then the telestial kingdom is for you.

In contrast, if you slip up but stay faithful to the Buddhist precepts of moral conduct, then you may achieve Nirvana, which is freedom from the cycle of birth and death in the Six Realms of Desire. If you just follow your own moral code, then you will live your own life.

Whatever my destiny is as a Buddhist Mormon, my depth of faith in unconditional love determines the strength of my moral code which determines my moral conduct. Through meditation and prayer, it is possible to live by my moral code and improve my moral conduct.

Although I am not perfect, I hope to improve my life by abstaining from caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and dangerous drugs. By doing so I plan on improving my health so that I may live long enough to be of service to other people, which is a core Buddhist tenet.

Since Mormonism is dedicated to service to other people, I find that it is amenable to my core Buddhist beliefs.

In Jodo Shinshu, the Japanese Buddhism that is the faith that I was born in, it is said that its founder Shinran Shonin once said, "I gladly will follow my master Honen to hell."

If conservative Christians might condemn me to Hell for "serving two masters", then that is based cherry picking Biblical quotes to support their religious opinion.

So, I certainly do not believe I am going to Hell. Although I have once stated that the Buddha is my Christ in jest, in all seriousness it is the foundation of the spiritual aspects of my life.

By declaring that "the Buddha is my Christ", I am only confirming the influence of the Buddha and the Christ on inspiring my life as a Buddhist Mormon.

The Sexism of Pure Land Ideology

Vow 35:If, when I attain Buddhahood, women in the immeasurable and inconceivable Buddha-lands of the ten quarters who, having heard my Name, rejoice in faith, awaken aspiration for the Enlightenment and wish to renounce womanhood, should after death be reborn again as women, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment. — 48 Vows of Amida Buddha


In Pure Land Buddhism, I notice women who get reborn as women cause Bodhisattva Dharmakara not to attain perfect Enlightenment. They have to renounce womanhood, and subsequently be reborn as men.

This makes me wonder where women get reborn, because it is not any of the Buddhist heavens.

It is quite possible that lust may prevent both male and female Buddhists from finding true peace of mind. Yet gender differentiation itself is an impediment to spiritual growth and the eventual enlightenment of Nirvana.

Indeed, gender differentiation may lead to sexual temptation. This explains the need for the Buddhist vow regarding sexual misconduct.

In the Soma Sutta, the bhikkhuni Soma states:
"Anyone who thinks 'I'm a woman'
or 'a man' or 'Am I anything at all?' —
that's who Mara's fit to address".

Thus, gender neutrality is linked to the Buddhist concept of no-self, which is a strategy the Buddha taught to relieve suffering.

Indeed, the Pure Land Buddhist seeks to be reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss, not as a man or woman but as a Bodhisattva.

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48 Vows of Amida Buddha: http://venchinkung.com/48-vows-of-amitabha/

Women in Buddhism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Buddhism

Asuras are Demons

In Buddhist cosmology, the Asura realm supposedly is between the human realm and the godly realm.

Though, IMO asuras are demons. Here's why:

"Because of their passions, Rebirth as an Asura is considered to be one of the four unhappy births (together with Rebirth as an animal, a preta (hungry ghost), or a being in Naraka (the Hells)). The state of an Asura reflects the mental state of a human being obsessed with force and violence, always looking for an excuse to get into a fight, angry with everyone and unable to maintain calm or solve problems peacefully."

The obsession with violence and confronting life with it reminds me more of demons than gods.

Ergo asuras are so low a form of "god" that they could be compared to all the anti-heroes and enemies of Greek gods, including the many mythical creatures that the gods played a practical joke on i.e. centaurs are probably a joke Zeus played by taking the form of a pretty horse just to seduce a virgin.

Likewise, the Minotaur, a bull-headed man-beast is a joke played by Zeus when he took the form of a bull to seduce another virgin.

Getting back to asuras as demons, this is only a mental landscape, because the Six Realms is a mental construct designed to educate Buddhists about the evils of passions and other slipper slopes we really don't need to venture on but usually do because of our ignorance.

