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I agree with what memo said in that I really don't think the core of the Buddhas teachings were intended to make an idol out of himself, nor were perceptions of enlightenment meant to become so stiff and externally imposed.

It's the same with Christianity today. Rather than apply the direct teachings, people tend to cling too heavily to the surrounding idol-ism totally negating our own dormant Buddha nature and Christ consciousness. If you're seeking enlightenment outside of yourself, you will never find it.

Once you are truly enlightened, or even once you have had the occasional glimpses (satori) of the enlightened mind you begin your path of teaching and guiding others to the best of your ability. This process stems from compassion to others as well as compassion to yourself. Buddhism shouldn't be practiced in a dogmatic way as it completely defeats it's own purpose.

At first glimpse and after a brief introduction to the world of attachments and Grasping and aversion , it's easy to see why Buddhism might appear Nihilistic like Jamie says he perceives it to be.

In actual fact it's the opposite but it is a difficult thing for the mind to dissect as we are too naturally conditioned to seek more of what we like, and avoid more of what we don't . Non attachment in a Buddhist context isn't about loosing all feeling towards anything, it's simply about not being attached to those feelings. Being in the world but not of it. This doesn't lead to passivity, it leads to compassion and a greater understanding of things. You can still have feelings towards something, you just don't identify your 'self' with your attachments,aversions and inclinations to have those feelings.

In regards to Enlightenment, there is a Zen phrase,

If you meet the Buddha on the road , kill him!

It's not to be taken literally of course. The road symbolizes the path of enlightenment and the Buddha you meet on the road, is your own idealized perception of what enlightenment and Buddha-hood equates too. If you think you know what enlightenment is, disregard it, even if you are 'right' and carry on either way essentially. If you are beginning to merge with the ways of the light, then you will naturally already be continuing along the path you should be.

Onethousanddk , enlightenment truly Is more of a path rather than a destination. The rigidty in the views come's not from the core teaching's themselves, but the attachments to the views that have manifested and mutated since Buddha spoke of them.

Killing perceived notions of enlightenment is a humbling train of thought and encourages people that seek enlightenment to not be attached even to the enlightenment they seek This is where the Dualistic mind starts to tie it's self in knots, hence the need for on-going meditation /participation In the world.

Like Memo puts it;

Enlightenment is the realization that you are the "Crown of Creation" and when you understand it well enough to stop looking for enlightenment elsewhere you can savor the gift of being alive and not let it slip away while your are distracted elsewhere.

This in turn leads to Nirvana ( a state free from suffering) once a person has experienced it, even just for 1 day or for 1 minute, the next step is helping alleviate the suffering in other people, as enlightenment , is completely useless, if the world around you is still suffering.

Hence how we arrive back at compassion, which is where Buddhism , and enlightenment really applies it's self in an applicable way.

Being compassionate to others and helping others along their path is the most noble thing we can do.We do this by first, learning to be compassionate to ourselves.

We're all on this forum because we have become aware of tools that can help speed up this process and dissolve boundaries of 'Self ' Not everyone needs these tools to achieve said states,but that's ok too. We live in a modern world, so we must continually adapt older teachings to apply to the here and now and use what ever tools we have so long as we remain completely Mindful in their use.

If you want to awaken all of humanity,
then awaken all of yourself,
if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world,
then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself.
Truly, the greatest gift you have to give
is that of your own self-transformation. -Lao Tzu

