The problem with theistic religion is that it grants its adherents a one-sided ‘specialness’ that is not present in nature. The Buddha rejected this one-sidedness, whilst it constituted the entire point of Jesus’s alleged existence.
Tag: Buddhism
Exploring the philosophy (and practice) of Early and Later Buddhism.
Nama-Rupa: The Mind-Body Essence of Buddhism
The Buddha explained that physical existence is ‘nama-rupa’, or ‘mind-body’. This analysis is found in the received Chain of Dependent Origination (specifically in the 4th link which is conditioned by consciousness [mind], and which in turn conditions the sixfold sense-base [body]).
Chinese Syncretism & Hakka Taiping Uprising (Email)
In the 19th century, the Hakka people rose-up against the Qing Dynasty (Taiping Uprising), combining Missionary Christianity, with Chinese Cosmology – with a ‘new’ Chinese ‘Son of God’.
Nyanatiloka: Playing with Emptiness
The Venerable Nyanatiloka Maha-Thera (1878-1957) was an eminent German-born Theravada Buddhist monk who entered the Sangha in Sri Lanka, and became renowned for exact and precise scholarly understanding of that school’s complex Dharma teaching. He possessed the ability to a) understand and contextualise often obscure Pali terms and concepts, and b) correctly transliterate and translate those terms into Western languages. His work regarding the Theravada School is reliable and insightful.
Do Not Worship Cause and Effect
Religion as it currently exists (even its good manifestation) keeps humanity at a certain level of thought, and does not allow any progress beyond this point. The working class, simply for evolutionary purposes, must progress beyond the limitations of theology for the betterment of the psychological and physical health of humanity.
Buddhist Responsibility of Speech
The modern liberal notion of ‘freedom of speech’ is an error of interpretation for the Buddha, because such speech is never ‘free’ of greed, hatred and delusion in the unenlightened state. In reality ‘freedom of speech’ is the institutionalisation of the freedom to spread greed, hatred, and delusion throughout the world, with no thought for the consequences.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 