View Poll Results: Whose words win?

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Thread: God's words -vs- Mao's words

  1. #21
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    If you look at the root of it. Buddhism isn't really a religion at all. The Buddha never asked to be worshiped.

    All he said was
    Hey, suffering sucks. But I know a way to get rid of suffering. If you live a modest life and not be attached to worldly things. Suffering goes away. Give it a try.

    Buddhism is more a philosophy, never asked to worship anything, just putting forward a way of life. Just the way it is now, people place as much value on the rituals as they do on the actual teaching.

  2. #22
    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    I know that years back, unfortunately most people of recent age doesn't seem to realise and happily linked Buddhism directly to wealth.

    Has been Buddhismised, so prefers a decent religion to attach. So no thanks.
    Last edited by remember_Cedric; 11-06-09 at 04:43 AM.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

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  3. #23
    Moderator Ken Cheng's Avatar
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    "Render unto Mao the things which are Mao’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.”

    Or something like that.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by remember_Cedric View Post
    I know that years back, unfortunately most people of recent age doesn't seem to realise and happily linked Buddhism directly to
    Yeap. I was really annoyed with some message posted by 'Buddha Blessings' in facebook. It's all feel good messages and very positive, but, the writer mix up Buddhist teachings with the Law of Attraction.

    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=177786926412

    The 4 Noble Truths:

    1. "The noble truth that there is suffering"
    2. "The noble truth that there is a cause of suffering"
    3. "The noble truth that is there can be an end of suffering"
    4. "The noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering"

    Now lets look deeper so we can really understand what the Buddha meant by this.

    The 1st truth is that there is suffering in our world. The Buddha is not referring to the physical, but the mental and spiritual suffering of man. The purpose of life is to seek happiness. Anything else falls short and causes suffering.

    The 2nd truth talks of the causes of suffering. Suffering comes from not being in alignment with our true selves. Until we seek and understand who we are and then align with that frequency, we will feel emotional stress. There are times in our life when we are aligned, this is when we feel fantastic. The misalignment is caused by the constant contrast in our world, and our inability to understand and handle this contrast.

    The 3rd truth is the end of suffering. When we understand the cause of suffering we can take measures to eliminate it. This is a slow process as there are many different things and situations that can lead to suffering. Here knowledge is power.

    The 4th Truthis the cause(s) that end the suffering. These are the causes or steps we take each and every day to end the suffer we bring upon ourselves. By examining the causes, we develop solutions, that in turn will bring us joy and happiness. It also helps us to handle the day to day situations that once caused suffering but no longer do. we discover that suffering is a choice.

    To get on the path to ending suffering we need to employ the Law of Attraction and realize we will always get more of what we focus on. If we focus on what is wrong in our lives we will get more of it. If we focus and the way we want our lives to be, using the gift of imagination we will get that also, dependent on how clearly we see the outcome. The Law of Attraction states that we live in a universe of inclusion, what we thing most about comes into our reality. In order for this to happen we must change our beliefs, and belief is not truth, only habitual thought.

    No matter what happens to you today find good in it! If you have a fantastic day realize it is because you are in alignment and created this day. Also think about making this great day or experience even better. If you are sad or angry focus on feeling just a little bit better. You will then increase your vibration and good things will manifest in your life.

    Plato once said that thoughts were more real and powerful than the things that they manifest. This is the absolute truth. Also remember we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, and that absolute well being is our nature.

    Socrates once said that the "Unexamined life is not worth living." Use the power of thought and imagination (thought) to create the world you desire. Believe and you will succeed!
    I may not have gone into deep study of Buddhism, but, as far as I know that's not what the 4 Noble Truths mean. The 4 Noble Truths I'm more familiar with are

    1. The noble truth that there is suffering
    - Life is suffering because human has to endure birth, aging, sickness and death.

    2. The noble truth that there is cause of suffering
    - The cause of suffering is attachment. Life is impermanent. Nothing is permanent. Having attachment to things will cause suffering.

    3. The noble truth that is there can be an end of suffering
    - The end of suffering is attaining Nirvana, release from the wheel of reincarnation.

    4. The noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering.
    - The way to ending suffering is following the 8 fold path. Mostly, it's about ending attachment and walking the middle road (i.e. did things in moderation).

