Bahaism, Buddhism and Islam, conflict or one?

[Marcion]

Thanks for these precious books. Are there any available as ebooks? Again many thanks for sharing.

It looks like they have a special page with e-books:
eBooks

 

[Aupmanyav]

Go to Burma and see the mass slaughter and show me where Buddhism is. The monks there accept gifts from the army and so turn a blind eye to the slaughter. We are not talking here about an isolated friendly Buddhist temple but an entire Buddhist nation which has lost its spirit of non violence and has descended into anarchy, war crimes and mass murder.

Buddha never said that if your nation is attacked, you keep mum. The Rohingyas wanted a nation for themselves carved out of Myanmar, just because of their religion. They have killed Myanmar's Hindus and Buddhists. If Myanmar's Budhists are against the Rohingyas, I do not fault them.

There always seems to be the open and closed assumption that we are wrong. What if we are telling the truth that Baha’u’llah is the Promised One of all religions? If it’s true about Baha’u’llah then wouldn’t that mean Hindus have missed Kalki Avatar, Christians the return of Christ and so on?

That you believe in a God/Allah and his choosing/sending various people with his message is the greatest untruth. Returning Jesus, Maitreya of Mahayana and Kalki of Hinduism are just flights of imagination. There is no return after death. It is stuff of superstition.

It always looks like, a newer scripture, contradicts older scriptures.

The scriptures are nothing other than advertising pamphlets eulogizing particular religious personalities of Abrahamic religions. They are spoken/written by the person himself (like in case of Zoroaster, Mohammad, Bahaollah and Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of the Ahmadiyyas). or they have been written by their followers (as in case of Judaism and Christianity). To sell their snake-oil, they need to say that the snake-oil sold by others is defective.

 

[Dawnofhope]

Is not this a questionable theology which claims all the prophets including Moses, Muhammed, Buddha etc etc were all "manifestations of God" while the Quran nor the Tipitaka has nothing to support that theology?

Baha’i theology is indeed questionable as is any theology. The extent to which Baha’i theology can be reconciled to the Quran does involve an exploration around the eschatological theme of the Mahdi. We have the authentic Teachings of Muhammad through the Quran. Of course the Quran makes no direct and explicit reference to a future Redeemer called the Mahdi. We’re reliant on passages from the Hadiths which we would not agree as having the same authenticity and authority as the Quran.

As to the nature and reality of the Exalted Personage of Muhammad (PBUH) the Quran also has little to say. So we’re left to ponder history. It would appear God has Revealed Himself through Great Teachers. Some we would agree meet the criteria of Prophet. Most Muslims believe Muhammad to be the seal of the Prophets and the Quran is the final Revelation from God to all mankind. This is questionable theology from a Baha’i perspective but we are free to believe as we will. It is an easy matter for Allah if He were to Will it, that He should make Manifest His Will again as He has done through Moses and the Torah, Jesus and the Gospel and Muhammad and the Quran. I doubt if we will ever agree on any of this.

In regards Buddhism we don’t even have a book that we agree can be authentically attributable to Gautama Buddha. However within some of these writings there is indeed references to the Metreiya Buddha. I’m not aware Bahá’u’lláh made any references to the Metreiya Buddha but Shoghi Effendi certainly did.

I claim no expertise on any religious matter but am best acquainted with the Christian Bible and the Baha’i writings.

All the best with your spiritual path.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I mean, such discourses attributed to Buddha claiming to be All-knowing, All-powerful, can easily be understood, as He was claiming to be who, the Abrahamic Religions refer to as God.
He may not have used the term God, regarding Himself, but He talked about Himself having the attributes of the Abrahamic God, who is All-knowing, All-powerful.
So, what difference does it make, if one says I am God, or I am All-knowing, All-powerful?

Who said Buddha was all-powerful or even all-knowing? He was no God. He was a supremely practical person who said contemplating about useless things like creation or existence of Gods leads to mental stress and even madness. He classified these an 'acinteyyas', things that should not be contemplated upon because doing that does not help in any way. To say that he is all-powerful and all-knowing would not suit an uneducated 19th Century Iranian preacher who claimed that he never went to any school.

 

[firedragon]

Baha’i theology is indeed questionable as is any theology. The extent to which Baha’i theology can be reconciled to the Quran does involve an exploration around the eschatological theme of the Mahdi. We have the authentic Teachings of Muhammad through the Quran. Of course the Quran makes no direct and explicit reference to a future Redeemer called the Mahdi. We’re reliant on passages from the Hadiths which we would not agree as having the same authenticity and authority as the Quran.

