More on Buddhism
Apr. 6th, 2005 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythIn the interest of not doing anything productive, I give you this.
I'm still gradually digging my way through the book of Buddhist Scripture I got, I'm not done yet, and the book is old, so anything I say could be wrong or incomplete. But with that in mind...
One of the things that keeps being emphasized is "this is a world of becoming, not being." Which I actually agree with. The problem I have comes with the fact that this is seen as a bad thing. The bonds and attachments of life are all presented as bad and suffering, and to be transcended. I'm also bugged by the whole Karma dealie, and how they keep emphasizing each person's "proper place", but most of this was originally written thousands of years ago and had to be sold as non-threatening to the people in power, so that's explicable.
See, the real problem I have is with the idea of being better than becoming. Becoming is change. Change is life. When things stop changing, they're dead. The entire universe exists because it changes. Entropy keeps eating away at things, and eventually, everything will "be" in a final state, when everything is dead, including the universe. That's the Laws of Thermodynamics. Like I say, this may be something I'm missing, or is missing from the translation I have. Or could be something that's been explained by more recent thought. Or it could just be a reason I'm not Buddhist. Heh.
The main point, I guess, is that change is good, or necessary, and I don't see that as a reason to detest the world.
Tags: Mindscribbles, Religion
I'm still gradually digging my way through the book of Buddhist Scripture I got, I'm not done yet, and the book is old, so anything I say could be wrong or incomplete. But with that in mind...
One of the things that keeps being emphasized is "this is a world of becoming, not being." Which I actually agree with. The problem I have comes with the fact that this is seen as a bad thing. The bonds and attachments of life are all presented as bad and suffering, and to be transcended. I'm also bugged by the whole Karma dealie, and how they keep emphasizing each person's "proper place", but most of this was originally written thousands of years ago and had to be sold as non-threatening to the people in power, so that's explicable.
See, the real problem I have is with the idea of being better than becoming. Becoming is change. Change is life. When things stop changing, they're dead. The entire universe exists because it changes. Entropy keeps eating away at things, and eventually, everything will "be" in a final state, when everything is dead, including the universe. That's the Laws of Thermodynamics. Like I say, this may be something I'm missing, or is missing from the translation I have. Or could be something that's been explained by more recent thought. Or it could just be a reason I'm not Buddhist. Heh.
The main point, I guess, is that change is good, or necessary, and I don't see that as a reason to detest the world.
Tags: Mindscribbles, Religion
