It's a humorous (and perhaps therapeutic) romp through Andrews's religious past and the often-bizarre words and attitudes that reflected his fundamentalist Christian faith.
Religion sucks, so we're Buddhist nontheists
If atheism is good enough for Professor of Religion Bart D. Ehrman, it's good enough for me. Buddhism is not atheists. Some Buddhists are, but Buddhism isn't.
Buddhism is nontheistic. That means the world may be polytheistic or pantheistic, but that does not have much bearing on my awakening (bodhi, "enlightenment").
If there is a god, a God, or a GOD (deva, brahma, or Brahman), that's fine and that's great, but that being is not awake, not enlightened, not even on the path to making an end of illusion and suffering.
Can we be believers, be Christians, be agnostics (unknowers), be Hindus, be anything AND also be Buddhists? YES. In Buddhism, no one has to believe; moreover, no one is precluded from believing. What one must do, eventually, is KNOW. This is a path to direct knowing-and-seeing. That is the highest thing, what anyone tired of mere "faith" and "belief" would wish for.
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| Meditators, this is a Teaching (Dharma) for the wise, diligent, inquisitive, ready to investigate |
- The Buddha not only made known the Truth. He did something better: He made known the PATH leading to knowledge-and-vision of the Truth for oneself. It's personally verifiable and, if not verified, it's not of much use. To just believe on account of it (the Dharma) would be like using a smart phone as a hammer or paperweight.
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| Confession of a Buddhist Atheist (S. Batchelor) |
And it still wouldn't make "God" important to what's ultimately true or necessary in this cyclic existence (
samsara)
. In other religions, God is the very reason for religion. But in Buddhism (and to an extent also in Jainism), God isn't what it's all about.
So there are Buddhist atheists. It would be better to be pantheistic or polytheistic. There is no necessity of worshiping, regarding, or devoting oneself to these beings. That's not what's important. It may be helpful. It might be harmful. Be that as it may, being nontheistic is better than being atheistic.
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| There is No God...and He is Always with You |
In nontheism, it doesn't matter if there is or isn't a god/God. Let there be. Let there not be. It's all the same. We still have play and work to do. We must still work out our own liberation. Reality is still the same reality.
Too often the world atheism has come to mean "not believing in any religion" or anything higher than self-will. That's a mistake. It's fine not to believe any religion. We need freedom from religion to be sure. But something that limits me from believing what is not yet seen, not yet tested, not yet experienced?
Our quest is our spirituality, and we believe in
- the historical Buddha's great awakening,
- karma,
- the need for kindness and compassion,
- knowledge and wisdom,
- real magic,
- sciences and experimentation,
- visions,
- entheogens (psychedelic mind-expanding natural substances),
- rebirth,
- yoga,
- visions,
- ghosts,
- the unseen,
- devas,
- psychic phenomena,
- the paranormal,
- Edgar Cayce's abilities,
- limitless human potential,
- Sasquatch,
- UFOs (and not just when the government says it's okay to),
- ancient advanced civilizations,
- lycanthropy,
- the possibility that all of this is a simulation,
- and lots of "crazy" stuff.
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| Not all Christians stay in Christianity? |
And we investigate. And we meditate. And we're called "New Age." And we're laughed at for now and regarded as normal later. Does that mean we can't be atheists? To some, depending on how they're misdefining the term.
Buddhism (as well as the Dharmic religions in general, the non-Abrahamic faiths, New Age cults and religions, and Eastern Philosophies are more science-friendly.
But belief in religion, its tenets and/or Gods, hasn't stopped many Christians, as Andrews points out, from practicing science, going to doctors, and taking safety precautions while praying or practicing their beliefs/faiths/cultural customs. They should be free to do that, and we should be free of them doing that to us. But being free means more than just not believing in God, a theos (dios, deus) or in the crazy dictates of someone's interpretation of a sacred text or book.
Buddhism is great because it has the Kalama Sutra, a discourse the Buddha gave to the Kalama people. In it he advises them not to believe, not to have mere faith, not to trust in some guru, not to take his word for anything. But rather, he tells them that it would be wise to see if they don't already agree with some basics. And is he, the Buddha, really saying anything different? He begins with the point at the heart of this question: Does greed arise for the benefit of a person, the people around that person, or everyone around? Does hate? Does delusion (wrong views)?
But why not? We all want these things. We want. We hate. We fancy this view as being right or wrong, obvious or foolish. Is that doing us good or harm? Well, obviously, the Kalamas can rightly say that from their own experience, from their own observation, when a person is greedy, that's not actually good for that person. It's surely not good for others around that person, nor is it good for society in general. (It would be better that they were unselfish and shared things).
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| I disbelieve in dinosaurs. I believe in Eric Dubay |
The same with hate. It feels "good" (relief) to hate, to express anger, to seek revenge, to be self-righteous, to "even" the score, to retaliate... But is that actually good for a person? It's obviously not good for the people around that person nor for the greater society, everyone being teed off and attacking each other for how they've been slighted.
The same and more so with delusion (ignorance, wrong views, confusion). That's the root of all of our problems. So, yes, a Buddhist can be an atheist. And it would be better to be a nontheist and not trouble ourselves with making others wrong or making ourselves right in others' eyes.
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| Atheist evangelists proselytize church kids. |
Obviously, religion has the power to make fools of people. And we'll sound like idiots. The same will be true when we worship at the altar of Science (Scientism), paying obeisance (and money) to the white-clad brotherhood of priests (scientists and lab workers) of the various votive orders (labs and universities). Just try having a new theory or taking a stand against the prevailing theory and see what happens.
Be free. Think. And don't forget this important message: There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way. So be happy.
May all living beings be well and happy. And, remember, you can still celebrate the holidays. Atheists are not having as much fun as we should be having, having rid ourselves of the wrong views of those poor unfortunate religionists. 😁😸🎃
