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Introduction:

The motive in writing this book is not to show others that Buddhism is superior to all other religions.  It is to revive the teachings and spread it.

Buddhism was not derived from Hinduism and was not stereotyped as many anti-Asian people used to believe. This group of racists said the fire and brimstones hells mentioned in Buddhism were borrowed from Christianity, not realizing that Buddhism was prevalent over 500 years before Jesus was born.

Buddhism and Hinduism are not the same. If they are, why are the Hindus very critical of the Buddha’s  teachings ? How can this happen if they are both of the same material?

Buddhism and Hinduism have common terminology, e.g. Kamma, Samadhi and Nirvana. However, the Nirvana of Hinduism is definitely not the Nirvana the Buddhists talk about. To realize the truth, you must practice because truth cannot be put into words or be given away.  Otherwise the Buddha would have given it to us long ago. Just keep on practicing without wavering and you are sure to advance to a certain level, though you may not attain Nibbana within this life time. Nibbana is the dimension where time and space do not exist. It is definitely not empty (nothingness) because the Buddha says people who attain Nibbana will not age or die.

 

The Hindu Yoga is obviously concerned with gaining power over the forces of nature. When the Buddha taught meditation to His monks, His only objective was the extinction of suffering and release from conditioned existence. The supernormal powers, the ability to carry out prodigious physical feats or to obtain mastery over the external world  were never His intentions. These abilities cropped up as the by-products of Buddhist meditation.

 

 

 

Many ignorant people are terrified or paralyzed with fear when they hear from hypocrites that unless they are converted to a certain religion, they will go to hell forever when they die. I personally don’t think a person must be put in hell forever, for whatever he has committed on this planet, for the short duration of 60 to 70 years. Moreover, for that period of 60 to 70 years a guy spends on this earth, just because he believes in the almighty god, and he goes to heaven forever. It is indeed a very childish idea. Is that justice? Religion doesn’t grip people today as it used to be because the new generations ask more and more questions. They are no longer God-fearing. Perhaps for the Orientals, or other Asians, God-fearing is still valid. An average person from Western countries will want to investigate and ask lots of questions. So the braggarts say: You cannot question God. He will send you to hell forever. Our God has his plan and no one should question him.

 

 

Do you need to be slaves to an unknown and unseen being who is always invisible, to offer you the eternal happiness? Our ancestors were once either looking for food or avoiding becoming the food of others. Why didn’t this almighty god help them?

 

Buddhism doesn’t promise poor people that they will go to heaven when they die, so that they would leave the rich in peace. Are the poor people made easier to control in this manner? Perhaps few of them are, but for how long? Was it effective 2000 years ago? Is it still effective today?

 

People created the idea of an almighty god because they lacked security. They needed this god to give them comfort in good times, and courage during bad times, e.g. when facing dangers or when things go wrong. Haven’t you seen people becoming more religious at times of crises? Because of fear and frustration, god cropped up out of nowhere. People claim this almighty god is masculine. Others say she is feminine. And the last group says god is neither a he or she! He is neuter! So far there is no real, concrete or irrefutable evidence for proof to indicate there is such an almighty god.

 

This almighty god idea originated from Egyptian legends, Zoroastrianism and Hindusim. Some almighty god was always smiting non-believers by spreading  disease, pestilence and mayhem on them. (Check up history on the Canaanites, Sodom and Gomorrah)

 

 

The Buddha says:

 

“Gripped by fear people go to the sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines”.

 

According to the Buddhists, the soul is only a constantly changing stream of mental energy. This energy is reborn, not the soul. However, the Hindus and other god-fearing people, believe an eternal soul or atman that passes from one life to the next. So during the Buddha’s time, the word soul meant a permanent thing, because it was created by an almighty god. That was why the Buddha said there was no soul. They would argue that it was impossible for the soul to be temporary since it was created by their almighty god. They held on to this god and permanent soul theory tenaciously.

 

The Buddha was talking to Meghiya: “To him, O Meghiya, who comprehends impermance, the comprehension of no- soul manifests itself. And to him who comprehends no-soul, the fantasy of an “I” presiding over the five aggregates is brought to destruction, and even in this present life he attains Nibbana.”

 

 

Hindu sages had vague ideas about kamma and rebirth. The Buddha expounded them in details, fully and accurately. The Buddhists don’t believe an almighty god, but the Hindus do. In Buddhism every human is equal but the Hindus teach the caste system. Buddhists don’t believe in ritual purification, but for the Hindus, ritual purification is crucial.

 

 

Buddhism is a science because it stands up to verification. There are three main types of Buddhism today: Theravada, Mahayana & Vajrayana.  Hinayana is a sectarian term the Mahayanists used to call the Theravadians whom the Mahayanists think are inferior. Hinayana signifies a smaller vehicle and therefore can carry less people to Nibbana.

 

 

What sets Buddhism apart from other religions is that in Buddhism, people have a choice because sufferings are not pre-determined. The Buddhists cannot find salvation by simply saying praises of the Buddha or by making offering to Him. Prayers, chanting, and begging to be saved do not work in Buddhism.  If we can obtain the things we want by prayers, chanting and making vows, why are there still sufferings in the world? The only way out is to remove greed, hatred and delusion. The Buddha never said that by becoming a Buddhist you are assured of a place in heaven.

 

 

 

Buddhism does not forbid us to believe some things and compel us to accept others. It is a rational philosophy, a comprehensive and realistic ethical code, a penetrative psychology, and effective methods of training and meditation. However, the minds and hearts must be matured enough to appreciate the Buddhist messages. By will-power, some people can separate their mind and the body. That is why there are yogis who are able to appear at two places at the same time. Isn’t this astral travel?

 

For a Buddhist, life is not a dream.  A Buddhist does not one day suddenly wake up and live happily forever with an almighty god. The killing, cheating, swindling etc  he sees daily are real and beyond the power of all the gods to change them. The Buddhists don’t blame their sufferings on any external or supernatural agency.

 

 

Buddhists don’t believe in union with any supreme being (divine being). They believe in the natural law of cause and effect. They don’t fear the unknown or a supernatural almighty god, nor do they prescribe a system of ritual, worship, and supplication of deities or gods. They also do not believe there is some higher unseen power having control of man’s destiny.  To the Buddhists the law of cause and effect is not operated by any external agency with the object of teaching human beings. They do not see a retributive and compensatory law at work in nature. The Christians attribute this to an almighty god, which is foreign to Buddhism. The universe and the almighty god are indifferent to the sufferings in the world. If there is indeed such an almighty god, then the presence of predators and the preys on this planet must be blamed on the so-called almighty god, who created them. The Buddhists know very well that even the gods cannot escape from the forces of evils they have committed.

 

It is indeed very childish to say that we cannot understand the plan of this almighty god because we are not enlightened beings. The enlightened beings are the Buddhas and the Arahants, and these beings never believe in an almighty god, who claims that those who believe him would be saved and those who don’t would go to hell forever.

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Comment by Poh Tiong Ho on July 29, 2014 at 10:39pm

If you wish to view some Buddhist Website photos, please   hit :https://myspace.com/242732440

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