How are these Great Beings explained?

[Vinayaka]

A large percentage of what is found in Hinduism is also in our religion just using different names and terminologies. Hindus also try and live the truth as a Hindu serves humanity.

Hinduism is a true religion It teaches goodness and to serve all humanity. That is true

From a Hindu's perspective, that simply isn't true. What the Baha'i' do have is their own interpretation of Hinduism, not the Hindu interpretation of Hinduism. I can go walk the dog and say that I'm practising a version of Baha'i' because that's what Baha'i' do, but not too many people would believe me.

I would say yes, a tiny percentage of it is found in Baha'i', namely the core concept of ahimsa. But other core concepts like reincarnation, karma, temple worship, lineages, sampradaya, dealing with the physical body after death, God's nature, etc., are all different, sometimes slightly, but often radically.

 

[Vinayaka]

We know some things about God's nature but not what He's made of or how He functions or things like that. We only know that He exists and has certain attributes but beyond that no one knows anything more about God.

'We' as in Baha'i', or as in humanity?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

That is your interpretation from a pagan perspective. The Buddhist practices were originally based on the Teachings of Buddha. Buddha said a His Dhamma would decay so if He said it then He was the Enlightened One and knew.

By saying things Buddha said don't matter that's really not believing in Buddha at all which you don't but we believe in Buddha.

I said the written Dhamma does not matter. The practice and oral traditions passed down does. Read my posts.

You do not believe in The Buddha. You are bahai. I am an initiated Buddhist. I agree with The Buddhas teachings because I practiced them.

I lived in a Buddhist village for 5 years and amongst the Buddhists and became acquainted with what they believe and one of their beliefs I found prevalent amongst the Burmese was the decay of the the religion as well as a new Buddha to appear

Veitnamese and japanese buddhist would call that an insult. Of course written teachings will go away.

It is not a book religion. Dhamma is a practice. Its life. Its rebirth. Its cause and effect. Its the future buddhas. Its the bohdisttvas. The sangha. Its....

By saying the Dhamma decays is saying life will cease tonexist. You dont know the difference between written and practiced Dhamma. Ask a burmese buddhist if one day he would not be a buddhist because the written Dhamma will decay.

in my wife's family her brother in law was a Buddhist all his life who, when He heard Buddha had returned, investigated it and accepted Baha'u'llah wholeheartedly and no matter how much his Buddhist relatives tell him he's wrong he tells them that he sees in Baha'u'llah the return of Buddha.

This is knowledge buddhism. Syncrenism with bahai. I had a friend close friend I known for six years. His mother is a veitnamese buddhist. His father mormon.

All my friends I known so far five years are Nichiren Buddhist. Many are raised Buddhist. Only a handful at our study meetings american.

You are saying that life will cease to exist. The Dhamma is not separate from life. You are a religion of the book follower. So you can read into the Dhamma all you want. But as long as we have suffering, the Dhamma practice will not decay.

That is an insult.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

This is worth repeating: as long as there is suffering, the Dhamma will not decay.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I said the written Dhamma does not matter. The practice and oral traditions passed down does. Read my posts.

You do not believe in The Buddha. You are bahai. I am an initiated Buddhist. I agree with The Buddhas teachings because I practiced them.



Veitnamese and japanese buddhist would call that an insult. Of course written teachings will go away.

It is not a book religion. Dhamma is a practice. Its life. Its rebirth. Its cause and effect. Its the future buddhas. Its the bohdisttvas. The sangha. Its....

By saying the Dhamma decays is saying life will cease tonexist. You dont know the difference between written and practiced Dhamma. Ask a burmese buddhist if one day he would not be a buddhist because the written Dhamma will decay.



This is knowledge buddhism. Syncrenism with bahai. I had a friend close friend I known for six years. His mother is a veitnamese buddhist. His father mormon.

All my friends I known so far five years are Nichiren Buddhist. Many are raised Buddhist. Only a handful at our study meetings american.

