Questions about the Ego and 'modern' Buddhism.

Amsler, if you are looking for contemporary Buddhist thought you could look to periodical publications designed specifically for the purpose.

 

No, it is not.

Does it end the suffering of the victim? Remember that Buddhists believe in rebirth. The victim just gets to suffer all over again in a new life, and has to figure out all over again how he got there.

And, of course, it increases the suffering of the murderer. This is the principle of karma/vipaka.

So, no, it is not right to commit murder.

 

Does believing a thing make it so? In this instance rebirth is a symbol chosen to represent an unknown variable. I know of no one who can demonstrate their rebirth. Having said that i can see where that theoretical conception can promote a sense of permanence.

Does the story of being born as a biological product of a biological union not suffice? Is that ones purpose to figure out how we got here?

Suffering, it seems to me, is caused by the misapprehension of what is so.
I am not clear that a murderer suffers more than any other.

Whereas I can think of no reason I would turn to killing someone, I cannot see where it matters how an individual dies, no matter they die in a snow storm or from a storm of consciousness. Even so, a belief that does not encourage killing probably can't hurt, but I suspect that nothing real can hurt either.

Forgive me if I am asking impertinent questions but the task of perpetual arbitration, discerning rightness, intuitively seems stressful. Are these questions uncommon for those who investigate Buddhist thought?

 

Stressful, no. Effort, yes. Right p ) Effort is part of the path, after all. After a while, people find that it relieves stress.

No, your questions are common. They are especially common when someone is clinging to a non-Buddhist point of view. Of course it doesn't make sense from a non-Buddhist point of view. But try and understand the point of view and it does make sense.

So, you ask me, a Buddhist, here on a Buddhism forum, a question that involves rebirth. No, believing it doesn't make it so. But as Buddhists, we do so believe. Meaning that we believe it IS so. Proof or lack thereof has nothing to do with it.

Now, from that point of view, where we believe that rebirth is true, does murdering someone reduce his suffering? Answer: no. As long as we keep getting reborn, we keep suffering.

Okay, so you don't believe in karma. We do.

There's that old "purpose of life" thing again. No, life has no purpose. A purpose would require an intention. Who intends? All of a sudden you are back to an implied god. That is not a Buddhist concept.

You can't really "investigate Buddhist thought" if you cling to your Christian perspective.

 

This, perhaps, gives me reason to believe that you are capable of killing without having need a reason to do so. If you cannot see where it matters, then surely the reason itself would not matter. Entertain this thought long enough, TD, and I suspect you will kill without a thought because it wouldn't really matter whether there was a reason or not.

Does this mean you don't have a matter for how you die? Whether you die in a snow storm or from a storm of consciousness?

Of all the thoughts of your I've seen posted on HipForums, this one gives me cause for concern.

Perhaps from one on the outside looking in. For the one who is serious in understanding the teachings of "A" Buddha, these questions do not arise. The only question one is faced with in understanding the teachings of a Buddha is how to put an end to stress, not whether or not it matters if one dies or how they die, or even if there is a reason for killing someone.

Neither is the "rightness" of something a matter of concern. The "Right" in the fourth noble truth is not an idea to be adhered to, rather an idea connected with the position of an individual. Such as is it right to take some one elses life if I don't want them to take mine? Or, is it right to take something that belongs to someone else if I don't want them to take what is mine? Or, barring not wanting to know, is it right for me to use false speech when talking with some one else, if I don't want them using false speech with me? Or "Right" as in "Proper" as properly applying ones mindfulness or properly applying effort.

I think, as an outsider looking in, you misunderstand a lot of the "thoughts" of Buddha's teachings.

No?

On my previous question as to where this was going, the OP doesn't care one way or the other about the teachings of a Buddha. They just wanted a board to sound out on to let other know how they think, and want to think. Any further discussions on this is just a waist of time for the OP. Maybe not for others, but the thread has served its purpose in regards to the one who opened it.

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