Buddhism.............................

Buddhism refers to a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices that are largely based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pali/Sanskrit for "The Awakened One"). These have been variously described as religious, spiritual and philosophical.

Technically a truth. But if you actually dig into the religion it makes a hell of a lot more since than chrisitianity. Buddha is not there "God" Buddha is there enlightenment. Anyone or anything at any given place and time can be a Buddha for any given person. Buddha means The Enlightened One" Anyone who enlightens you upon a better way of life is technically a Buddha to you. You could be a Buddha to someone else without knowing it. Their Religion is so much simpler and makes so much more since.

Wilkerson wrote:

Technically a truth. But if you actually dig into the religion it makes a hell of a lot more since than chrisitianity. Buddha is not there "God" Buddha is there enlightenment. Anyone or anything at any given place and time can be a Buddha for any given person. Buddha means The Enlightened One" Anyone who enlightens you upon a better way of life is technically a Buddha to you. You could be a Buddha to someone else without knowing it. Their Religion is so much simpler and makes so much more since.

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Someone who enlightens some one else is not referred to as a Buddha, they're referred to as a lamp.

As the Buddha was dying,
Ananda asked
who would be their teacher after death.
He replied to his disciple -

"Be lamps unto yourselves.
Be refuges unto yourselves.
Take yourself no external refuge.
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for a refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda, who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves,
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge,
But holding fast to the truth as their lamp,
Holding fast to the truth as their refuge,
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves,
It is they who shall reach to the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn."

Buddha is a teacher, he's not a deity. Buddhism is the largest non-theist based religion currently practiced around the world. There is no God in Buddhism, though there is a belief in a spiritual force, with that force being karma.

Buddhism currently has about 365 milliion followers and is the world's fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It was founded in Northern India by Siddhartha Gautama (circa 563 to 460 BCE).

It is sometimes regarded as a having emerged from the Hindu religion with which it shares beliefs in karma, dharma, and reincarnation: Karma is the sum total of an individual's actions of body, speech and mind -- good, bad and neutral -- taken in their current and previous lives.
Dharma, in Buddhism, refers to two items: The teachings of the Buddha; a person's path to enlightenment, and
The fundamental principles that order the universe

Reincarnation is the rebirth of a living being after death into a new body that is either a human, animal or a supernatural being.


In contrast to Christianity, classical Buddhism does not involve the recognition or worship of deities. It also does not teach the existence of the human soul.

Sorry. I had forgotten the term for it so i just winged it. lul. And your further explanation is what makes me so open to this religion. No deity, only this Spiritual Force, Karma, which I strongly believe in. Michael used to be with me on it, not sure whats up with him lately. The Holy Spirit just be all up in him these days ahaha. If I talked to someone about my personal beliefs they would prolly relate it to Buddhism. It's pretty rad in my opinion.

Wilkerson wrote:

Sorry. I had forgotten the term for it so i just winged it. lul. And your further explanation is what makes me so open to this religion. No deity, only this Spiritual Force, Karma, which I strongly believe in. Michael used to be with me on it, not sure whats up with him lately. The Holy Spirit just be all up in him these days ahaha. If I talked to someone about my personal beliefs they would prolly relate it to Buddhism. It's pretty rad in my opinion.

I do think this religion is very interesting. I really do. It's just idk.
Christianity has been a part of my life since i was but a child. Just seems obvious to be a christian and to believe in god and such.

Exactly my point. That is why you want to be a christian, it's the only thing you really know a lot about. It's been in your life forever. With you dad being a preacher or sorts and your mom so into the religion herself. It's basically not an option to not be one for you. Myself I've never had anyone help me with religion. So I basically "shopped" around so to say and found that religion just wasn't for me. If I absolutely HAD to claim one, it would be this one. If you seriously take a deep look into most religion you'll see they are all horribly repetitive.

yeah its true
i don't know much about it
and yes
with dad being a preacher and mom so into religion and such
its hard for me to be anything else but a christian

I would never want to be a Christian. Karma does not necessitate that you be a good person, it just shows you the other side. God necessitates that you follow his way or be punished for eternity, which is cruel and unreasonable. I'd rather be subservient to something that holds a balance than something that is vengeful.

Religion is an invention of mankind, for people who are too weak to look up to themselves and require a higher idol and/or being in order to feel safe in unsafe or unfamiliar circumstances or situations.

hear hear above two post are my standings