Are Buddhist and Hindu Scriptures Inaccurate?

[Vinayaka]

Why do you think sin doesn't exist? We all do things that we shouldn't do.

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-3).

The first commandment means that God should be the focal point of all of your affections. Your relationship with Him should be the most important part of your life. A perfect example is the rich young ruler Matthew tells us about in the New Testament:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,19 honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:16-24).

It is interesting to see how Jesus talked with the rich young ruler using the Ten Commandments as the starting point in a discussion of "what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And with those commandments He was able to show the man his self-righteousness. This is an amazing story. The rich young ruler could not even get past the first commandment: He did have another god before the God of the universe, and it was his money. We will all worship something. Whether we are atheists, agnostics, or believers in some religion, we are all worshipers. Where do you turn your mind and heart to gain meaning, fulfillment, control, protection, and significance in your life? What has your affection? What do you meditate upon? When you lay your head on your pillow at night, what do you think about? Who or what is your God? Now ask yourself this question: Have I broken the first of the Ten Commandments?

In Hinduism there is a concept called soul age. Over many many lifetimes, the soul is emanated from God, and slowly returns to God, as molecule of water would evaporate from the ocean, only to be returned to the ocean. When the soul is young, it's also stupid (from anava). Just as children make mistakes because they're young in a particular lifetime, the young soul makes mistakes. Just this morning I witnessed a young soul cursing about his experience of having a store open at 7:02 instead of 7:00. His poor body had an accelerated heart rate. You could say the guy was mad. He was right in the mood to start a confrontation. I was in the exact same situation and I had no anger whatsoever, totally able to accept that situation. So in terms of soul age, one could say I was an older soul, at that moment.

So what you call sin, I call immaturity of the soul. Does the university professor go about yelling and accusing the child in kindergarten of sinning? I think not.

Again, I don't believe in sin, and Christianity is irrelevant to me. Please stop your preaching. You have the right to differ.

 

[Skywalker]

In Hinduism there is a concept called soul age. Over many many lifetimes, the soul is emanated from God, and slowly returns to God, as molecule of water would evaporate from the ocean, only to be returned to the ocean. When the soul is young, it's also stupid (from anava). Just as children make mistakes because they're young in a particular lifetime, the young soul makes mistakes. Just this morning I witnessed a young soul cursing about his experience of having a store open at 7:02 instead of 7:00. His poor body had an accelerated heart rate. You could say the guy was mad. He was right in the mood to start a confrontation. I was in the exact same situation and I had no anger whatsoever, totally able to accept that situation. So in terms of soul age, one could say I was an older soul, at that moment.

So what you call sin, I call immaturity of the soul. Does the university professor go about yelling and accusing the child in kindergarten of sinning? I think not.

Again, I don't believe in sin, and Christianity is irrelevant to me. Please stop your preaching. You have the right to differ.

How do you think reincarnation works? I think it would be impossible for there to be no God and reincarnation because who would control where the soul goes and where it stays while it's waiting to be reincarnated?

 

[Vinayaka]

How do you think reincarnation works? I think it would be impossible for there to be no God and reincarnation because who would control where the soul goes and where it stays while it's waiting to be reincarnated?

For young souls, it's 'pot luck' off the astral. It would be like a blind man groping around in a vegetable store until he found something to eat. For old souls, it's far more of a choice. They'll look for great potential parents, or be reborn into a dharmic family. Of course you don't believe in reincarnation. You're a Christian.
The in-between is the astral plane. It's a duplicate of this plane. It's part of God's creation. The Hindu God isn't a controlling God. He's more of a watcher God, just watching the dance of His own emanation.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

God can't just say that he forgives the sins of the world for the same reason that judges can't just forgive criminals and can't let rapists and thieves back on the street and just say, "It's okay, I forgive you." For God to do something like this would be an insult to his holiness. It would look like he was simply endorsing rebellion against himself and his character. He is a righteous judge, and therefore he must find us guilty of sin because the truth of the matter is that we are guilty. We have fallen short of how God wants us to live. We violate even our own moral standards, so certainly we violate God's higher standard. To pretend otherwise would be a lie-and God is not a liar.

Forgiveness of sins is an integral part of a Christian based life. That there is a judgement day, implies that all of us need to face a judgement.

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

How much more is the giver of the virtues able to do, as God does as God so chooses and the forgiveness of sins is entirely up to God.

