Karma poll

[Little Rik]

188. Driven only by fear, do men go for refuge to many places — to hills, woods, groves, trees and shrines.

189. Such, indeed, is no safe refuge; such is not the refuge supreme. Not by resorting to such a refuge is one released from all suffering.

190-191. He who has gone for refuge to the Buddha, the Teaching and his Order, penetrates with transcendental wisdom the Four Noble Truths — suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path leading to the cessation of suffering.

192. This indeed is the safe refuge, this the refuge supreme. Having gone to such a refuge, one is released from all suffering.

The Dhammapada

Got that?  The Buddha is the refuge supreme.  Not God.  The Buddha.  In the Buddha's own words.

Once the Buddha did merge in the ocean of cosmic consciousness and become one with the all then Buddha become God.
Buddha just did that.
By practicing yoga meditation and yoga practices he reached and merge into God so when it is said.....take refuge in or to the Buddha it means take refuge in God because Buddha was no longer MR Prasad or whatever he was called at birth but by reaching the supreme nirvana he become God.

You never thought about that yog, did you?  

[Little Rik]

What I don't get, Little Rik, is why you're so hot on karmic "justice" in the first place? From what you've said I've always assumed that Yoga and Buddhism were pretty similar but as I understand it, wishing harm on anyone is the antithesis of Buddhism. I don't know how much the meditation practices in Yoga differ from those in Buddhism, but I thought the whole point was self-mastery and self-understanding at source in your own mind. Not about controlling the outside world but understanding the inner world. So recognising anger and everything else as the transient things that they are, that come and go... dukkha... and that you can attach to or not. So it just seems strange to me why you seem so full of anger... cos that's not how I understand the goals of Buddhism at all. I know you're not a Buddhist, but as I said, Yoga and Buddhism do seem similar and you've said yourself that the Buddha first studied Yoga.

Karma does not wish any harm.  

It is all about balancing back the lost balance.

Even in physics it is said that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

That is how the universe works Emjay.
Nothing to do with me.  

[racingboo]

You got it quite wrong racing.  

Justice [bla bla].

My observations were based on your statements, Little, and pertained to your personal feelings as I see them revealed in what you wrote. I'm not interested in debating your definition of justice.

[Little Rik]

Whoooooo, that is interesting Bisque.

If we didn't have past lives then it means that we never build up the consciousness that we got and it all come as per magic and free.
I never guessed that we could get something for free.  

Gee, I never thought about it Bis!  

So, you consider a neurochemical process to be magic?

You don't get it Bisq.

The brain and what is in the brain is one thing.
The consciousness is something different.
It is the consciousness that rule not the brain.
It is the consciousness that dictate that the brain should perform in the way that the consciousness want.

Human consciousness develop an high or low degree of strength according to what we think or act
and accordingly it build up a more or less efficent brain that will be in tune with the aquired or loss consciousness so forget about your neurochemical process.

The neurochemical process is only build up according the acquired or lost consciousness.
In other words that process is bound by the performance of the consciousness in better or worse.  

[Little Rik]

Wrong.  

Take these saying.............A beard doesn't make a philosopher.........or..........the dress does not make the priest.......
People are free to say what they like to be but in order to be what they say they are they must prove it.

Buddha like Christ like and other person that follow spirituality obviously believe in God.
I already explained why Buddha did not mention God.
See my previous posts.

You make up a bullshit story about what Buddha originally thought, then assume your spirituality is the only kind there is, so Buddha must have been following your spirituality because he was obviously a smart guy.  The amount of made up bullshit in your story is outlandish.  It all depends on things you assert but don't actually know being true.  You may have already 'explained' why Buddha did not mention God, but your explanation was nothing but bullshit which you have no way of knowing.  An 'explanation' is nothing more than a hypothesis about how things occur.  Without supporting facts, an explanation might just as well be false as true.  You gave no supporting facts for your beliefs about why Buddha did not mention God.  My explanation that Buddha did not mention God is because he didn't believe in the Hindu conception of God.  Without supporting facts, there's no more reason to believe your 'explanation' than mine.  Telling convincing just-so stories is not a means to establishing truth.  That's all you're doing, telling just-so stories.

