Buddhist atheists

[Reforged]

An atheist could believe in vampires and the slender man, as long as gods don't come into it then they are still atheist. Although, I am not sure how I would treat such a person.

FYI, the Slender Man exists... he scares me...

Hes not that bad, strong but silent type. I play chess with him on Tuesday afternoons. I'd invite him round another time but he works nights snatching and consuming victims on every other weekday and I'm just too busy harvesting the souls of virgins on the weekends to make room for him. Its a shame really.
Still, I have Hannibal for movie nights on Mondays and Thursdays so its bearable I suppose.

[TheViolentFemme]

The only thing that conflicts with being an atheist is believing in a God or gods. Now, most of ye Westerne atheistes are rational skeptics when it comes to epistemology and humanists when it comes to morality. While it would be understandable to base one's understanding of theism on Hinduism if one had only been talking to Hindus, the same kind of thing is going on when you try to apply your understanding of skeptical atheists to Buddhist atheists.

Doesn't the six realms of buddhism prove problematic then?

1.God realm
2.Demi-God realm
3.Human realm
4.Animal realm
5.Hungry Ghost realm
6.Hell realm

Or do atheists just ignore that part? Isn't that cherry picking?

I don't think people should chenge their beliefa to fit a religion, they should find a religion to fit their beliefs. As long as you're not hypocritical about it, I don't see any reason why people can't believe in some things and not others. You may call it cherry picking but I just see it as making a religion comfortable with you.

[Angrboda]

[TaraJo]

*Raises hand*

I'm kinda one of those Buddhist atheists. Sort of. I believe in Buddhism from a philosophical perspective, but I think the supernatural aspects of it are just a bunch of hogwash. The way I see it, though, if the quote in my sig is part of the Buddhist belief system, we are under no obligation to believe in parts of it that we think are garbage. In fact, we're obligated to NOT believe in the parts of Buddhism that simply doesn't make sense. Who cares if it is cherry picking? I mean, what's wrong with accepting the good and throwing away the bad?

[Garuda]

'Mahayana Buddhism is not only intellectual, but it is also devotional ... in Mahayana, Buddha was taken as God, as Supreme Reality itself that descended on the earth in human form for the good of mankind. The concept of Buddha (as equal to God in theistic systems) was never as a creator but as Divine Love that out of compassion (karuna) embodied itself in human form to uplift suffering humanity. He was worshipped with fervent devotion... He represents the Absolute (paramartha satya), devoid of all plurality (sarva-prapancanta-vinirmukta) and has no beginning, middle and end ... Buddha ... is eternal, immutable ... As such He represents Dharmakaya.

I found this interesting, sounds very much like the Christian view of Jesus in many ways.

The buddha is not seen as a god in Theravada, Mahayana, or Vajrayana. He is an enlightened being. I don't know where that guy got his info but its false. Siddhartha was a man, like all of us, who discovered his buddha nature in fullness. Everyone can acheive that. In buddhism it is stated that he went through many rebirths like all of us to get to his enlightenment.

[Dunno]

There are a couple bits of buddhism that don't make sense:

reincarnation: Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that?

Buddha knew the complete truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth: Whatever, he knew a couple of things.

Nirvana is a holy state: Yeah right, only because it's impossible to know everything. I think of nirvana as the goal of the philosopher, and buddha as the philosopher king. However unlike the buddhist who thinks only buddha knew what was going on, I think that everyone has a nirvana, if they think hard enough. and so did buddha to a certain extent, except that nirvana made him a god, and so reaching nirvana makes others gods. but I don't think nirvana makes him a god. I think it made him a philosopher with a strong desire to be remembered.

Life is suffering: Um, I don't exactly agree with this. Sometimes life is suffering, and sometimes life is happy.

The cause of suffering is desire: This is just ridiculous. You can't even be alive if you don't desire stuff. so, if life is suffering, and desire is the cause, then we can also say that desire is the cause of life, which is certainly true.

impermanence: Very good, buddha! Yes, things change constantly. There's a science law about that now but I'm an artist and don't know what it is. Matter is always in motion, that's what it is.

meditation: good stuff. relaxing. thanks, India!

I just covered the four noble truths, and gave my outsider analytical opinion. It's my favorite religion.

[Angrboda]

Necroterrorist!

[Captain Colostomy]

There are a couple bits of buddhism that don't make sense:

reincarnation: Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that?

Buddha knew the complete truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth: Whatever, he knew a couple of things.

Nirvana is a holy state: Yeah right, only because it's impossible to know everything. I think of nirvana as the goal of the philosopher, and buddha as the philosopher king. However unlike the buddhist who thinks only buddha knew what was going on, I think that everyone has a nirvana, if they think hard enough. and so did buddha to a certain extent, except that nirvana made him a god, and so reaching nirvana makes others gods. but I don't think nirvana makes him a god. I think it made him a philosopher with a strong desire to be remembered.

Life is suffering: Um, I don't exactly agree with this. Sometimes life is suffering, and sometimes life is happy.

The cause of suffering is desire: This is just ridiculous. You can't even be alive if you don't desire stuff. so, if life is suffering, and desire is the cause, then we can also say that desire is the cause of life, which is certainly true.

impermanence: Very good, buddha! Yes, things change constantly. There's a science law about that now but I'm an artist and don't know what it is. Matter is always in motion, that's what it is.

meditation: good stuff. relaxing. thanks, India!

I just covered the four noble truths, and gave my outsider analytical opinion. It's my favorite religion.

You're off on a few points, but yeah...dead post walking!

[là bạn điên]

I am a Buddhist AND an Atheist. You are welcome to ask any questions directly. Mindless abuse will be ignored.

[feeling]

I am a Buddhist AND an Atheist. You are welcome to ask any questions directly. Mindless abuse will be ignored.

What happens after I die and what does it depend on?