Did you know.

[Spirit of Light]

The article you refer to indicated that people do offer worship to the deities, as I said.

Obviously your beliefs may be closer to what Buddha taught than what many believe today, but it's always a problem to say who is "authentic" — the beliefs of the first generation of followers of Jesus were probably similar to the modern Unitarians, who are not considered Christian! I tend to follow the man in the street in preference to scholars: for me religion is about experiences, not books.

It is true that the daily practice is more important then any book, because the book can only explain how we should live, but it is how we actually do live that say if we are a good follower or not

Within buddhism there are many who do not follow it the way it was intended, And they worship the statue in the temple, and this is a wrong practice. the best study we can do is the search within our mind to find the answers. and the best practice is when we meet people who could do us wrong or even try get us angry, because that is the time we will realise if we have done enough to let go of the attachments to how other people treat us

 

[Shantanu]

And they worship the statue in the temple, and this is a wrong practice.

It is wrong of you to judge others practices as being wrong, when they have found some faults with the book-teachings.

 

[Spirit of Light]

It is wrong of you to judge others practices as being wrong, when they have found some faults with the book-teachings.

Buddha sakyamuni said to not worship him and that means also the statues that we have made of his image. who found fault with the teaching?
In my understanding the dhamma do not have faults, but human beings who study it can have less understanding of the teaching then what buddha sakyamuni did have

 

[Shantanu]

Buddha sakyamuni said to not worship him and that means also the statues that we have made of his image. who found fault with the teaching?
In my understanding the dhamma do not have faults, but human beings who study it can have less understanding of the teaching then what buddha sakyamuni did have

If I want to worship anyone I should be free to do that.

 

[Spirit of Light]

If I want to worship anyone I should be free to do that.

Well according to the teaching Budha Sakyamuni gave we as buddhists should not worship him. and i do my best to understand and follow the teaching he gave.
I can not speak for other religions or spiritual paths on what they should or should not do. so since you do not follow the buddhist theaching you can do how you feel is right for you or according to what you follow

 

[Shantanu]

Well according to the teaching Budha Sakyamuni gave we as buddhists should not worship him. and i do my best to understand and follow the teaching he gave.
I can not speak for other religions or spiritual paths on what they should or should not do. so since you do not follow the buddhist theaching you can do how you feel is right for you or according to what you follow

Buddhism needs to be modified to make it more userfriendly.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Buddhism needs to be modified to make it more userfriendly.

If the teaching is modified it is no longer a true teaching by Buddha Sakyamuni, It is not the teaching that should change, it is the followers who must change to fit the teaching.

 

[Shantanu]

If the teaching is modified it is no longer a true teaching by Buddha Sakyamuni, It is not the teaching that should change, it is the followers who must change to fit the teaching.

Followers should abandon the Buddhist label altogether if they cannot change.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Followers should abandon the Buddhist label altogether if they cannot change.

That is your view.

 

[Jeremiah Ames]

That in Buddhism there is teachings about the realm of 33 Gods?
Yes actually in the Dhamma (teaching) Buddha do talk about God, But not in the way of an everlasting Creator God. Buddha used the word God in a sense of the Dhamma or teaching, because the teaching will lead toward the relalisation of enlightenment, and if you look at the meaning of God it is not only have one meaning.
But Buddhist do not see Buddha as a God in the sense of almighty.

Actually Buddha did not shy away from talk or discussion of God or Gods, He invited it in to discussion or talks.
I a not afraid to talk about Gods even as a buddhist. But i do not follow a God who is seen as creator

Buddha translated to English means Enlighten being or as long they stay on earth, Enlighten person.
the word God translated in to Buddhist language is Brahma

Do the 33 gods each have different abilities or characteristics?
Or does each represent a different kind of teaching?

 

[Spirit of Light]

Do the 33 gods each have different abilities or characteristics?
Or does each represent a different kind of teaching?

If i have understood the teching correct they do have their own abilities and wisdom. But they are still within the realm of reincarnation (according to the teaching) so they still have to cultivate their existence. (but on this i have not fully understood all my self)

As long they do not reincarnate in to human form to give teaching they do not have teaching.
Sakyamuni did reincarnate in to the person we know he was on earth, but in my understanding it was prepared for him before he reincarnated to earth to reach enlightenment, and then begin to teach his dhamma/ dharma. What do i mean by this? The 4 teachers he did have before he become enlighten and could teach dhamma, he was in training with 4 different spiritual teachers,
As far it is possible to know two of his teachers was Alara Kalama and Uddaka the two last teacher i do not know name of

 

[loverofhumanity]

That in Buddhism there is teachings about the realm of 33 Gods?
Yes actually in the Dhamma (teaching) Buddha do talk about God, But not in the way of an everlasting Creator God. Buddha used the word God in a sense of the Dhamma or teaching, because the teaching will lead toward the relalisation of enlightenment, and if you look at the meaning of God it is not only have one meaning.
But Buddhist do not see Buddha as a God in the sense of almighty.

Actually Buddha did not shy away from talk or discussion of God or Gods, He invited it in to discussion or talks.
I a not afraid to talk about Gods even as a buddhist. But i do not follow a God who is seen as creator

Buddha translated to English means Enlighten being or as long they stay on earth, Enlighten person.
the word God translated in to Buddhist language is Brahma

There is a way I believe of knowing for sure whether or not the Buddha taught about a God. I believe He did but that His original teachings were lost and just like the church changed the religion of Jesus over time, so Buddhism became entirely different to what Buddha originally taught. But there is a sure way to verify this I believe if we are fair and open minded and willing to consider it in an unbiased manner.