For my money, Buddha was a failed ascetic who decided to form a cult instead of practicing spirituality. Maybe you do follow the same path after all.

It is well known that Buddha attained enlightenment and that means that he become one with God.
However you are quite free to disagree.
That is your choice.  

[Little Rik]

Wrong.  

Take these saying.............A beard doesn't make a philosopher.........or..........the dress does not make the priest.......
People are free to say what they like to be but in order to be what they say they are they must prove it.

Buddha like Christ like and other person that follow spirituality obviously believe in God.
I already explained why Buddha did not mention God.
See my previous posts.

In other words anyone who say.....I am Christian or Buddhist and I am atheist tell crap.
Total crap because if they really follow Buddha or Christ they can not possibly be atheists.  

People get to define themselves, you don't get to do it for them.

Christians and Buddhists can both be atheists, regardless of what the mainstream religion teaches about god(s).  If someone goes to church and follows the teachings of Christ, but does not believe in god, who am I, and who are you , to tell him he's not a Christian if that is what he wants to call himself?

And there are, in FACT, hundreds of thousands of Jewish atheists, because many identify Judaism as a culture much more than a religion.  There are, in FACT Many Buddhists who also self identify as atheists. And so forth.

Also spirituality =/= god.  Ask a native American who follows their old beliefs, or anyone who follows a form of animism. 

I know you'll think I'm wrong, but the things I'm posting (that many people self identify as atheists but are still part of a religion) are facts, not opinions.  
Your opinions don't trump these facts.
YOU don't get to decide these people are wrong.

Wrong again Aro.  

Christ was telling all the time about the father in heaven.
Guess who suppose to be this father in heaven?

A real Christian and I mean someone who follow the word of Christ can not possibly say that he-she is atheist.
Only people who pretend to be Christian or Buddhist may say that not real Christian or real Buddhist.

[purplepurpose]

Little Rick, people have enough energy to sustain themselves and "light few sparks of happines" from time to time. There is no place for the God, because serving Him, means you endure almost all of your life hard work, just to gain divine reward when your die.

You gotta understand that many people are angered by such offer of "ideal" life, when they want to enjoy in this lifetime.

Although, some theists who almost completely abandon pleasures of this world to endure hardwork for the "ultimate good" are sight to behold. Its a miracle in our consumer society.

[Angrboda]

Got that?  The Buddha is the refuge supreme.  Not God.  The Buddha.  In the Buddha's own words.

Once the Buddha did merge in the ocean of cosmic consciousness and become one with the all then Buddha become God.
Buddha just did that.
By practicing yoga meditation and yoga practices he reached and merge into God so when it is said.....take refuge in or to the Buddha it means take refuge in God because Buddha was no longer MR Prasad or whatever he was called at birth but by reaching the supreme nirvana he become God.

You never thought about that yog, did you?  

This is just a bullshit misrepresentation of what the Buddha taught.

[Angrboda]

You make up a bullshit story about what Buddha originally thought, then assume your spirituality is the only kind there is, so Buddha must have been following your spirituality because he was obviously a smart guy.  The amount of made up bullshit in your story is outlandish.  It all depends on things you assert but don't actually know being true.  You may have already 'explained' why Buddha did not mention God, but your explanation was nothing but bullshit which you have no way of knowing.  An 'explanation' is nothing more than a hypothesis about how things occur.  Without supporting facts, an explanation might just as well be false as true.  You gave no supporting facts for your beliefs about why Buddha did not mention God.  My explanation that Buddha did not mention God is because he didn't believe in the Hindu conception of God.  Without supporting facts, there's no more reason to believe your 'explanation' than mine.  Telling convincing just-so stories is not a means to establishing truth.  That's all you're doing, telling just-so stories.

For my money, Buddha was a failed ascetic who decided to form a cult instead of practicing spirituality. Maybe you do follow the same path after all.

It is well known that Buddha attained enlightenment and that means that he become one with God.
However you are quite free to disagree.
That is your choice.  

If you have no evidence supporting your claim, then you're not worth listening to.

[chimp3]

You left off a few choices in your poll:

5. Sometimes innocent people are victimized by others

6. Sometimes evil people get away with murder