Status Updates From Without and Within

“May all beings be at ease”.

“Let them not do the slightest thing,
That the wise would later reprove”.

In this view the heroism of members of the armed forces would reside in their voluntarily taking on bad kamma and the future suffering that is its consequence for the sake of the nation.

most Buddhists would consider a war of self-defense a necessary evil.

For it would be a sad thing to put all our hopes for happiness into a future that never arrives.

Indeed, the monastic discipline forbids monks to teach any one at all, even lay Buddhists, without prior invitation.

What is the Buddhist attitude to other religions?

he was critical of beliefs and practices that increased the amount of superstition, cruelty and prejudice in the world.

Buddhist teachings do not view same-sex relationships conducted between consenting adults as inherently evil. The Buddha's wise reflections on sexual desire are equally true and applicable whatever gender the object of desire might be.

Impermanence is the central feature of existence.

the desire to be born in heaven after death is considered unwise.

Buddhism is not a member of the belief-system family of religions. For this reason the Buddha's teaching on rebirth should not be seen as a dogma in which Buddhists must believe.

The Buddha made it clear that no realm is eternal, and that rebirth in heaven realms, no matter how sublime, is ultimately unsatisfactory and comes to an end.

Every time we act with kindness we immediately become a slightly kinder person.

Do Buddhists believe in God?

Whereas the notion of a personal creator god is clearly incompatible with Buddhist teachings, some of the more abstract concepts of "god" may be reconciled with them to a certain degree.

Although Buddhist traditions give a place to devotion and ceremony, Buddhism has no dogmas, no single great book.

30