Essentially, the Asura Realm is where Buddhists who obey all the precepts but were not very nice in the human realm are reborn. If they mess up there, then it's the Hells for them.

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Reference:

Asura: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Asura

The Absolute is Almost Infinite

Buddhas and bodhisattvas are not the same as God, as even these Buddhas are finite in lifespan.

Only the Absolute is infinite in Western terms. In Eastern terms, the Absolute is both infinite and finite.

Compared to humans, the Absolute is close to infinite in age yet is finite in the sense that it too has a very long age i.e. is older than the present universe as the universe as science knows it has been reborn an almost infinite number of times.

Thus it is true to say the Absolute is older than the current universe as it has been reborn countless times and there has been no primordial creation.

On emptiness/Nothingness and Impermanence

Emptiness (nothingness) is the absence of inherent existence in all phenomena i.e. nothing lasts forever, yet all things have a finite existtence.

Thus "attachment is empty of non-attachment" means that both qualities do not last.

Emptiness affirms the impermanence of everything in the Buddhaverse, which includes the many Buddha worlds and also this world.

However, the phrase "nothing is real" is a false dogma. The truth is, "nothingness is True Reality" i.e.the affirmation of the Void as devoid of permanence.

Thus, an immortal soul is a sick parody of ego delusion, for even the ego has a limited lifespan. Contrary to Billy Graham's myths about the soul, it is a fiction according to Buddhism.

However, the soul is empty of existence i.e. the soul does not existence except to the exclusive Christian philosopher within the world of Christendom.

For the Buddhist, the universe is real, but true reality is empty of permanent existence i.e. reality has a finite life.

It only seems infinite when compared to the life of a human being.

Countless Worlds in the Cosmos (poem)

Just as there are
countless Buddha worlds
in the Buddhist cosmos,
so too are there
countless worlds in the cosmos
as space scientists know it.

Buddhism Isn't About A King in Heaven

Buddhism is documented to have a founder who went to a Buddhist Heaven through a process called parinirvana, and vehemently denied he will reincarnate. In fact, there is no affirmed reincarnation of the Buddha because that would be sacrilege.

Instead you can pick and choose of several Buddhas to acquire wisdom, conquer illness, live a long life of boundless compassion and/or acquire boundless wisdom, etc. knowing full well that they actually represent various aspects or qualities of the mind.

All the devas, daemons and other mythological creatures have had the Buddhadharma preached to them, thus making them protectors of the Dharma.

And even they too represent qualities of the mind.

Are you following me now?

Buddhism is all about the mind, and protecting it from suffering through meditation, firs to calm your mind until it can clearly realize peace of mind as path to happiness.

Even the different worlds in Buddhist cosmology from hell to hungry ghost to human to devas to Tusita Heaven are merely qualities of the human mind!

Indeed, the old Zen saying, "If you see the Buddha, kill hiom!", actually means "If you have a vision of the Buddha, awaken from your dream since it is not the Buddha but your desire to become a buddha."

Thus, Buddhism is actually an Asian psychology which will drive the mad even crazier and render the truly devoted, devoted, gentle, and peaceful.

However, the Lesser Vehicle of the Way of the Monks is known to turn said monks into mighty warriors both in Sri Lanka and in Southeast Asia.

Sadly though, they happen to be sexist and old-fashioned.

Such is the way of South East Asia.

As for Buddhism, there isn't a king in heaven. There are five Wisdom Buddhas which are reflections of the wisdom of the primordial Buddha, the Adi-Buddha, who actually isn't a living being.

One can say Adi-Buddha was present before everything else in the universe existed but not in the sense of an actual living being.

Imagine though that the Adi-Buddha is in the centre of 108 peaceful and wrathful deities who are reflections of it. Imagine further that all famous sages and Bodhiattvas are too reflections of the Adi-Buddha. Imagine even further than you and I are also reflection of Adi-Buddha, for we are all potential buddhas.

