Has anybody ever studied buddhism?

45 Comments

I believe Buddhism to be one of the best religions to study even if you aren't all that religious. It helps you become more free in this world of chaos by reading inspirations that Buddha had brought.

One that I really like is this:

Buddha’s Advice on Negative People

One day Buddha was walking through a village. An angry and rude man approached him and began hurling insults.
“You have no right to be teaching others,” he shouted. “You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.”
Buddha simply smiled.

So the man raged even louder…Yet the only reaction he could get from the Buddha was a smile and silence. Finally the man stormed away cursing and muttering with a scowl on his face.

The disciples were feeling angry having watched the Buddha being so unfairly insulted. One couldn’t keep quiet and asked the Buddha, “Why didn’t you reply to the rude man?”

The Buddha replied, “If someone offers you a gift, and you refuse to accept it, to whom does the gift belong?”

“Of course to the person who brought the gift,” replied the disciple.

“That is correct,” smiled the Buddha, “And that is exactly why I didn’t accept what that man was trying to offer me.”

There is also a lot about meditation and how it clears the mind which was of course brought up from Buddhism. Meditation the practice of the mind of inner peace and clarity.

Anyways what are your thoughts upon this subject?

Yes	22
No	18
A little bit	23

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Comments ( 45 )

Grapist

10 years ago

How does the dalai lama order a hot dog

He says "make me one with everything"

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  Lol
  
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TweedRanger

10 years ago

All religions are interesting to study.

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- shuggy-chan
  
  10 years ago
  
  Except for batshit crazy ones like Scientology. That's is like the equivalent of believe in the force from star wars. I studied a bit for a high school product and was honestly confused how people believe such hogwash. In a whole I like religion. The part that is a disconnect for me is "organized" religion.
  
  I enjoy the spirituality and love and morals that they encourage. I almost view religions as borderline mythology of different cultures and every one has something that may resonate with u and u can pul from.
  
  I myself just pull parts of different religions that make sense to me and put them together. And always try to keep an open heart and mind
  
  I admire Buddhism and Christianity and other religions and mythologies and try to emulate the best they can offer.
  
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  - TweedRanger
    
    10 years ago
    
    It seems you enjoyed studying Scientology, even though it's batshit crazy. I really like the batshit crazy ones...... I think that might be all of them, though :/
    
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  - RoseIsabella
    
    10 years ago
    
    Right on, my über tall Japanese friend! I'm Catholic and love reading about Buddhism. Scientologists give me the heebie jeebies!
    
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  - Thanatos_4_The_Win
    
    10 years ago
    
    I believe the concept behind The Force is a great one. It teaches us goodness even if it is just a movie. The Way Of The Jedi is like today's Buddism almost (George Lucas created Jediism with multiple key factors from religions around the world, Buddism being one of them)
    
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  - disthing
    
    10 years ago
    
    I disagree. Even Scientology is interesting to study - perhaps more so than some other less controversial religions. You don't necessarily have to respect something to want to understand it. Curiosity about the world around you is the motivating factor in the pursuit of knowledge.
    
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    - Saycheese
      
      10 years ago
      
      I most certainly agree with you on that. Most of what you know now you didn't learn from oneself. You had learned if from others helping you and even ones that are unintentionally helping you. You learn something new whether it was negative or positive everyday.
      
      The ones you've learned from and the ones that are curious and are open minded to learn know that is the way to learn; curiosity is one factor in the power of knowledge.
      
      Ask instead of wonder and if someone else doesn't know then challenge yourself to try it out unless it is way to dangerous. Have others help if that would matter. :)
      
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  - howaminotmyself
    
    10 years ago
    
    I'd argue that the batshit crazy ones are some of the most interesting to study.
    
    But I'm like you. I don't like organized religion but all religions have something to offer you. Being spiritual is deeply personal for me and could never be labeled.
    
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    - disthing
      
      10 years ago
      
      Totally agree with you. Sometimes the extremes of humanity are the most compelling to learn about.
      
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    - shuggy-chan
      
      10 years ago
      
      you made this song stuck in my head from your comments
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qAZpQllC9w
      
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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  I most certainly agree on this comment.
  
