Hi everyone, I have not been contributing to Angkorian Society discussion forum for a while now. Discussion not only good for the mind but it will increase you skill and general knowledge, which is the reason for existence of this forum.
Being Khmer New Year and all, I wish everyone good health, propserity and longivity throughout the year of the Ox. Let toil our mind with a basic question face by many Buddhists: *Is Buddha a Philosopher?* To a good and kind-hearted Christian, Buddhist is not a religion and Buddha *is* a philosopher. It is not about quoting Shakespear or anything here, so let me share my understanding or what Buddhists know about their Buddha and Buddhism. To Buddhists, there is a universe called "The Buddhist Universe" which is made up of: * six realms -gods, demigods, humans, animals, ghosts and hell beings *these are the realms of endless birth and rebirth *and the inhabitants of this universe suffer pain and experience pleasure based on their deeds *even the gods in the highest realm regards Buddha as their lord (Lord with upper or lower case L is your to pick) *and the only way to avoid this is to escape this, like going to Nirvana where Gotama Buddha now resides So my understanding is that Buddha is our teacher, our philosopher and above all our lord and our saviour. If he is referred to as a philosopher only, then he is a philosopher of all the six realms and beyond that he is Buddha - no longer a philosopher. Actually there are incompatibility between Christian and Buddhism philosophy, example: *HELL* -Hell in Buddhism is a stepping stone within the cycle of The Buddhist Universe, unless you overcome the centrifugal force of karma and catapult to Nirvana for the real of the humans. It is not a permanent place of resident, for nothing is permanent in The Buddhist Universe. -For Christianity, if you are in hell; you are there for a long haul or eternity - there is no escape *HEAVEN* -For Christianity, in heaven mean being with the LORD and server the LORD for eternity with eternal happiness -For Buddhism, gods and demigods reside in heaven (Buddhist heaven), a much happier place than the lower four realms but still going through pain, suffering and endless rebirth; and regard Buddha as their lord *BEYOND* -For Buddhism, the end of it all is Nirvana; where every Buddha is a Buddha Happy Khmer New Year. Regards, Hemara Do something extraordinary, overcome the centrifugal force of karma - become a Buddhist. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ The articles and commentaries on this forum reflect only the personal opinion(s) of the poster(s) and not that of any organization or group with which the moderator(s) is (are) affiliated. A forwarded message or event may be posted for informational/educational purposes. Unless specifically stated, no endorsement of the posted opinions/events should be implied. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Angkorian Society" - <http://groups.google.com.au/group/angkoriansociety> -<www.geocities.com/angkorian_society> Keep away from bad deeds, Do good, and Purify the Mind ...This is the teaching of the Buddha..... To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] To subscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
