Expert: Bodhicitta - 9/22/2004

Question
 Is it true that your sect does not believe in a God, or in a God as a being,an that a Tibetian Buddhist conception of heaven is to someday no longer exist, and that humans are merely karmic obscurations? If so, how do you feel serene, knowing that you may be forced back for hundreds of painful lifetime?  What do you think of the various new age type groups stating that reincarnation is a choice and inbetween lives is a school to evolve into a Godhead, but with a separate identity?  How do you dispute all of there hypnotic regression that colloborate a similiar composite afterlife scenario?  Thanks.  

Answer
Hi Ed
<<Is it true that your sect does not believe in a God, or in a God as a being>>
It may be worth firstly to give a resume of what Buddhism is...and isnt...
Buddha means awake, Buddhism is the path of awakening to
truth using a powerful set of methods called meditation.
Beings are said to suffer through living in a dream like
state of illusion. Driven by the winds of negative emotions
greed, hate and illusion. So by finding out the truth
the seeker on the quest can truly help others to be free from the dellusion and enter reality. This truth is beyond
words and can only be realized through meditation.

Buddhism is not theistic. There is no a priori belief
in a creator god or anything else that can be described
by words and concepts. Any words and concepts are imperfect
confusion.
<<an that a Tibetian Buddhist conception of heaven is to someday no longer exist,>>
There is no idea of heaven or paradise. It is about
realizing truth and reality revealing itself beyond the
curtain of illusion.

There misconceptions in the
Western view of Buddhism mainly caused by early
commentators translating terms incorrectly or trying to
use Christian terms to translate Buddhist ideas.

The confused self,ego and the confused world are empty of any reality they never existed from the very beginning,
do not exist and will be seen to truly not exist through
the practise of meditation on emptiness.

Its not a case of no longer existing. It is waking upto the
truth that self never did exist.

<<
and that humans are merely karmic obscurations?
>>
The truth of the human condition can only be realized
through awakening. Nobody said anything was "merely" this
or that. It is just we are confused and can say nothing
at all about humans at this point.

<<If so, how do you feel serene, knowing that you may be forced back for hundreds of painful lifetime? >>
Well I think the point is how can we be serene
if we realize the truth that all beings are stuck in a cycle of countless rebirths and suffering will awaken
great compassion for helping these beings that suffer. This
is the path of Mahayana Buddhism finding a way to help and free beings from suffering. Sitting serene while beings suffer
is not the path.

<<
What do you think of the various new age type groups stating that reincarnation is a choice and inbetween lives is a school to evolve into a Godhead, but with a separate identity? >>
Buddhism is the path of experience, working with direct
experience through meditation. There isnt a system of
arbitary belief system what ever that might be.The Buddha
said dont believe what I tell you just I am the Buddha
find out for yourself, my path is come and see.

<<
How do you dispute all of there hypnotic regression that colloborate a similiar composite afterlife scenario?  
>>
My opinion on hypnotic regression is that it has
nothing to tell us about rebirth/reincarnation.

The mind is a confused place with a great imagination,
and great suggestibility,. Just look at our dream life.
Or ask a therapist about the delusive fantasies they
find in therapy. Hypnosis and people readily describing
their previous lives as Tutankarmoun or Ceasar should in
my opinion be treated with suspicion.







<<
Thanks.
>>
Bodhicitta