Baha'u'llah has given us much more thoughts on this topic.

Regards Tony

 

[Skywalker]

Forgiveness of sins is an integral part of a Christian based life. That there is a judgement day, implies that all of us need to face a judgement.

Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

How much more is the giver of the virtues able to do, as God does as God so chooses and the forgiveness of sins is entirely up to God.

Baha'u'llah has given us much more thoughts on this topic.

Regards Tony

God being loving doesn't mean that God isn't just and righteous.

 

[Secret Chief]

We all do things that we arent supposed to do. Karma doesn't explain the origin of sin. Eternal separation being the consequences of sin makes sense because people go to jail in human law. 13 Reasons I No Longer Believe In Karma Or Reincarnation | Reasons for Jesus

Using Christian sources for non-Christian topics is never a safe bet. From the link above:

"Teachers of Far Eastern religions (such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism) maintain that the process of reincarnation is necessary for the ‘reaping’ of what some call “the karmic debt.” This process supposedly determines the ongoing evolution of the soul."

As a general point, treating Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism as teaching the same ideas is a rather fraught activity and specifically regarding the above quote: firstly reincarnation (of an abiding entity) is not a Buddhist teaching and secondly the very idea of a soul is a non-starter in Buddhist teaching.

 

[Skywalker]

Using Christian sources for non-Christian topics is never a safe bet. From the link above:

"Teachers of Far Eastern religions (such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism) maintain that the process of reincarnation is necessary for the ‘reaping’ of what some call “the karmic debt.” This process supposedly determines the ongoing evolution of the soul."

As a general point, treating Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism as teaching the same ideas is a rather fraught activity and specifically regarding the above quote: firstly reincarnation (of an abiding entity) is not a Buddhist teaching and secondly the very idea of a soul is a non-starter in Buddhist teaching.

The mechanism of reincarnation is based on the supposed "law of karma," in which good deeds and bad deeds are tallied and used as the basis for determining a person's fate in the next life. One's good karma may earn them a better status or some good fortune in the next life, while one's bad karma will bring suffering into that life that matches the wrong done in the past. Reincarnation typically ends only when one has advanced enough to have neither good karma nor bad karma, but to be totally neutral. Then one will be absorbed into an impersonal "universal conciousness," or "cosmic conciousness," in which the individual self ceases to exist. That is, the end result is the complete annihilation of the finite self. The individual becomes "one with the universe." I've always wondered: Who or what is able to keep track of each deed of each person who has ever lived in order to make the karmic cycle work?

 

[TransmutingSoul]

God being loving doesn't mean that God isn't just and righteous.

The purpose of justice and righteous actions, is to enable forgiveness.

Regards Tony

 

[Secret Chief]

The mechanism of reincarnation is based on the supposed "law of karma," in which good deeds and bad deeds are tallied and used as the basis for determining a person's fate in the next life. One's good karma may earn them a better status or some good fortune in the next life, while one's bad karma will bring suffering into that life that matches the wrong done in the past. Reincarnation typically ends only when one has advanced enough to have neither good karma nor bad karma, but to be totally neutral. Then one will be absorbed into an impersonal "universal conciousness," or "cosmic conciousness," in which the individual self ceases to exist. That is, the end result is the complete annihilation of the finite self. The individual becomes "one with the universe." I've always wondered: Who or what is able to keep track of each deed of each person who has ever lived in order to make the karmic cycle work?

If you're talking about Hinduism or Jainism I have no idea.

 

[Skywalker]

The purpose of justice and righteous actions, is to enable forgiveness.

Regards Tony

Judges aren't just to be loving and forgiving, they are just because even the most fair judge has to be just. How is a judge giving people consequences about forgiveness? It's about order.

 

[Vinayaka]

If you're talking about Hinduism or Jainism I have no idea.

Neither does the person who wrote the article. As you said before, looking at dharmic faiths through a Christian lens doesn't work. For starters, karma has nothing to do with reward/punishment. Reward punishment as a concept is a massive projection from the Christian paradigm into the dharmic paradigm. It's natural though, to project like this, as you don't really have a choice about which lens you're looking through, given how the subconscious mind works. To expect anything different is unrealistic.

 

[Skywalker]

If you're talking about Hinduism or Jainism I have no idea.

