I’m actually criticizing it from knowledge not from ignorance. People don’t understand the level of commitment it asks. The right action, livelihood, and effort usually means their variation of it. It means to strive for detachment and eventually move from “worldly” life. Those who settle for the three you listed aren’t “real Buddhists” from what some practitioners say. I believe there is a saying that goes “if you have a walking stick I will give you one, if you need one I’ll take it away.” It just seems like the teachings were meant for monks and nuns, not really the lay folk.
I also take root with some of their logic but that’s another story. I still think they created reincarnation to prevent suicide since it’s a much faster method to stop suffering. As far as encouraging people to not take things on faith, you are pretty much having faith that enlightenment is a thing and that it exists. Also since it’s based on personal experience it’s claims about reality are dubious at best. We know their experiences are just the result of rewiring the brain through meditation (these experiences can be replicated in a lab setting also, I doubt the monks could have fathomed the cause of their experience).
I give it some credit in that it’s not as violent, but there are some cases that dispute that, as other religions. But they seem to fall into the same rhythm as others by knocking on “worldly life” and then offering a solution, even if you are ok with life they say you aren’t. At the end of the days it’s just another religion. Personal experience isn’t really empirical evidence since the results vary on the person, you just don’t hear much on the negative cases. Failures tend to place blame on the person rather than the method, like any religion.
Machinaforce, you are the last person who should be saying this.
You have told yourself a story about the nature of reality, based on your own particular personal experience. This is what all these discussions are about.
Everyone has told you that you are wrong. Everyone - across a very wide spectrum of different beliefs and philosophies, religions, spiritual practices, and versions of atheism and agnosticism - everyone, whatever their different beliefs, thinks you are wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone agree with you in all these many discussions over a long period of time.
Yet, on the basis of one particular personal experience, you continue to believe that your story is correct.
Why should the thread be closed? You started this thread, but it is not necessarily all about you. Discussions can continue regardless of the original poster.
This happens every day on this board. Someone asks a question or makes a comment, but the thread is not closed if the OP loses interest.
You have no obligation to continue to read or respond to this thread.
Technically you haven’t. You went off topic with the Vedic stuff (which based on your description of it really just sounds like a story)which had nothing to do with my OP or my struggling with it. I’m wondering if you even read the stuff being said. The “story” you speak of isn’t my personal experience but that of others and the claims of many others across different philosophies. I’m not weaving this stuff, they are. You might want to revisit the threads I made and look again.