• Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk
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    13 hours ago

    Monk was passing through. Some villagers saw him pissing on a statue of Buddha so they grabbed their pitchforks and went to pitchfork him. “Show me where Buddha is not, and I shall piss there.” said the monk.

  • MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca
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    20 hours ago

    The hungry tiger jataka is my favorite

    "One day, the Bodhisattva and one of his disciples decided to take a stroll in the forest nearby. This had become a regular practice. They often went for strolls.

    While they were walking, the Bodhisattva notices something extremely terrifying. He saw a tigress, which looked weak and hungry. The tigress was about to devour her own cubs. Now, that moved the Bodhisattva’s heart. He did not want the poor animal to suffer the guilt of eating her own cubs. So, he came up with an idea.

    He sent his disciple back to do something. The Bodhisattva had decided that he would offer himself as food to the starving tigress. He simply could not let her eat her cubs. And he knew if his disciple had seen this, he would definitely stop the Bodhisattva from offering himself. You may also like to read, The Tiger And The Golden Bangle.

    After the disciple is gone, the Bodhisattva approached the tigress. With the utmost compassion in his heart and no malice, he let the tigress devour him. The tigress ate him and fed the cubs as well. After a while, the disciple returned. When he saw the Bodhisattva’s blood stained clothes, he realized what had happened.

    He knew the Bodhisattva well. So, he knew the hermit had offered himself to save the tigress. He went back and told his fellow disciples of the Bodhisattva’s sacrifice out of love and compassion. "

    • drolex@sopuli.xyz
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      14 hours ago

      Upon seeing the blood stained clothes, the disciple said ‘Hey I was hungry, too! Fucking weirdo.’

      The disciple was named Colonel Sanders and this was his inspiration to invent the hamberder and never be hungry again.

      • ryedaft@sh.itjust.works
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        18 hours ago

        Nah, they just get reborn. Like, ping

        The problem is that tigers have a taste for Bodhisattvas now.

    • Juliee@lemm.ee
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      15 hours ago

      Yeah well this is why I think that kind of shit is not for me. Sounds cool and all no judgy but you know I have few other things on my mind other than being animal food

      Enjoy yourselves however if that’s your thing (or rather let others enjoy you)

      I think I am gonna focus on pleasantries of today thank you very much

  • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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    1 day ago

    My favorite Buddhist tale is that of the Chinese monk Birdsnest, so called because he always hung out in a tree.

    Now, Birdsnest was famous and highly regarded, and a governor heard of him and decided to seek him out. The governor travelled for days to reach birdsnest, and when he arrived, he asked “hey, birdsnest, what was it that all the Buddhas taught?” Basically, dude was asking for a one sentence summary of religion, like the famous tale of economic study resulting in the one sentence summary of “no such thing as a free lunch”.

    Birdsnest answered “Don’t do bad things, only do good things.”

    The governor scoffed, and said “my three year old nephew knows that!”

    “Easy enough for the three year old to understand,” Birdsnest retorted, “but still very difficult for the sixty year old to do.”

    • FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      A monkey was in a tree above a river and plunged into it. He came out with a fish and scurried up a tree. Once safe in its branches he said to the fish, “Holy shit, good thing I was here. You were about to drown!”

      Intention without awareness can be harmful.

      Another one is the two monks.

      Two monks are traveling. Their sect of Buddhism doesn’t allow them to touch women. They came across a river and when they crossed it they saw a woman who capsized her canoe. The elder Monk swam to the woman and helped her to the shore. She hurt her leg so he carried her to the rest of her party.

      Once they were traveling again, the younger monk continued to badger the elder Monk on why he thought it was okay to touch that woman. The elder Monk said, “I am no longer carrying that woman. Why do you insist on continuing to carry her?”

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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        22 hours ago

        I’d never heard the former, but I adore the latter. I also really enjoy the tale of the horse that came back.

    • rainrain@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      Add meditation and thats the succinct version of the 8fold path.

      Meditation might be implicit tho, and therefore not worth mentioning.

  • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Bible stories are the same way, we’ve just heard them a million times so they don’t seem weird

    “Hey Jesus what toppings do you want for pizza?”

    “Plain with cheese”

    Later the disciples are eating pizza with Jesus

    "“Hey Jesus why did you say you like cheese pizza when you normally order pepperoni?”

    “You dumb fucks how dare you not understand my hidden meaning, I am the true pizza and you are the pepperoni, the grease is my blood”

    “Oh of course, sorry boss”

    • Ostrakon@lemmy.world
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      23 hours ago

      Its almost like nonsensical parables are a recurring theme in religions in general and we shouldn’t be assuming a bunch of mystical morons from a thousand years ago knew any better.

      • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        A lot of the “nonsensical” comes from translation issues.

        You’re not a Hebrew farmer living in the middle east 2000 years ago, and the parable has been translated from ancient Hebrew to Greek, then to Latin, then finally into English.

        The same goes for buddhist parables

        I’ve read that some of these parables originally had clever word play.

      • doomcanoe@sh.itjust.works
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        9 hours ago

        Clearly you just failed to grasp Jesus’s message. And truly I say unto you, there shall be no pizza but through him, and occasionally at work to prevent unions from being discussed.

    • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      … And one day, Jesus saw a fig tree. It was not the season for figs, and so there were no figs on the fig tree. But still, Jesus wanted a fig. He was upset there were no figs, and so he cursed the tree to never bear fruit again. If he couldn’t have a fig, no one could! Probably bathed its roots in a thin stream of uric acid, I don’t know.

      Point is, that fig tree never made another fig, and when his followers asked how, Jesus zipped up his pants and said “if you believe in me, you can do anything. Not only can you totally curse trees to death, you can fuckin’ teleport mountains into the ocean. That’d be sick, dude.”

      • The Book of Dave, 69:66-6
      • deathbird@mander.xyz
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        1 day ago

        Thought that one always tied back to the whole “you shall know them by their fruits” thing.

        As in those who talk nice but don’t produce anything useful (like a fig tree that doesn’t produce figs, just leaves) are not really doing what Jesus said. Don’t be like the Pharisees hollering out in the streets, just love God and do good in the world.

        • Kate-ay@lemmy.world
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          20 hours ago

          Yes but it’s still weird because it wasn’t the right time of year for it to have fruit. The tree would have if Jesus hadnt been a dick.

          • deathbird@mander.xyz
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            6 hours ago

            Well then you’re back to Ecclesiastes. Everything in its season etc.

            Idk, I was just trying to put the best argument forward, but l’m not really a fan of the New Testament in part because of its inconsistency.

      • ddplf@szmer.info
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        1 day ago

        I think you’re confusing the testaments, Jesus was ultimately a great guy as far as I can tell. The God used to be extremely cruel and vengeful in the old testament, though.

    • Caveman@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      In response to calling a prophet bald:

      “So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.” -New King James bible, 2 Kings 2:24

      This is the real way to turn the other cheek

    • tetris11@feddit.uk
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      2 days ago

      “Jesus… when you say ‘get me off this fucking cross, so help me God’… is that a test? Or should we actually get you off the cross?”

      ( More ranting and screaming and moaning )

      The disciples nod wisely at their leader’s self-sacrifice for… their sins maybe? And he will always be immortal in their hearts, because they’ve already eaten him or something.

      The disciples go home, wiser and holier and warily eyeing each other in confirmation of the deeper meaning behind their saviour’s last words: “Guys, please, I’m not fucking around, get me down, please, I’m so fucking thirsty… Jesus fucking christ”

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    One story that stands out to me is there were these warriors who fought a hundred dudes consecutively and then one guy who fought 100 of those warriors consecutively and then Buddha killed him instantly.

  • Allero@lemmy.today
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    1 day ago

    I felt a bit sympathetic to Buddhism up to the point when I actually visited a Buddhist temple and listened to the speeches of monks.

    The amount of brain rot disguised as wisdom has made me feel Christianity ain’t that bad after all.

    Sorry in advance to any Buddhist out there, but it struck me how the common perception of it differs from the actual thing.

    • drre@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      Late to the party, and no offence to buddhism, but i always loved this quote from Terry Pratchett

      “Master, what is the difference between a humanistic, monastic system of belief in which wisdom is sought by means of an apparently nonsensical system of questions and answers, and a lot of mystic gibberish made up on the spur of the moment?"

      Wen considered this for some time, and at last said: “A fish!”

      And Clodpool went away, satisfied.” ― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

      (copies the quote from https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/46982-thief-of-time?page=2 but i’m rather sure its correct, so i didn’t check my copy).

    • deathbird@mander.xyz
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      1 day ago

      Out of curiosity, which Buddhist tradition was this temple out of? I’ve had similar experience, but I get the feeling like Buddhist thought might be about as diverse as Christian.

      • Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works
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        12 hours ago

        It’s much more diverse than Christianity, actually. Buddhism isn’t so much a religion in the judeochristian sense as a characteristic that many religions have. There are Buddhist traditions that worship gods, there are godless Buddhist traditions that worship the Buddha, and ones thay don’t even worship the Buddha but just think he was a pretty wise dude. Some require you to meditate daily, others to chant some mantras, and there are Buddhist traditions like Zen that worship nothing and are all about getting your head out of your ass.