<blockquote data-quote="d-T-r" data-source="post: 3514574" data-attributes="member: 9686">I agree with what memo said in that I really don&#039;t think the core of the Buddhas teachings were intended to make an idol out of himself, nor were perceptions of enlightenment meant to become so stiff and externally imposed.It&#039;s the same with Christianity today. Rather than apply the direct teachings, people tend to cling too heavily to the surrounding idol-ism totally negating our own dormant Buddha nature and Christ consciousness. If you&#039;re seeking enlightenment outside of yourself, you will never find it.Once you are truly enlightened, or even once you have had the occasional glimpses&nbsp; (satori)&nbsp; of the enlightened mind you begin your path of teaching and guiding others to the best of your ability. This process stems from compassion to others as well as compassion to yourself. Buddhism shouldn&#039;t be practiced in a dogmatic way as it completely defeats it&#039;s own purpose.At first glimpse and after a brief introduction to the world of attachments and Grasping and aversion , it&#039;s easy to see why Buddhism might appear Nihilistic like Jamie says he perceives it to be.In actual fact it&#039;s the opposite but it is a difficult thing for the mind to dissect as we are too naturally conditioned to seek more of what we like, and avoid more of what we don&#039;t . Non attachment in a Buddhist context isn&#039;t about loosing all feeling towards anything, it&#039;s simply about not being attached to those feelings. Being in the world but not of it. This doesn&#039;t lead to passivity, it leads to compassion and a greater understanding of things. You can still have feelings towards something, you just don&#039;t identify your &#039;self&#039; with your attachments,aversions and inclinations to have those feelings.In regards to Enlightenment, there is a Zen phrase,If you meet the Buddha on the road , kill him!It&#039;s not to be taken literally of course. The road symbolizes the path of enlightenment and the Buddha you meet on the road, is your own idealized perception of what enlightenment and Buddha-hood equates too. If you think you know what enlightenment is, disregard it, even if you are &#039;right&#039; and carry on either way essentially. If you are beginning to merge with the ways of the light, then you will naturally already be continuing along the path you should be.Onethousanddk , enlightenment truly Is more of a path rather than a destination. The rigidty in the views come&#039;s not from the core teaching&#039;s themselves, but the attachments to the views that have manifested&nbsp; and mutated since Buddha spoke of them.Killing perceived notions of enlightenment is a humbling train of thought and encourages people that seek enlightenment to not be attached even to the enlightenment they seek This is where the Dualistic mind starts to tie it&#039;s self in knots, hence the need for on-going meditation /participation In the world.Like Memo puts it;Enlightenment is the realization that you are the &quot;Crown of Creation&quot; and when you understand it well enough to stop looking for enlightenment elsewhere you can savor the gift of being alive and not let it slip away while your are distracted elsewhere.This in turn leads to Nirvana ( a state free from suffering) once a person has experienced it, even just for 1 day or for 1 minute, the next step is helping alleviate the suffering in other people, as enlightenment , is completely useless, if the world around you is still suffering.Hence how we arrive back at compassion, which is where Buddhism , and enlightenment really applies it&#039;s self in an applicable way.Being compassionate to others and helping others along their path is the most noble thing we can do.We do this by first, learning to be compassionate to ourselves. We&#039;re all on this forum because we have become aware of tools that can help speed up this process and dissolve boundaries of&nbsp; &#039;Self &#039; Not everyone needs these tools to achieve said states,but that&#039;s ok too. We live in a modern world, so we must continually adapt older teachings to apply to the here and now and use what ever tools we have so long as we remain completely Mindful in their use.If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation. -Lao Tzu</blockquote>

[QUOTE="d-T-r, post: 3514574, member: 9686"] I agree with what memo said in that I really don't think the core of the Buddhas teachings were intended to make an idol out of himself, nor were perceptions of enlightenment meant to become so stiff and externally imposed. It's the same with Christianity today. Rather than apply the direct teachings, people tend to cling too heavily to the surrounding idol-ism totally negating our own dormant Buddha nature and Christ consciousness. If you're seeking enlightenment [b]outside[/b] of yourself, you will never find it. Once you are truly enlightened, or even once you have had the occasional glimpses (satori) of the enlightened mind you begin your path of teaching and guiding others to the best of your ability. This process stems from compassion to others as well as compassion to yourself. Buddhism shouldn't be practiced in a dogmatic way as it completely defeats it's own purpose. At first glimpse and after a brief introduction to the world of attachments and Grasping and aversion , it's easy to see why Buddhism might appear Nihilistic like Jamie says he perceives it to be. In actual fact it's the opposite but it is a difficult thing for the mind to dissect as we are too naturally conditioned to seek more of what we like, and avoid more of what we don't . Non attachment in a Buddhist context isn't about loosing all feeling towards anything, it's simply about not being attached to those feelings. Being in the world but not of it. This doesn't lead to passivity, it leads to compassion and a greater understanding of things. You can still have feelings towards something, you just don't identify your 'self' with your attachments,aversions and inclinations to have those feelings. In regards to Enlightenment, there is a Zen phrase, [color=orange]If you meet the Buddha on the road , kill him![/color] It's not to be taken literally of course. The road symbolizes the path of enlightenment and the Buddha you meet on the road, is your own idealized perception of what enlightenment and Buddha-hood equates too. If you think you know what enlightenment is, disregard it, even if you are 'right' and carry on either way essentially. If you are beginning to merge with the ways of the light, then you will naturally already be continuing along the path you should be. Onethousanddk , enlightenment truly Is more of a path rather than a destination. The rigidty in the views come's not from the core teaching's themselves, but the attachments to the views that have manifested and mutated since Buddha spoke of them. [u]Killing perceived notions of enlightenment is a humbling train of thought and encourages people that seek enlightenment to not be attached even to the enlightenment they seek[/u] This is where the Dualistic mind starts to tie it's self in knots, hence the need for on-going meditation /participation In the world. Like Memo puts it; Enlightenment is the realization that you are the "Crown of Creation" and when you understand it well enough to stop looking for enlightenment elsewhere you can savor the gift of being alive and not let it slip away while your are distracted elsewhere. This in turn leads to Nirvana ( a state free from suffering) once a person has experienced it, even just for 1 day or for 1 minute, the next step is helping alleviate the suffering in other people, as enlightenment , is completely useless, if the world around you is still suffering. Hence how we arrive back at compassion, which is where Buddhism , and enlightenment really applies it's self in an applicable way. Being compassionate to others and helping others along their path is the most noble thing we can do.We do this by first, learning to be compassionate to ourselves. We're all on this forum because we have become aware of tools that can help speed up this process and dissolve boundaries of 'Self ' Not everyone needs these tools to achieve said states,but that's ok too. We live in a modern world, so we must continually adapt older teachings to apply to the here and now and use what ever tools we have so long as we remain completely Mindful in their use. [color=orange] If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself, if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.[/color] -Lao Tzu [/QUOTE]