evangelizing unhinged sorry. sometimes i get overexcited. i have found this amazing path and i want to share it with people. when i think of my life before i found my faith, it seems like a movie or a dream that happened to someone else. and believe me, no one could think it's more weird than i do that i'm all religious now. 080715 ... They call me Truth i know what you mean...it was in the opposite direction for me...when i gave up my religion it felt like i had woken up from a long sleep and i could finally see myself and see others...and weirdly enough...i could finally see God...i would love if you share with me...I think buddhism is very interesting 080715 ... f i wonder why people need religion? Buddhism isn't a religion to me, it is a philosophy or even a science. There aren't really any rules once you know and love yourself because you will naturally treat people with respect. Believing in something bigger than you is like separating yourself from reality. 080715 ... hsg i'm out to save evagelists. I believe in "but"s, as in, "that may be true, but remove your head for a different point_of_view." I believe in sweaty craziness. I insert sweaty nuts into you assumptions. craziness stinking outside your box. here's my religion: imagine balls. colorful balls. billions of them. huge balls, tiny balls, diverse balls. got it? good. now these balls have infinite numbers of sides, technically planes which run perpendicular to the radii. on each of these sides there exist one face. now imagine my theory of crazy sweaty nuts in your head for just a moment. these balls are in outer space (and inner of course). arranged in a grid of sorts. a grid in front of a grid etc. this arrangement is cold reality. how we look at it is hot time. the angle at which we look at our balls determines what we see because of the collective effect of all the combined balls' faces. enlightenment is then thereby defined as realizing that you are in fact only playing with your balls. humor is juggling. really, it is. just look at it. clownshamanseriously are playing the same ballgame. they teach laughter by teaching people how to better look at, manage & play with their balls. spreading happiness is the meaning of life. have some courage to play with your balls. have some balls and take hold of your courage! manifesting your dream is a matter of learning and practicing getting these balls to communicate w eo- so that they pivot to each show one of their infinite faces. it is a chess game of divine comedy where the masters wear big choose and have big choices to make as to whether they want their snotty knows to be well-read or blew. 080715 ... unhinged buddhism_vs_nihilism buddhism IS NOT a philosophy. it is a religion. because like all religions it takes faith to truly become enlightened. it takes faith to believe that there is actually a reason to be compassionate to other beings. meditation is not buddhism; it is just a part. buddhism begins where meditation ends. it takes faith to lay aside anger. it takes faith to see through delusion. it takes faith to believe it is better to lay aside passion. what_makes_you_NOT_a_buddhist the_four_seals 080715 ... unhinged if your path makes you happy, that is the path you should be on 080715 ... tourist People who haven't investigated It Are prone to believe that Buddhists Worship Buddha. This of Course is Untrue, and generaly a result of growing up in a Fundamentalist Faith that puts a large Emphasis on a Central Controling Deity And a Reward or Punishment System to modify People's behavior. Having been raised Catholic I Know from where I Speak. Having used Psycedelics I am familiar as well with the concepts of Alternate Realities. Buddhism as I understand It is a System which allows the Individual to Become Aware of the Unrealized Truth where we All are joined, the place without Form or Restriction. This Inward Journey is taken Alone toward the Truth that We are One. Words and Definitions no matter how well crafted will invariabilly Obscure and so must be laid down to see Reality. To this End it is said "If You Find The Buddha, KILL HIM" 080716 ... They call me Truth Unhinged…I do not believe passion needs to be done away with for the better. It is my belief that passion is an essential part of life. It is a beautiful and magnificent thing. In fact, I would argue that com-passion is an outpouring of passion towards another person or thing. Though passion can be devastating and destructive it can also create, and enhance, and yes, enlighten. Everything has its place and its purpose in the universe and everything is meant to be used. It is in how you use it, how you manage it, and how you control it that decides whether it will bring good or bad things and whether it will be beneficial to your growth and development. Similarly, Tourist, I do not believe words need to be shed at all. Words are a beautiful creation. Its existence and purpose is of great importance. We not only use words as symbols…words transmit emotion and feeling, words create new understanding, they encourage, they cause; words have unbelievable potential and it is only limited by the limits of our current imagination. I do agree to