Dali Lama tells CNN interviewer that one doesn't need god

that god could be a spiritual hinderance to those seeking enlightenment. How about that, Pat Robertson, et al?

:eyes:

gods and goddesses were usually irrelevant to the pursuit of nirvana, in the Buddha's estimation.

it's nice to see someone actually preach the Buddha's very radical doctrine.

you are supposed to kill him.

Right there in the mirror.

I just checked the thread to see if that'd been posted already.

DUers never let me down. :)

Attachment causes suffering.

attachment causes unsatisfactoriness.

dukkha has been translated as suffering for far too long...

Are there different kinds of dukkha? Is the dukkha of the cancer patient different from the dukkha of Bush?

I'm just curious. My husband is the buddhist in our household, I only know what I pick up from him or his books. There's nothing intellectually or spiritually difficult to Buddhism, IMO, and this is why it's so attractive. What is there to dislike in Buddhist thought? Nada.

You know, your last sentence could be seen as a very deep statement. :evilgrin:

Before he became a hermit, Zarathud was a young Priest, and took great
delight in making fools of his opponents in front of his followers.

One day Zarathud took his students to a pleasant pasture and there he
confronted The Sacred Chao while She was contentedly grazing.

"Tell me, you dumb beast." demanded the Priest in his commanding voice,
"why don't you do something worthwhile. What is your Purpose in Life, anyway?"

Munching the tasty grass, The Sacred Chao replied "MU".*

Upon hearing this, absolutely nobody was enlightened. Primarily because
nobody could understand Chinese.

_{* "MU" is the Chinese ideogram for NO-THING}

And I *still* can't get my horns out of the door.

We're all in it together, kid.

—Say it, no ideas but in things—

"that god could be a spiritual hinderance to those seeking enlightenment." We have all seen wicked and mean things done in the name of some god. Society tends to think that those that don't believe in a higher being, god, are doomed to ?? bad things. In my opinion it is just the opposite, people use gods as a tool to control the masses for one thing and that the human isn't capable of being kind to each other if we didn't have the wrath of god stopping us. That doesn't say much for the human species with that analogy. Never paid much attention to the Dali Lama, maybe I should.

anything that fosters attachment, be it attachment to negative things, or attachment to positive things (love, kindness, etc) can be a hinderance to enlightenment.

I think that you will find all of his writings and teachings most satisfying.

what I think he's saying:

First off, the word "God" can and does represent a slew of different things to people. "God" can be seen as a verb, a noun, or more pertinently to this IMHO, a question mark-- or a period. If "God" as a concept ceases to be an idea that spurs people to ask questions or grow spiritually, causes them to become overly attached to rigid dogmas, belief systems, or thought-forms, causes self-righteousness and "my way or the highway" thinking, or -most importantly- functions as a means to shut down lines on questioning instead of causing them to ask more questions (and I think we all can come up with examples of this in our current situation) then, AFAIC, "God" has become a hinderance to enlightenment.

Don't mean to put words in the Dalai Lama's mouth, but that's how this Taoist-Atheist sees it at least.

would probably agree w/ that - considering what has been done w/ using his name as justification.

the likes of Robertson take anything but cold hard cash or those that possess large quantities of it seriously?

Please - the Dali Lama is a true spiritual guidepost in this world - this is in complete opposition to the thinking of Robertson and the fundie crowd.

The blonde bimbo who was interviewing the guy who introduced the clip kept trying to rephrase and soften the statement, but the guy kept contradicting her. She smiled and said something like "Of course he meant whatever god one chooses to worship." She tried so hard to put different words in the Dali Lama's mouth. "No that's not what the DL meant at all!" Ha Ha. It was great.

Most Buddhists are proud of that.

god's may exist, but they are irrelevant to the goals of Buddhism.

that you can be spiritual without believing in a supreme being.

that's what he believes. His religion isn't theistic in nature, it's that you yourself should become god-like, through seeking enlightenment.

rephrase his words. Imagine how the fundies' heads will explode. They don't let people say those kind of things out loud. As soon as someone tells them what he meant, they'll be shrieking for blood.

...when was the dali lama on cnn? does anyone have video of this interview?

Then again, I doubt Robertson can even spell enlightenment much less understand the concept.

I was just discussing this with my husband this morning... that religions by nature of their very existence seek to put self-appointed humans between individuals and the divine.

SLAY THE BUDDHA! :D

Jesus told "Doubting" Thomas that YOU, TOO, CAN BECOME A CHRIST.

How about those apples, Fundy nutjobs?

or other "eastern" teachings, it all makes perfect sense.

And, after all, "Gnosis" means experiential knowing- the very antithesis of the shut up and believe what we tell you to believe "faith" that passes for much of Western religion these days.