On Apr 2, 2009, at 12:01 AM, Robert wrote:
I personally don't care which meditation technique the kids
learn...just as long as they learn and are taught something which
transcends the usually superficial nonsense they spend all of their
time on...
TM or Mindfulness; either is fine...perhaps one should be given the
choice, as mindfulness is a Buddhist practice.
The mindfulness movement, or an aspect of it, is to promote
mindfulness meditation as a truly non-sectarian, universal practice
common to ALL religions. So the trend is to remove any blatant
Buddhist elements to any such practices and base them on solid science.
My sister practices mindfulness and she calls herself a Buddhist...
So, is Buddhism a religion?
Not in the traditional sense. As Robert Thurman points out,
"Buddhism" or buddha-dharma is actually an Awakening School. That not
to say that there are people who don't practice Buddhism as a
religion or even as a superstition, some do. IMO to the extent that
Buddhism or Hinduism, etc. are practiced as superstitious religions
is the extent to which they depart from being Awakening Schools.
Because when I ask my sister if she believes in God, so seems to
explain the Buddha is not a God, and that mindfulness makes you
aware of the nothingness of existence...
So, in a way, it just seems like a form of 'Existentialism'.
And in that case, we still are back to 'In God We Trust'...dollar
as king of kings, queen of queens, and so on and so forth.
So, I would assume that since Caesar's been running things,
perhaps this Existential existence meditation, might fly better in
the American schools.
That's why the idea of non-sectarian, non-religious programs like the
MindfulKids Foundation need to be promoted and why disguised
religious movements like the David Lynch Foundation and
"Transcendental" Meditation need to be exposed for the frauds they
truly are. Even their science does not pan out.
What I don't understand about Buddhism, is the belief in
nothingness, and the belief in reincarnation...
How could we have the 14th of one? Is the Dalai Lama like God, to
the Buddhists?
No, he's a reincarnating Bodhisattva, westerners who like to project
things based on their own lack of understanding characterize him as a
"god man". Very misleading and factually incorrect.
Who and what reincarnates?
Good question. It's answered different depending on the View of who's
asked.
Does one have a specific soul, or is one soulless, what does
Buddhism really teach about these things?
From the POV of Inner Tantra, what transmigrates is basically our
"spiritual gene", our subtle accumulated propensities and habits,
both good and bad. We continue to find different levels of RNA and
DNA expression. I suspect what we'll eventually find is that a finer
level of this physical or non-physical phenomenon exists and allows
traits to continue across what appears as sequential time that
condition continuation of similar consciousness'. Morphogenetic
memories.
