Mysticism, a practice of religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness, is often seen as a form of ethics and spirituality. It is not religiously anarchic or theologically anomic, but rather morally indifferent or worse. Mysticism is often associated with classical Chinese philosophy, Daoism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Indian religions, Buddhism, and primal religions.
Mysticism has its roots in Greek mystery religions (muo; mystikos), later adopted by early Christian Fathers. The term “mystical” refers to “secret” religious rituals and “hidden” allegorical interpretations of the divine. Various Eastern religions today aim to convince Westerners that they are methods of achieving deeper spirituality.
Obtaining or learning mysticism can be influenced by accessibility to resources, time, and mistrusting worldly or material aspects. Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may also refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness.
The fight against Eastern religious mysticism is a fight that the atheist community should pay more attention to. Eastern mystics distinguish between the essence of God and divine attributes, which they regard as energies that penetrate the universe. The appeal of the East lies in its promise to alleviate modernity’s problems.
Esotericism, a term used by some scholars, loosely encompasses religious beliefs and practices of the Eastern world said to be esoteric, secret, and mysterious. This study highlights how religions are interconnected through mysticism and our limited understanding of God.
📹 The Problems with Eastern Religions
The Problems with Eastern Religions Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant …
What are the 4 aspects of mysticism?
The mystical phenomenology is distinguished by a set of characteristics, including ineffability, a mystical quality, transiency, and passivity. James posits that this latter quality represents the most challenging aspect to convey in verbal form.
Does Christianity have mysticism?
Mysticism is a religious tradition that places emphasis on the intangible and obscure elements of human experience. In the context of Christianity, mystics endeavor to comprehend and integrate with the divine entity, which they perceive as a form of divine love, a love for humanity.
Is Orthodox Christianity mystic?
The Christian Orient is widely considered a “mystical” church, enfolded in mystery and awe, with tradition affirming the possibility of mystical experience, mystical union, or mystical vision. Orthodox theology is often referred to as mystical theology, and Sacramental Mysteries are all called Sacramental Mysteries. However, the term “mystic” is seldom used to designate a specific category of sanctity in Eastern Christian circles.
There are several traditional designations given to those whom the Church has glorified as saints, including Theotokos, Mary, prophets, apostles, hierarchs, martyrs, monastics, un-mercenary physicians, wonderworkers, ancestors, fathers, mothers, patriarchs, evangelists, confessors, ascetics, holy fools for Christ’s sake, and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith.
The term “Theologian” or “New Theologian” could be our version of what the Christian West calls a “mystic”. St. Gregory Palamas emphasized that the only authentic knowledge of God can come from personal, “mystical” experience, which can lead to theosis, or “mystical union”.
Mystical experience can be described in various ways, such as visions, revelations, union with God, union with the cosmos, clairvoyance, prophecy, discernment 2, levitation, and healing. These manifestations can often lead many to seek spiritual fatherhood and spiritual motherhood from the one who manifests them.
What do all Eastern religions have in common?
Dharmic religions, also known as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and others, are religious sects originating in the Indian subcontinent. These religions share common concepts such as dharma, karma, maya, and samsara. Hinduism is considered the world’s oldest major religion and is related to other religious traditions outside the subcontinent. It contains a vast body of scripture, including the Vedas and the Upanishads, which are considered the foremost in authority, importance, and antiquity.
Hinduism is often considered a polytheistic religion, but it includes a diverse collection of schools whose beliefs span monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, monism, and even atheism. The Advaita Vedanta school believes in one causal entity, Brahman, manifesting in all living and non-living forms. Vaishnavism and Shaivism worship Vishnu and Shiva in a more monotheistic sense. Some scholars even consider the Samkhya school of thought to have atheistic leanings.
Buddhism, a non-theistic Dharmic religion and philosophy, was founded around the 5th century BCE in present-day Nepal by Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. Its central principles are the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The main schools of Buddhism are divided into Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, with Mahayana further divided into East Asian and Tibetan Buddhism. Buddhism teaches that life is duḥkha or suffering, and the primary goal is the liberation of the practitioner from samsara, or the endless cycle of death and rebirth.
What religions practice mysticism?
Mysticism, a term with various historical meanings, refers to various religious and spiritual practices and beliefs. It can encompass various religions, including Shamanism, Western mysticism, Mystery religions, Christian mysticism, Early Christianity, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Jewish mysticism, Islamic mysticism, Indic religions, Hinduism, Tantra, Sikhism and Sant Philosophy, Taoism, and secularization of mysticism. Mysticism is often associated with the attainment of insight in ultimate truths and human transformation through various practices and experiences.
The term has Ancient Greek origins and has historically referred to the biblical, liturgical, spiritual, and contemplative dimensions of early and medieval Christianity. During the early modern period, the definition of mysticism expanded to include a broad range of beliefs and ideologies related to extraordinary experiences and states of mind.
What is the difference between Western and Eastern mysticism?
The research explores the foundations of Eastern and Western mysticism through their philosophies and belief systems. Mysticism, a ruling philosophy, has different meanings and sources of attainment in both worlds. Key concepts include body and soul, abstract and concrete, senses and spirit, and physical and spiritual love. The research uses poetry of Shah Latif and Walt Whitman to highlight the differences between Eastern and Western mysticism.
The West’s material development is attributed to the significance of materialism and bodily pleasures in their philosophies. Western mysticism focuses on physical love, while Eastern mysticism holds universal love and welfare for humanity. The West’s humanity and human love are confined to their own land, while Eastern mysticism does not discriminate.
The research successfully demonstrates the differences between Eastern and Western mysticism through Whitman’s focus on Americans and Shah Latif’s vow to create all humanity as the creation of his Lord. With over 25 million members, 160 million publication pages, and 2. 3 billion citations, this research provides a comprehensive understanding of the differences between Eastern and Western mysticism.
Did Jesus practice mysticism?
Jesus was a teacher of teachers and a mystic of mystics, entering the mysteries of the Holy Life and ways of living. He invited others to join him in his journey. The term “mystic” can be associated with various mystics, such as Krisha, Buddha, yogi, Gandhi, Saint Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross. Matthew Fox, a progressive theologian and Dominican priest, devotes an entire book, “The Coming of the Cosmic Christ”, to the mysticism of Jesus. Jesus’ teachings and teachings were deeply rooted in the teachings of his disciples, who were inspired by his teachings and the teachings of his disciples.
What is the difference between mysticism and spirituality?
Mysticism is the practice of uniting with a perceived Supreme Being or beings, often involving a specific belief system. In contrast, spirituality does not entail extrasensory perception and is not associated with any formal belief structure.
Why is mysticism important in religion?
Mysticism is a concept that involves contact with the divine or transcendent, often involving union with God. It has played a significant role in the history of Christian religion and has gained influence in modern times. Mysticism has been studied from various perspectives, including psychological, comparativist, philosophical, and theological. Hermeneutical and deconstructionist philosophies in the 20th century have brought attention to the mystical text.
Theoretical questions have been debated, such as whether mysticism constitutes the core or essence of personal religion or whether it is better viewed as one element interacting with others in the formation of concrete religions. Some argue that experience and interpretation cannot be easily sundered, and that mysticism is typically tied to a specific religion and contingent upon its teachings. Philosophers like Walter T. Stace and Robert C.
