Buddha and god
As an antitheist I do not believe there is a god, certainly not one who has created man in his own image or who is concerned with the lives of men. I see no evidence of the universe having been created by some super being; neither do I see evidence of intelligent design around me. If man is made by divine hands then they are clumsy hands indeed. I myself can think of many great improvements to the human form – perfection it isn’t. No. The more I learn the less I am convinced. What I see is religion of all types constructed by man.
Yet I do perceive the possibility of some mystical force at work, some force present in sunsets, rocks, trees and majestic views that I would call ‘wonder and awe’. I do also sense a force at work within the psychology of people creating synchronicity. I, much to Andrew’s disgust, refer to this as the prevailing zeitgeist. I tend to think that this mental emanation will at some point be recognised by science. But maybe I am wrong. Science is in its infancy. It has much to discover. The field of consciousness and psychology is too new to have yielded all its secrets. The future will likely reveal a lot more.
Even as a young man, when I was a spiritual zealot, eager to follow in Kerouac and Ginsberg’s wake, to gain satori and see the universe through the eyes of Zen, I was sceptical of god and derisory of the god of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. His many faces seemed absurd.
I was greatly moved by a tale told to me by a Thai monk called Vorosak Candimitto. As a young man, besotted with Kerouac and Ginsberg, I was on a personal exploration into spirituality, the mind, mysticism and the void. I tried meditation and tried to still my mind to discover that truth within. I enjoyed it but soon moved on. Eastern meditation seemed inappropriate to the life I was leading. I wanted instant nirvana or nothing. That’s Western mentality for you. As for religion and god – this is what Vorosak told me: –
‘One day the Buddha was sitting with a number of learned men. One asked of him:
‘Is there a god?’
The Buddha thought hard before replying.
‘If you were shot with an arrow which had pierced your side, before having the arrow removed by a physician and the wound treated, would you first enquire who had fired the arrow? To what family did he belong? To what caste? Where did they come from? How many members did the family have? From what trees were the bow and arrow fashioned? From what animal were the guts for the bowstring created? Where the metal for the tip had been mined? Who had shaped the tip? From what bird had the feathers for the flights been plucked and who had manufactured them? Likewise the glue to hold them secure?’
The Buddha looked at the wise man intently.
‘Before you have the answers to your questions you would be dead.’
I liked that parable.
At the end of the days it is not about what you believe, how you’ve prayed, whether there is a god or not – it is about how you’ve lived your life, whether you’ve lived it to the maximum and whether you’ve been a force for good or evil.
No sane person would believe that any god would build a wondrous universe and then expect his creations to bore themselves to death in prayer and ritual, hate others and kill in his name. That is straight out of men’s warped minds (men – generic). If there is a god (which I do not believe for one minute) he would want you to live, love, build and enjoy.
So ISIS and all religious nutcases, indoctrinated fools and evangelical idiots can go hang – I’m for life.
Elie Wiesel wrote after his liberation from the concentration camp at the request of the Allies his gruesome experiences down. It says at one point:
I have attended several hangings. I saw one of the convicts cry because her emaciated body had long been the bitter consolation of tears forgotten.
When we came back one day from work, we saw on the parade ground three gallows. Round the SS with menacing machine guns, the usual ceremony. Three tethered death row inmates, the angel with sad eyes.
The SS seemed more anxious, distressed than usual. to hang a child in front of thousands of spectators, was no small thing. The warehouse manager read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. It was ashen, but almost calm, biting his lip. The shadow of the gallows covered it completely.
This time, refused the Lagerkapo to serve as executioners. Three SS men were in his place.
The three convicts went together on their chairs. Three necks were introduced at the same time in the deglutition.
“Long live freedom” cried the two adults. The child was silent.
“Where is God, where is he?” asked someone behind me.
Absolute silence reigned throughout the camp. On the horizon, the sun was setting.
“Hats down!” roared the warehouse manager. His voice sounded hoarse. We cried.
“Caps on!”
Then the march past began. The two adults were no longer alive … But the third knitting depended not lifeless: the little boy was still alive …
More than half an hour he hung so and fought before our eyes between living and dying its death throes. And we had to look at his face. He was still alive when I walked past him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.
