>>both of you are evaluating a totally different religion
>based on your >cultural constructs...first of all, s/he didn't
>mention what >tradition s/he follows. that was your first
>mistake.
>
>...and find out what tradition of buddhism the poster follows,
>you, yourself you have no real basis for refuting shakeet's
>point.

i do have a basis. i was pointing out that buddhism was just as multi-dimensional as christianity, and that he shouldn't assume that the poster sees buddha as "god".

did you even read the REST of what i said?

in other words, his argument only holds weight from a "christian" point of view.

>You don't seem to understand that Money is a god for many
>people...some people think potatoes are god...

*sigh* just for the sake of argument, i understand what you're getting at.

my point is that what a "god" is can be defined very differently depending on where you stand.

case in point: ppl mistaking ancestor veneration in africa for ancestor *worship*. it's a far more complex cosmology than that.

or mistaking different manifestations of monotheism for polytheism.


>the teachings of buddha, if one holds them to be divine
>truths, sacred above all other teachings, well, that person
>holds the teachings as a god....

from what i've read of buddhist texts and heard from buddhists themselves, that's not (necessarily) what they believe. the buddha's teachings are a step towards enlightenment.

you can practice whatever way you like...the point is to use the teachings as stepping stones towards/on the right path.

you can even go to church, participate in other, non-buddhist rituals, etc. the point is the path, not the dogma.

the overall effect is similar to hindu thought: many paths, one god.

again, because you're steeped in the boundaries of your truth, this type of argument is pointless. you're only going to draw from derivations of one source.

~~~~
~*~musical revolution~*~

"The world was warned about this...The CIA calls what happened in London today "blowback." It is wrong, it is heinous, it is murder plain and simple, and it was as predictable as the sun rising in the East." ~Wm Rivers Pitt