Zaehner have employed typologies of mysticism, often based on the contrast between introvertive and extrovertive mysticism developed by Rudolf Otto. The cognitive status of mystical knowing and its clash with mystics’ claims about the ineffability of their experiences have also been important topics for modern mysticism students.
What is the main idea of mysticism?
Mysticism is a belief in union with the divine nature through ecstatic contemplation and spiritual access to ultimate reality. It is often applied to theories that assume occult qualities or agencies that cannot be empirically or rationally explained. There are numerous definitions of mysticism, all referring to intense and direct religious experiences, such as Jewish mysticism, where the mind encounters God directly.
Mysticism and religious experience are closely related but should not be considered identical. Mysticism is distinguished from numinous experiences, as described by Rudolf Otto, and from ordinary experiences of God, as illustrated by John Baillie. William James characterized mystical experience by four marks: transiency, passivity, noetic quality, and ineffability. Mysticism often involves an altered state of consciousness, such as trance, visions, suppression of cognitive contact with the ordinary world, loss of the distinction between subject and object, and weakening or loss of the sense of the self.
Not all religious experiences are mystical, and not every mystical experience includes all of these features. However, there is a large body of individual testimonies and descriptions from major religious traditions that involve many of these features.
Why are eastern and western religions so different?
Eastern religions are polytheistic, with a foundation in philosophical teachings, whereas Western and African religions are predominantly monotheistic, espousing the existence of a singular deity or supreme being.
📹 What is Hesychasm? – Mystical Practice in Orthodox Christianity
In this video, we talk about the mystical tradition called “Hesychasm” in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Support Lets’ Talk Religion …
I am an atheist but I don’t think you understand the concept of karma very well. Karma is the cumulative effect on time and the universe, of everything you do, even exist, combined with everything everyone ever does or has ever done. I basically means that whatever you do, will leave a mark on future societies and perhaps your own life, and of course, the universe at large. It is not “what you do comes back to you”. I understand that this is the popular notion in the western world but no, it is not true.
I’m an atheist, but I believe in a kind of karma called natural consequences. In all of religion, I think karma is one of the most logical concepts for leading a life of intention. I realize religious karma takes it further than that in many cases, but overall I think in it’s simplest terms, karma is true. Everything you do has a consequence. “Good” and “evil” have nothing to do with it. There are no such things as “good karma” or “bad karma.” It’s a neutral force of nature, not supernatural, not spiritual, not magical, and not always ours to control. It’s simply cause and effect, which means some ancient Eastern person realized this scientific truth and sprinkled mysticism all over it. When you dust off the magical woo-woo (like reincarnation), it’s actually a sound principle of the universe.
You know, i respect Buddhists as you never see a group of them try to convert people, or street preachers, they keep to themselves and accept voluntary people that wish to join, they stay away and do their thing and let us do ours, where as some other religions try to shove it in your face and threaten you with death/hell if you dont want to join them
I actually respect Buddhists who basically ignore all of the supernatural aspects of the religion. Buddhism actually does help with mental health and it adapts with science. I’m not going to get the quote right, but the Dalai Lama said something along the lines of if Buddhism and science are in conflict, Buddhism must change.
When Arjuna was confused between following his dharma (killing his own brothers on battleground) and keeping is karma cleared, Krishna told him that bad karma and good karma is solely dependant on how your conscience feels about it so even if you haven’t really done anything bad in particular but feel bad about doing it,that action will come back to you.
Reincarnation is so frustrating to argue against. If the idea is that you are reborn as something else with no memories of your past life, doesn’t that make it meaningless? How could we tell the difference between a regular cat and a cat that used to be a human? You couldn’t. The argument is non-falsifiable. There’s no evidence either way.
I grew up in an increasingly Buddhist town in Canada. The thing that I could not wrap my mind around was the Buddhists in their shiny golden temples, their mansions and their fully loaded Lexus’ and Beamers and Mercedes. I mean, aren’t they supposed to shed desire and practice being humble? I also found some of them to be pushy, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, just not quite as bad. I am unsure about many other places, but in my hometown they actively tried to recruit. Damn, those temples were stunning though…
Karma…. in buddhism.. there is no “Good” or “Bad”… just only effect that caused by your action. No one judge that. Good,Bad is just something that people/animal created in their mind. Things happen as it happen… no good/ no bad…just happen we, the people who took actions or had been acted on… he judge it himself through his own feeling. Misconception of Re-Incarnation is spread all over the world. Re-incarnation is just the effect… of the last karma (Cause). Something die/destroyed something born right from it. Stars die, it gives birth to energy released, new elements/ new planet/ astroids… etc. Scientific speaking, the atom that made up the cells of you in your body, were atom that made up cells in the Body of Buddha 2500 years ago, were atoms that made up cells in Hitler’s body, were atom that made up cells in those dinosaurs, and those atoms… were created in the center of the birth of the stars…. About the stars effecting on life… actually everything you do, every transferring in energy happening it effects to all the existing energy and matter in the whole universe… scientifically. (well, gotta admit not so much ^ ^ depending on space time)
Shallow understanding to even know Indiac or Eastern Dharmas. Hinduism is made up of 6 schools of philosophy (Vedanta). Buddhism & Jainism has 1 school of philosophy. Hinduism has following scriptures written by different people in different times – 4 Vedas, Several Brahman, 4 Up-vedas, several Aranyaka, 108 Upnishads (main philosophical texts), Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagwat Geeta & 6 vedanga. Literally, every concept is there. I fall into atheist Hindu category but practice many things & many not. I am free.
You had a good point when you said that there’s no scientifc evidence that karma or reincarnation exists, but tbh I’m not sure if there is also evidence that they dont exist. It’s like one of those questions that can never be answered. I think the best we can do is to just respect everyone’s opinion. After all, we’re all humans, and to have an opinion is as natural as breathing.
I personally agree with everything in this article, but Im still very intrigued by eastern religion. For example, many buddhists think of reincarnation very differently- their energy is restored back into the universe. Also, I think their practices can be really helpful to lead a great life (ending all suffering).
Good points on Vedic religion! I wish the article would be retitled to that because you seemed to only cover concepts from that branch of Eastern Religion. Eastern Religion which is incredibly diverse and complex is much more than that. In example, there are many nuanced but crucial details that distinguish Buddhism. The Buddha actually refuted the notion that actions have meaning and instead said that intention is what counts, which changes everything. And what really sold me on Buddhism is the Kalama Sutta, which says I don’t have to believe in anything that I don’t find to be true through experimentation, basically. Also, Buddhism is atheistic which then does relate to that section of your argument.
This Hemant Mehta doesn’t know enough to comment on Karma that’s why he talks like that. I am not saying I know more but I do know Karma is not just a reward and punishment system as many people believe it to be. It is much more complicated than that. Even if you are ignorant of Karmic Laws you will still get punish if you made mistake or go against the Karmic laws. Ignorance of the Karmic Law is no excuse. It works like the gravity. If a baby crawl out of a balcony of an apartment it will die or seriously injured but the baby didn’t know about the law of gravity does it means the baby would be excuse? Karmic laws work in similar ways. The Buddha who was fully enlightened could understand how Karmic laws work but he had a hard time explaining it to the lay people because he would be talking from another level of intelligence, and only few of those who are fully enlightened could perceive his teaching. A mathematician said to me, “There is beauty in Mathematics”, but I just could not perceive any beauty at all other than doing my calculations at the supermarket so I don’t get short changed. He is talking to me from another level of intelligence, beyond my understanding. Now scientists are now saying there are other universe, thousands of them they said. In fact they say the figure could be infinite. So with your good Karma you could be born a handsome prince or princess in one of these universe. You ride a spotless white horse with beautifully handmade bridle, you riding your horse one nice cool morning picking some flowers smelling them and say “What a beautiful universe i see in this flower” Buddha tried to live a blameless life- and he succeeded, but had a hard time showing the way because we are stubborn to so speak.