    Law of Attraction is fine by itself. No need to distort the teachings of other well-established religions to match with it. The messages given are very good messages, just not Buddhist teachings as I know it.
    Last edited by kidd; 11-06-09 at 10:47 AM.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  5. #25
    Senior Member Guo Xiang's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by remember_Cedric View Post


    This rather address my mind to "Ignorance is bliss."
    This statement is very true too.
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  6. #26
    Senior Member remember_Cedric's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xiang'er
    But that's more fair. I think that's the way it should be too. Pushing it all to Jesus/God is just being cruel and irresponsible. What do we learn, in the end? Nothing. Because we were never made to be responsible.
    BTW, He sent his son to redeem our sins is not an act of letting us know that we can go scot-free. It is rather to remind us of his love for us, and to give us a new life to start all over again and quit sinning. As for the list of sins, you can find them in the bible.

    We learn by studying His words, learn what is sin and what is not. Believing of his existence before we even get contact with him, is the first test of faith. It's no rocket science.

    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    Yeap. I was really annoyed with some message posted by 'Buddha Blessings' in facebook. It's all feel good messages and very positive, but, the writer mix up Buddhist teachings with the Law of Attraction.

    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=177786926412

    I may not have gone into deep study of Buddhism, but, as far as I know that's not what the 4 Noble Truths mean. The 4 Noble Truths I'm more familiar with are

    1. The noble truth that there is suffering
    - Life is suffering because human has to endure birth, aging, sickness and death.

    2. The noble truth that there is cause of suffering
    - The cause of suffering is attachment. Life is impermanent. Nothing is permanent. Having attachment to things will cause suffering.

    3. The noble truth that is there can be an end of suffering
    - The end of suffering is attaining Nirvana, release from the wheel of reincarnation.

    4. The noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering.
    - The way to ending suffering of following the 8 fold path. Mostly, it's about ending attachment and waking the middle road (i.e. did things in moderation).

    Law of Attraction is fine by itself. No need to distort the teachings of other well-established religions to match with it. The messages given are very good messages, just not Buddhist teachings as I know it.
    Thank you for sharing this, kidd. Just shake your head and walk away. The 'feel good' messages bring one to nowhere. I believe it's difficult path that strengthens someone, that is after trials of event.

    I am trully surprised by how people have been put in my path that brings me to come to know Him.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    I thought the fact that you have to pay for your wrongdoings yourself (instead of giving them all to Jesus/God) will be way more traumatising.
    That is how life should be, it's all fair and square. You are, no one else, responsible and accountable for your actions.
    Last edited by Trien Chieu; 11-06-09 at 09:56 AM.

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trien Chieu View Post
    That is how life should be, it's all fair and square.
    Sorry to burst your bubbles. But life isn't meant to be fair (definitely not square). The nature has tell us. Life cannot be fair otherwise we would all be living like smurfs.

    You are, no one else, responsible and accountable for your actions.
    Last edited by remember_Cedric; 11-06-09 at 10:07 AM.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by remember_Cedric View Post
    Sorry to burst your bubbles. But life isn't meant to be fair (definitely not square). Tell me, realistically, when has life been fair?
    Life is imperfect because mankind is not perfect. Our justice systems are not perfect doesn't mean we should abandon them all together. Lawful society is not perfect but lawless society is much worse.

  10. #30
    Senior Member yittz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    Yeap. I was really annoyed with some message posted by 'Buddha Blessings' in facebook. It's all feel good messages and very positive, but, the writer mix up Buddhist teachings with the Law of Attraction.

    http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=177786926412



    I may not have gone into deep study of Buddhism, but, as far as I know that's not what the 4 Noble Truths mean. The 4 Noble Truths I'm more familiar with are

    1. The noble truth that there is suffering
    - Life is suffering because human has to endure birth, aging, sickness and death.

    2. The noble truth that there is cause of suffering
    - The cause of suffering is attachment. Life is impermanent. Nothing is permanent. Having attachment to things will cause suffering.

    3. The noble truth that is there can be an end of suffering
    - The end of suffering is attaining Nirvana, release from the wheel of reincarnation.

    4. The noble truth that is the way leading to the end of suffering.
    - The way to ending suffering is following the 8 fold path. Mostly, it's about ending attachment and walking the middle road (i.e. did things in moderation).