Another example is Islam. The Quran only permits self defense but the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties created ‘Hadiths’ they claimed were the sayings of Muhammad, approving conquering and massacring which were fabricated.

 

[Spirit of Light]

There is a way I believe of knowing for sure whether or not the Buddha taught about a God. I believe He did but that His original teachings were lost and just like the church changed the religion of Jesus over time, so Buddhism became entirely different to what Buddha originally taught. But there is a sure way to verify this I believe if we are fair and open minded and willing to consider it in an unbiased manner.

Another example is Islam. The Quran only permits self defense but the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties created ‘Hadiths’ they claimed were the sayings of Muhammad, approving conquering and massacring which were fabricated.

If you look at the teaching of buddha and you look at the books that we do today say is the teaching of the buddha, you will see that Sakyamuni did teach many places but not to many topics, so yes some of the suttas are not directly by the buddha, but then it is stated in the text who did tell it, example being Ananda who was the closest follower to Sakyamuni. when the Buddha died it was up to Ananda to continue the teachings (ananda was already enlighten at this point) so he would have no problem remembering the true teachings that Sakyamuni did give,
it is first when everything was written down and was to be translated to different languages that little by little some of the teaching would be lost. But Buddha did actually know this and made sure that the main teaching contained what is needed to realise enlightenment for us too.

But in Buddhism the main teaching of 4 noble truths and 8 folded path plus moral is not lost and this is the basis of all buddhist teaching.

Unfortunatly the lose of some teachings does happen in every religion that is public.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

That in Buddhism there is teachings about the realm of 33 Gods?
Yes actually in the Dhamma (teaching) Buddha do talk about God, But not in the way of an everlasting Creator God. Buddha used the word God in a sense of the Dhamma or teaching, because the teaching will lead toward the relalisation of enlightenment, and if you look at the meaning of God it is not only have one meaning.
But Buddhist do not see Buddha as a God in the sense of almighty.

Actually Buddha did not shy away from talk or discussion of God or Gods, He invited it in to discussion or talks.
I a not afraid to talk about Gods even as a buddhist. But i do not follow a God who is seen as creator

Buddha translated to English means Enlighten being or as long they stay on earth, Enlighten person.
the word God translated in to Buddhist language is Brahma

This is compatible with Abrahamic Religions.
If you say teachings is God, this is expressed in Abrahamic Faith as "the Word is God" .

 

[Shantanu]

That is your view.

Perhaps they will find God if Buddha is not amenable to worship.

 

[Spirit of Light]

Perhaps they will find God if Buddha is not amenable to worship.

Buddhist don't follow a God. only follow the Buddha's teaching, As i wrote in a previous post buddhist do not reject that there are gods but we see no one singel creator God as in Christianity.
But even we understand there is gods and buddhas we keep following the teaching of Sakyamuni. that is just how it is, and no need to change it because we will be able to realize enlightenment too if we can do the right things needed

 

[Shantanu]

Buddhist don't follow a God. only follow the Buddha's teaching, As i wrote in a previous post buddhist do not reject that there are gods but we see no one singel creator God as in Christianity.
But even we understand there is gods and buddhas we keep following the teaching of Sakyamuni. that is just how it is, and no need to change it because we will be able to realize enlightenment too if we can do the right things needed

If God rejects my overtures I will turn to stress-relieving philosophy like Buddhism, but while He is there I cannot chose this alternative path to enlightenment.

 

[Spirit of Light]

If God rejects my overtures I will turn to stress-relieving philosophy like Buddhism, but while He is there I cannot chose this alternative path to enlightenment.

Well you do not follow Buddhism so i understand you do not see it the way i do. that is natural.
But Buddhism is a lot more then stress reducing Buddhism the way it was thought by buddha was a cultivation path and not a religion, the religion part has been added later.
You chose the path you feel is the right for you, just the way i chose to follow the buddhist teaching from 1997 until today, and i have no reason to leave it, and i do not have any doubt about the teaching of sakyamuni

 

[loverofhumanity]

If you look at the teaching of buddha and you look at the books that we do today say is the teaching of the buddha, you will see that Sakyamuni did teach many places but not to many topics, so yes some of the suttas are not directly by the buddha, but then it is stated in the text who did tell it, example being Ananda who was the closest follower to Sakyamuni. when the Buddha died it was up to Ananda to continue the teachings (ananda was already enlighten at this point) so he would have no problem remembering the true teachings that Sakyamuni did give,
it is first when everything was written down and was to be translated to different languages that little by little some of the teaching would be lost. But Buddha did actually know this and made sure that the main teaching contained what is needed to realise enlightenment for us too.

But in Buddhism the main teaching of 4 noble truths and 8 folded path plus moral is not lost and this is the basis of all buddhist teaching.

Unfortunatly the lose of some teachings does happen in every religion that is public.

I personally don’t believe from my own research that Buddhists are in possession of all the authentic teachings of Buddha.

Buddha did mention that His Dhamma would decay over time and be replaced with a counterfeit Dhamma.

SuttaCentral

 

[Shantanu]

Well you do not follow Buddhism so i understand you do not see it the way i do. that is natural.
But Buddhism is a lot more then stress reducing Buddhism the way it was thought by buddha was a cultivation path and not a religion, the religion part has been added later.
You chose the path you feel is the right for you, just the way i chose to follow the buddhist teaching from 1997 until today, and i have no reason to leave it, and i do not have any doubt about the teaching of sakyamuni

I am still evaluating my path: for attachment to God is also not desirable. This is because being a Son of God will lead to persecution by the State as happened to Jesus Christ, and also to Arjan Singh and Jegh Bahadur according to @ManSinha