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Wendell

10 years ago

That story was a pretty good lesson, yet like most lessons I'm going to forget about it in 5 minutes

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  That's why you read it over and over again and it will eventually stays in your mind when you work on it. Just like practice makes perfect; the more you work at it the better you get. :)
  
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RoseIsabella

10 years ago

I really like that story!

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dom180

10 years ago

I like this story :)

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o_0

10 years ago

I know a Lil about Buddha and his beliefs.. never really got time to study Buddhism ...
if you talk about Buddha then undoubtedly he possessed an excellent nature but i study more about others.. if you really give time studying Buddhism why don't you read about Islam.. its teachings and personalities of early Muslims are far more impressive and heart touching..

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  Ok, I'll look it up some point. Thanks. :D
  
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thr

10 years ago

Something can be wise, whether or not it's part of a religion. I'd rather just have the wisdom.

I wouldn't want to study Buddhism, both because that seems like a big task, and because I don't have no interest in being a Buddhist.

In your example, you could say that Buddha is just good at ignoring insults, and that may be easy when you have disciples to give you self confidence.

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  I'm not asking for anyone to become religious in this topic. Studying Buddhism doesn't mean you have to become Buddhist and studying doesn't mean it's a daily routine.
  
  I'm most certainly not looking to become Buddhist but Buddhism gives great advice on happiness and living free, so I study Buddhism. Does that make sense?
  
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  - thr
    
    10 years ago
    
    Yeah, that makes sense, and it sounds great.
    
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    - Saycheese
      
      10 years ago
      
      I'm glad. :)
      
      And yes I agree on your comment too, wisdom is a great thing to have. Choosing to be wise is a wise choice to have. haha
      
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- RomeoDeMontague
  
  10 years ago
  
  You do not have to be religious to know about religion. Does knowing about knights mean you are living in the mid evil times? Does studying serial killers make you one? Does studying dogs make you a dog? No it really does not. Knowledge is knowledge and anyone can learn it. Closing yourself off too something since you are not part of it makes you ignorant. You could learn anything you wish. Dog trainers know how dogs act so they could handle dogs, Police study how killers act so they know how to stop them and how to catch them, Psychologist study them so they know why they did something. Knights lived a long time ago but it does not mean its impossible to learn about them now. Learning about hitler does not make you a nazi and in fact that history is still taught to most of the world today. Does not hurt to educate yourself on many subjects. Besides it helps learning from others mistakes. It just means you wont make the same ones.
  
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  - thr
    
    10 years ago
    
    I take it you are commenting on the part where I say I have no interest in being a Buddhist.
    
    If I wanted to be a Buddhist, then I would probably want to study what is called Buddhism. That reason for me to do so is not there.
    I do associate studying Buddhism with wanting to be a Buddhist, and I think I understood the question of studying Buddhism in such a way as for it to mean making a commitment to studying Buddhism thoroughly.
    
    While you are right in what you say, I would guess that the majority of people who study the bible would call themselves Christian.
    
    Studying something in which you have no interest, can be boring, and learning is not some holy great thing.
    
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[Old Memory]

10 years ago

The guy was an idiot who knew nothing about life and death, and neglected to take into account the opposing forces that dwell within all people.

They also think that encouraging childhood obesity is acceptable.

That is why western people claiming to be buddhist tend to be morons. I've met a few, idiots every single one.

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handsignals

10 years ago

Buddhism is stupid but without it we would not have Monkey Magic.

That's deep :O

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anti-hero

10 years ago

"Has anybody ever studied Buddhism?"

ANYBODY? I am pretty sure someone has or it wouldn't exist.

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  I mainly put that as the title so that I can see how many have actually studied it or not. lol Plus see what their thoughts are upon it. :)
  
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  - anti-hero
    
    10 years ago
    
    Long time no see Cheese! Yeah, I know what you meant. I just like to be an asshole haha.
    
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    - Saycheese
      
      10 years ago
      
      Haha.
      
      Butthead. :)
      
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      - anti-hero
        
        10 years ago
        
        That's about the only fun anyone can have on here anymore.
        
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Sweetbird

9 years ago

It is a religion like any others. I like some things about it, some things work for me and not others, and there are the questionable supernatural elements, and I wonder how many needless rules or unpleasant practices?

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cathyt112

10 years ago

Buddhism has a lot of interesting and practical advice. Great story.