My experience with Buddhism has been limited, but generally positive. But that is my experience, I don’t expect others to have the same experience. Religions seem to fit different people at different places of understanding. Buddhism seems to acknowledge that, based again on my experience. Ultimately, I don’t know whether anything we “believe”, or our behaviors in this life, can affect anything beyond this life. But I like how Buddhism resonates with my own experience in life.
I am an atheist, yet I still take on the idea of karma and rebirth seriously, mainly based on a philosophical ground. Firstly, lets talk about karma. As a Hindu, I was also brought up taught that good deeds reap rewards, and bad deeds reap punishments. Great, now we are adults, where the whole dynamics of our situation is much more complex and not black & white. For me nowadays, karma in my definition is just consequences of our actions in a particular context. Take for example you have a Chemistry exam tomorrow – being nice to everyone doesn’t mean you will do good in the exam, cause that is irrelevant to your performance. The main factor to do well in the exam is hard work, time management and enthusiasm for the subject to a degree. If you lack these factors, a poor result in the exam is Karma. Every action has a reaction. You also brought about coincidence. While you see occurrences as coincidence, I see it as a failure of prediction. Nothing is completely predictable – human beings are flawed creatures.Coincidence is only relative, not absolute to our human mind. Secondly, you brought reincarnation into discussion. You, like alot of people, ask that if there is such thing as rebirth, how come we cannot remember our past lives? To answer this question, I should also ask you another question – do you remember yourself when you were less than a year old? If not, that’s not surprising. If so, then damn you have a really good memory. As for the evidence to support reincarnation – they do exist, but it is only annecdotal.
No one who studies these issues seriously holds the opinions you’re refuting. According to karmic theory, at least within Tibetan Buddhism, Karma accumulated in this life very rarely ripens in this life, unless it’s extraordinarily powerful. Karma does not mean an equal and opposite reaction. It means a concordance between cause and effect. It is predicated on the basis of logic, rather than direct evidence. To really have the discussion properly, it must be understood within its own logical context. For example, karma makes no sense in the context of a worldview where mind is viewed to be physical. That being said, you’d have to ignore half of your daily experience to think mind is a physical phenomenon. Mind is directly observed and reasoned to be non-physical, which forms the basis for both rebirth and karma. Secondly, the nature of physical phenomena (objective things) must be established as relying in large part for their existence upon minds (subjective things). Given that physical reality is at the particulate or quantum level random, without a history, without temporality, without location, without specific qualities, etc, then we need an alternative explanation for the reliability and consistency seen in direct experience. Karma (mental images formed through action) are a reasonable candidate, for various reasons we could go into. Onto “good and bad”, it’s an easy one. There is no such thing ultimately. The traditional discussion is one of “constructive” and “‘non-constructive” or “wanted results” and “unwanted results.
I used to believe in reincarnation (I’m an atheist now), but the reasoning I would have given for the population issue would have been that there wouldn’t be a specific number of souls in the world unchanging; souls would come into being as well – made by some process, maybe by a god or whatever. Since reincarnation is unfalsifiable, there isn’t really a reason to argue that semantic point, as it can easily be hand-waved away with the idea I just brought up. Another reason I like to think about this sort of thing is because I’m an amateur writer, and these kind of ideas make for really cool stories.
And then there’s something like Zen Buddhism. Don’t need to be steeped in unproven mysticism or religious dogma. You just need to be in the moment (at least in the Soto school). Sometimes, that’s a good thing to do. Just enjoy the present day once in a while. I see it personally as a way to take a nice breather before heading back into this stress-inducing society. Something that I think everyone, regardless of beliefs, need. Less stress does equal a healthier, happier life, I hear.
As far as Buddhism goes Just meditate bro Forget about focusing on karma and reincarnation Zen meditation and Taoist meditation are excellent practices for health and quieting the mind So is yoga I don’t consider myself belonging to Buddhism or Taoism or Hindu religions but I do practice meditation in all the various ways Forget all the dogma bro Just find out about the “spiritual practices” that are helpful for one’s life and do those
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism teach peace and ahimsa…we don’t invade country and torture and kill people…If you want to follow then it’s fine otherwise don’t…..I am Hindu and proud of it and being Hindu means to see beauty in every creation….There are also Hindu Atheists… Reincarnation is something that is real and even Scientists are making research on this…They don’t have any explanation to offer but it’s real…Many kids remember their past lives and one of them is James Leininger…And let me tell you that Science has no explanation for Gravity, nor where it comes from, Science cannot explain why and how cats purr…..Nor can Science explains the Placebo effect not even why we sleep and dream but yet here we are believing in them all…🙄🙄🙄 That level of hypocrisy is remarkably amazing…
I strongly disagree, as a practioner of Theravada Buddhism 1. Karma is simply intention followed by action Kamma can be as simple as, “All actions (and intentions) have consequences,” and those consequences can be “external” and/or “internal” and occur at some point/s in this life and/or even influence the world beyond lifetimes. Kamma does affect others, when we treat someone with harmful intentions, it affects they’re self esteem may lead them to have a bad day or a bad week, or in certain situations could lead someone to hurt themselves or perpetuate hurt onto others. Like a domino effect, karma causes a reaction far beyond what we can see. Furthermore if we live in a way which we treat others unkindly and act in ways that disregard consequences, it does come back to us. Reason being that it perfumes our mind with hatred ignorance and greed, these emotions lead us to act in ways that harm our own emotional state and also attract negativity to us through our actions. Secondly Rebirth in Buddhism is nothing more than change. We are reborn every day, every hour, every second. From a molecular level and the cells all the way to the way our thoughts and mind evolve from moment to moment. We’re literally not the same person we were a minute ago. At death it’s the same thing, our mind continues to change. The engine of the ego is powerful, therefore our mind continues to grasp and cling to Material existence, in doing so it creates a bridge between this physical form and another. Thus we continue to exist from lifetime to lifetime.
hi hemant ! i think the the term karma is highly distorted in the west n has been made into some kind of concept. when it’s not karma means both action n inaction. it’s not bout good or bad deeds but more like if ur sleeping or eating or walking is also a karma. i think the distortion to it comes from later buddhist n hindu teaching about how to live life within the frame of morality as decided by the immediate society which later got more distorted by western scholars
I used to be a Hindu and my biggest problem with it was not Karma but Dharma! Dharma is the foundation upon which all Hinduism stands. Dharma is an all encompassing concept that describes a person’s duties, the actions they perform, their rights under religious law and their fate. The problem with Dharma is that it varies from person to person depending on your birth. It directly supports the caste system. The Dharma of a person born in a high caste is completely different from one born in a low caste. For example,a person born into a warrior caste can and fight with weapons whereas a person from a low caste cannot even touch a weapon, under pain of death. In fact if a low caste borne person even touches a high born person that high born person becomes ‘polluted’ according to Dharma. One’s caste cannot be changed after birth and so one’s Dharma cannot be changed either. It is a pre-determined fate that cannot be escaped. Ideas like ‘all people are equal’ are completely incompatible with the caste system and therefore incompatible with Dharma and ultimately incompatible with Hinduism.
