h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It is my belief that we should all listen to what each-other has to say - go back and read all the above submissions - and I think we will find that generally people are basically deicent and upstanding and all that . I have a life plan which includes Christ. It works for me and I would hate to think of what my life would be like without that plan - more specifically without Christ. When one cares about others and one has something good, it is natural to want to share that with others . That is why I would like to say that Christ if OK! I want you to share that with me.

Many Christians believe that the Earth is about
12,000 years old having added up all the ages of
all the people in the Bible starting with Adam & Eve.
I have one word to say to that "DINOSAUR!"...explain
that one! If the amount of years is not correct well then the Bible
was must be wrong. The world did not start with Adam & Eve
and is probably billions of years old and there ws no life for
most of it.

Fortunately for me I am old and slow - time flies ! Therefore I cannot pretend to understand God's time - I do know that in the 2nd book of Peter chapter 3 verse 8 in the New Testament it states that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day - and that's good enough for me in explanation of the age of the world etc. . Let's not get hung up on pedantics! I would like to know what Buddha teaches on the subject of time - universal and other.

Perhaps I could change the direction of this discussion slightly. As I understand it , buddhism, particularly Zen, teaches through questions like the one handed clapping and the tree in the forrest being the most cliched, the futility of questioning.
Surely this is the antithesis (this is not a value judgement, just a question of intellectual alignment.)of modern scientific principles.
In Western Europe, Christianity was through its monasteries, the beacon of intellectual pursuits (moderated by some preconceptions of what some things should be), which eventually became our Universities.

One of the things I don't know at all about buddhism, are what responsibilities it puts upon you. Please tell me if you are a buddhist. I have asked this of friends who claim an interest in buddhism, but all of them seem to treat it as a hobby, tagged on to the edge of their lives, and actually know very little about it.

Religion should be a hobby. It would be great if we could spend all our lives working out how to be nice to one another... but we can't. So take up religion (or, actually, ethics...) as a hobby, and spend at least some time working out how to be nice to people.

Hobbies are things like painting and needlepoint! Religion could be a hobby I suppose, but Christianity can never be! I know zip about Buddhism, except for the statues of a fat little smiley man whose tummy, when rubbed, will bring good luck. Please enlighten me about Buddhist teaching on time..?

Have a look at the next forum along, apparently that jolly fat man isn't the Buddha. Next thing you know we'll be told the horned god isn't really the devil.

The Bhuddist experience relies on experiencing the truth yourself
and the followers of Bhuddha trust their own wisdom rather than trying
to interpret what is said in old texts. In this way it evolves and
changes.
The original Bhuddha was not the man with the fat belly. His name
was Prince Siddartha and he was born about 560 BC. He left the
palace he lived in and saw many disturbing things and understood
how the body is effected by old age and decay and that humans
suffer the same fate. He was depressed by what he saw. He
eventually left the palace after feeling estranged by the luxury
and the people around him. He sat himself under a tree (known
as the Bhodi Tree) and vowed to himself that he would not
leave the place until his understanding was complete.
He fought off desire and temptation by "treating them like the
ever changing weather around a mountain". At night he remembered
the successive series of his previous births. "People again
and again leave the people they love when they die and have
to go on to new births, without ever stopping, like a wheel in
motion". He also saw that people's present experience is
caused by their previous actions. This is KARMA. Karma
originates from the false belief in an ego which prompts a reaction
of defending that false sense of self and trying to maintain security.
However there is no security anywhere and people can find no
resting place. "We are all subject to birth, sickness, old age and
death, and without an awareness of death, life can only be lived on
a shallow level" he said "Suffering begins from basic bewilderment.
From that fundamental of not knowing who or what we are, we base
perceptions on an idea of ourselves as a permanent entity"
That so-called permanent entity is known as "EGO".
The end of suffering is enlightenment - NIRVANA and this cannot
be described, only experienced.

ZEN points to enlightenment being found in the present moment,
and all of its methods are to wake the student up to the understanding.
It stresses the prime importance of the enlightenment experience and
the uselessness of religious ritual and intellectual analysis for the
attainment of liberation.

How do I get rid of ignorance? Cease running after things, stop thinking
about what is right and wrong but just see, at this very moment, what your
face was like before your mother and father were born.

Thanks for being informative. Do Buddhists believe that belief in Buddha affects your karmic path. What I mean is, is the karmic "judgement" of this life dependant only on your actions, and not on the belief system which contributed to your behaviour.
I know there are Christians who believe variously around this point. Some saying that man has an innate sense of right vs. wrong therefore, believers or not can be judged. Others that without belief in Jesus, no salvation is possible, some of these believing that their faith means its already in the bag for them. Still others believe that belief in Jesus is a shortcut to a harder road and more will be expected of them. To confuse matters more, there are groups like the Jehovah's witnesses who say prayer to Jesus is idolatry and all "Christians" are therefore blasphemous. J.W.s believe in Jesus as being a great prophet, but still a man and not an aspect of God. Interestingly their view of Jesus status is more similar to that of Moslems than that of Christians.
I'm digressing here, does the act of faith whithin Buddhism affect your path directly?

