Atheism Study

Agnishom · 2014-10-27 06:45:45

Atheism is the lack of belief in deities. This thread is for discussion on this subject.

Olinguito · 2014-10-27 07:45:53

Is a Buddhist an atheist? A Buddhist has a religion but does not believe in deities.

Agnishom · 2014-10-27 12:02:40

That is correct.

Buddha never made a comment about the existence of deities. When he was asked the question, he always remained silent.

Atheism is not a religion. It is just the lack of belief in a deity. So you see they are not mutually exclusive. One can be an atheist being religious (Buddhists as you pointed out) or not an atheist even though not religious (me).

Olinguito · 2014-10-28 00:51:39

I mention this because a lot of people I come across seem to equate atheism with non-belief in a religion. This is not true – as in the case of Buddhism. Yet in debates between science and religion the confusion with the term is all too prevalent. In fact such debates tend to bracket all people into just two cetegories: “Christians” and “atheists”. If you’re religious you’re a “Christian”, if you’re not religious you’re an “atheist”. Ridiculous!

Agnishom · 2014-10-28 03:29:20

Personally, I am not an atheist but I do not like any religion.

I am neither religious, nor an atheist.

ShivamS · 2014-10-28 04:29:49

I used to think I was an atheist, but as soon as I deeply analysed prominent religions (along with reading their texts), I realized how logical they are. Along with that, it is immensely pacifying to read through it.

Agnishom · 2014-10-28 04:35:53

Most of religious texts are pacifying. Not all parts, though.

ShivamS · 2014-10-28 04:37:42

Agnishom wrote:

Most of religious texts are pacifying. Not all parts, though.

Although practically all parts help in understanding an important moral value.

Agnishom · 2014-10-28 04:39:22

Okay.

What has religious texts got to do with atheism?

ShivamS · 2014-10-28 04:40:59

Agnishom wrote:

Okay.
What has religious texts got to do with atheism?

Nothing, in this context. It was just a small part of my original post.

ElainaVW · 2014-10-28 06:35:32

Along with that, it is immensely pacifying to read through it.

That is true.

There seems to be some misconceptions in this thread, many Buddhists believe in God, I know this for a fact. Buddhism doesn't seem to forbid you but they generally don't pray to him. This is a high concept.

The Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace has also indicated (as shown above) that saying that Buddhism as a whole is "non-theistic" may be an over-simplification. Wallace discerns similarities between some forms of Vajrayana Buddhism and notions of a divine "ground of being" and creation. He writes: "a careful analysis of Vajrayana Buddhist cosmogony, specifically as presented in the Atiyoga tradition of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, which presents itself as the culmination of all Buddhist teachings, reveals a theory of a transcendent ground of being and a process of creation that bear remarkable similarities with views presented in Vedanta and Neoplatonic Western Christian theories of creation."[41] In fact, Wallace sees these views as so similar that they seem almost to be different manifestations of the same theory. He further comments: "Vajrayana Buddhism, Vedanta, and Neoplatonic Christianity have so much in common that they could almost be regarded as varying interpretations of a single theory.

At the outset, let me state that Buddhism is not atheistic as the term is ordinarily understood. It has certainly a God, the highest reality and truth, through which and in which this universe exists. However, the followers of Buddhism usually avoid the term God, for it savors so much of Christianity, whose spirit is not always exactly in accord with the Buddhist interpretation of religious experience ... To define more exactly the Buddhist notion of the highest being, it may be convenient to borrow the term very happily coined by a modern German scholar, 'panentheism', according to which God is ... all and one and more than the totality of existence .... As I mentioned before, Buddhists do not make use of the term God, which characteristically belongs to Christian terminology. An equivalent most commonly used is Dharmakaya ... When the Dharmakaya is most concretely conceived it becomes the Buddha, or Tathagata ...

Buddha was loathe to speak much but it's said that he came to the concept of God through his own development.

Rather the idea that they don't have a deity has been fostered by the western misunderstanding that in a mystery school you don't study God, you don't even mention him. It is unproductive and confusing to analyze him.

Agnishom · 2014-10-28 12:05:31

I will analyse Tigeree instead.

There was originally no concept of Theism (or Atheism) in Buddha's own idea. Buddhism was modified in several ways, later. However, that might be wrong because:
a. I am an idiot
b. I am not good looking
c. I am not an expert on Buddhism

Elaina, I will read those quotes a little later. I just got up and have to prepare for other stuff. No offense.

David · 2015-05-20 04:50:07

The Buddhists do not have God in their teachings. Buddha remained silent for a reason. Buddha believed that religious ideas and especially the god idea have their origins in fear. The Buddha says: Gripped by fear people go to sacred mountains, sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines. However, Buddha did not experienced the love of God, he knew not God.

Agnishom · 2015-05-20 05:37:34

I find the /r/atheism faq fascinating

Tigeree · 2015-05-20 20:52:41

Agnishom wrote:

I will analyse Tigeree instead.

In what way, and why am I relevant?

bobbym · 2015-05-20 21:00:25

David wrote:

The Buddhists do not have God in their teachings.

That does not mean they do not believe in one. They do not mention God in mathematics classes either but many mathematicians know of him. In some schools of thought you do not even mention his name because you are not allowed to utter it.

Agnishom · 2015-05-21 02:30:04

I never thought Tigeree will come back to see this.

They might or might not believe in a God, but that is not what David is telling.

Tigeree · 2015-05-25 00:21:27

If you want to analyse me then you have my permission.

I can start you off. Today I was thinking that maybe I'm an atheist because I'm not sure I know what faith feels like... I'm not sure I've ever truly experienced it, and hence have nothing to put it into.

David · 2015-05-25 00:50:05

You are an atheist when you believe God or gods does not exist.

Agnishom · 2015-05-25 01:37:58

Hi;

I apologize analysing you. It was a joke.

That's great. I like the idea of atheism and think of it to be more natural.

I am not an atheist though

bobbym · 2015-05-25 01:53:20

I would choose c.

Agnishom · 2015-05-25 02:05:39

What are the options?

bobbym · 2015-05-25 02:07:39

a. I am an idiot
b. I am not good looking
c. I am not an expert on Buddhism

Agnishom · 2015-05-25 02:17:15

I do not think I am wrong though.

bobbym · 2015-05-25 02:19:44

c is correct. I do not know much about it either, but I know something about Siddhārtha Gautama Shakyamuni.

Math Is Fun Forum

#1 2014-10-27 06:45:45

Atheism Study

#2 2014-10-27 07:45:53

Re: Atheism Study

#3 2014-10-27 12:02:40

Re: Atheism Study

#4 2014-10-28 00:51:39

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#5 2014-10-28 03:29:20

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#6 2014-10-28 04:29:49

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#7 2014-10-28 04:35:53

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