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Is everybody addicted to something?

I´m addicted to cravings. Even when I´m clean I always think about dope.

In regards to some posts I read today about religion, I don´t think you can be totally free and liberated if devoted to a specific religion. When it comes to that, I guess people may become radical in their thinking.
Not flexible when discussing about it.
 
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I don't think you can be totally free and liberated, full stop.
Religion is, in part, at least, about accepting that.
 
ForEverAfter said:
I don't think you can be totally free and liberated, full stop.
Religion is, in part, at least, about accepting that.
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well, ever read the four noble truth?
the whole point of buddhism is to try to liberate oneself and the path that lead to the ending of all suffering. but id agree that buddhism has nothing to do about religion. its not a religion, its a practice.
buddhism is all about liberation and the letting go from the factors in our mind that causes stress and suffering.
 
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[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]"Belief of any kind can act as a block to discovery and can deliver a distorted view…
[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]To find out what is true religion requires, not a mere one-day effort or one-day search and forgetfulness the next day, but constant questioning, a disturbing inquiry, so that you begin to discard everything.”
[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]~ Krishnamurti[/FONT]
 
Smoky said:
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]"Belief of any kind can act as a block to discovery and can deliver a distorted view…
[/FONT][FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]To find out what is true religion requires, not a mere one-day effort or one-day search and forgetfulness the next day, but constant questioning, a disturbing inquiry, so that you begin to discard everything.”
[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]~ Krishnamurti[/FONT]
Click to expand...
couldnt agree more

its a practice. but one has to know what to practice.
once you begin to practice, it stops being a belief and becomes a experience.

A belief of any kind is intellectual and totally useless if one doesnt begin to apply his belief in his life.

for example, we all know its better to love one another and to not judge. this is a belief in most of us. This belief needs to be applied in every moment of the day and each time one see that he is incline to judging and hating, he needs to discard that.

but in the beginning, you need to understand what should be believed and what should be discarded, what is wholesome and what is not, what is conductive to happiness and what is not.
 
Can't it be both?

...

There are different incarnations of Buddhism. Some of them are certainly religions.
Traditional Buddhism has temples, where people pray and perform ceremonial rites.
There are spiritual concepts within Buddhism such as re-incarnation (which is essentially heaven\hell).
I have known quite a few Chinese Buddhists that regularly attend temple and are heavily involved in the Buddhist community.

A temple elder, that I used to work with, described Buddhism - in practicality - as a religion.
This was unfortunate, according to him, but undeniable.

There are many Buddhists who practice their faith blindly.
There are many Buddhists who believe literally in figurative concepts.

I don't see the difference, really, between Buddhism and Christianity.
Religion is not a dirty word, is it?
 
ForEverAfter said:
What are abstinent monks addicted to?
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Routine?

I think a lot of people are addicted to approval. It manifests in all sorts of ways that look like other addictions (to wealth, to power, image, eating disorders, etc) but seems like at its root, it is this.
 
indeed, religion shouldnt be seen as negative, but you cannot put all religions in the same boat.
christianity is its own thing just like hindouism is its own thing ect. but when you study the different religion, its quite evident fast enough that buddhism is quite different in many ways.

yes, theres many different branch of buddhism and not all of them are the same. but the basic teaching is accepted in all the branches.

buddhism do not ask you to believe. theres no savior and to believe or not will not change anything: the practice is the only thing that will help you. you can believe all you want and think you understand buddhism, but theres a world of difference between applying the teaching and experiencing it for yourself and to simply understand it intellectually. Understanding it intellectually is honestly close to useless as the practice is something that change your every moment of your day but if you dont practice, you will never know what it is.

to believe is totally useless with buddhism, you have to practice and apply the methods and teaching into your life.

its clearly said that once far into the path, the stream enterer to be precise, dont care much about ceremony's, ect.

you cannot practice buddhism blindly as it needs all your attention. but then, people who you may think practice may not practice very much.

this is not the place for me to show you what is buddhism, but even re incarnation is not at all what you think it is.


ForEverAfter said:
Can't it be both?

...

There are different incarnations of Buddhism. Some of them are certainly religions.
Traditional Buddhism has temples, where people pray and perform ceremonial rites.
There are spiritual concepts within Buddhism such as re-incarnation (which is essentially heaven\hell).
I have known quite a few Chinese Buddhists that regularly attend temple and are heavily involved in the Buddhist community.

A temple elder, that I used to work with, described Buddhism - in practicality - as a religion.
This was unfortunate, according to him, but undeniable.

There are many Buddhists who practice their faith blindly.
There are many Buddhists who believe literally in figurative concepts.

I don't see the difference, really, between Buddhism and Christianity.
Religion is not a dirty word, is it?
Click to expand...
 
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buddhism do not ask you to believe.
Click to expand...

