I'm ready now

[Deidre]

When I first started exploring Buddhism and became more focused on it last year, I might have approached it in the wrong way, or perhaps I just wasn't yet ready to empty myself of...self. I've come to the conclusion of atheism, but I've been reading and researching more and more since my grandmother died earlier this year, about Buddhism, and Zen in particular. So, I just wanted to share this amazing moment with some of you who were there with me when I was struggling last year and were helpful, but I wasn't ready. What's the saying...'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.' There have been teachers along the way, but the student wasn't quite ready.

I'm ready now.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Happy for you.

 

[JayJayDee]

Happy for you.

Can you please explain the difference between your form of Hinduism and others?

And since Hindus believe in one God who has many forms (? Please correct me if I am wrong)....how can a Hindu be an atheist? Can you clear up my confusion.....Thanks in advance.

 

[Willamena]

Jealous.

 

[Jumi]

I wish you luck. I learned meditation that came from Zen Buddhism many years ago and it helped me become a more balanced person.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Can you please explain the difference between your form of Hinduism and others? And since Hindus believe in one God who has many forms (? Please correct me if I am wrong) .. how can a Hindu be an atheist? Can you clear up my confusion ..Thanks in advance.

Hindu belief is very varied. People say that the number of theories equal the number of Hindus (We do not put any restriction on personal beliefs. The least common denominator and a must for Hinduism is fulfillment of 'dharma', doing one's duty and humane conduct). So:
1. Hindus can believe in many Gods and Goddesses,
2. Supremacy of the Hindu Trinity (generally Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Shiva the destroyer),
3. Supremacy of one of the three (Vishnu, Shiva and Mother Goddess),
4. Existence of an uninvolved Supreme Spirit (Brahman), or
5. Brahman as the substrate of all things in the universe without being a God, just what constitutes everything.

I follow this last view, which says 'there is nothing in the universe other than Brahman, there is no second thing' (Eko Sad, Dwiteeyo Nasti). Whether it is any human, any animal, any vegetation, any stone, water or air, it is all Brahman. Upanishads say 'All things here are Brahman' (Sarve Khalu Idam Brahman). You too are Brahman and So am I (Tat Twam Asi and So Aham). Chandogya Upanishad says, "Yatha, saumya, ekena mrit-pindena sarvam mrinmayam vijnatam syat vacarambhanam vikaro nama-dheyam, mrittiketyeva satyam" (As, Gentle Enquirer, by knowing one lump of clay, all that is made of clay is known, the difference being only a distortion in name arising from speech, while the truth is that it is just clay).

This is the strict form of 'Advaita', the non-dual philosophy, which has no space for God/s. Therefore, I am a Hindu and an atheist.

 

[JayJayDee]

Hindu belief is very varied. People say that the number of theories equal the number of Hindus (We do not put any restriction on personal beliefs. The least common denominator and a must for Hinduism is fulfillment of 'dharma', doing one's duty and humane conduct). So:
1. Hindus can believe in many Gods and Goddesses,
2. Supremacy of the Hindu Trinity (generally Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Shiva the destroyer),
3. Supremacy of one of the three (Vishnu, Shiva and Mother Goddess),
4. Existence of an uninvolved Supreme Spirit (Brahman), or
5. Brahman as the substrate of all things in the universe without being a God, just what constitutes everything.

I follow this last view, which says 'there is nothing in the universe other than Brahman, there is no second thing' (Eko Sad, Dwiteeyo Nasti). Whether it is any human, any animal, any vegetation, any stone, water or air, it is all Brahman. Upanishads say 'All things here are Brahman' (Sarve Khalu Idam Brahman). You too are Brahman and So am I (Tat Twam Asi and So Aham). Chandogya Upanishad says, "Yatha, saumya, ekena mrit-pindena sarvam mrinmayam vijnatam syat vacarambhanam vikaro nama-dheyam, mrittiketyeva satyam" (As, Gentle Enquirer, by knowing one lump of clay, all that is made of clay is known, the difference being only a distortion in name arising from speech, while the truth is that it is just clay).

This is the strict form of 'Advaita', the non-dual philosophy, which has no space for God/s. Therefore, I am a Hindu and an atheist.