Such an entity would have to be everywhere (omnipresent)-to be able to see all people at all times and know their thoughts and motivations, all knowing (omniscient)-in order to keep a running tally of all those billions of individuals and their actions, and to determine whether someone deserves a cosmic thumbs-up or thumbs-down for the next life, all powerful (omnipotent)-able to enforce its decisions, good-having a pure sense of morality that knows exactly what is "good" and what is "bad" in every particular situation. it also must be righteous enough to make a just judgement in assigning how the person will be spending that future life. Now we've defined what "the universe" would have to be like in order to implement reincarnation. But it seems that rather than some impersonal "cosmic force," these requirements describe a separate, personal, all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful, moral, just, intelligent, righteous Being.

 

[Skywalker]

For young souls, it's 'pot luck' off the astral. It would be like a blind man groping around in a vegetable store until he found something to eat. For old souls, it's far more of a choice. They'll look for great potential parents, or be reborn into a dharmic family. Of course you don't believe in reincarnation. You're a Christian.
The in-between is the astral plane. It's a duplicate of this plane. It's part of God's creation. The Hindu God isn't a controlling God. He's more of a watcher God, just watching the dance of His own emanation.

God isn't a controlling God. Aren't there laws in a society that people have to follow? God gives us rules and laws to go by. When we stay within these boundaries, we are the freest people in the world.

 

[Skywalker]

In Hinduism there is a concept called soul age. Over many many lifetimes, the soul is emanated from God, and slowly returns to God, as molecule of water would evaporate from the ocean, only to be returned to the ocean. When the soul is young, it's also stupid (from anava). Just as children make mistakes because they're young in a particular lifetime, the young soul makes mistakes. Just this morning I witnessed a young soul cursing about his experience of having a store open at 7:02 instead of 7:00. His poor body had an accelerated heart rate. You could say the guy was mad. He was right in the mood to start a confrontation. I was in the exact same situation and I had no anger whatsoever, totally able to accept that situation. So in terms of soul age, one could say I was an older soul, at that moment.

So what you call sin, I call immaturity of the soul. Does the university professor go about yelling and accusing the child in kindergarten of sinning? I think not.

Again, I don't believe in sin, and Christianity is irrelevant to me. Please stop your preaching. You have the right to differ.

Is a person not following the laws immaturity of the soul?

 

[Vinayaka]

Is a person not following the laws immaturity of the soul?

Yes. They're simply not smart enough, soul wise, to figure it out. Young souls also need external factors like fear to figure stuff out. Take speeding on the highway as an example. A young soul thinks he shouldn't speed so he doesn't get a ticket. An old soul doesn't speed because he knows it's the right thing to do. So young souls need fear as a control mechanism.

 

[Skywalker]

Yes. They're simply not smart enough, soul wise, to figure it out. Young souls also need external factors like fear to figure stuff out. Take speeding on the highway as an example. A young soul thinks he shouldn't speed so he doesn't get a ticket. An old soul doesn't speed because he knows it's the right thing to do. So young souls need fear as a control mechanism.

What God gave us was not the Ten Suggestions but the Ten Commandments, by which we are meant to live our lives. And these commandments are not set up to make God happy, but to make us holy, which brings contentment. The Ten Commandments show that we don't stack up next to God's standard for human behavior.

 

[Vinayaka]

What God gave us was not the Ten Suggestions but the Ten Commandments, by which we are meant to live our lives. And these commandments are not set up to make God happy, but to make us holy, which brings contentment. The Ten Commandments show that we don't stack up next to God's standard for human behavior.

I don't believe in Christianity. Why do you keep preaching at me? This thread is about whether or not our Hindu and Buddhist scriptures are inaccurate. It has nothing to do with bible thumping. I will be out.

 

[Skywalker]

I don't believe in Christianity. Why do you keep preaching at me? This thread is about whether or not our Hindu and Buddhist scriptures are inaccurate. It has nothing to do with bible thumping.

I was having a conversation about why I believe that the concept of sin exists.

 

[firedragon]

I don't believe in Christianity. Why do you keep preaching at me? This thread is about whether or not our Hindu and Buddhist scriptures are inaccurate. It has nothing to do with bible thumping. I will be out.

Lol.

 

[firedragon]

But, if each religion says and believes it has the Truth and the other religions say and believe things that contradict that Truth, then what? Is any of it really The Truth? Or, are people getting smart enough to know that all religions have things that are true in them but have myths and legends mixed in?

Well, either you take one path and follow through, or analyse the paths and figure out which one makes sense.