There is an expectation in most traditional Buddhist circles that you adhere to certain beliefs.

this is not the place for me to show you what is buddhism, but even re incarnation is not at all what you think it is.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, it doesn't seem like you have a lot to show me...
(Don't presume to know what I think re-incarnation is, simply because I compared it to heaven / hell.)

you cannot practice buddhism blindly as it needs all your attention.
Click to expand...

What you mean is you should not practice Buddhism blindly.
You can practice just about anything blindly.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Buddhists are as removed from (what you believe to be) true Buddhism as Christians are removed from (what I believe to be) true Christianity.

its clearly said that once far into the path, the stream enterer to be precise, dont care much about ceremony's, ect.
Click to expand...

And there are many sects of Christianity that aren't into ceremony.
(I can quote many passages from the NT, indicating that Christ didn't care much for ceremony either.)

you cannot put all religions in the same boat.
Click to expand...

But you were putting all religions except for Buddhism in one boat, and Buddhism in another...?

...

The only distinction you can make between Buddhism and (most) other religions, is the lack of a central God-like figure.
Although, unfortunately, many Buddhists worship the Buddhas... So, practically speaking, there is an idol.
Ironically by denying the fact that Buddhism is a religion, you're treating it as such.
It isn't a perfect system. Buddha (the first) was just a man.
I originally said that Buddhism is flawed, like any other religion.
I will rephrase that to: Buddhism is flawed.

To treat Buddhism as if it is perfect (regardless of whether or not it is a religion or a practice) is just as misguided as being a fundamentalist Jew / Christian / Hindu / Muslim / etc. (IMO)... No religion is perfect. You shouldn't be promoting spiritual superiority, any more than a fundamentalist Muslim.
 
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all religion is there own thing, no need to compare them.

you dont need to believe at all, believe is a thinking process and to practice, you have to stop that thinking, even in your everyday life as much as possible. There nothing to believe in life, everything to experience...

even thinking about the dharma is not recommended at all, better be mindful instead
 
You're comparing them, by separating Buddhism...

but when you study the different religion, its quite evident fast enough that buddhism is quite different in many ways.
Click to expand...

Isn't that a comparison?
And isn't it quite evident that all religions are quite different in many ways to all other religions?

you dont need to believe at all, believe is a thinking process and to practice, you have to stop that thinking, even in your everyday life as much as possible. There nothing to believe in life, everything to experience...
Click to expand...

Isn't that a belief?

...

Buddhists often seem to try and achieve something that is, in practicality, unattainable.
If the world was occupied entirely by abstinent monks, it would cease to function...

It sounds quite profound, but I don't see how it's possible to not believe in anything.
I've questioned Buddhists in the past, and none of them live up to the ideals of Buddhism.
 
not a belief for me as this is practice and it works. Mindfulness is quite simple and will bring to you calm if you actually do it.
mindfulness of your thoughts and of your mood, your body. theres 4 foundation of mindfulness.
you cannot think about a belief and be mindful of the present moment. its one or the other. its quite easy and attainable to do. not a belief, its a practice. it becomes very fast easy to replace negative thought by positive and then shift your attention to the body.
this brings calm automatically simply by changing your negative thoughts into positive ones, you can see result automatically.
 
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murphythecat said:
couldnt agree more

its a practice. but one has to know what to practice.
once you begin to practice, it stops being a belief and becomes a experience.

A belief of any kind is intellectual and totally useless if one doesnt begin to apply his belief in his life.

for example, we all know its better to love one another and to not judge. this is a belief in most of us. This belief needs to be applied in every moment of the day and each time one see that he is incline to judging and hating, he needs to discard that.

but in the beginning, you need to understand what should be believed and what should be discarded, what is wholesome and what is not, what is conductive to happiness and what is not.
Click to expand...

to a point, yes… and knowing what to practice comes down to each individuals personal ways of living or belief structures.

application of beliefs is important for change and growth within one's own paradigm of living, so is shedding destructive beliefs that may hold us back… as K said, "discard everything." This is a process of course :)

to know it's better to love can be more hurtful without merely loving. love and kindness as concepts and not experience per say.

when you say "in the beginning" - what do you mean?
 
I think most people are challenged in life and despite of their problems, they go on using cigarettes, others simply do sports or are fanatic about them. Everyone in their own ways tends to create habits to distract themselves of the difficulties or challenge of our lives.
Healthy people may have problems with food, or by trying to be perfect, working too much, others may hide behind their own shades, frenetic in exercises, eager to protect or act for others, etc, etc.
I could name infinite and various habits as I´ve really never really met someone that wasn´t in same way 'used' to a certain routine that could inevitably make their lives better.
In this same way I conclude that yes, even if you are addicted to good things and bad things.
We are habit forming creatures by nature, in my opinion.
 
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