Your concept of karma is mistaken. Karma is alive every moment. Bashing your head because you left the door open is karma. There is no “good” or “bad” karma. There is karma and there is karma. Both “good” and “bad” … are inconvenient. There is no soul. It is even possible that you (“you”) can be fractured into many other bodies. You are the process not the self. There is no self. There is no god. There is only the process of being. When you strip away at the brain, down to your mind, and beyond mind – there is no one. Not self. That not self follows the process and the process is driven by karma. Stop the process and you are free of karma.
Thats the problem with the guys like these………with his explanation we can clearly understand that he doesn’t have an in-depth knowledge about the theory of Karma. The result of Karma can never be judged by a normal human being. If one is good and he is not reaping its results doesn’t mean his good karma goes to vain, and a bad guy living happily doesn’t mean his bad karma won’t have the result. We just live in a spec of time of this creation, the results that are not witnessed by us doesn’t mean that they never happened or will not happen.
Perhaps you are thinking of karma in the wrong way. It’s not magical. But if you are a good person who does good things, it makes you feel good. That’s just brain chemistry. And other people will treat you nicer in return for being a good person. On the other hand, if someone is just an asshole they probably have low self-esteem and people likely treat them differently. That’s karma in my opinion and its just one example. By being a good person you start a chain reaction of kindness in a way, and it might eventually return back to you.
I think the idea of Karma and Rebirth can be explained in these two concepts: -We are born from nothing, and when we die, we become nothing. Yet, there was once a time that from nothing we became something. To state that that time was the only time such a thing could ever happen is a large presumption, especially since other people are born everyday. The idea of consciousness is unfeasible, untestable, unfalsifiable, philosophically impossible, which is why Solipsism is impossible to disprove. There is a difference between intelligence and subjective experience. -All actions lead to effects, all actions are the results of previous causes. From the inception of the Universe, all causes that lead to other effects are self contained within our Universe, whether something that effects you can be traced back to your actions from a year ago, five years ago, or even ten years ago is irrelevant. It is the idea that nothing can exist completely independent from anything else, similar to Einstein’s theory of relativity, and more recently, Robert Lanza’s theory of biocentrism, as well as Max Planck’s quantum theory. The concept of Buddhism is to abstain from trying to quantify things in an illusion which only serves to add more layers to it. I do find many of the rituals of the religion to be rather silly and superstitious, but I find nothing wrong with its philosophy. To quickly dismiss these things as childish fairy tales without first pondering their philosophical implications is just a lazy way to dodge the argument from the beginning and remain comfortable with a world viewyou have grown so used to.
For anyone who doesn’t believe in reincarnation, I highly recommend reading a book called Life Before Life. It speaks of the scientific research done on a wide variety of cases in which thousands of children all around the world as young as 2 years old describe accurate depictions of quite random people who lived before and accurate details of their lives. It comes from an objective standpoint and isn’t biased towards any specific belief system, while offering all the other explanations for these cases and why their logic falls invalid in a lot of them. I thought it was very compelling. Many scientists have begun to argue for reincarnation, and even if you don’t believe in any higher power, I think you should keep an open mind towards the whole concept, it has a lot supporting it.
The concepts and understands you have about karma, reincarnation, etc are heavily western-influenced ideas. From what it sounds like, you described both these notions in sense of reward and punishment, which is what most of Western education teaches. I would say that when Eastern philosophies talk about these concepts, they contain much more depth and imply other factors than the surface understands you exemplified. Learning from a Hindu master, I gathered that Karma comes from the kind of ‘space’, thought, belief, intention, behavior, and action one holds. People do nice things, but intentions and beliefs also affect the quality of what someone does and why, like doing something for the sake of rewards. Incarnation is not as easy to explain, it’s too naive and foolish to think that just adding up good and bad deeds like a math problem results in the next body someone gets. From a Hindu perspective, the Cognitions and beliefs you have about life, desires and fears unrealized and fulfilled, all play a role. In essence, its said the soul chooses it’s next life. Again, it is foolish to think that souls are finite and limited in number. I’m also implying that it is consciousness that makes up a soul but like you said, modern man hasnt been able to use science in its current state to prove it or provide evidence. I am a supporter of both Hinduism and science but I put my heart in Hinduism more than science, as Hinduism has been around for thousands of years, with lots of insight from the Agamas, Vedas, and Upanishads, which serve me well.
I can’t talk for other religions/philosophies because I don’t know enough about them but you clearly haven’t researched Buddhism enough. The conclusions in this article are rather close minded. It’s like you met a bad Buddhist and decided Buddhist philosophy is completely false. You could of done this article on atheism and pointed out the beliefs of the worst atheist of all time and therefore came to the conclusion that atheism is completely false. I’m not coming from a religious standpoint but an academic one, this is bias misinformation.
It seems to me you don’t really understand eastern philosophy, probably because you never went out of your way to study it, and it is okay because even most easterns don’t do that, they like you believe what they hear and believe what they want to believe. But claiming you need scientific proof to believe something, then refuting something you don’t really understand seems hypocritical. Hinduism and Buddhism only varies a little bit. They are after all two branches of the same tree. In hindu philosophy, its first claim is, “aham brahmasmi” or “I am the cosmos.” Second claim, “tat tvam asi” or “that you are,” meaning there is nothing other than you, it is all you. Think about this and what it means before jumping to conclusion. If it doesn’t make sense explanation can be given. Karma means action. Every action has a reaction, you may not know what it is but there is and that is what keeps the universe in motion. Weather your karma will have a good or bad reaction, who know? From the cosmic perspective there is no good or bad, there simply is. Good and bad is a human construct, so basically you decide what is good or bad, specifically the you that doesn’t realise it is the cosmos. Reincarnation. You need to understand that there is no soul, there is only conciousness. And it is threw your conciousness that everthing exists. You the cosmos has manifested in a human form threw whom it perceives itself. You the cosmos is in constant motion, and is always changing, therefore always manifesting in different form.
Karma has many aspects to it. Here is the most important one. Karma = Actions Right action produces right results, wrong/bad action produces wrong/bad (not in favour) results. Note: karma is not particularly about morals. It’s about doing the right thing at the right time. Doesn’t matter if one is good or evil cuz good or bad don’t exist. Bad intentions good intentions don’t matter.
I’m sort of a Buddhist and two examples you gave are misconceptions. First of all Karma is not some outside force which ensures you get what you give it simply means action. That action will then effect your next action and we all right now are the result of our previous Karma. Nothing spooky about that. Buddhist don’t believe in reincarnation they believe in rebirth which is a metaphor for how we are reborn each moment. These “beliefs” simply emphasis the importance of focusing on the present
Again the same. Trying to view East from a Western perspective. I thought you would have actually studied enough to make a claim of having problems with Eastern Religions. But you just looked at surface waters and tried to estimate the depth of the ocean. This entire article just shows the lack of understanding capabilities when it comes to eastern perspective. BTW, I am not saying there are no issues with eastern religions. But all the things you spoke of are just misguided and misunderstood.