You should check out "The Present" on this site. It attempts to explain the big picture to how life works and will make Buddhism even easier to understand and integrate into your life.

http://isitnormal.com/story/is-it-normal-to-be-scared-to-change-my-view-on-evolution-in-science-164971/

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felixbelacan2

10 years ago

well at least this better than those bullshito 72 virgins awaits u in heaven...

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sega31098

10 years ago

I live near a Chinese Buddhist community so yes.

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ucipher8

10 years ago

Im not big on religion, but i do believe in "something". Whatever it is, its pretty much what you adopted since you were a child or something you began to believe in like prisoners and islamics. Dont count me as a terrorist because i say "Islam", religion can teach us many things yet at the same time it can put us on a path of prejudice and hatred and thats enough said

If you are interested in buddhism however, i would recommend that you take it with a grain of salt just like anything else, religion can be creepy in a way that it can manipulate people. For me, i believe in truth, be it through music, understanding, and hard work.

Thats my religion.

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Shroot

10 years ago

I prefer studying Hinduism.

They have the most imaginary friends

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q25t

10 years ago

If you're just talking about the teachings of Buddha, I've looked into it a bit and most of them seem to actually be fairly moral, which is higher praise than I can give most belief systems.

If you're talking about some of the more supernatural bits of Buddhism, I've looked into those and found them all lacking or outrageously horrible in application (karma).

I treat it like most other religions/belief systems, take the good from it and simply drop all the baggage.

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kini.mesi

10 years ago

Religion sucks.

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- Saycheese
  
  10 years ago
  
  You don't have to be religious to be happy but part of choosing to have a happy and free life, spirituality normally is involved. Not all the time though.
  
  AND all humans want to be happy.
  
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  - kini.mesi
    
    10 years ago
    
    Even if you know that religion is a belief, and still believe it because you just want to be happy, then you are fooling yourself. I know, sometimes it is hard to accept the truth, but facing the truth is better than fooling yourself. As you said you can be happy without religion.
    Not all religions give you freedom and because of your beliefs you may become extremist. Religion usually causes discrimination.
    "Religion is about turning untested belief into unshakable truth through the power of institutions and the passage of time." “One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.”-Richard Dawkins.
    Be open minded and question everything and look for evidence, simply do not believe things because your holy book says so.
    
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    - Saycheese
      
      10 years ago
      
      That is religion not necessarily spirituality, which I agree upon with some of what you commented. I actually have my own personal religion I go by. I'm one with needing proof and common sense. And a lot what other religions say is mostly common sense. Some of what they say is odd and I have to see it to believe it. Use wisdom so to speak and experience for yourself if you have to know. :) "Knowledge is power."
      
      It's wisdom that helps guide you to being a better happy person and involves spirituality which come from religion.
      
      I'm not a religious person. I just like reading the different beliefs and using what I can to help guide me in my own personal right direction; to be more free.
      
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      - kini.mesi
        
        10 years ago
        
        Religious books will say that one religion is better than the others. And you must not believe the other religions or gods [ which means you are not free to choose your religion]. But it is not only about choosing religion. We can talk about discrimination of homosexuals, women rights, as I mentioned before, extremism and etc. All these and other aspects limit freedom. What I'm trying to say is that: if someone is seeking freedom in religious books, then she/he is looking for freedom in wrong place.
        If you look at the philosophical meaning of spirituality, the believing in your own personal religion, god, praying privately and so on are also spiritual.
        If someone is looking for evidence and reason, then she/he should look for it in science, not in some holy books.
        Your argument about wisdom is circular and ambiguous: people can be genius, clever, smart without spirituality or religion.
        "I'm not a religious person vs I actually have my own personal religion I go by". Your arguments contradict each other.[no more comment].
        Whatever you read, reading is perfect. I also read different religious books-just want to understand why people believe them and want to find something that could be impossible without these religion. (I have not found one yet).
        Do not get offended, I'm not talking about you individually, I am talking about general religious beliefs.
        "Science is wonderful."
        
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        howaminotmyself
        
        10 years ago
        
        The problem with learning about spirituality from books is that it will always have a bias. You can't use words to describle the feelings. And using science to define it is like trying to collect water with a net. You're going to miss a lot of what it has to offer. I think people have forgotten that words have limits and that is why mythology is so powerful. It allows for a personal interpretation of a common emotional experience.
        
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Are You Normal?

Has anybody ever studied buddhism?