If I change dupe, can I change my religion as well?

i tot one must not attach to worldly desire.... like monk not having sex... thats not middle path

Buddhist kingdoms have entered war before.
Ming-Kotte War

As to who started what, I've forgotten about it.
Last time when I watched voyages of Zheng He on National Geographic, I think it started from a civil war for the possession of a Buddha relic.
Busy with the civil war, they didn't wanna pay tribute to China or something which got them destroyed by Zheng He


Depends on the schools of teaching, the monks may be required to take a vow of not eating meat.

In ancient times, even Buddha ate meat. In fact, Buddha died from consuming tainted pork

Buddhist monks generally live on alms. People offer food to them and they were not allowed to choose their food and only consume what was offered (mostly leftovers).

Buddha allowed meat for his disciples under a condition, that is that his disciples did not know, or even suspect that the meat offered to the monk was done so by killing the animal solely for the purpose of offering them to the monks. It's kind of like in restaurants now where fishes are kept alive in aquariums and when you order that fish, they purposely kill the fish for you.

This is the difference between taking a life and eating meat.

However, there are Buddhist schools who are now arguing that the act of eating meat itself is creating more demands for meat, thus encouraging the killing of animals. You will see that some of the Thai monks, or even Nepalese monks eat meat. In general they eat what is offered.

which dupe? apostasy is no issue.

it did. there were statues of Tibetan Buddhas found in sri lanka as well. if mahayana never reached sri lanka, we wouldnt have this this staute would we? it was just the event of theravardans getting the favor of the king and kicking the mahayanists out and vice versa. in the end the theravardans won. this was during the 11th century.



This post has been edited by Joey-kun: Aug 19 2010, 03:23 PM

lol 2 pages ago someone did say no wars in the name of buddhism. what does that imply?

lets not be sneaky. in the end its not what we insist that people see, but what we do.

erm, can people stop trolling "religious" threads? i mean like seriously if you wanna talk about religion the "understand religion thingy" thread can be found in the real life thread.

discussing about buddhism isnt really what this thread is for is it? its going out of topic. maybe a mod can help clear things out?

the whole not eating meat thing is the bigger picture: that is to replenish the stocks of meat that you have ate, they would need to kill more. Also depends on the level of your Buddhist practice: if you want to save all beings would it be logical to eat their flesh while you're at it? Its like a doctor that works as a murderer at night.

gathering wealth n money through the proper ways is not wrong la.

one must not attach to desire if you are a monk(but unfortunately most modern monks still have their own personal desires) or u really really really wanna strive to become the next arahant/Buddha.

for a lay Buddhist, its perfectly alright to have desires.

ah well, the troll is gone. they usually do when nobody cares about them. people do get derailed sometimes after all this is kopitiam. would be different if it was in the real world thread. Then i can help people with their spiritual questions there, buddhists only of course lol

im not trollin btw... just curiosity.... coz heard 2 answer regarding my question

having desires is ok but what happens at the end of the day? that would be a more important question right. does it end or would you prefer to end it?

Actually, i have no teacher. LOL. I dun intend to dwell into the deeper studies, just the basic. IMO, Buddhism is like a formula. It's up to you how you use this formula and apply it. It's not like a typical God-based religion, where they emphasie to tell you what u can do and what you cannot. It's like, give a man fish, he'll eat for one meal. Teach him how to fish and he'll have the knowledge to support himself.

Just to share... when i was younger...during my 20's, was looking for some answer...after studying different religious books for sometime, one night, while i was about to sleep, thinking about all this Buddhism thingy, suddenly i have like an experience where all the jigsaw puzzles fit into places...i can't explain it...mini-enlightment perhaps?? LOL. Anyway, from that day onwards. I simply know Buddhism is the path.

It doesn't happens overnight....it might takes many lifetime for one to be ready to finally leave all desires behind....I know i am not ready this lifetime. It can wait. No hurry.

without a teacher there's no one to guide you. After all the Buddha appeared as a teacher. how would you ever know if your formula is correct if you do not do enough research and testing or have a guide? thus the importance of a teacher in Buddhism.

To understand the deeper aspects, like any other religion Buddhism also demands that you commit to it, take up vows and change your thinking. Just that the outcome is very different that from what you'd get from other religions.

chezzball la, not you...


no need so perasaan la.. hahahhaa

Agreed

hmm it applies to normal layman ...wat siddharta achieve is non comparable...

it can wait but what about other beings and loved ones who are affected from it? leaving desires behind is not about being a monk, its simply to stop putting emphasis on them in your life.

a more experienced practitioner would tell you that you're just using it as an excuse to not practice deeper.

its not that Dharma teachers have physic powers but its just that they're very sharp and can see through people and excuses easily. That is why we need a teacher to break our own mental and spiritual limitations.

This post has been edited by Joey-kun: Aug 19 2010, 03:44 PM

dreamer101 from Zen buddhism may not agree.

to him, if it works for you, then it works...no need bother about teacher, sutras and guides..