First of all the lack of empirical evidence does not mean that something doesn’t factually exist. You have to show evidence that it does not exist. All you basically established here is that in your perception karma is absurd, the idea of reincarnation is absurd etc etc. you have done this by stating that there is no evidence that point to their existence. What you have presented here is hypocritical because you require empirical validation to prove that the above concepts do exist whilst do not require it when it comes to disproving them. Your only retort to the concepts is your own idealism.
Buddhism doesnt believe everything happend according to karma and buddha said there is few types of karma. Karma basically means everything has a reason. if you plant some seeds and put water on it and provide other stuff then it will become a plant. Karma is something like that. please read Kalama sutra. You will realize how amazing buddhism and buddhism is not a religion and buddhism is something else. thank you!
People don’t realize this, but Atheism originated in India Carvaka, Samkhya were atheist philosophies derived from the Vedic period of India People also don’t realize, Hinduism isn’t really a religion, it’s a collection of disparate beliefs Hindu is derived from Sindhu, the Sanskrit term for the Indus River The term Hindu was coined by those living west of India to describe those living around the river Indus It’s how you can have Atheist, Polytheist, Monotheist and other types of Hindus
(I am speaking as a Hindu right now) Do mind, I may not be getting a few things right; I’m not that great at this subject. You got a few things wrong: 1. Reincarnation — New souls can be born, and those souls actually choose a body depending on their karma. Maybe in Jainism you can, but in my religion, you can’t transform into a deity, or, nearly a deity just by doing good deeds. You have seven lives. This means the soul chooses seven bodies. If you do ‘good’ deeds in this life, you will have better karma, resulting in a better body. It isn’t just human bodies, so those kind of complications aren’t really apparent. I think the lowest is considered to be a worm, but I wouldn’t quote myself on that. — Earth also isn’t the only world. There are seven so-called ‘lokhs’. Earth is the lower middle lokh. So, once you have better karma, you go to a higher lokh, and if you have worse, you go to a lower lokh. 2. Karma — Karma isn’t about good or bad. None of our concepts have anything to do with society’s concept of good and bad(almost). If you kill someone, for example, your guilt may be tremendous. This can ruin your karma because this emotion may seem negative to you. Karma can also be affected by people around you. Maybe, you killed someone in the village who you really hate but others really love. Others can be feeling emotions that are really negative to them. This can still ruin your karma because, even if you enjoyed it, or thought good of yourself for it, your karma will be affected because of others around you.
Buddhism says that having good karma will lead to human form after reincarnation, but it doesn’t say that’s the only way that create humans. In fact, the increase in population could happen from what I would call “nowhere”. For the doctor, it’s complex to explain, but the principle is that if the doctor do his job with good intention, such as persuading to keep the baby, explaining the moral consequences..etc than the good would be larger than bad karma. And for the “nice guys finish last” thing, he will eventually be rewarded in this life or after life.
I thought the same before digging deeper,all the things you’re pointing out are the centuries of cultural, social and various other things.But once you really learn about what the core is, it becomes fascinating. I started as an atheist and explored what hinduism is saying and I got surprised that it is not talking about god at all at its core. Saw some talks by Alan Watts and he explained all of it excellently.
I think the “Law of Karma (action)” is way more complicated than people make it out to be, and simply “every problem in this life is due to something you did in this and your previous lives, and every problem in your next life is due to what you do in that and your previous lives, etc”. Our bodies are not born out of nothing. There is a chain of cause and effect that leads to it and continues during its existence. The influences on this chain of cause and effect are too wide for most of us to comprehend. Hindu philosophers claimed to comprehend it but asked you to come and see for yourself through yoga (which is not just breathing and stretching) rather than rely on their testimony.
The zodiac signs seem to work because one of your parents is like you and one is your complete opposite. The month your similar parent was born is the month you will be born closer to than your other parent. You gain small parts of your personality from your parents, so when the genes are passed down, you have a similar personality with a parent, and you were born in a close month to your parent.
1:12 I wish more people would be honest about this! Karma and other “Just World” hypotheses sound nice, but there’s no evidence of them existing in reality. At best, when justice systems work properly, people who cause harm are held accountable for what they’ve done. But justice upheld by people, not mystical forces.
your karma is to be atheist in this lifetime but don’t worry u will be reborn with faith in ur next life,Believe me atheists think more about god in pursuit of disapproving his existence than people with faith.All living beings including atheists are finite fragments of god,he/she is our destiny. i call him krishna but others call him christ or allah or buddha or any form which promote individual faith and the need to find identity and meaning beyond the self.
This idiot makes Eastern religions sound illogical without properly exploring or analyzing the fundamental beliefs or theological texts which support science and rational reasoning. At least provide some constructive criticism with facts and evidence instead of “it sounds silly to me”. He even contradicts himself by saying there is no evidence for the concept of reincarnation but is certain that Hitler is not burning in hell. And how do you know that? Just because Karma isn’t instant doesn’t prove it is non-existent. Just because you breathe air but don’t see it doesn’t prove that air is non-existent. So Mr. Mehta you really need to introspect and research before you make another article with a flawed logic.
I am Catholic…I used to be a part of the LGBTQ Community…but it was not very real to me. I have Catholic brothers and sisters…they are married….and they are making their relationships work…..I have lived a permiscuous lifestyle most of my adult life because I had abandoned the Catholic Faith when I was young…I see what my married brothers and sisters have and I want that kind of relationship for myself. I love my dad and mom…they raised 12 of us….they remained married all the way to the end of their lives. My dad left me a trust fund…he did not have to but he did….my dad and mom loved the Catholic Church and so do I. The Catholic Church is not perfect but when I look at the alternatives out there, I’ll take the Catholic Church over anything else that is out there…this is all I want to say….have a blessed day….Bernie Dolezal Jr.
Karma is cause and effect or action and reaction. The Dalai Lama says its very complex and has been grossly misunderstood. Cause and effect are scientifcally valid, its also true that any particular action has inumerable effects that we cannot fully quantify. Everytime you drive, you will affect the time it takes other drivers to reach their destination. And this is just one variable, you will affect many many more. To be enlightened is to be free of karma, in other words to see through the illusion of karma created by our minds.
But there have been some well-documented evidence of children recalling their previous lives with great clarity. These evidence were corroborated by other people, for example, a child describing his family in a faraway land where he has never been or describing the area where he lived etc. Later when the place or the family was visited they matched the given descriptions.
Why world population doesn’t need to remain constant for rebirth to be real? “The Buddhist doctrine of rebirth consciousness is seen as unbound by bodily form, and so will re-emerge in other aggregations, even in other worlds. In this scenario, there would be no reason why the number of people on earth has to remain constant, and several explanations for population growth arise: 1. Life previously expressed in other forms (animals, or insects, say) might now be taking human birth. 2. There could be an influx of energy from other planets, realms, universes – a kind of cosmic migration. Or 3. “Human” consciousness could manifest as a greater number of people than it did before. It’s a bit like waves in the sea – different numbers and types of wave arise and dissolve depending on the weather conditions and the flow of water.” Credits to the original writer – Ed Halliwell
The individual knows if his karma (action) was good or bad.If you feel deep down that you committed a moral wrong, the guilt will sit in your subconscious, and effect the rest of your life. Magic forces aren’t going to punish you, but negative thought will subtlety affect your actions, and can compound into seaming strokes of bad luck. Stress can mess your health up in countless ways and even kill. Negativity will poison your relationships and employment. Likewise helping others will make you feel good. Positivity and increased willpower will help form and strengthen social bonds, and allow you to recognize and take more opportunities. Law of attraction works similarly, but is more about directing the subconscious willpower. There is scientific evidence in several feilds with many studies showing the effectiveness and power of thought and mindset, as well as some very supprising ways that it manifests.