You are saying that life will cease to exist. The Dhamma is not separate from life. You are a religion of the book follower. So you can read into the Dhamma all you want. But as long as we have suffering, the Dhamma practice will not decay.

That is an insult.

I only quoted the Buddha that's all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

'We' as in Baha'i', or as in humanity?

It's a fact being stated. Anything a Manifestation says is the same as God saying it.

 

[loverofhumanity]

From a Hindu's perspective, that simply isn't true. What the Baha'i' do have is their own interpretation of Hinduism, not the Hindu interpretation of Hinduism. I can go walk the dog and say that I'm practising a version of Baha'i' because that's what Baha'i' do, but not too many people would believe me.

I would say yes, a tiny percentage of it is found in Baha'i', namely the core concept of ahimsa. But other core concepts like reincarnation, karma, temple worship, lineages, sampradaya, dealing with the physical body after death, God's nature, etc., are all different, sometimes slightly, but often radically.

We follow whatever God reveals through His Manifestation. So we follow God's interpretation of Hinduism not Hindus interpretation of it. So as God is All Knowing, He knows Hinduism or any of the Faiths better than any of the followers do.

And those who follow the one true God also share in His knowledge of all the religions which He has revealed so we know the truth about a lot more than people think.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

You gave your opinion as an insult. You said you are not a buddhist so your interpretations would be different than mine, a burmese, and japanese buddhist. The biggest reason is cultural influences on religion and the importance of tradition that has not and will not decay.

The Dhamma teaches practice. The practice gives you knowledge of suffering. The Dhamma, especially in The Buddhas First Sermon, explains about suffering and how to end it.

The cheriots sutta compares the Dhamma to that of compassion and good. If the Dhamma decays so does compassion and goodness.

You say the Dhamma will decay but the sutta says that people will turn from he Dhamma as said in the Lotus but the Dhamma will always be there. The emphasis is on the people.

Once you say the Dhamma decays you get rid of compassion.

Is that what you mean?

I only good you the truth. That's all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

No. I practiced Buddhism for two years. I practiced at a temple for another two. I practiced and was initiated as a Buddhist for four years. The sutras and suttas I posted was not something I got online. I have a western mind. I study and the books become part of my practice. So, the suttas I gave were from what I took notes on etc. Nothing fake.

Two, Pagans believe in gods; pagan just means someone who is not christian, muslim, or jewish. I am not a theist so I am not a Pagan. Just abrahamic religions see me as if being a Pagan means I worship false gods.

I believe in The Buddhas teachings one hundred percent. The Buddha does not teach about god. The cheriots verse came from a sutta. Sutras are based on suttas. Or Sanskrit translation is based on the Pali which, the Pali is the foundation of buddhist teachings.

If you actually interacted with buddhists not bahai buddhist you would see they do not consider their teachings outdated and in need of change. Thats an insult to even think that. The fact, and probably more so in other cou ntries such as Japan most definitely is that the Dhamma (Im not ignorant. I know the difference) has not changed.

I mean, I asked one monk if he knew about christianity and god and he had no clue of what I meant. People on RF who are culturally Buddhist (which WE are not; that makez a difference) some have never even heard of christianity in person. Other buddhist i practice with are not americans and we chant all the time.

So, whst you are saying is an insult.

Again.

And again. I go off of experiences. I KNOW these things because I practiced them. Its not sacred "knowledge" but sacred practice. In the Lotus, The Buddha wanted bodhsattvas to read, write, and recite the Dharma so that the Practice and oral Dharma would be preserved. The Lotus is a recap of the Dhamma (no R).

I was only quoting what Buddha Himself said. To me the Buddha's Words are the light and life of my soul.

 

[loverofhumanity]

You gave your opinion as an insult. You said you are not a buddhist so your interpretations would be different than mine, a burmese, and japanese buddhist. The biggest reason is cultural influences on religion and the importance of tradition that has not and will not decay.

