ECurb: What kills me is that unsmoked gets a pass on this “bright moon in the sky” crap, and I get a loud chorus of WOOOO when I suggest that the universe is a thought. Unsmoked is more wrapped up in Woo than anyone here, but he gets pats on the back because he’s not a theist. “The inherent mind is Buddha.” There is definitely a double standard around here.
I agree with Bruce on this one. His “Universe is a thought” was ridiculed by everyone who CHOSE to interpret the comment literally. (Atheist fundies tend to do that) They also tend to be much gentler with Buddhism.
JKapp: GAD, many aspects of Buddhism you would be able to relate to in a positive manner. I think you should show some leniency towards Buddhism and accept that it isn’t a run-of-the-mill religion full of “woo.” Would you like me to present some discourses and parables within the Buddhist canon to prove my point?
GAD, many aspects of Christianity you would be able to relate to in a positive manner. I think you should show some leniency towards Christianity and accept that it isn’t a run-of-the-mill religion full of “woo.” Would you like me to present some discourses and parables within the Christian canon to prove my point?
Unsmoked: I can imagine that this is gobbledygook to most Christians; maybe to most Westerners. Did Jesus say anything like this?
As a matter of fact, he did, if you read the Gnostic Gospels…..(ECurb may not like this. Traditional Christians disapprove of the Gnostic Gospels However,. I will let him provide quotes from the NT, for I am sure there are many…..)
Jesus said to them, (Gospel of Thomas) “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].” Verse 22.
The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us, how will our end come?” Jesus said, “Have you found the beginning, then, that you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”
His disciples said to him, “When will the kingdom come?” Jesus said, “It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying ‘here it is’ or ‘there it is.’ Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it.”
Jesus said, “If they say to you, `Where have you come from?’ say to them, `We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established itself, and appeared in their image.’ If they say to you, `Is it you?’ say, `We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living father.’ If they ask you, `What is the evidence of your father in you?’ say to them, `It is motion and rest.’”
The partially recovered Gospel of Mary begins in the third chapter:
“Will matter then be destroyed or not?”
Jesus then said, “All nature, all formations, all creatures exist in and with one another, and they will be resolved again into their own roots. For the nature of matter is resolved into the roots of its own nature.”
Another gnostic teacher, Monoimus, says:
Abandon the search for God and the creation and other matters of a similar sort. Look for him by taking yourself as the starting point. Learn who it is within you who makes everything his own and says, “My God, my mind, my thought, my soul, my body.” Learn the sources of sorrow:, joy, love, hate ... If you carefully investigate these matters you will find him in yourself.
RSS Feed