Here is the same good old flaw of looking at everything including spirituality and religion from materialistic view. When you realize that the goal of every practice is getting or merging to that ultimate Self or true reality, then you will realize 1. The return of your Karma is not determined by whether you get punishment or rewards in this life or other. It is wheather this Karma makes you more clloser or apart from the true Self. Let alone, the return of Karma should not be the motivation for the Karma itself. 2. The good Karma doesn’t make you reborn wealthier or healthier, it makes you reborn in such a situation that puts you one step ahead towards the goal of attaining enlightenment and reach to the true Self.
Well the thing is many things in Eastern faiths or Sanatan Dharma are due to philosophy; let’s start with Karma: 1. Karma as a concept was created for order in the society. When you have a concept I’m your mind like if I do good I get good and if I do bad I get bad, people tend to think over their actions as well as think before acting! 2. Now reincarnation: well you say that the child is being blamed, well that very karma at least consoles the child and his family. Put yourself in the child’s position and then think how would you feel to be born with a defect, now add karma and samsara, the child gets some reassuring! 3. Astrology: yes it’s true that star and planet alignment doesn’t technically effect us directly (it does indirectly due to gravity); in Ancient India, faith and science were one- Astrology was not only to make star maps, date festivals for cultural activities but also Astronomy. 4. Caste: well this is too long to explain, just watch the episode on Caste by Dharma Speaks and you’ll get a good understanding about it! But as a notice, it’s far from what most people think- so get a little enlightened here. 5. Dietary restrictions- so you are saying that if people say, let’s not eat animals so that we don’t harm sentient beings is wrong, I don’t know what is wrong with your understanding sir! If people avoid cows, because they formed the backbone of many people of the society and thereby later integrated into faith to spread the ideology is wrong then I don’t know what’s wrong with your thinking!
PS: One MAJOR issue I have with this is, what if you’re born a human, but you’re developmentally delayed? Forget physical disabilities, of which I have plenty, but I also have a fully functional mind. One of my best friends is developmentally delayed, though. And what did she do wrong? Nothing. That’s why I don’t believe in cross-life Karma.
The problem with Eastern religions (Hinduism,jainism,buddhism etc) is that their concepts are very complex which were created by highly spiritual or the intelligent beings which in the process of reaching to the ordinary people gets misunderstood.Its a simple case of lost in translation. Just like its very hard for a normal being to understand complex scientific theories,the same way it is hard for a normal being to grasp a complex philosophical concept.
The concept to understand good or bad Karma comes from that voice within. Guilt is the voice of Karma and every time you do something bad that voice of guilt fades a bit. And the day when that voice completely fades is when all bad Karma has overpowered good karma. Karma is anchored by the soul which is said to be part of God.
At 04:50 – “We create our own happiness, and we are responsible for our own actions.” This is in fact the point of karma, at least as the Buddha taught it in the early Buddhist texts. It’s not a cosmic calculator keeping track of all your good and bad deeds, and then rewarding or punishing you with nice or nasty things happening to you from the outside world. It is a fundamental psychological point. If you develop nasty or greedy or hateful states of mind through your actions and intentions, you won’t be a happy person. You will be bitter, angry, jealous, etc., and this is not a nice way to live. It will colour all your experiences of the world. But if you cultivate compassion, kindness, joy, and equanimity in your heart through your actions and intentions, you are creating the conditions for a much happier existence. You cannot control the external world, and neither does your karma. You aren’t going to win the lottery because you generated good karma, or get hit by an earthquake because you generated bad karma. But whatever should befall you, “good” or “bad”, you will be in a much better position to deal with it if you have built the right positive mental framework. It is true that as a man of his time and place, the Buddha (to the extent we can even be certain he lived at all – though the scholarly consensus is he did) believed in re-birth (subtly different than reincarnation), and that this process of developing karma would continue over multiple lifetimes. But in fact, most of his teachings in the early texts are about what one should do now, in this life, to positively cultivate one’s psyche and therefore free oneself from mental discomfort or anguish, including by showing compassion to and feeling joy for others.
Buddhism is more like a philosophy, Karma is just a word which means “Action” in Sanskrit. If you learn in dept, you’ll know that it just means if you did something you’ll get the result of your own action. For example, if you planted a banana tree, you’ll get a banana tree – not a coconut tree. If you study hard, you’ll get a good grade. Another concept of Karma is that “karma determines who you are”, replace the word “Karma” you’ll get “Action determines who you are” We heard a lot these days even in movies… For example, if you steal things then you are a thief, if you teach then you are a teacher… etc. He doesn’t teach us to believe in supernatural power or deity, but later on, after the Buddha, Buddhism has been integrated with local religions and believes at some level. But there are still pure Buddhist practitioners who know the core of Buddhism and follow the teachings. If there are flaws in Buddhism, it is the same as other religions and everything in nature, things constantly change, it comes and goes through time. And that’s perfect because this would show the nature of things, and it proved that the Buddha, he taught nothing more than just the truth of nature. In Buddhism there is no Good or Bad, there is only the middle way, What you get after your actions is the result of your own actions. hope my poor English helps you guys more understandable on Karma. About Samsara – it is more complicated to explain but if you watched the Lion King, then you’ll know and understand “circle of life” that the easy way to understand “Samsara”
there is one idea here in eastern religion which i have studied very deeply (and i m a research scholar in physics, u can call me atheist) the idea of “ANEKANTVAAD” that basically means there can exist any number of contradicting beliefs, ideas about reality and life at the same time and hinduism/buddhism still have no problem with that, all the eastern religions are not based on beliefs, they are based on seeking the truth . That means if u disagree with whatever their teachings are thats ok try to find a better scientific explainantion …. They are not believers they are seekers thats the CORE IDEA, and no youtuber or so called experts gets this because they never tried to..
Hello Mr. Mehta. I am an atheist and really like your content. I wanted to present the idea that karma isn’t necessarily false. It’s situational. Doing some actions now, may result in better returns in the future. For example, if you help a friend in financial problems now, he may help pay your hospital bills if you’re very sick. Although Karma isn’t something that always applies, I think it’s an interesting observation at least. Eastern religions probably noticed that doing good now, can cause some good later, in some instances. That’s why Karma is such a recurring trend in them.
The child reincarnations describe things that they just should not know. I could see reincarnation being real or unreal, but I don’t think it would have anything to do karma. Also, about population increase, it is very likely that if reincarnation is real, the soul will go to the nearest possible body who is having a baby, whether it be an animal or a human. Also, if say there is an alien planet similar to earth with intelligent beings and everything gets hit by a meteor and everybody there dies, there is a chance that if the planet is somewhat close to earth (by light years standards) there is a chance some of those souls could flow into earth.
