re: What Do You Know About Buddhism?

I thought this was about Buddhism? When did Christianity become important in understanding Buddhism?

My brother married into a Buddhist family. Their wedding was one of the most touching I've ever been to. There is a Buddhist temple in Baton Rouge that is on Monterrey Blvd (close-ish to Cortana mall) and they have a meditation service every Friday and are very welcoming and open in general. I've never been but I have a coworker who has gone a bunch of times (with no other Buddhist connection) and she really enjoys it. Like I said--it is my understanding and my limited experience that they are very welcoming of non-Buddhists who want to learn or experience their services.

It isn't. He's talking about their many similarities. These religions at their heart have always been similar in it's true philosophies (not the stuff made up by the churches to ensure intellectual and social inertia.

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I thought this was about Buddhism? When did Christianity become important in understanding Buddhism?

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It is about Buddhism, but very quickly on pg 1 and a couple other times, someone has made snarky post saying what they know about Buddhism is that it's better than Christianity or similar.

athenslife101 and genuineLSUtiger, while expressing their individual preference for one or the other, have both respectfully articulated some of the similarities between these different religions... or paths, if you prefer. And understanding one through the other is not necessary, but is possible.

taoism also devolved into the weird philosophy of the east involving a ton of gods and all those little mythologies/shrines

that's where all the crazy eastern magic bullshite comes from

i like the basics of taoism, but what it became in practice is insanity

and buddhism is a selfish philosophy in real life that has some insight at its most basic level (desire is bad)

I think theres a buddhist temple over there near Monterrey by Cortana mall. It'll be interesting to attend one of their services. Maybe meet some chics..

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It's better than Christianity and Islam.

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Sounds like joining a club or deciding on a restaurant rather than a deeply held faith following.

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but what it became in practice is insanity

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I don't know enough about any specifics to agree or disagree. But generally (perhaps over-generally), there is a tendency for any path/organization-- after it's leader passes-- to become a little more rigid and dogmatic... and perhaps complacent. Little cracks form in the integrity of the whole as new followers and leaders emerge and see things slightly differently. Next thing you know, there's dozens of sub-sects... This has happened to pretty much every major religion/path I can think of. My point being that I would not be surprised if there are some really out there Taoist groups just as there are some out there Christian groups.

Full disclosure for my part: I'm Christian, but consider myself influenced by Taoist (and Platonic) thought. Like some of the other guys in the thread have already said-- and as you mildly suggest in liking the basics of taosim-- there's enough similarities in them all that once you cut through the political crap that's been layered on, you can find that they all have something valid to say.

I actually went to India for a month this summer and studied Buddhism and visited some monasteries...Buddhism promotes the seeking of enlightenment through the removal of ones ego and ignorance. Ignorance is viewed as the cause all suffering from a Buddhist point of view and what leads to all living things being trapped in a cyclic existence (essentially the Buddhist view of hell). The biggest disconnect from what most western religions practice is that Buddhists don't believe in the concept of a soul as it is contradictory to the belief of the impermanence of life. Compassion for all living things is incredibly important (so important that some extreme Buddhists even avoid killing even insects) due to their belief in karma and how it affects ones rebirth...very peaceful and interesting religion