    Law of Attraction is fine by itself. No need to distort the teachings of other well-established religions to match with it. The messages given are very good messages, just not Buddhist teachings as I know it.
    The messages distorted Buddhist messages in order to sell. Buddhism is the new hip thing no?

    Valuable teachings nonetheless, much easier to swallow than the actual intention behind the 4 lines. If it guides people to happiness with no harm to others, I don't have a problem with it, considering the amount of other crap that goes on facebook.
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  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by yittz View Post
    The messages distorted Buddhist messages in order to sell. Buddhism is the new hip thing no?

    Valuable teachings nonetheless, much easier to swallow than the actual intention behind the 4 lines. If it guides people to happiness with no harm to others, I don't have a problem with it, considering the amount of other crap that goes on facebook.
    The author can guide people to happiness using the Law of Attraction brand alone. No need to bring in Buddhism and distort the meaning to suit the message she wants to convey. These people want to learn exotic eastern religions, but, when the teachings don't suite then, they distort it.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  12. #32
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    I don't believe Mao's quotations can outsell the Bible. Christianity is everywhere while Mao only ruled China. I know that outside China, some sociology, political science ad history students/scholars might be interested in reading Mao's book. But, Bible is a textbook for every Christian. I would assume that the text book of the world's largest religion will be more widely circulated than Mao's quotations.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Guo Xiang View Post
    True, but think of this as a 'passing word' game. We all know what always happen in the process and in the end.
    darling, if you researched in depth about the process of compiling a bible, you'd have realised it is beyond a 'passing word' game.

    its not easy to put it down in a post the degree of trouble they went to, spending decades after decades discerning which writings were true or fake.

    but apart from 'divinely' inspired individual, its about a whole legacy of 'divinely inspired' people who somehow are all 'divinely inspired' in the same manner...*talk about a major coincidence that seemed almost miraculous!*

    i cannot speak about mao's or any other religious teachings since im not acquainted with them, but as a follower of christ, i should at least say this much....(for starters)

    i heard of many objections about christianity, and 90% of the time they were not objecting to christianity, but what they thought christianity was....(too many ignorance, and sometimes, even amongst christians)
    Last edited by Lucre; 06-29-10 at 01:12 AM.
    o wilku mowa...♪

    The only thing I need to know is that I don't know anything.

  14. #34
    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    I don't believe Mao's quotations can outsell the Bible. Christianity is everywhere while Mao only ruled China. I know that outside China, some sociology, political science ad history students/scholars might be interested in reading Mao's book. But, Bible is a textbook for every Christian. I would assume that the text book of the world's largest religion will be more widely circulated than Mao's quotations.
    Sales figures can be tricky for these 2 books because I'd imagine they're both handed out freely in many cases (in which case no "sale"). But in terms of circulation, I imagine the bible should have upper hand now, since Mao is mostly a thing of the past.
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  15. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by PJ View Post
    Sales figures can be tricky for these 2 books because I'd imagine they're both handed out freely in many cases (in which case no "sale"). But in terms of circulation, I imagine the bible should have upper hand now, since Mao is mostly a thing of the past.
    I finish reading Genesis last night. Now, going on to Exodus. Interesting book.
    Last edited by kidd; 06-29-10 at 10:37 PM.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  16. #36
    Moderator kidd's Avatar
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    There are so many Bible translation out there. How does one decide which one to read? Is it based on which version your church use?

    While looking for info on the Bible, I came across an interest phenomena. There's a group of Christians that people called 'King James Only' group that insist on only th King James Bible being the accurate word of God. Other versions are all tainted. The more extreme of the group even said other versions are work of the devil, that the translators of these other Bibles were influenced by the devil to mislead the public. Some also denounced the New King James Version and only stand by the original 1611 version. Interesting that only the King James Version has such a group while other version don't have.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Only_movement
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  17. #37
    Senior Member Lucre's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    There are so many Bible translation out there. How does one decide which one to read? Is it based on which version your church use?

    While looking for info on the Bible, I came across an interest phenomena. There's a group of Christians that people called 'King James Only' group that insist on only th King James Bible being the accurate word of God. Other versions are all tainted. The more extreme of the group even said other versions are work of the devil, that the translators of these other Bibles were influenced by the devil to mislead the public. Some also denounced the New King James Version and only stand by the original 1611 version. Interesting that only the King James Version has such a group while other version don't have.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Only_movement
    Versions are just translations of the original scrolls, compiled together from various authors (many unnamed even) and before the bible comes about, there was a long period of discernment about which books were considered to be part of the bible.