I grew up in India but I’m not Hindu my people are from the Southern State of Kerala that has hard Christianity before Northern Europe. This is how a Tamilian Swami explained reincarnation to me. He believed in the transmigration of souls. When I asked him reincarnation was true why is human population increasing he said all living things not just humans and animals but even plants have souls as species become extent both animal and plant souls move upwards animals become human and plants animal an upward progression so the gods or god causes extinction. I’m not saying he is tight just what he said.
About reincarnation, I’d like to add two things: I don’t remember exactly what I did from the minute I got out of bed to the moment I turned in LAST MONDAY. How can I be punished now for something I have no recollection of??? Doesn’t that sound immoral? If I am ever brought to court, I want to know what I should defend myself from. The second thing: believing that a child who was born with a problem deserves that is arrogant, to say the least. That belief doesn’t allow us to truly feel compassion towards other people’s predicaments!
4:14 just like to say that reincarnation in Hinduism (I’m was a Hindu, I don’t know for other religions) that when you die and have bad karma in your previous life you will end up as a animal in your next life as your bad karma is comparable to a animal but of you do good karma then you will end up as a human as your good karma was humane and about the human population growing could be due to the fact that animals will die and get reincarnated into a human as they repaid their karma and some animals have a short lifespan so that is probably why. Anyway I think some of your points here are still good, I became an atheist when I first saw your articles but then I found out these points and believe in some aspects of Hinduism. But honestly your work is great. Keep up the good work 👍
Hello Hemant! Hello everyone! As an eastern religion practicioner, more precisely a buddhist, I would like to clarify some points. I want to say that this is not a comprehensive response, it is not meant to be as it can’t be, there would be too much to discuss about it. I’m just putting in a nutshell the purpose of Buddhism and how karma and reincarnation can be viewed from a buddhist perspective: 1) first of all, the purpose of Buddhism is to bring peace on Earth. 2) Bringing peace on Earth means you do good things because you’re happy; if we were all happy we wouldn’t do wars or hate the others (Buddha doesn’t tell you not to hate because it is practically impossible, rather tells you to shift your point of view from the person to the injustice, so you are encouraged to hate the injustice giving people always the chance to understand rather than condemning them). 3) Buddhism is meant to serve people and not to cast some kind of ideology upon them. 4) therefore karma is meant to make people understand why it is important to be tolerant and peaceful and do well what you do; if you do good things to people you will be propagating a culture of peace ( I didn’t say Buddhism, I said the culture of peace, and I did it with the purpose of distinguishing the two things because peaceful people are everywhere while buddhists have an extra purpose to do so), if you do well what you do you can feel satisfied with yourself and appreciated by others for being, for example, a good worker. 5) Reincarnation is very controversial but, just like karma, it has a reason if it fits in the peace bringing process.
I am Wiccan and believe in reincarnation. I know it is real since my nephew told my sister, when he was 9 months old and then again he told me when he was 8 that he had lived before as a man named Brian. He did not get this from T.V. since he did not watch T.V. when he was 9 months old and he was very specific on the details. He said he had a wife and children.
So I just found out that India was once called eastern Ethiopia! So my ansestors are African. I saw a YouTube article by Dr. velu Anamalli, about African presence in India, he stated religion was created for cast system and to control people, the cast system! The dark skin people were untouchables, I want to learn and dive deep, I’m not religious but spiritual, and want to know are the Vedas and Indian religious books all just stories, or real? Can you guide me on this, thank you!
About being reborn and the state in between them: Tibetan Buddhism talks of the Bardo, or intermediary state, where one waits to be chosen for rebirth. Also, there are other realms in which other people are born, including heavens and hells, as well as animals, humans and ghosts. Regarding what determines a good household in which one is born into, the Baghavad Gita says that to be born into a family that practices meditation is beneficial. Buddhism also teaches that being a human in general, regardless of status is the most beneficial out of any rebirth, because it takes a fair amount of Karma to get there and humans have free will to escape from the endless cycle of births and rebirths. As for irrational dietary practices, while I personally eat meat, the idea of not causing violence through what we do is a very thoughtful and interesting concept, if you ask me. At any rate, even though I believe in a God (albeit a very abstract and impersonal one) I feel like what you do is useful, as all faiths deserve to be questioned.
Yes he only know just defination of karma he does not know the branches of karma, see there is prarabdha karma which is fixed fruits of action or karma is given to one’s life even if person is bad or good he will gain according to prefixed fruits, human is a body in which whatever we do we will get that fruit of the action in next reincarnation so if i was good in in this life and bad things were happening because fruit of action is prefixed for whole life and the fruit for good karma of this life will be given to me in next life Oh sorry i forgot to tell there is prarabdha, sanchit, agamia are the branches of karma search over internet.
Remove the mythical aspects of Buddhism (which includes both karma and reincarnation) and what you’re left with is a humanist philosophy that’s a highly insightful perspective on the human condition. Remove the mythical aspects of an Abrahamic religion like Christianity the whole thing basically evaporates. Which is why Secular Buddhism is something that’s practiced as a coherent metaphysical and ethical system, and why secular Christianity or Islam doesn’t really exist.
You don’t seem to be aware of your bias resulting from your limited experience and consciousness: “clearly there’s no evidence of that” is your “proof”. There are many people, and very powerful ones who say and believe otherwise. And I have personally experienced many many miracles, satories, etc. Mental logic is not going to get you where you are trying to go. It is what has placed you where you are. It is much more complex than that, and true understanding comes from going beyond the mind and logic, i.e. to be your true self, one must not identify with and as the mind and thought, because it is not who we are, though it for most people comprises their entire self image (mind/thought/body/feelings/emotions/relations/etc). The ocean forms waves, but the wave is itself not the ocean in it’s entirety. So the separate “ego” self is by nature never complete, until it’s identity merges back to the oneness.
Most people believe in this version of karma, which I think is a “lie-for-children”. The buddhist 12 nidanas explain that karma arises because we think and cling to our thoughts. It’s our intentions that shape our personality and create conditions for things to happen. If you attach to some idea about yourself, its a reaction to some conditions, and will create new situations, good or bad. It’s not about punishing. I see karma as the motion of the train of thought, it’s like the “energy” that pushes thought forwards, and in the process ends up by creating personality, tastes and situations. But it’s a very abstract idea, and most people will need a simpler explanation, like the one you used in your article.
I like how you touched on right vs. wrong. Do right and you will experience good karma. Do wrong and you will experience bad karma. You asked the question: What determines what is good vs. bad karma. I often ask that of Atheists. What determines right vs. wrong, good vs. evil? If there is no higher power, then morality is subject and is different for each person, hence it isn’t really morality at all. If there is no higher power than there is no morality, only preference; Hitler was not wrong, Gandhi and MLK Jr. were not right. They all merely did what they preferred.