        • deathbird@mander.xyz
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          6 hours ago

          Aye, perhaps not in the “Judeo-Christian” sense, but a religion nonetheless.

          But actually it strikes me that “Judeo-Christianity” is more about theme or literature than form. The Christians claim a common God with the Jews, but that’s mostly it. In form Christianity seems more Greco-Roman than Judaic to me.

          “Greco-Romo-Christan” maybe?

          • Peruvian_Skies@sh.itjust.works
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            4 hours ago

            How does a monotheistic religion whose prophet explicitly claimed to be part of the succession of Jewish prophets and to have “come to confirm” their teachings seem more like a polytheistic religion where gods aren’t known for using prophets to send messages to the people to you? Serious question. I’m intrigued.

        • MDCCCLV@lemmy.ca
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          20 hours ago

          Plain Buddhism was kind of a downer so they made stuff like pure land buddhism that is more of a fun afterlife version instead of hardcore OG Buddha which is like kill yourself and stop existing forever because the world is just an eternal cycle of pain and reincarnation into more pain forever.

    • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      It depends really. I grew up Buddhist and things were chill. Speeches I heard at temple were just telling us to be good people, be nice to people no matter their race or gender stuff like that, don’t do harm to people or animals.

      Even Abrahamic religions have good and bad spiritual leaders, some are cult like and others are just trying to get people to have decent morals.

    • superkret@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      I kinda lost my interest in Buddhism when I learnt that according to traditional Buddhist lore, women can’t reach Nirvana.
      When they’ve collected enough good karma, they are reborn as a man.

      • Cordyceps @sopuli.xyz
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        1 day ago

        I mean aint that different from what the old testament teaches. Not saying the choice is between Christianity and Buddhism, but I’d assume most religions have patriarchy vibes baked into them. Not that I agree with religion, I see them all as means of various levels of crowd control for the masses, and somebody trying to benefit from it, be it a spiritual leader or an orange clown.

        • kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          4 hours ago

          As a Jewish person what on earth are you saying? Im pretty sure the words say that women have souls that are acturally closer to god (which is why they have less commandments). That obviously doesn’t mean Judaism (or the old testiment) isnt patriarchal, it is (extremely) but its not comparable.

    • Donkter@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      A classic cult tactic tbh. Convince people that they can divine meaning from random nonsense and they’ll convince themselves that they are more enlightened and above those around them who don’t understand.

      • Allero@lemmy.today
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        12 hours ago

        I’m not super good at remembering things I don’t need or accept, so I’ll speak a bit generally, but, for example, the cosmology and all the quasi-gods are extremely intertwined, excessively overcomplicated, but actually simple and repetitive;

        Also the pretentious way it poses as a way to direct you in life (monks went so far as to say Buddhism goes far beyond modern philosophy and psychology and is at the forefront of knowledge in life of dignity and happiness), while really it can be condensed to “endure pain and man up, feelings don’t matter, just do what needs to be done”, which is super toxic and not really effective (and I wonder if it’s also contributing to the toxic work culture in the Far East).

        Also, as in many religions, it’s full of stories about miracles happening every day (like, the man who was terminally ill, was set to die within a month and barely walked, but then decided to go 8000km by foot through entire Eurasia to the main temple, and he lived, and succeeded, and lived as a monk ever after).

        Etc. etc.

  • [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    I think I can explain. In Buddhism, you have to understand if he didn’t the last into the pizza, but from where I stand it simply is. I hope that helps.

  • Phen@lemmy.eco.br
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    1 day ago

    Buddhism’s “Life sucks? Be nice and die and you’ll get a better one” sucks but it’s still better than “you should be nice to others, but that’s too much to ask so go be as awful as you want and just regret it later and that’ll be fine”. But even that was better than whatever the fuck people are interpreting from religions these days.

    • Comment105@lemm.ee
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      Before Christianty it was also a lot of “killing people is just really fucking cool, actually”, which even as an atheist I still admit was worse.

      Not that Christians didn’t.

      But they made some sort-of-safe havens.

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        The Spanish missions have entered the chat. They actually sent people back to Spain when they said “yo, maybe Jesus wouldn’t be cool with us enslaving and murdering the locals”.

      • Phen@lemmy.eco.br
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        Yeah. Personally I don’t see life as being “sacred” or anything and I think people should ultimately be free to choose to end their own if they really want to (provided they also get good support for trying to deal with whatever leads to that choice) - but it kinda scares me that this “sanctity” that is attributed to life is the only thing stopping people from being casually OK with murder.

        • WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 day ago

          Perhaps it depends on your definition of sacred. Life is the only mechanism that we know of by which the universe understands itself. If you ascribe to free will, life is the only mechanism able to change the course of events that were initiated by the Big Bang. If you don’t ascribe to free will, then it is the only mechanism able to witness the course of events that were initiated by the Big Bang.

          That seems like something worth preserving in large, even if an individual life should be ended for compassion or justice. A life doesn’t have to be sacred, but Life seems pretty sacred to me.

      • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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        1 day ago

        Christianity was revolutionary for suggesting that we are all equal in the eyes of the divine and suggesting that you can be forgiven.

        • BlueFootedPetey@sh.itjust.works
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          22 hours ago

          Not a relgious scholar, but which religion taught that people are not equal in the eyes of the divine?

          I could believe the forgiveness thing maybe. Again, not a scholar.

          • RowRowRowYourBot@sh.itjust.works
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            10 hours ago

            Many of them as at the time notions of the divine backing whomever was in charge was common. Christianity explicitly states we are all equal in the eyes of God which includes everyone from the unwashed beggar to the emperor of Rome.

        • TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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          22 hours ago

          Excuse me, if you actually understand the path and believe the point is being “nice”, then why the fuck are you talking to me like that? And if you don’t understand the path, then again, why the fuck are you talking to me like that?

          The eightfold path concerns “right” or “wise” or “virtuous” action… but what do those have to do with being “nice”?? Haven’t you heard that light and dark create one another?

  • RedFrank24@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Isn’t Buddhism at least partially about a lack of desire? Buddha is enlightened, meaning he has no desires, therefore if you asked him what he wanted on his pizza, he’d be like “Eh, whatever’s fine”

    • arakhis_@feddit.org
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      21 hours ago

      Theres a meditative practice Dr Kanojia (healthygamergg, Harvard-trained psychiatrist with hindu roots) told in one of his video talks:

      Always choose your second favorite dish on the menu.

      He says your enjoyment will be the exact same, or even better since you become more conscious and dont waste the experience so to speak, like you’d do with the usual ‘ol faithul’ option. Also resonates with me because you learn how to notice your desires. In modern age there’s these lustful/ignorant choices everywhere and more than ever before

    • Ramblingman@lemmy.world
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      I think it’s more about attachment. We suffer because we get attached to feelings, desire, etc. When we should realize, those, along with most things, are ephemeral, or “not real”. I don’t think it is that Buddhist can’t have desire or are indifferent, but that they strive for lack of attachment. That’s probably a gross oversimplification and, like most religions, there are many different sects.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        20 hours ago

        There’s a difference between wanting something and preferring something. If I want something and can’t have it, I’ll suffer. If I prefer something and can’t have it, that’s fine, I’ll get something else.

    • sunflowercowboy@feddit.org
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      1 day ago

      Lack of desire is a metaphysical control of your realm, essentially by not wanting, you cannot truly be hurt.

      The physical path is about actualizing your body through routine use. Meditation for example usually had physical exercise as that allows your breathing to take a dominant part in your brain, regardless of thoughts.

      One of the coolest ways of mastering the metaphysical realm is through imagination, as some buddhist sects just imagine a holy land.

      Anyways, he’d probably dislike a meat supreme.

    • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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      Ryokan, a Zen master, lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain. One evening a thief visited the hut only to discover there was nothing to steal.

      Ryokan returned and caught him. “You have come a long way to visit me,” he told the prowler, “and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift.”

      The thief was bewildered. He took the clothes and slunk away.

      Ryoken sat naked, watching the moon. “Poor fellow,” he mused, “I wish I could have given him this beautiful moon.”

      • arakhis_@feddit.org
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        21 hours ago

        idk this one at least makes sense logically as in: the conscious lifestlye helps the monk see the beauty of life while the thief is chasing material clothes that ultimately in life dont matter like that.

        Most koans though usually are designed as short riddles to be not logical at all/paradoxical and make you move beyond rational thought to experience intuitive/real understanding of reality. The worst one to me is the one hand clap koan, like what does it mean - aaah!

        goes like: “Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?”

        • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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          6 hours ago

          Reminds me of the famous koan:

          Before enlightenment; chop wood and carry water After enlightenment; chop wood and carry water

          Be mindful in your daily activities.

        • stringere@sh.itjust.works
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          1 day ago

          In another telling of the story he arrives to find his meager shack ransacked by the thief and writes a koan with a broken piece of charcoal on a torn piece of parchment:

          He left it right there In the window The moon

          That’s translated and also my memory from a book I read 20 years ago. Do not take this as historically or literarily accurate.