The Dhamma teaches practice. The practice gives you knowledge of suffering. The Dhamma, especially in The Buddhas First Sermon, explains about suffering and how to end it.

The cheriots sutta compares the Dhamma to that of compassion and good. If the Dhamma decays so does compassion and goodness.

You say the Dhamma will decay but the sutta says that people will turn from he Dhamma as said in the Lotus but the Dhamma will always be there. The emphasis is on the people.

Once you say the Dhamma decays you get rid of compassion.

Is that what you mean?

I quoted it from the Buddha. It was very clear.

All these things mentioned are not my words but those of Buddha. And I respect and revere whatever He has said.

 

[Vinayaka]

It's a fact being stated. Anything a Manifestation says is the same as God saying it.

You didn't answer my question. When you say 'we', are you referring to the Baha'i' belief, or are you insinuation it's everybody's belief.

Once again ... opinions and beliefs are not facts. That's pretty common knowledge.

 

[Vinayaka]

We follow whatever God reveals through His Manifestation. So we follow God's interpretation of Hinduism not Hindus interpretation of it. So as God is All Knowing, He knows Hinduism or any of the Faiths better than any of the followers do.

And those who follow the one true God also share in His knowledge of all the religions which He has revealed so we know the truth about a lot more than people think.

Yes, I know you think you know more about Hinduism than Hindus do. I've been a practicing Hindu for 40 years this lifetime, and most likely for several lifetimes, and you've read a couple of paragraphs, but you know more than I do? How much sillier can this get?
But do you have any sense of how insulting that is? What if I said I know more about Baha'i' than you do? (I most certainly don't.)
When you insult other religions this way, it totally goes against any sense of unity or tolerance amongst the peoples of this planet.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I was only quoting what Buddha Himself said. To me the Buddha's Words are the light and life of my soul.

I am quoting what The Buddha said as well. I didn't quote analogies. It is blunt and black and white.

If the Dhamma decays, so does compassion and good.

Is that what you mean?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I quoted it from the Buddha. It was very clear.

All these things mentioned are not my words but those of Buddha. And I respect and revere whatever He has said.

The problem is one, Buddhism isn't about "The Buddha" as a prophet and looking to him as if he gives compassion. The Dhamma is about practice. It's isolated from The Buddha. Gods, Devas, The Buddha, Disciples, you and I are part of the Dhamma because it is a practice and continuous life defined by suffering through birth, age, sickness, and death.

You are believing in the results of practice but the foundations are completely different. Without the practice, you are not following The Buddha's teachings from a Buddhist perspective. Bahai can believe whatever they want, but I never heard a cultural Buddhist say "I believe in compassion" without relating it to the Dhamma and meditation (in most Buddhist lineages I came across).

Get rid of the written teachings. If you want to know the Dhamma, practice it. Then have a conversation. Until then, you will always look at it through Bahai eyes. Nothing wrong with that just frustrated Bahai are the only ones that don't see it when talking about other faiths within their own.

Interesting observation.

 

[loverofhumanity]

The problem is one, Buddhism isn't about "The Buddha" as a prophet and looking to him as if he gives compassion. The Dhamma is about practice. It's isolated from The Buddha. Gods, Devas, The Buddha, Disciples, you and I are part of the Dhamma because it is a practice and continuous life defined by suffering through birth, age, sickness, and death.

You are believing in the results of practice but the foundations are completely different. Without the practice, you are not following The Buddha's teachings from a Buddhist perspective. Bahai can believe whatever they want, but I never heard a cultural Buddhist say "I believe in compassion" without relating it to the Dhamma and meditation (in most Buddhist lineages I came across).

Get rid of the written teachings. If you want to know the Dhamma, practice it. Then have a conversation. Until then, you will always look at it through Bahai eyes. Nothing wrong with that just frustrated Bahai are the only ones that don't see it when talking about other faiths within their own.

Interesting observation.