some extent however…there are some things that words may not be able to express…but impossible is word used where the imagination fails. I could be wrong and my scope of thinking could be limited. Like emotion and thought, like art, like music, word can transmit truth, and it has in many cases, brought people to the discovery of themselves and others…it unlocked the minds and hearts of many and caused them to find their truth and discover their path and see reality. (But I love words so this could just be my bias) Understanding the place and purpose of all things and their perfect harmony with reality is part of the process. There is nothing that is excess, nothing that is not a part of the all, nothing to remove or be shed of…just understood Follow your path or follow a path already laid. You will find your way. 080716 ... unhinged you aren't buddhist dude ;-) in the buddhist world, compassion and passion are not the same thing. passion causes suffering, and like anything that causes suffering, it should be done away with. it is the point of our path and our practice to banish suffering and delusion. the_four_noble_truths compassion is passion tempered with wisdom. compassion can be trained to be all inclusive, encompassing. passion is object oriented. hence the suffering and delusion. yes, and thus have i heard, the minute you define something in words, you are already losing the reality of it. 080716 ... unhinged (at the risk of sounding like an arrogant broken record, i believe people need religion/faith because we are human. really, it is the only thing that makes us separate from animals. other primates can use tools, language, love each other, but we have yet to see an orangutan prophet.) let me get bit in the ass for that 080716 ... tourist It Is Not That Words Are Good Or Bad It Is That The Thought Process Is Finite, Bound-Up By Duality. When People Speak (think) Of God, Heaven, Nirvana, And Such, Certain Images Arise, And They May Be Very Useful As Tools To Guide Us. But They Are ONLY Images Created By Our Minds, Not The Actual Thing (state) Itself. When Two Or More People View The Same Thing, Neither Person Sees The Exact Same Thing. Different Perspectives Come Into Play, Not Even Mentioning Different Levels Of Discernment We All Possess. Everything We Experience, We Experience Alone Within The Confines Of Our Minds. I Once Pointed Out That I Can Not Be Sure What Red Or Blue May Appear Like To You, Only That They Consistantly Exhibit The Qualities You Have Learned To Associate With Them. We Were All Taught To Name Our Colors, We Assume They Look The Same To Everyone, But What Our Individual Minds Do With The Packets Of Energy At Specific Wave Lengths Is A Matter Of Conjecture To Me. I Assume That What You See Is The Same As Me, Because Your Hardware Is So Simalar To Mine. But How You Process It Is Anybodies Guess. But I"m Drifting... All I Am Saying Is That The Vast Scope Of Reality Is Obscured By Our Finte Minds. I Obviously Like Words, Or I Wouldn't Be HERE Now Would I. 080716 ... hsg I am but-this-ist. 080716 ... xenoic i am deeply spiritual but i do not often share this faith with others. that is because i do not believe we all share a common spiritual nature. what we share is a common physical nature. i have never ascribed to the "we are all one" philosophy. i do believe that there are many groups who do share a similar nature, perhaps known, perhaps unknown to them. some evangelism seems alright; perhaps a sleeping zoroastrian needs another to awake him. a nudge on the shoulder should suffice. kicking the sleeper until they are bloody is going to far, however, and this is what seems to give evangelism a bad name. duly. 080716 ... They call me Truth unhinged...i kinda realized i wasn't Buddhist. But based on what i was hearing compassion is a form of passion, and it is useful if it controlled (which is what i was saying about passion) "compassion IS PASSION tempered with wisdom. compassion can be TRAINED to be all inclusive" So what i am arguing (in un-buddhist terms) is that compassion is passion molded...the problem is not in the passion itself (as with all things) it is how it is used. This is the same with love (as in you can use love in a harmful or beneficial way). I do not think religion/faith is the only thing that separates us from animals but i understand your perspective. What i have noticed with religion (and this is not true in all cases) is that it separates what is essentially the same thing being said differently...it is often used as a separator instead of an incorporate-or. I think the problem is not with religion but in how it is used. yes i understand what you are saying tourist. 080716 ... lunatic jesus Faith is not Spirituality. Spirituality is not Religion. Religion is not a Pop-Tart. I am that Pop-Tart. 080716 ... sameolme Well! Evangeline never could hold more than a shot or two, but what she did............. oh... Damn! Wrong page again. 080716 ... lunatic jesus Thou art the pop_tart 100108 ... ergo More like a popped tart, but now that I know what blathe I'm on. I want to testify "I am speaking softly to my heart." Unrecalled Skite 100108 what's it to you? who go blather from