I am an atheist but I just found out something to convince about what you said in this article.And I am upsetting that I can’t find one to reconvince. As an ex-buddhist, I knew that they also believe that animal can also reincarnated as humans.That is why population significantly increases while population of animals are decreasing, endangered and some already go extint
Everyone is dead before they are alive, and they will eventually all be dead again. Statistically speaking the probability of dead matter arranging into the orientation that defines your unique consciousness is greater than zero. Given the generally accepted scientific age of the universe (not counting other factors), there is a 1 in 14 billion chance of your consciousness coming into being in a given year. Therefore given enough time and the right environment, it is completely within the realm of possibility that you will be alive again without needing any sort of mystical explanations. QED
Your morality isn’t based on the fearing of the outcome of the next life but on empathy. The “You shouldn’t hurt others because you wouldn’t like to get hurt” is wishful thinking nonsense as well. That’s not what you think when you aren’t harming someone. Reincarnation,heaven hell are there to have an objective sense of morality.
I am afraid that Siddartha Gautama never talked about reincarnation or karma. His teachings were philosophical just like of many Eastern, Greek and Western philosophers. Why would a great teacher teach his students about rewards and punishments as they were kids? Moreover, if people were already good, why would we teach them the concept of punishments like hell? I believe his teachings were altered by his students years after his death. Same goes to the philosophy of Laotse. Taoism was never a religion actually; Taoism is in fact a philosophy on par with the philosophies of the Greeks. But why on earth it became a religion with a system of Gods and rituals?
I don’t particularly agree with the idea that people create their own happiness and/or are responsible for whatever happens in their lives. There are too many people living shitty lives for that to be accurate. Happiness and/or success comes from so many factors; seizing the opportunities we get is only a small part of that. Some people may not get a chance to change their lives for the better, or they may be unable to see opportunities for what they are. So many people will live their lives feeling unfulfilled, simply because there isn’t a way for them to reach that next best thing. Saying people ought to go out and do the things they love, live the lives they wish, or create their own happiness, is just too much of an oversimplification.
Ok no hate but he very clearly misunderstood karma and reincarnation. You see, eastern people do believe that karma stays with you lifetimes. But we don’t blame innocent children with defects to have bad karma. Karma stays with the soul, and your soul stays the same, but not your personality. When you are reborn, you don’t have any memories of your previous life, so you are a completely different personality now. You start as a completely new human being. However, the circumstances you are born with are determined by your karma of previous lives. So, that’s why no one blames innocent children for their defects. Also, just because karma is not proven evidently doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There is no proof and evidence it existing or not existing. We just, don’t know, just saying.
PANTH is a path which u choose for your eternal peace. It might be atheism, animism, polytheism or monotheism but DHARMA is your duty. I m vague here, but to find eternal peace u have to research yourself. Anyways, life is short so I would suggest u to start reading findings of others, before contributing your opinion. Even if u would not be reincarnated, other people would be benefited from ur findings. Please don’t mix your google searches and emotions without having solid background. Here u mixed Jainism, Saivism, Brahmnism, Buddhism, Shikhism etc but these are panth not dharma.
As Sadhguru says, there is no difference between atheists and theists, both are in the same boat. Believing in something which has not been a living reality. People who accept that they don’t know a thing about existence are seekers. Only seeking can get you to some place, believing will always tie you down!
Soka Gakkai International cult has the same idea as Jainism when it comes to karma and reincarnation, only there is no final reincarnation. Members may say that the goal is to attain Buddhahood in a lifetime and it remains ad infinitum, but Buddhahood changes nothing when it comes to life. Also in Soka Gakkai International, members are told to take responsibility for their karma, even if the cause was supposedly made in 1981 BCE
Indian Philosophical schools (not just Hindu) are so large that you cannot define it. Our philosophy is the Philosophy of seeking and not believing. I will give u one example. Buddha left his family and royal life to seek truth. In this process he studied under various gurus and came to know that many of the oppressions are man made. He worked out a simple belief system that could liberate people from the oppressive system. Stopped talking about God and Reincarnation but emphasised on Nirvana by following The Basic Teachings which are core to Buddhism are: • The Three Universal Truths; • The Four Noble Truths; and • The Noble Eightfold Path. He was an atheist and did not believe in God -Karma-reincarnation crap. But he talked about nirvana or salvation to liberate people from the oppression of caste. Brahminical tradition of caste dictated that if your caste (high or low ) is due to the doings of your previous birth. Being good will have a better life in next birth. Lower castes believed all these crap and suffered without questioning or rebelling. Buddha wanted to break this psychological terror from common people and free from bondage. He offered nirvana which was free from all suffering. He belongs to a School of philosophy known as Atheist philosophy which also includes Jainism. Let me tell you he was opposed but he had followers too not just commoners but kings from Afghanistan to the whole of India. One such king was Ashoka. At some point of time India was a Buddhist state.
Dharma is a concept which focuses on questioning the existence of everything. If there is pot, somebody must’ve made the pot. Likewise if there is a universe and a consciousness somebody must be responsible for creating it. The aim is to attain enlightenment and thereby break through the cycle of birth and death because salvation is the eminent goal, not heaven, not hell. Like Chinese fengshui badge says there is good in all bad and bad in all good therefore getting free is the highest feat to achieve from all of this. You can never be all good, never all bad.
03:29 Well, there’s a whole research divison for this at the University of Virginia and also many other private researchers in the western world to examine this topic. Their work can be considered as evidence since no University in the world would spend money on a study that has no justification to be done?
Although similar concepts exist in Buddhism, everything is highly abstracted compared to Hindu and Jain thought. There is no judging God, there is no eternal soul. This along with the non-dualistic, non-discriminatory philosophy, and presentism philosophy of time turns the old deterministic idea of Karma into an abstraction of that. This is how Buddhism posits the idea of consciousness-only (somewhat idealist philosophy) and the idea of a subconscious thousands of years before the west. The unscientific aspects of Buddhism are a lot more periphery compared to pretty much any other religion.
Karma in buddhism in it’s simplest form is “Doing!” so if i say “It’s your karma” it means its your doing now. But in the west so many people get a different understanding of karma, it’s kinda “your reap what you sow” principle, but Karma in the eastern religion has nothing to do with what you done in the past, but more “What you are doing now” and noting about the future at all. The other thing it has nothing to do with my afterlife, my energy get transformed into a new form, and it’s just a coincidence if i wake up in this life, if i live a new life og how many life, because when i don’t know who i am, i don’t know where i go, its all energy transformation is an eternal pattern, kinda like the eternal circle of life 🙂
As a Buddhist, I agree that there are some beliefs that should require evidence such as karma. Religions were used for morality and social cohesion. In regard of what you said on reincartion, well I do not agree. Reincarnation is different from rebirth from what Buddhists believe. Rebirth does not require an essence as in Hinduism with atman. Rebirth is achain of lives where there is no essence, there is no soul (in a Platonic sense) that goes to the next life. Ian Stevenson researched on this and even Carl Sagan said that further research is necessary because there were events that were very difficult to explain just with coincidences. One criticism I do of Buddhism, especially with Zen, is the rejection of rational thinking because in meditation practices you focus more on developing intuition and perception.In Buddhism, knowledge comes from a direct experience with reality and this is very different from Western thinking because arguments and empirical evidence is required externally. In Buddhism, bahvana is the internal knowledge thurgh direct experience like yada among Hebrews. Not all is epistem, there is a higher degree of truth.
Reincarnation theory say you would die but every thing exist within you will get reincarnate your identity and even you would end then but the mass and energy would change its form for eg if you cremated from fire the carbon particles oxidised and either absorbed by plants during photosynthesis and get stored or broke to something different