I'm not a bhuddist I just know alot about bhuddism
having attended their meetings and read up on
their literature. I embrace their philosopy more than any other religion
I think future lives are affected
by your actions in your current life. I'm not sure how that
works. I can understand that there is a flaw there.
(i.e.Who judges if there is no God)
I know that they believe in reincarnation but many people
are not aware that this also means that
people do not have a soul and when your dead
your dead (i.e. the self dies) Future lives are
like a light rekindling a new candle and that
the old candle has burnt out. This is the only
way I can describe it. The other thing I didnt mention
was that Bhuddists do not have a God to worship.
( i.e. No God - so no blasphemy).

It seems to me that the whole "Believing In Jesus" thing is one of Christianity's main problems. I believe that there was once a man named Jesus, a very wise and intelligent man who had very good principles, and wanted to teach others. Unfortunately, it seems like the Christians have missed the point entirely. Instead of following Jesus's teachings, they worship the man himself. To paraphrase a Taoist saying, Jesus pointed a finger at the moon, but everyone worshipped the finger.

If Jesus were alive today, I doubt he would be very happy to hear what has been done in his name.

(A quickie description of my personal beliefs is at P101151)

Absolutely! In the words of Monty Python "Follow the Gaud!"
"No no no the holy sandal". The words of Christ should
be more important to Christians. howabout "love
thy neighbour" rather than put him on a stake and
watching him/her burn for being a heretic...nice one eh?
- Spare us a talent for an old ex-leper!

Which brings us back to Tony Benns view of the scarcity of christians in the church.
It is very interesting to look at the Biblical version of the early church and how it is in all the larger denominations. The Acts of the Apostles describes a communal lifestyle with all the excess possessions being sold to help the poor. This was in my view a communist and radical socialist society, but unlike the ones of this century, one with a moral imperitive attached to their behaviour. It is difficult to understand how this evolved into in my country "the Tory Party at prayer", or in the vatican a fancy dress art gallery.
Everyone berates "organised religion" for this kind of behavior, but remember, all large religious institutions started small and individual. Look at the mormons, the JWs, the 7th day adventists.
Over time, all powerful organisations, will attract the wrong sort of people (with religion, just like politics "people are a problem").
I think an excellent book on the perils of organised religion is Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. One of the conflicts in the book is between theologans proclaiming the poverty of Christ, and wealthy bishops protecting their own interests with all the force of the inquisition. For even handedness, he puts the boot into disorganised religion in Focault's Pendulum.

Nononono, you have it all wrong. Religion should be a hobby, if it's anything. It's when people think it's important that the trouble starts... and you get the holy wars and things. Religion is not worth dying over. Nor is it worth dying for your country. Wilfred Owen had it right in his poem...

Your synopsis was well done. I am a buddhist.
As in christianity and others, there are sects,
or divisions. I practice Thera Vada(or Hinayana)
in english,[The Lesser Vehicle]. It is considered orthadox,
or the following of the buddha's original teachings.
Mahayana (greater vehicle)is more wisespread
these days. You best describe these, although our basic
beliefs are the same. Differences are mainly about
reincarnation and other details.
I'm a layman, with no desire to become a monk.
I'm also a little lax in practice. My brother is much
more devoted, although also a layman.
To answer one question from above, belief in buddha is
not required, or in question. He is an historical figure,
a man who was in no way god, or a god. Some sects of buddism
did deify him. The Amida Buddha in Japan for instance.
But the basics of the philosophy are that we improve
ourselves, our neighbors, and our progress with right thinking
and right action.Where we learn of it is not important.
I'm sure we could believe in a god, jesus or any other,
and still live in the warmth of buddha's smile,
(just an expression I like) if we practice
right thinking and action.

Riff, are you saying Jesus is gining us the finger?

Well, I'm certainly giving HIM the finger! Bastard still hasn't paid back the tenner he owes me.

Hey, I'd give him more than the finger if I could spare it. He ranoff with my sister two weeks ago. Long haired commie bastard.

The Acts of the Apostles, the four gospels,
and the writing of Josephus, who knew jesus,
sugest that the christian church was founded
by Paul,(formally Saul) of Tarsus.
Peter and his group wanted to enlighten
OTHER JEWS of the coming of the messiah.
Paul wanted to convert THE WORLD and
start a religious empire.
Peter and Paul had a struggle for
power and leadership of the christian cult.
Although there was a compromise,
(Peter stuck with the jews mainly,
and Paul became the evangelist to the gentiles)
in retrospect I'd say Paul won all the marbles.
He envisioned an all powerful
universal (catholic) church.

I find this story facinating.
If there had been no Paul, to reinterpret
the messege of jesus, chances are that
the christian church would NOT still be
around today.
And ALL the influence christians have had
over the centuries would not have been there.

The christian "revolt" against Rome.
The crusades, myth of the holy grail,
spanish inquisition, and their conquest of
the "new world", especially south america.
The conquest of South Africa and apartheid.
The "purges" over the years, of "godless"
heathens.(american Indians, chinese coolies)
We could come up with 1000's of examples.
And the justification of these
"in the name of Jesus."
Kinda makes ya wonder.

Thanks, thats praise indeed coming from a bhuddhist!
I'd like to think one day that I will become a bhuddhist.
Do you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo?
Can you also explain how your present life affects a
future life is there is no God to judge?