Mahayana is more open to influences and incorporated, often, indigenous, animist and shamanic elements or allowed them to run in parallel. Mongolians might consult a Buddhist lama one week, a shaman another - depending on the issues - and have practices from both traditions. Now you’re getting closer to my world.
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I had a friend in elementary school whose family were Christian & Buddhist. Something resonated for them from both without cancelling.
The stuff I’ve mentioned are deal breakers for me.
I like Socrates’ point in The Republic that we have the power to think about how our choices impact the future at every moment, if we reflect. Our choices do the same pendulum of correction while living our choices as if they are possible lives we are choosing between. We can choose carefully every now, not just before/after (between… hehe snort).
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To be more precise the overall tradition of Buddhism I follow is largely Mahayana but with some influences of Tibetan Vajrayana as well.
Even the very secular Indian branch of Theravada Buddhism has a hard time maintaining itself as it is surrounded by spiritual Hinduism everywhere. In urban areas of India or Sri Lanka it is not uncommon to see a Hindu married to a Buddhist and vice versa. Of course there would be no Buddhism without Hinduism where I don’t see much of a conflict.
In Sri Lanka there has been conflict where Buddhist secular purists have debates of there being too much Hindu influence within its practioners.
So, there’s certainly a lot of secular philosophy in the original sect of Buddhism but the more it branched out the less secular it became overtime.
Yeah, Mongolian Buddhism like its Tibetan or Nepalese counterparts is Vajrayana and the shamanism aspects of it are very interesting.
What WHY did Nietzsche have that turned all his HOWs into this:
Just curious.
#Moms (especially BriBri’s) @Promethean75, reply here first in November… until then…
#whatdoesntkillya
#stronger
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There are different ‘types’ of ‘life’.
There is the One and only eternal ‘Life’, which is sometimes also referred to as Existence Itself or the Universe. The eternal and infinite One Universe is alive, and thus Life, itself, and thus exists always.
There is ‘life’, periods or stages. For example, the dinosaur period, the cave men period, the ice age, the bronze age, the harmonious stage and life, the period of killing witches, the warring and killing stages, the greedy and selfish life, or ways of living.
There is ‘life’, living things come into existence, exist, and then exit. For example, stars, planets, vegetation, animals, and bacteria.
There is ‘life’, human beings, collectively and individually.
The word ‘afterlife’ is sometimes/most times mistakenly thought to be in relation to the last one and one’s own individual ‘life’, and to what happens to ‘that one’ after what is Wrongly referred to as “death”.
Now, if ‘we’ take the last life here, and make the word ‘afterlife’ in relation to human beings individually, and then collective, what happens to human beings after they what is generally referred to as “die” is that the material and physical visible human body ‘goes back’ to exactly from where it came from; that is, earth/the universe. The matter, which is what the human body is made up of exactly, really does NOT ‘go anywhere’, but just changes in shape and form.
After the human body stops pumping blood and stops breathing the physical matter of the body, exactly like what happened when the body was pumping blood and breathing, changes in shape and form. Human beings have just labelled the ‘after the body is breathing stage’ as ‘deteriorates’, instead of ‘grows older’. But, with ALL matter, it essentially ‘never leaves’ but is always ‘just changing’, in shape and in form.
After human bodies stop breathing, (for long enough), they are usually either buried in the earth, or set on fire, but either way the physical human body just keeps doing what ‘matter’ always does, It is in a constant state of change. Physical human bodies came from earth, and when buried ‘return back’ to earth. The matter of which the human body is made up of just disintegrates back to being (earth) dust. Dust to dust. Or, when a human body is burned, that matter vaporises back to being (Universal) ash. Ashes to ashes, or ‘stardust’, as some might refer ‘it’ as.
Every physical thing in the Universe is, essentially, made up of the exact same ‘thing’, and this includes stars and human bodies. The fact is ‘matter’, which ALL of these things are made up of NEVER ‘leaves’ NOR ‘goes back to’. ALL ‘matter’ remains HERE, in the One and only Universe, just always changing. This constant state of change, which ‘matter’, itself, is always in, is what ‘evolution’, itself, is, exactly. Every thing is born/comes into Existence, (besides the Universe, Itself), changes/exists in a constant state of change, also known as evolution, and then ends/exists, but only ‘exists’ in that shape and form. But just like the physical human “baby” ‘exists’ when it changed in shape and form to a “toddler”, and then to a “young child”, and then an “older child”, and then to an “adult”, and then to an “elder”, and everything in between, the ‘physical matter’ that made up ‘that human body’ just keeps on constantly-changing, even after that ‘human body’ has stopped breathing and stopped pumping blood.
It could be said that when a ‘human body’ is breathing and has blood pumping, then it is ‘alive’ or ‘living’, but when it stops breathing and stops pumping blood, then ‘this’ is ‘that body’s’ ‘after’ ‘life’. But the Truth is ‘that body’ just keeps on doing what it always has since its conception; that is, just kept constantly changing in shape or form, or evolved, and keeps doing so ‘long after’ it was what was called ‘alive and living’.
Now, ‘that body’, or more correctly, ‘the material and matter’ of ‘that body’ actually has NOT ‘died’ as it is continually changing and evolving. Producing or pro/creating other things, like for example, if buried in the ground ‘that matter’ continually changes in shape and form can become ‘fertiliser’ or the ‘life’ source for a tree nearby. Either way, the ‘matter’ of ‘that body’ does not ‘go anywhere’ but always remains HERE, somewhere. Continuing the pro-creation cycle known as Life and Existence, Itself.
Now, that is for ‘the physical visible body’. But, a ‘person’ or ‘people’ are NOT ‘the body’. And, just like ‘the body’ a ‘person or people’ also do NOT ‘go anywhere’ but remain Right HERE, in this One and only ALWAYS constantly evolving and changing ‘created Universe’. Instead of being visible, like ‘human bodies’ are ‘people’ are invisible, and how ‘they’ remain HERE, always, is in another way.
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How do you know that the universe is eternal it could have a beginning ?
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Because of WHAT the Universe is made up of, exactly, and HOW the Universe works, exactly.
Now, for those who would like to ‘try to’ claim the Universe had a beginning, then first, please explain HOW this could be logically possible, then please explain HOW this could be physically possible, and then ‘we’ can ‘look at’ these possibilities and discuss whether they could ever really be actualities.
Or, if no one is capable of providing these things, ‘we’ could instead ‘look at’ and discuss what does actually already exist, or ‘what IS’, exactly.
That is exactly what the above means. It doesn’t mean martyrdom or masochism.
It just means living one’s life with the purpose that one feels God created him/her for…doing God’s will. Doing no harm.
As living sacrifices can be as simple as giving up the anger and the words (consider the sacrifice of the body that that might feel like lol) that you want to throw at someone.
Anything that might be difficult to deny within yourself but helps to create a better world, a more peaceful, harmonious world…could be seen as self-sacrifice or making one a living sacrifice. Sometimes as simple as that but not really that easy.
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