As to the nature and reality of the Exalted Personage of Muhammad (PBUH) the Quran also has little to say. So we’re left to ponder history. It would appear God has Revealed Himself through Great Teachers. Some we would agree meet the criteria of Prophet. Most Muslims believe Muhammad to be the seal of the Prophets and the Quran is the final Revelation from God to all mankind. This is questionable theology from a Baha’i perspective but we are free to believe as we will. It is an easy matter for Allah if He were to Will it, that He should make Manifest His Will again as He has done through Moses and the Torah, Jesus and the Gospel and Muhammad and the Quran. I doubt if we will ever agree on any of this.

In regards Buddhism we don’t even have a book that we agree can be authentically attributable to Gautama Buddha. However within some of these writings there is indeed references to the Metreiya Buddha. I’m not aware Bahá’u’lláh made any references to the Metreiya Buddha but Shoghi Effendi certainly did.

I claim no expertise on any religious matter but am best acquainted with the Christian Bible and the Baha’i writings.

All the best with your spiritual path.

Of course it was the descendants who made allusions to the Metteya.

Nevertheless, the bottomline is, if the Quran is Gods word as per the Bahai theology, and it does not mention Muhammed or any other prophet were "manifestations of God" like the Bahai's taught.

Nevertheless, since you dont claim anything about Buddhist or Muslim scripture this thread may not be relevant. I mean particularly to you. Also your citing of Gautama Buddha and there are no documents that can be authenticated to the Buddha is correct. There is none. The only document that has any kind of remote closeness with any standard is the Tipitaka but since you admit that they are not authentic, none of what it says should matter. You cannot only pick the name Metteya and make an eschatology from it associating Bahaullah. I have already said this in the OP.

There is nothing in the Quran, and there is nothing in the Buddhist scripture. So the beliefs seem arbitrary.

As to your statement that Quran says little about the nature of the prophet, it is not correct. It has a lot to say. It says all messengers are the same and not to be distinguished from one another, they are mortal, they are just men, they are rasools, Nabi's, they are bringers of a message, nothing more, nothing less. Arguing from silence is a logical fallacy. To say that "since the Quran doesnt say they are not manifestations of God" is a logical fallacy. If any of the prophets are manifestations of God, Gods word should say it. The Quran is in fact contrary to that theology. Thats the whole point.

Even if you are to bank on ahadith like they are Gods word which most of the Bahai theology is based on, it is still arbitrarily cherry picked with no methodology but just confirmation bias to pick and choose which hadith suits the narrative. Unless of course you have a methodology other than saying "because my leader said so". If there is indeed a methodology I would like to hear it.

According to the Quran all messengers were just men. God is absolutely cloven. The Bahai theology does not conform to any of the scripture it comes from, and honestly I cannot see any valid apologetics.

Cheers.

 

[firedragon]

Who said Buddha was all-powerful or even all-knowing? He was no God. He was a supremely practical person who said contemplating about useless things like creation or existence of Gods leads to mental stress and even madness. He classified these an 'acinteyyas', things that should not be contemplated upon because doing that does not help in any way. To say that he is all-powerful and all-knowing would not suit an uneducated 19th Century Iranian preacher who claimed that he never went to any school.

I am curious. who said that he is al powerful and all knowing?

 

[firedragon]

Buddha never said that if your nation is attacked, you keep mum. The Rohingyas wanted a nation for themselves carved out of Myanmar, just because of their religion. They have killed Myanmar's Hindus and Buddhists. If Myanmar's Budhists are against the Rohingyas, I do not fault them.

Oh so you are here to do some hate preaching right? Justify the Chinese with some apologetics? Can you please open your own thread to spread your hatred please!!

That you believe in a God/Allah and his choosing/sending various people with his message is the greatest untruth. Returning Jesus, Maitreya of Mahayana and Kalki of Hinduism are just flights of imagination. There is no return after death. It is stuff of superstition.

Maybe you dont understand relevance. If you wish to understand the existence of God or afterlife etc etc why not do it in a relevant thread?

 

[Vinayaka]

There always seems to be the open and closed assumption that we are wrong. What if we are telling the truth that Baha’u’llah is the Promised One of all religions? If it’s true about Baha’u’llah then wouldn’t that mean Hindus have missed Kalki Avatar, Christians the return of Christ and so on?

So It’s inconceivable to you that we could be telling the truth? So sad.

And even more inconceivable to you that you could be wrong. At least we Hindus and Buddhists don't have to deal with the infallibility challenge. That puts a limit to any doubts at all.

But as you know already, I don't deal in right/wrong paradigms, but see it as differing beliefs alone.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I am curious. who said that he is al powerful and all knowing?

Ask our Bahai friend Investigate Truth. Perhaps that is what his/her investigations led him to.

