Dear Russ 1. Religion / faith is not something which can be "bought", although the US Televangelists who buy cheap advertising on my cable TV channels to sell me JEEEESSSSSUSSS at 4:00 a.m may disagree.
2. "Buddhism is a religion indigenous to the Indian sub-continent" (per wikipedia). 3. BUDDHUISM is a religion exogenous to the Indian sub-continent. (per Sarbajit) (FYI - The word buddhu means "fool, "idiot" or "moron ") 4. Western Buddhists are buddhus who by doing deep scholarly research on fragments of bark containing the secrets of the Wise (Amida ) Buddha allegedly written 600 years after his death in 500 BCE (or was it 400 BCE ?) think they "know" everything. These are the same Buddhus who after looking at a dinosaur's bones conclude that dinosaurs had a brain in their butt. 5. A Religion / Faith has to be experienced in its setting. Shifting the setting causes it to lose its essence in translation. In computer terms, the software is non-portable. 6. Whatever you chose to call it, there is no such thing as "modern" Buddhism. Western (presumably United States of America Western) Buddhuism is the concoction of tripped out frauds (who "experienced" India/Nepal) and ranks on the same ersatz plane as American Chopsuey and Chicken Tikka Masala. . PS: Does (your ?) Western Buddhism model include "rebirth" ? Sarbajit On 9/23/12, Russ Abbott <russ.abb...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm not really buying that. My sense of modern (and especially western) > Buddhism seems pretty God-free. > > *-- Russ Abbott* > *_____________________________________________* > *** Professor, Computer Science* > * California State University, Los Angeles* > > * My paper on how the Fed can fix the economy: ssrn.com/abstract=1977688* > * Google voice: 747-*999-5105 > Google+: plus.google.com/114865618166480775623/ > * vita: *sites.google.com/site/russabbott/ > CS Wiki <http://cs.calstatela.edu/wiki/> and the courses I teach > *_____________________________________________* > > > > On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 10:29 AM, Sarbajit Roy <sroy...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Buddhism may not have "a God" but Buddhism belief has "gods" who are >> superior beings existing at various planes of existence. Their gods, >> called "Devas", apparently exist at the highest plane of existence >> well above humans, and animals, and various beings condemned >> in past lives to inhabit hell (the lowest planes). Buddhism's "demons" >> called "Asuras" occupy another zone. >> >> However, in Zorastrianism, conversely the gods are called "Ahuras" and >> the demons are called "Daevas" (root terms of devil): >> >> So it seems possible that all these zones / planes are actually >> political statements referring to events in some hoary past at an >> indeterminate location. >> http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/religion.htm >> http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20583/20583-h/20583-h.htm >> (page 287) >> >> Re: Buddhism as a religion: >> BTW: Are we referring to "God" as "creator- God" ? >> >> On 9/23/12, Russ Abbott <russ.abb...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > Thanks, Sarbajit. As I understand it Buddhism does not have a God. Does >> > that mean you would not classify it as a religion? >> > >> > -- Russ >> > >> >> ============================================================ >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College >> lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org >> > ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
