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| Poster: khanguyen Reply Post Message Date: Thu Nov 13 21:33:18 2003 |
| Subject: Reply to 1170 |
| Post No: 1173 |
Dear Mr. Dao, Thank you very much for your nice advice. But we are like two parallel lines in opposite direction. For me the Buddhist Pure Land and the Christian Haven are just placebos. You said you have liberated human beings from the birth and death cycle for eons and eons years and good Christians went to Haven for almost 2000 years. As a result there wouldn't be anyone coming back to earth. But by the beginning of the 20th century, the world's population is a little more than one billion people and by the end of the 20th century the world's population reaches six billion. There is an increase of almost 5 billion people in a short period of 100 years a wink of the eye as compare with eons and eons years of your liberation. Where they come from? Not from the Pure Land and Haven. You may argue that they come from other worlds or from atoned people from hell. So far scientists have scanned the space and find no other worlds. Even so there are more people coming back to earth than people going to Pure Land and Haven or more correctly no one going to Pure Land and Haven as you claim. Your prayer to the Buddha Amitabha and the Christian prayer to Jesus have only a placebo effect upon those who pray. Recently in an article on 'God and Health' in the News Week November 10 issue, they pose a good question "Is religion Good Medicine? Why Science is starting to believe. Some religious people claim that prayer is good for health and help cure people. But they didn't not pay attention to the case of the #1 Christian, Pope Paul II, the Vicar of Christ on earth who is suffering Alzheimer. Surely, he spends all daylong to pray to God and even he has asked millions of his faithfuls to pray for him, but to no avail. He is suffering as any other heretic. Do you think your prayer to Buddha Amitabha is more efficient than the Christian prayer. The Buddha said that he cannot save anybody. You have to do the work for yourself that is to do good thing (to generate good karma that can negate your past bad karma and build up more good karma that can change your lot) and avoid doing bad thing (not to create more bad karma) and to keep your mind pure and serene by controlling your mind from bad thoughts and actions that will create more bad karma and to study intelligently and rationally the teachings of the Buddha (not blindly) and practice them diligently and earnestly (not as lip service) . In other words, do your self-purification and self-perfection that generates only good karma and no bad karma. It will liberate you from the cycle of Birth and Death. Nothing else. No need for prayer. The resultant from good and bad karma will decide your future life, not to pray to any Buddha for help. It is futile. Look at Pope Paul II. End of debate. As Chang Tsu said: debating is futile particularly on those matters no one can verify. Those who agree with you said you are right those who don't agree with me said I am wrong. Findng a mediator, if he agrees with me he said I am right and if he doesn't agree with you he said you are wrong. If he has a different point of view from both of us. There no way to settle the debate. Lao Tsu or Confucius said: People used to find what they don't know but few people try to find what they already knew. Do you remember what the Buddha said to the Kalama. That is what I use to study the teachings of the Buddha which were recorded in writing some three or five centuries after his death. There is a lot of additions, misinterpretations, falsifications and frauds particularly during the apogee of Buddhism there was a lot of Brahmins who were converted to Buddhism for self-liberation and also for privileges, for finacial benefits and for fame too. I wonder why people said we are in a period of decadent Buddhism. Is it because people don't believe much in Buddhism or Buddhism is in decadence because it become too mystical and too supertitious like Hinduism, Christianism and Islam, instead of "Come and See for Yourself" as said by the Buddha. In both cases it is the fault of the Shanga. For me I want to save living people from murdered by another living by any way through Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) in the production and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction. You try to save dead people from returing to the earth. Whom of us is more realistic? Excuse me for any inconvenience or disrecpect caused to you. Many thanks. No more debate. |