    Anyone can googled about 'how the bible come about' and probably get a fair amount of reading material to start with.

    As for the KJV only movement, it came from those who believed that BIBLE is the only thing they need, whats not in the bible can be discarded (although there are evidences in the bible that suggested that not everything is contained in the bible, which points to traditions, but convininetly ignored by many bible-only-fundamentalist); and why one translation better than the other?

    If you ask me, if one is a bible scholar, don't tear the KJV out for reading, go dig up the original hebrew/greek text for a more genuine understanding. Most of us here are at least bilingual, and we understood just how one language can differ from another - and literal translation without losing the real meaning is very difficult.

    but keep in mind these text are written thousands of years ago, to understand them in a level of maturity, we must transport our mindset to people of the past, to fully appreciate the writings. Using our modern minds and language to contemplate ancient writings can easily result in misintepretation.
    o wilku mowa...♪

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  18. #38
    Moderator kidd's Avatar
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    I'm currently reading the Bible from beginning to end. I wonder if I can actually persevere and read it until the end. I'm only up to Exodus. Still a long way to go.

    All the bible stories I've read last time are bit of piece of story stories. I never read the whole book before.

    I have to say. Even if one don't believe it as a Holy Book, it's still a very interesting book to read due to its story.

    I'm now up to the part where God first appear in front of Moses in the form of a bush fire.

    The one I have is NIV which I bought because it's the cheapest one in the he bookstore. Plus, it's portable and not KJV. I remember having a KJV at home but I couldn't find it (I got it from my aunt). So, I bought another and purposely bought one that was not KJV, just to read how other version translate the text. But, after I bought the book, I found my KJV and it turns out to be not KVJ but NKJV.

    And only after I bought this NIV, I found that you can read whatever versions you want online except the 'Good As New' version.

    You, I never know there are so many different translation of the Bible and so many contentions until I finally decide to buy one. I used to think there's only one universal translation that every Christian use. Now, I find that there's so many debate on which one is better and which one is more accurate. NIV itself, although very widely used also get some flakes.

    I still hope to get my hand of the 'Good As New' Bible. This book seems to be banned or something by the Christian community. This site said there's an e-sword module for 'Good As New' Bible. But, when I look for it, it's not in the e-sword site anymore.
    http://www.davidcox.com.mx/e-swordmo..._versions.html

    None of the other online Bible website has it. Neither does the Christian bookstore and general bookstores I frequented (MPH, Kunikuniya, Borders, Acmabooks). I can only find it in Amazon and Book Depository. Book overseas bookstore.
    Last edited by kidd; 07-01-10 at 01:42 AM.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

  19. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by kidd View Post
    I have to say. Even if one don't believe it as a Holy Book, it's still a very interesting book to read due to it's story.
    It can be an interesting book to read. But I think if one has no intention of believing, it's no point reading because one may not get anything out of it while finding the words in the holy book contradicting and end up confused.

    Of course, if one is keen to read, keep an opened heart as you read.
    Last edited by remember_Cedric; 07-01-10 at 01:37 AM.
    What can I say? I'm still standing! No weapon against me shall prosper! I am more than a conqueror!!!

    I don't care to sit by the window on an airplane. If I can't control it, why look?

  20. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by remember_Cedric View Post
    It can be an interesting book to read. But I think if one has no intention of believing, it's no point reading because one may not get anything out of it while finding the words in the holy book contradicting and end up confused.
    I have thought twice and even trice before writing that line down because I anticipated a Christian will say something like this, and it only takes 5 minutes for you to prove me right.

    Luckily, I didn't write my thoughts on the stories in his forum or I will surely be reprimanded for not understanding the scriptures.
    Last edited by kidd; 07-01-10 at 01:52 AM.
    什麼是朋友?朋友永遠是在你犯下不可原諒錯誤的時候,仍舊站在你那邊的笨蛋。~ 王亞瑟

    和諧唔係一百個人講同一番話,係一百個人有一百句唔同嘅說話,而又互相尊重 ~ - 葉梓恩

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