Thoughts on Buddhism

[passionatefool]

Unfortunately like all religions the longer they live the more they are fragmented and peoples agenda come to the fore.

Yeah, I don't really think the current Buddhism was really taught by Buddha or Gautama. He said not to worship him but what you see is buddhists all worshipping him like a god in many sects. Besides the Buddhist scriptures wasn't recorded until much later, hundred of years. after the Buddha's death. The oldest surviving tradition of Buddhism is Therevada so they are closer to what earleir Buddhism would be like, they deny the existence of all the other buddhas and bodhisattvas that Mahayana tradition (much later tradition) claimed. So i doubt any of the scriptures from the Pali Canon to the Mahayana sutras to have any validity. Most likely made up by later well known monks as time goes by. The Vajrayana scripture, I believed, was written by Padmasambava, almost like a second Buddha to the Vajrayana Buddhists. The Tradition that most americans and westerners know of is the Mahayana Tradition, and more specific, Zen. and Chinese fat buddha from chinese restaurant (which isnt Buddhism)

I see Buddha as just a philosopher of his time with many students, nothing more, nothing less.