We choose to see Buddhism through Buddha's eyes.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, I know you think you know more about Hinduism than Hindus do. I've been a practicing Hindu for 40 years this lifetime, and most likely for several lifetimes, and you've read a couple of paragraphs, but you know more than I do? How much sillier can this get?
But do you have any sense of how insulting that is? What if I said I know more about Baha'i' than you do? (I most certainly don't.)
When you insult other religions this way, it totally goes against any sense of unity or tolerance amongst the peoples of this planet.

I only said God knows everything. That's all.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, I know you think you know more about Hinduism than Hindus do. I've been a practicing Hindu for 40 years this lifetime, and most likely for several lifetimes, and you've read a couple of paragraphs, but you know more than I do? How much sillier can this get?
But do you have any sense of how insulting that is? What if I said I know more about Baha'i' than you do? (I most certainly don't.)
When you insult other religions this way, it totally goes against any sense of unity or tolerance amongst the peoples of this planet.

i only said God is All Knowing. Certainly not myself.

God also knows more about the Baha'i Faith than any Baha'i ever can hope to. it's a given that God knows everything about everything.

If you said you knew more about the Baha'i Faith than me I wouldn't be offended in the slightest. Why should I be? You're entitled to speak your mind and I should be patient and answer you. You can say anything you like freely.

Say whatever you like. I'm more than ready and happy to listen to whatever views you have.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I am quoting what The Buddha said as well. I didn't quote analogies. It is blunt and black and white.

If the Dhamma decays, so does compassion and good.

Is that what you mean?

Truth never dies. It is eternal. I fully agree on that point. But organized religion does decay. So the Buddha's eternal laws like compassion and good live forever I fully agree but Gautama was not the last Buddha and He spoke of Maietrya to come Who would teach His Own religion.

 

[loverofhumanity]

I said the written Dhamma does not matter. The practice and oral traditions passed down does. Read my posts.

You do not believe in The Buddha. You are bahai. I am an initiated Buddhist. I agree with The Buddhas teachings because I practiced them.



Veitnamese and japanese buddhist would call that an insult. Of course written teachings will go away.

It is not a book religion. Dhamma is a practice. Its life. Its rebirth. Its cause and effect. Its the future buddhas. Its the bohdisttvas. The sangha. Its....

By saying the Dhamma decays is saying life will cease tonexist. You dont know the difference between written and practiced Dhamma. Ask a burmese buddhist if one day he would not be a buddhist because the written Dhamma will decay.



This is knowledge buddhism. Syncrenism with bahai. I had a friend close friend I known for six years. His mother is a veitnamese buddhist. His father mormon.

All my friends I known so far five years are Nichiren Buddhist. Many are raised Buddhist. Only a handful at our study meetings american.

You are saying that life will cease to exist. The Dhamma is not separate from life. You are a religion of the book follower. So you can read into the Dhamma all you want. But as long as we have suffering, the Dhamma practice will not decay.

That is an insult.

I am always happy to hear you're views. I never consider anything you say as an insult because you're just expressing what you believe to be true and this is a debating forum so I don't take any offense whatsoever with anything you say.

Please always feel most welcome to speak your mind as I'm not one to say 'don't say this or don't say that or 'I'm insulted and such as it stifles the truth from coming out. I try my best to just understand we are all different and so I don't take it personally.

Anytime you've had enough of me just tell me to go and you'll never see or hear from me ever again,

 

[loverofhumanity]

Yes, I know you think you know more about Hinduism than Hindus do. I've been a practicing Hindu for 40 years this lifetime, and most likely for several lifetimes, and you've read a couple of paragraphs, but you know more than I do? How much sillier can this get?
But do you have any sense of how insulting that is? What if I said I know more about Baha'i' than you do? (I most certainly don't.)
When you insult other religions this way, it totally goes against any sense of unity or tolerance amongst the peoples of this planet.

Im really sad you think that because nothing could be further form the truth.