Yet Adi-Buddha is first and foremost the Original Beginning, the Unending One, and the ultimate reality all in one, and then some!

Adi-Buddha does not create; for he is the originator of what became this universe.

It is he who pours out the stuff of which this reality is made of.

All phenomena is symbolically represented by the primordial nature of Adi-Buddha; for all phenomena have in Adi-Buddha their collective source,

Being in a continuous, eternal co-relation with the deity, Adi-Buddha also represents the non-duality of the individual's mind and the cosmos, which are interrelated.

For your mind creates the cosmos, just as the cosmos creates the atoms of which your body consists and the air that your breath.

Who needs a king in heaven when you have Adi-Buddha being the source of reality itself?

Who needs a creator god when Adi-Buddha is the origin of the universe itself?

Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Wisdom_Buddhas
Adi-Buddha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi-Buddha
Dharmakaya: click on the label "Dharmakaya"

The Pure Land Explained

In this blog entry, I will first explain what a Buddha is and isn't. Next, the Pure Land of Bliss will be briefly explained. Then I'm going explain it in terms of the multiverse hypothesis.

Buddha is originally defined as a person who decides to become spiritually awakened out of compassion for the suffering in the world.

However, within certain Mahayana sects, a Buddha is also defined as the incarnation of a person who becomes a Buddhist monk of a spiritually high rank. He then vows to be reborn as a Buddha by making a series of vows to realize the Buddha world in which he is reborn.

In his meditations, he visualizes this Buddha world in detail. Then he reports it to his fellow Buddhists to help inspire them to reach the same spiritually high rank.

But is a Buddha a god? Not in the sense of a Creator since a Buddha is reborn in his Buddha world.

So is the Buddhist monk who realizes this Buddha world a god? Not at all, for the karma of his vow to be reborn as a Buddha resulted in that world being "created."

Yet that monk is still a man, who was born, sought to relieve suffering by becoming a monk, and reached parinirvana on his death.

Therefore a Buddha is not a god.

In the case of the Pure Land of Bliss, the Buddha reborn in it is Amida Buddha. In his previous incarnation, possibly in another system of worlds, he was the monk Dharmakara. Formerly a king, he learned of the Buddhist teachings through the Buddha Lovesvararaja and renounced his throne.

Resolving to become a Buddha, he came into the possession of a Buddha world, a world existing in the primordial universe outside of ordinary space time through the merit of his meditation practice, a world having many perfections.

Through his 48 vows, his resolutions were expressed. These vows described the type of Buddha world Dharmakara visualized in his meditations, the conditions for beings that might be born in that world, and the kind of beings that would be reborn there.

After many rebirths accumulating great merit, Amida achieved buddhahood and still dwells in the Buddha world called the "Pure Land of Bliss."

Suppose for a moment though, that Buddha worlds, Pure Lands and even other systems of worlds, are a part of a specific multiverse. Let's call that multiverse Buddhadharma.

In Buddhadharma, the Indian gods also come to visit a Buddha world of their choice. Once they appear there, the gods listen as the Buddha who resides there instructs the bodhisattvas on their mission before each one of them is reborn in anther part of the Buddhist multiverse. These bodhisattvas are Buddhist laymen, monks and nuns who aspired to be reborn in that Buddha world, and have yet to achieve Buddhahood.

As well, there are also many pesky demons which that Buddha has met in previous incarnations who wait outside the gate to this Buddha world, hoping to hear the Buddha as he instructs his disciples.

Furthermore, let's also imagine that the three worlds of existence (formless, form, and desire) of Buddhist cosmology also exist in the Buddhist multiverse.

Now, where do you suppose that multiverse exists? Why, in our imagination! Perhaps in our dreams, were we to aspire to be Buddhist, and in our lives, were we to dedicate ourselves to the Buddha.

Yet, I am of the opinion that the Buddhist multiverse exists in any sentient being's mind who learns the Buddha's teachings.