Thank you. It is always interesting to hear what others believe.
Can I ask also, whether there is any benefit or detriment in choosing to follow one view, over another?
Is there an ultimate destiny for all?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Can I ask also, whether there is any benefit or detriment in choosing to follow one view, over another? Is there an ultimate destiny for all?

1. Benefit: It is very scientific. All mass is constituted by energy (physical energy), mass and energy being interconvertible
2. Ultimate Destiny: There is none other than a change of form. The atoms that constitute my body after my death and funeral will disintegrate and go into millions of things. The burning of my body will produce these three main things: carbon-di-oxide to plants, water vapor to plants and atmosphere, and calcium oxide from bones to soil. Such assumption of new forms have been going on for the last 13.78 billion years and will continue for billions of years, till finally the universe does one of these things: Ultimate fate of the universe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

.

 

[JayJayDee]

1. Benefit: It is very scientific. All mass is constituted by energy (physical energy), mass and energy being interconvertible
2. Ultimate Destiny: There is none other than a change of form. The atoms that constitute my body after my death and funeral will disintegrate and go into millions of things. The burning of my body will produce these three main things: carbon-di-oxide to plants, water vapor to plants and atmosphere, and calcium oxide from bones to soil. Such assumption of new forms have been going on for the last 13.78 billion years and will continue for billions of years, till finally the universe does one of these things: Ultimate fate of the universe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

.

Natural recycling....is good thing. The earth has been doing this for as long as living things have existed. Natural cycles of life and death have continued for eons of time, it is true.

If the "Big Crunch" comes...what then? Does everything go back to what it was before the "Big Bang"?
What was before the "Big Bang" in your belief system?

 

[Aupmanyav]

Brahman. But if 'physical energy' is Brahman, then it could arise out of 'absolute nothing', 'creatio ex-nihilo', Science does not deny the possibility of energy/mass appearing out of 'absolute nothing' or returning back to it. Strange, but that may be the reality. Reality is under no obligation to be understandable to all humans.

"The zero-energy universe states that the total amount of energy in the universe is exactly zero. That is the only kind of universe that could come from nothing, assuming such a zero-energy universe is, already, nothing. Such a universe needs to be flat, a state which does not contradict current observations that the universe is flat with a 0.5% margin of error."
Nothing comes from nothing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The theory originated in 1973, when Edward Tryon proposed in the Nature journal that the universe emerged from a large-scale quantum fluctuation of vacuum energy, resulting in its positive mass-energy being exactly balanced by its negative gravitational potential energy."
Zero-energy universe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Deidre]

Jealous.

oh, why?


thanks everyone for your good thoughts and support. i'll bbl to chat more about it...

 

[Deidre]

I wish you luck. I learned meditation that came from Zen Buddhism many years ago and it helped me become a more balanced person.

Agree! I’m finally seeing the benefits of it, because I’m viewing it differently, now. Viewing it as it’s meant to be, and not forcing it, like I was before. The one mainstay of meditation that I’ve come away with recently, is letting go of people I cannot change, and situations too. Letting go of toxicity, and quickly. If I have given something a decent amount of thought, and I’ve come to the rightful conclusion that the person/persons/situation is not healthy for me…I just let it/them go, and I move forward. That to me, is the essence of it all…making life less complicated and lessening suffering that is often of our own inducement.

 

[Deidre]

Hindu belief is very varied. People say that the number of theories equal the number of Hindus (We do not put any restriction on personal beliefs. The least common denominator and a must for Hinduism is fulfillment of 'dharma', doing one's duty and humane conduct). So:
1. Hindus can believe in many Gods and Goddesses,
2. Supremacy of the Hindu Trinity (generally Brahma the creator, Vishnu the sustainer and Shiva the destroyer),
3. Supremacy of one of the three (Vishnu, Shiva and Mother Goddess),
4. Existence of an uninvolved Supreme Spirit (Brahman), or
5. Brahman as the substrate of all things in the universe without being a God, just what constitutes everything.

