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Buddhism

Philosophical Issues

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Outline

  1. Clarification
    1. Gods in Buddhism

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  • The Four Noble Truths
    • Review
    • Spotlight on NT # 2
    • The desire to be free of desires

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  • Truth in Buddhism

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Gods in Buddhism

  • Is Buddhism atheistic?
    • What does this mean?
      • Doesn't answer the question "is there a creator deity?"
        • Rather, it avoids it
        • For the most part...
        • Some schools actually do argue that there is no creator
  • Is Buddha a God?
    • Again, what does that mean?
      • Did the dude named Siddartha create the universe? No.
      • Many argue that the Dharmakaya is like a God

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So...

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No Agreement

It depends which type of Buddhists you are talking about and what you mean by God.

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The Four Noble Truths

1. Dukkha is present in life.

2. Dukkha is caused by desire (which is caused by ignorance).

3. There is a way to end Dukkha.

4. That way is the eightfold path.

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Contradiction

It seems unavoidable to come to the conclusion that dukkha is bad.

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So then one would desire that dukkha would go away.

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But they assert that desire CAUSES dukkha...

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Take it away Philosoraptor!

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Yes it is.

And that is confusing.

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"When studying Zen and seeking Buddhahood, don't see Budhahood as the goal. If you do, it will become further away."

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-Dogen

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BUT HOW??

Basically, it seems impossible to be a Buddhist and not DESIRE the end of desires.

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The way out is they say desire is caused by ignorance - not seeing the world they way it really is.

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Cop Out?

Whether this feels like a satisfying answer to you or not, it shifts the problem to:

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what is the fundamental nature of reality and how does one see it?

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An Important Sentence

Buddhists believe that reality is non-dual.

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Here is a picture of my dog dressed as a hipster:

"I was into

walks

before

they got

cool."

-Daisy