unimportant

Exact same argument white supremacist Richard Spencer makes in his interviews 'the blacks are better offer here so slavery was a good thing and they s...

That is the default right winger insult for anyone who says anything against USA USA USA. The agenda is very clear from the posts. They were on a witc...

OP's hatred of 'woke Lefties' is palpable. Lots of the usual Fox News fan tropes thrown around in just the first page alone.

It is not that my mind couldn't be changed but rather no one said anything convincing to sway my viewpoint.

I don't doubt it but that is besides the point to the question which is about being able to practice without the cruft added by the religious doctrine...

A couple of other thoughts: What about zazen which emphases that meditation is 'just sitting' and that this is all that is required to achieve it whic...

Yes I was actually thinking of Death Note when I wrote that about some newer ones being good. I was about to write Cowboy Bebop as another good newer ...

I watched an episode or two. Nothing against it particularly and might get through it sometime but for me pre-2000s stuff is where it is at. The 90s b...

By who? The developers or my then friend? :) I actually did read around after watching it to see wtf happened there but I read, on the contrary, to hi...

I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion again the other day. Hadn't seen it in about 20 years and forgotten it but a friend some time ago spoke of the 'cont...

@"AmadeusD" now this is being sneaky. :) To say we are 'afraid' because we point out a logical fallacy. I see the asking of the question was not in go...

I don't think so. You have quite sneakily appropriated what I wrote to be that science is its own relativism just like 'my truth' so they are 'equal'....

Well it seems you are implying science is 'useless' because it can't find truth 100% capital T. I don't think science claims 100% certainty but it is ...

I just see it as an evolutionary continuum, that Buddhism is a refined version of Hinduism. They are certainly of the same school, compared to say, Bu...

You will hear no argument from me as to the laziness and stupidity of society at large. I just feel that that accusation would be misplaced in this pa...

I don't think they don't know, it is just that they don't care in the context of informal communication. I am sure they would be able to tell you the ...

It's just another nonsense trendy phrase that those that use it only do so because it is trendy isn't it? There are plenty of American phrases which m...

Hehe, although we are often at odds your counterpoints do draw out my own views better. Not conspiracy as in hidden hands are pulling the strings like...

That goes without saying. :)

Why would it be peculiar when they both were born in the same place and the Buddha grew up in the Hindu tradition?

Yes but here we are specifically discussing Buddhism and what they believe, not general thought experiments of the other possible options. As such I r...

I am not saying the wheel is not eternal, it is that you go outside of it. If for example you were the wheel then it would not be the same as being a ...

Well isn't it going to be a case of gradual divergence like most things, which change and morph over time? At some point they would have been one, whe...

That is a misinterpretation I think, Not that I believe those views, back to the rebirth thing, which I reject, but the whole idea of enlightenment is...

Thank you for the second attempt. I think to be clear you should give your version of what enlightenment is because it seems different to the general ...

Have you read any of my thread: https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/16333/can-the-supernatural-and-religious-elements-of-buddhism-be-extricated?...

Thanks for your clarification and not going on the defensive. It seems we are largely in agreement from that last post. Of course I agree that one can...

This is my view too but the majority voice in this thread has been the usual pushback I expected from 'devouts' that any attempt to question the teach...

Oh and good to see some lively discussion in this thread now a few others on different sides have joined into the fray. :)

Exactly but the dogmatists will say even changing it 1% is bastardising it beyond recognition. Here is a good real world example I thought of which av...

I am glad someone else is highlighting what I have been trying to get at throughout the thread and have been a lone voice so far and what Joseph Campb...

A very dishonest conclusion you have drawn there and shows you do not have a serious interest in exploring this topic.

Not sure why @"baker" has derailed the thread into some back and forth about how leaders should act in positions of power? I don't see how it is relat...

This is exactly what the 'you must completely adhere to the teachings or you are going to get nowhere' folks in the thread, and the usual mindset I se...

Making the post, and studying religions and the common threads does not count as a step? It might not to you, as you seem to been pushing orthodoxy to...

This seems a very idiosyncratic view to you. Never heard anything like that and I doubt most people in Buddhism would agree to that either. More likel...

Maybe in part but you cannot really be claiming that is all that is entailed in becoming enlightened? You know another huge institution which has thos...

It is not about inventing your own path and still calling it Buddhist; it is about having grown up in a time of modern science which refutes central t...

Lol, while they have stated they definitely are not Buddhist or believe their beliefs they do seem to have an extreme interest in supporting them beyo...

-edit- Actually I have had a change of heart and agree now with earlier comments about shying away from discussion which could possibly enable someone...

A lot of distilled information in the post so I won't try and respond to all in one go but will pick this one up. I am not saying I agree 100% with al...

Yes thank you and I apologise for the accusation as I think I was a little uncharitable there. You are clearly making honest efforts to explain your p...

I already mentioned that in my reply. I am not saying it won't. It might. It is open for discussion.

I have got the feeling this user likes to be contrarian rather than agree with points we are saying, perhaps thinking it some kind of losing ground, a...

Yes I know what thread I was posting in. I saw your comments earlier about power requirements for some other stuff and AI technology is one that is sa...

What do y'all think about how with this mad arms race for getting the best AI amongst the mega corps it is using humongous amounts of resources? Apolo...

I am not the one who came up with this and I think the subjectivity of religious experiences has been hotly debated for hundreds, maybe thousands of y...

Best response I have read yet. Clear and plain. I feel like these 'excuses' people make about life being special are akin to the classic religious tro...

You are ignoring again that evidence I have highlighted that many other religious disciplines reach similar levels of transcendence of the physical wo...

The flip side of the question is 'what makes life worth living'. My problem I have had throughout my life is that society in general I find so vapid a...