I follow this last view, which says 'there is nothing in the universe other than Brahman, there is no second thing' (Eko Sad, Dwiteeyo Nasti). Whether it is any human, any animal, any vegetation, any stone, water or air, it is all Brahman. Upanishads say 'All things here are Brahman' (Sarve Khalu Idam Brahman). You too are Brahman and So am I (Tat Twam Asi and So Aham). Chandogya Upanishad says, "Yatha, saumya, ekena mrit-pindena sarvam mrinmayam vijnatam syat vacarambhanam vikaro nama-dheyam, mrittiketyeva satyam" (As, Gentle Enquirer, by knowing one lump of clay, all that is made of clay is known, the difference being only a distortion in name arising from speech, while the truth is that it is just clay).

This is the strict form of 'Advaita', the non-dual philosophy, which has no space for God/s. Therefore, I am a Hindu and an atheist.

You answered my question in the end there lol I was wondering how one could be a hindu and also an atheist. Good to know this, thank you.
I consider myself an atheist, although agnostic, but perhaps we are all agnostic at the end of things. No one could ever possibly know without a doubt if a god (gods) exist or not. But, the need to fret over it and ponder it and so forth, has left me. The beauty of what I'm learning now in Zen, is that if we still ourselves, the answers will come. Answers that make sense to us, and perhaps give us a healthy idea of what life 'should' be about. I don't want to ever get tangled up in notions about deities ever again. To me, it becomes then a following of something outside of ourselves to save ourselves, and only we can truly understand and save ourselves. Save meaning, cultivate a productive worthwhile life.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Oh yes, there is no way of knowing if a tea-kettle is circulating Saturn or not.

 

[Twilight Hue]

That's, dare I say using words, the beauty of Zazen. Just sitting without embellishing or fabrication of any and all experiences and thoughts, acknowledging and passing by which stilling the mind allows anyone who practices, an understanding as to the nature of all physical and mental phenomina as it actually is, rather than playing into on how one wants, or likes to be.

Zen offers an amazing glimpse imo. A very interesting path.

Just sit with a quiet mind. Notice what comes out of the woodwork thereafter by nature.

Congratulations on meeting your teacher, or should I say a teacher already well known, but just hadn't realized before.

Best of wishes on the Zafu Diedre.

 

[Twilight Hue]

1. Benefit: It is very scientific. All mass is constituted by energy (physical energy), mass and energy being interconvertible
2. Ultimate Destiny: There is none other than a change of form. The atoms that constitute my body after my death and funeral will disintegrate and go into millions of things. The burning of my body will produce these three main things: carbon-di-oxide to plants, water vapor to plants and atmosphere, and calcium oxide from bones to soil. Such assumption of new forms have been going on for the last 13.78 billion years and will continue for billions of years, till finally the universe does one of these things: Ultimate fate of the universe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

.

I've always appreciated any approach by which you don't typically play into things any more than it is if it can be helped, yet rather, let the direct facts of the matter, "speak for itself."

It's interesting here because it's so strikingly similar as to what I personally make of things at present as it is, and the manner by which form comes and goes as it's observed and documented.

 

[Wirey]

When I first started exploring Buddhism and became more focused on it last year, I might have approached it in the wrong way, or perhaps I just wasn't yet ready to empty myself of...self. I've come to the conclusion of atheism, but I've been reading and researching more and more since my grandmother died earlier this year, about Buddhism, and Zen in particular. So, I just wanted to share this amazing moment with some of you who were there with me when I was struggling last year and were helpful, but I wasn't ready. What's the saying...'when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.' There have been teachers along the way, but the student wasn't quite ready.

I'm ready now.

Me too. How you doin'?

Sorry, hadta.

 

[Deidre]

Me too. How you doin'?

Sorry, hadta.

when I saw your name, I knew before I even opened up the thread, what it was going to read.

 

[spiritualhitchhiker]

Is there an ultimate destiny for all?

Yes, the ultimate destiny, most Hindus believe in is 'Moksha'. Hinduism also has an atheistic philosophy, which is called 'Naastik'

 

[JayJayDee]

Yes, the ultimate destiny most Hindus believe in is 'Moksha'. Hinduism also has an atheistic philosophy, which is called 'Naastik'

Can you explain this ultimate destiny and how it is achieved?

Can you also explain how those who believe in gods can be atheists? Is it because you have no belief in a creator God?