Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

The Barbarism of the Buddha

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: The Barbarism of the Buddha

    Originally posted by aneeshm
    In a recent discussion on Mohammed, the point came up that all religious leaders and founders are flawed and were barbaric by modern standards.
    Of course. And we are barbaric by their standards. The question is whether they were barbaric by the standards of their time.
    Why doing it the easy way if it is possible to do it complicated?

    Comment


    • #17
      No, what's important is if they are barbaric by our standarts, because their religions give them as example for all the ages.
      I believe we're more enlightened then people 1400 or 2000 years ago... it's Enlightment's notion, but I think progress exists... at least up till now.
      "I realise I hold the key to freedom,
      I cannot let my life be ruled by threads" The Web Frogs
      Middle East!

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: The Barbarism of the Buddha

        Does anyone here know of anything the Buddha did which could be called barbaric by modern standards?
        He was Indian
        "I realise I hold the key to freedom,
        I cannot let my life be ruled by threads" The Web Frogs
        Middle East!

        Comment


        • #19
          Originally posted by LordShiva


          Actually, only Chinese and Japanese Buddhas are chubby.
          And not all of them. In China, you can see the type of Buddha that aneeshm has pictured. Also, China has a female Buddha so Buddha can get his enlightened groove on.
          “As a lifelong member of the Columbia Business School community, I adhere to the principles of truth, integrity, and respect. I will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.â€
          "Capitalism ho!"

          Comment


          • #20
            Buddism definatly seems (to us Westoners) to be the most Pasifist major religion. Certainly Budda set a strong example but I think another contributing factor would be how the ruling classes treated Buddism. The ruling classes tend to be able to distort a religion to serve their purposes, say for example to justify a war or their own position at the top of society. I dont know much of the History here but from what I gather Hinduism has and always was predominent in India, Buddism spread very far but never became the state religion of a War-like nation that distorted it for self-justification. If thats due to an inherent quality of Buddism its-self (Its cant be assimilated like Species 8472, yes I just compared Buddism to StarTrek ) or if its just an acident of history I cant realy say.
            Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators, the creator seeks - those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest. - Thus spoke Zarathustra, Fredrick Nietzsche

            Comment


            • #21
              Actually, only Chinese and Japanese Buddhas are chubby.


              They're not chubby, either. The fat "Buddhas" you see in American Chinese restaurants are actually statues of Hotei (Jp.), the Chinese god of plenty.
              KH FOR OWNER!
              ASHER FOR CEO!!
              GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

              Comment


              • #22
                Originally posted by LordShiva


                That's biologically unlikely. He was probably at least a little overweight as a prince, and substantially underweight as an ascetic and beggar.
                What about when he eschewed asceticism as misguided? That is always what I think about when I see the fat Buddha, not him as a prince, but him at the time he reached enlightenment.
                A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.--Epictitus

                Comment


                • #23
                  Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
                  Actually, only Chinese and Japanese Buddhas are chubby.


                  They're not chubby, either. The fat "Buddhas" you see in American Chinese restaurants are actually statues of Hotei (Jp.), the Chinese god of plenty.
                  I saw plenty of heavyset Buddhas while I was in China in Buddhist temples. But there are also plenty of thin ones. They represent different things. You can usually tell its Buddha by the position of the hands. But I don't have a good explanation off the top of my head at this moment.
                  A thing either is what it appears to be; or it is not, but yet appears to be; or it is, but does not appear to be; or it is not, and does not appear to be.--Epictitus

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Originally posted by senowen


                    I saw plenty of heavyset Buddhas while I was in China in Buddhist temples. But there are also plenty of thin ones. They represent different things. You can usually tell its Buddha by the position of the hands. But I don't have a good explanation off the top of my head at this moment.
                    You and Drake are both right, I think. The "Fat Buddha" has his origins in Chinese folk religion, as the God of Plenty (and of Luck, iirc). The Chinese tended to encounter philosophical systems like Buddhism and Taoism and incorporate them into their non-codified folk beliefs, so that there's now been some merger between the two.
                    "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Hotei's not a Buddha, though. Depending on which explanation you adhere to, he was either an arhat or a Chan monk...
                      KH FOR OWNER!
                      ASHER FOR CEO!!
                      GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
                        Hotei's not a Buddha, though. Depending on which explanation you adhere to, he was either an arhat or a Chan monk...
                        True. I meant that the iconography has merged.
                        "I have as much authority as the pope. I just don't have as many people who believe it." — George Carlin

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          I don't know about China, but in Japan Hotei and the rest of the Seven Lucky Gods are very different in terms of iconography from buddhas, bodhisattvas and other members of the Buddhist pantheon.
                          KH FOR OWNER!
                          ASHER FOR CEO!!
                          GUYNEMER FOR OT MOD!!!

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Was Buddha a sociopath, pedophile, Jew murderer as well?
                            I will never understand why some people on Apolyton find you so clever. You're predictable, mundane, and a google-whore and the most observant of us all know this. Your battles of "wits" rely on obscurity and whenever you fail to find something sufficiently obscure, like this, you just act like a 5 year old. Congratulations, molly.

                            Asher on molly bloom

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Originally posted by SlowwHand
                              Ate to excess.
                              Rethink Refuse Reduce Reuse

                              Do It Ourselves

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: The Barbarism of the Buddha

                                Originally posted by aneeshm
                                When I googled "criticism of Buddha", I came up with nothing.
                                I'm surprised Tass didn't explain you the reason for this, which is simply that Buddha exterminated all his enemies, so there's nobody left to speak out the truth.
                                Blah

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X