 

[loverofhumanity]

It looks like they have a special page with e-books:
eBooks

Thanks very much for that. I’m interested in the book about Krishna. Is it informative or mainly paintings. I believe in Krishna and always love to know more.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Oh so you are here to do some hate preaching right? Can you please open your own thread to spread your hatred please!!

I am stating the facts. You can check in Rohingya people - Wikipedia. Rohingyas had a state in history. Now Rohingya Muslims want to turn back the clock and have it again by violent means to the exclusion of Hindu Rohingyas and Budhists. Such actions naturally have repercussions. The kings of historical Arakan states were not even Muslim.

"Various armed insurrections by the Rohingya have taken place since the 1940s and the population as a whole has faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992, 2012, 2015, 2016–2017 and particularly in 2017–2018."

What else one would expect.

 

[Brian2]

I don’t believe that at all. I believe they are in full harmony with each other. It’s conflicting man made interpretations which are the cause of seeming contradictions, but in reality I believe the scriptures confirm the truth of each other.

Of course that is what Baha'is believe, but the reality is different.

 

[firedragon]

I am stating the facts. You can check in Rohingya people - Wikipedia. Rohingyas had a state in history. Now Rohingya Muslims want to turn back the clock and have it again by violent means to the exclusion of Hindu Rohingyas and Budhists. Such actions naturally have repercussions. The kings of historical Arakan states were not even Muslim.

"Various armed insurrections by the Rohingya have taken place since the 1940s and the population as a whole has faced military crackdowns in 1978, 1991–1992, 2012, 2015, 2016–2017 and particularly in 2017–2018."

What else one would expect.

Still not relevant. Please justify your hatred in a thread of relevance.

 

[Aupmanyav]

No hatred, just the facts, since someone claimed that Myanmar Buddhists have killed Rohingyas without any reason. If any group engages in terrorism in a country, the government of that country will do all that it can to eradicate terrorism in their country. Then the group should not have any complaints. 9/11 made US act in Afghanistan. A similar situation in India made India act in Balakot.

 

[firedragon]

No hatred, just the facts,

Still not relevant. I know that you love to discuss how everything is the fault of Islam and those violent muslims and try your lifes levels best to justify torture and murder by hook or crook.

But its not relevant. What you say? Do you wish to have that rant in a new thread?

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Who said Buddha was all-powerful or even all-knowing? He was no God. He was a supremely practical person who said contemplating about useless things like creation or existence of Gods leads to mental stress and even madness. He classified these an 'acinteyyas', things that should not be contemplated upon because doing that does not help in any way. To say that he is all-powerful and all-knowing would not suit an uneducated 19th Century Iranian preacher who claimed that he never went to any school.

It is written in some discourses of Buddha. According to such Buddhists sources, When Buddha was talking to His follower, He said such words, as He has become All-knowing All-powerful.
It might be in numerical discourses if I remember correctly.


I quote from Wikipedia:

"Most schools of Buddhism have also held that the Buddha was omniscient. However, the early texts contain explicit repudiations of making this claim of the Buddha.[10][11]"

Buddhahood - Wikipedia



In the same link, it talks about Buddha being omnipotent as well.


Of course just as any other subject, it is debatable, but I mean, such statements are made by Buddha as being omniscient and omnipotent, according to Buddhism sources.
Like I said, it is arguable.


What makes it arguable is, in early texts, Buddha did not make such a claim as being omniscient and omnipotent. It was after His so called awakening that He made such claims.
Though, similarly Bahaullah made such claims about Himself after beginning His mission, or when He received a revelation. Though Bahai scriptures explain that these Manifestations were who they were at the time they came to this world. It is only due to a wisdom, they did not proclaim too early.

 

[Aupmanyav]

However, the early texts contain explicit repudiations of making this claim of the Buddha."

So what would you believe? The earlier texts or what suits you?

 

[InvestigateTruth]

So what would you believe? The earlier texts or what suits you?

I am a Bahai, so I believe what Baha'u'llah and Abdulbaha said. It makes sense to me.
The knowledge of Bahaullah, and other Manifestations are extraordinary, considering they did not have much education. It makes sense to me, they must have had innate knowledge, Akka omniscient

 

[Marcion]

Thanks very much for that. I’m interested in the book about Krishna. Is it informative or mainly paintings. I believe in Krishna and always love to know more.

I'm not at all sure, they don't give the book the exact same name, so it may well be a different selection of lectures on the life of Krishna and indeed there are also those added paintings.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Bahaollah said nothing about Buddhism. Perhaps he did not even know that such a religion existed. That is because his Allah also might not have known that there is a religion called Buddhism and that it is the fourth major religion of the world. How would an uneducated person in interior of Iran know about Buddhism? Whatever is written in Bahaism about Buddhism is a later addition by Abdul Baha.