Behind me I heard the same man asking: “Where is God ?”
And I heard a voice in my reply:
“He is there – there he hangs on the gallows …”
Elie Wiesel
Sorry for interrupting your conversation with Opher, hell Matt reading what you put has left me cold that last line has put tears in my eyes. Wow, Matt.
Now Matt – that is one hell of an anecdote. Thank you for putting that down. It fills me with emotion.
Opher, I think Matt has said it all.
It certainly fills you with images and thoughts. That is one incredible tale. It shows what evils people are capable of. ISIS are even more depraved but I think it is there in all people. Our job is to eradicate the evil from all our minds – the evil is intolerance, hatred and arrogance.
Nie thought but in this World is that possible?
It’ll take time. Education is the key.
Comments closed. All said. Shabbat shalom.
All has been said many times.
Now this may be a stupid question, but why is it that folks who don’t believe in any God have to strive so hard to prove it? Isn’t it enough to just say your peace and let the world fall in on itself the way you know bloody well it will? Just curious. I run across this same kind of discourse so often… (Playing devil’s advocate here for ya, Opher. Oh wait! If there’s no God then there can’t be a devil, right? 😉 😀 ) {{{Opher}}}
I think it is because we have religion thrust at us in so many guises that it becomes irritating and then infuriating.
I turn on the radio to listen to a Radio 4 programme and it suddenly breaks to a religious service and I have to retune to get my programme back. I hear the news and it always has stuff about some religious group blowing up another, some absurd claim – such as Israel having the right to all of Palestine because it says so in the Bible, Or some bombing of a contraceptive clinic, an abortionist, or women subjugated and raped, stoned to death for having been raped; or people walking around in medieval costume following dietary requirements, observing fasts, ritual praying, weird hairstyles, burkas – all because they believe this is demanded by god (he never demands the same thing everywhere); or bishops having a big say in our parliament; or theocracies ruling countries and ordering beheadings or primitive amputations and whipping people within an inch of their life; or women not being allowed to drive or go out of doors and being made to wear sacks; or sanctimonious priests sermonising about heaven and hypocritically raping children; or people being terrorised with visions of hell; or children being abused by parents for not following the rules; or…………………………….
Religion intrudes into every facet of my life – from the mundane to the life-threatening. I open the door to Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and have to listen to immigrants telling me they want to create a theocracy in my country and bring in Sharia law.
I look at history and the theocracy we had in this country – where torture, raping, pillaging, genocide and burning to death was not only condoned but encouraged – all in god’s name. I look at what happened to South American Indians, North American Indians, Incas, Australian aborigines and the like – the evangelical drive to bring them to god – even if it destroyed their own culture and wiped them out.
I look at the ambition of religion – it’s go forth to multiply – its catastrophic population crisis – 7 billion and counting – it’s lust to take over by force of numbers (Catholic and Islamic families of fourteen and fiftenn kids).
The Teaparty crackpots who want to strip-mine Alaska because it says that god has given us the earth to do with as we wish – destroying the wild-life and plundering the resources – but it’s OK because we’ll soon have the end of days.
The religious cults like Manson and Jonestown.
I could go on.
I do not see religion as that harmless, pleasant personal relationship with god (something that I would support and fight for). It feels more like fighting a rearguard action against a force that is wanting to take over the world and force everyone into a straitjacket. A medieval doctrine, manmade and pernicious, that would destroy the world given half a chance.
I don’t know if that makes sense to you Cheryl? It makes me mad.
Actually it makes perfect sense to me. I feel and get angry over the same things. I guess that’s one reason why I feel I don’t fit in anywhere. And the thing is, I’m discovering a lot of folks out there who feel that way, too. And those of us who feel like that tend to fall into what you said: that harmless, pleasant personal relationship with god. I don’t believe the religion of today is what Jesus (whoever people feel he truly was) EVER had in mind. Especially when it comes to politics. (Render unto Caesar and all that…) What discourages me the most is, even without religion entering the picture, I still sometimes think the world would struggle with the same evils. I guess when I hear people talk about this subject, I just wonder what people think of folks like me. Are we just naive? I think so sometimes.
I think we’re all naïve and gullible, that’s why we get pushed around by the people who run things.