Og

Buddha says that you already/always are. The only trick is that you don't realize it. And the one way to realizing this happiness is "Self Observation."

Don't try to change. Just observe. Analyze your motives for behaviors and feelings. Just observer yourself. Awareness. Then you'll get to a point where you don't cling to things and you don't reject things and you can enjoy all things.

Anthony deMello was a Catholic Jesuit priest from India who's writings contain a wonderful fusion of eastern spirituality and the teachings of christ.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

debdodd

I agree self observation is one of the keys to happiness. Many times fear gets in the way, at least for me. Sometimes you cling to things, emotions (hate, love) out of fear. Losing "fear" for me was the most difficult thing. I was afraid of what others would think of me, afraid that someone wouldn't like me and I was unhappy because I was trying to be a certain way for other people, or their expectations of me. I stopped living my life for other people and learned to love and like myself. Purged myself of the toxic people in my life and life got much better.

Og

Fear and desire are inseparable. They are the cause of unhappiness (suffering). This is the basic tenant of buddhism.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Journeyman

I would hate to confuse the wonderful teachings of Buddha and the teachings of Christianity. The Buddhist teachings on self is ontological. It is the "No self". Not just selflessness, but no substantial self. The self is a contruct, not a given and when we open ourselves to this and cease constructing a self, we are open to reality as it truly is. The Christian emphasis is ethical and deals with the construction of the responsible self with all its complex experiences. There is no competition in affirming the value of "no-self" and affirming the value of constructing a responsible "self".

So...why did I bring this up you ask? When we ask questions of whether or not God wants us happy, it may be unfair, for different religions, to assimilate all of them into a homogenous answer.

debdodd

Og;

Which form of Buddhism do you follow?

Og

Jesus and Buddha's teachings are identical. Their spiritual birth stories are identical. The interpretation in the different cultures is the difference. Heinrich Zimmer (sociologist from germany in india) labels the difference as folk expressions of the same elementary ideas.

Buddhas do not teach "no self"... That's what I was saying above.. The attainment of happiness is not through acquisition or renunciation. The buddhist teachings lead to identification of self with everything (see tat tvam asi in my signature).

Christ's teachings absolutely abound with this.

For example:

Freedom in enslavement (happiness even when the situation is tough). You can see this behavior EXACTLY mirrored in the tibetan buddhists who are in gulags in china. They return and say that they were afraid that they would lose who they were in that they would lose compassion for those who enslaved them. Undifferentiated happiness and bliss. Just being with neither clinging or renouncing and an identification of the self with all things.

Illustrating wonderfully how beautifully jesus christ's teachings mirrored those of the buddha. The kingdom of heaven is here now. Eternal life is not "living forever." It's identification of the self with all things and existence.

If you want to know why christians today are unhappy? Look at political and educational problems mostly laid down by silly interpretations of Paul's letters (i.e. the rest of the new testament other than the gospells).

The teachings of christ are identical to that of the buddha. Most christians should call themselves "Paulites" or "Peterites" something. But peter never got it (i.e. "Peter, put down that sword" even at the end of christ's teachings). And peter went onto found the catholic church (Peter was the first "pope").

If you want to talk about contemporary christianity, that's a different thing all together and, at least in the states with the baptists and other crazy fundamentalist groups, they've completely missed the point of the teachings of christ.

They've gotten all tied up in the literal truth of all of this poetry and completely miss the point. In their case, unhappiness is derived from ignorance (it is certainly not bliss).

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Og

I don't follow any kind of buddhism. There are many kind of buddhisms and they all represent "a way" to the same goal. So they are NOT at odds with one another in the same way that christian sects are at odds with one another in dogma.

The differences for buddhism are similar to different teaching styles for people in different places in life and with different aptitudes. The zen buddhism of japan is quite in line with their culture and talks about achieving enlightenment through your own actions. Hiniyana buddhism is the old monastic buddhism that requires discarding personal posessions and becoming a monk/nun.

The point is that there is not one road to the goal. The point is that everyone is different and that each approach is as valid as any other one. Just find the one that meshes best with who you are (through self observation) and do it.

My buddhism is a form of my own. My buddhism and yoga are neuroscience and electrical engineering and education and computer architecture and the mathematics of complex systems arising from simple rules.

Yoga means "to yolk".. To connect oneself to something. Buddhism is the attainment of enlightenment. My meditation is with a text and with example problems or with application of theory to a problem for a better understanding of it.

In no way does yoga need to be done in a forest in a loin cloth to be yoga. Nor does buddhism require a medicine bowl and orange death shroud robes.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Og

And ironically, St. Peter's statue outside the vatican cathedral (st peter's bassilica) has him still holding that sword. Still not getting christ's teachings.

__________________
Vi veri veniversum vivus vici. (By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe)
The self is not a fixed entity but a dynamic process of relationships
You & I, no distinction. - Tat Tvam Asi
Become Who You Are

Journeyman

If you notice in my statement above I wrote, "Buddha and Christianity", not Buddha and Jesus. I think when we speak in terms of Christian faith, as you have said, we need to account for the Pauline influence, Greek influence, Western influence, etc...Jesus' sayings (which are not all the words in red, but much less) are, in my estimation, less important to a modern Christian faith than the Corinthian and Roman letters. So, when I was contrasting the two, I was not pitting Jesus against Buddha, but modern Christianity in contrast to Buddhism. Does that make sense?

BTW, I understand what you are saying concerning Buddhism and you probably have much more knowledge than I do, but I have read several books on the subject and was giving a perspective that is shared by many highly accomplished thinkers.

Journeyman

Another BTW, all this depends on the existence of an actual guy named Jesus. There is some debate as to that claim of truth.