Hi all, since this is one of the most active board for nepalease people, I thought I would ask a question regarding how many people who use this site are buddhist? I grew up in Nepal for 12 years before I came to United States, and as I grew up I knew nothing about Buddhism. They tried to introduce the subject matter when we were a kid, back then but that was it. No one knew anything about it. Part of the reason could be that I went to Notre Dame school that was established by christian missionaries. They didn't teach us anything about christianity either. We did however got breaks for christmas and things, but buddhism for sure wasn't there. My theory on this, is that even though Buddhism started in Nepal, it got pushed aside because of Hinduism. Even in India today, Buddhism is not very prevalent. The home of Gautama Buddha (Nepal) is 99% Hindus. The real Buddhist teachings however went to Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, China and other eastern countries. I discovered Buddhism here in the US. Eversince I got into it I've found it as the most fascinating philosophy I've ever known. It deals with Spirituality and at the same time it is Scientific. The core teachings are in accord with modern scientific laws and theories. It emphasizes meditation which is far more superior than simply going to temple and ask things from God. Not saying that everyone does this, but only few are looking into their own minds and bodies for conflict resolution, weather it is with the relationship or the world in General. I still consider myself hindu in terms of keeping some family traditions, but it is only a tradition, It doesn't help me in looking into who I am. What do people say about this. I'm sure some of you are still going through, the spiritual phase where one looks for some answers on things, like what the heck is this? Why am I here and so fourth. I'd like to hear some things from nepali people. Oh by the way please be respectful of people's opinion. Thanks.

oh really....what is Baisha and sudra caste....never heard before....anyway i hate discrimination among human....regardless of race, religious or sexes.....now even animal got their right..!!!!

netaji, looks like you do not know enough about Yamaraj :)

what i wanted you to realize was this:
Yamaraj doesnt signify the judgement day. Judgement day as defined on other religion is the day, we all will be judged??...so first of all hindusim has no such day and herby there is no word such as judgement day in hindusim. Yamaraj, is the god of death, who just helps and balance the cosmic universe.

And netaji, my question wasnt what is buddhism, and what is its purpose, i do know a little of what buddhism is abt too ke, ;)

Buddha didn't teach Buddhism. Buddha taught path of purification. His teachings are not for any sect. He teaches the truth - law of nature. The best way to learn his teachings is by attending Vipassana meditation course. It is 10 days long, offered worldwide, and its FREE. His teachings cannot be understood by reading or discussing but by practicing.

http://www.dhamma.org

Well,

Raat bhaarri Ramayan sunayoo...bihana(in the morning) Sita ko poi ko ho bheeraa sodchaa baa....!!!!

Question for Confused bro, What's the purpose of Hindu then?

Keep Rocking,
Vaishya ans Sudra are the people who Bahuns and Chetri's think are born to serve them. THe Bahuns and chetri's think they are racially superior than them. THIS IS THE TRUTH(there was a point and time when they wpould not eat or drink anything the Vaishya's and Sudra's touched).

I applaud the efforts and knowledge of those who have posted in this thread.

IME, the one thing which tends to hang up non-religious people when first learning about Buddhism is the idea of re-incarnation. This idea seems to have entered buddism as a part of Guatma's childhood religion - hinduism. I have found that re-incarnation is not needed for Buddha's teaching to hold water, however, he used re-incarnation as part of his teachings, so it is sometimes difficult to explain his messages while still avoiding the idea of karma RE: reincarnation. Karma can exsist in its basic form within a persons own life, reincarnation need not occur for it's effects to be seen. A violent man will find himself living in violence. Other items also apply, though, karma is not a law, it's a guide of events based on prior occurances.

Anyway, karma, enlightment, samsara- all of these things are in truth from Hinduism, not from Buddism itself. Buddism is in many ways, a method for Hinduist enlightenment, seeing as the theology behind the practice comes from Hindu origens

That said, it's all my opinion. I don't feel enlightened, and based on the vedas, if I were enlighted, I'd know it. SO, please disagree with me. ;))

Matrixrose,
A good example to counter your argument would be to give you the example of the eastern religions. If you look at Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim religion they all use the same text(Old Testament), originated from the same area but are not even remotely close. Yeah the Hindu's would like to believe that Buddhism came from Hindu religion(just like India likes to claim that Buddha was born in India).

i'd love to say shit, like no religion and politics in this place....
oops it's been mentioned, yet all we do is carp on about this same shit.
and i'm not even going to say stop it. cause we can't.
face it people, we are flawed.

if u disagree, stop ranting and raving and STFU.

I'm sorry that I can't add to this thread in a real meaningful manner as i would want to :) - but I am reading several books which should fuel my future posts. :) Let me share it.

Roger-Pol Droit : Le Culte du Neant ,1997

ShortSum - The word buddism found its genesis in europe of the 1820s. Until then, even the japanese word of "bukkyou" or the 'teachings of budda' did not exist. However, europe of the nineteenth century feared buddism. It was seen as a worship of an unthinking void, and the people of asia who worshipped such a void were feared and hated. Europe had difficulty understanding budda to begin with. they confused him with a god of commerce, and for a while thought him as an etheopian man. For a period, he was conjoined and confused with mercurius of the roman(or Hermes of Greek)Pantheonon.

Not a book directly on buddism, but follows the (mis)understandings leveled against buddism in euopean cultures over the past century and a half.

Take a look at it if you can.

is the book in french matrix...... orc an u get it in english.
i'll look it up :)

Chick this out..may be you might like it.

http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/5/alio.htm

Check this out..may be you might like it.

http://jbe.gold.ac.uk/5/alio.htm

Matrixrose,
Word Buddhism found its genesis in 1820's ? Accoding to who ? Yes the Westerners. But in all you forgot one important aspect ...Buddhism existed even before Christianity. Just because THEY(westerners did not know how to define it does not mean it didn't exist).

Just look at the westerners perception of Muslim religion in this day and age.....look at what is happening to the world today(current events). Even with all their scholars and universities they still have not got it right in this Modern day and age. And you want me to accept what was said by these very cultures 100 yrs ago ?

six string bro, both hindusim's and buddhism purpose is to reach the ulimate truth and break out the cycle of life.

The word buddism found its genesis in europe of the 1820s. Until then, even the japanese word of "bukkyou" or the 'teachings of budda' did not exist.

...maile ni bujhina k bhanna khojeko ho?? teaching of buddha did not exist??

Regarding this religious stuff....i'm starting to get blur....coz different pplz keep on adding different things....sigh..how come i don't know much about this issue....must be bcoz of my don't care attitude when i was young....so now i'm really trying very hard to follow up all the posting that u guys have posted in order to understand our religion....u pplz do keep on posting...and i'll keep track of it....hehehehe....cheers

hey Bathroomcoffee dude...thanks for ur clarification..!!! Appreciate it...!!

Confused bro, thank you for answering my question; I hope you won't mind answering few more. How does the Ramayan fit into this objective? Are we to model Ram as ideal person, who abandoned his wife Sita while she was pregnant? How can you reach the ultimate truth and break out the cycle of life when there is no equality among people and sexes?

Buddhism and science: A colaboration at University of Wisconsin at Madison
Check this out at:
www.news.wisc.edu/6205.html

investigating the mind: Exchanges between Buddhism and Bio-behavioral science:

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/11/03_minds.shtml

six strings, b4 i answer your question, let me tell you something i have already metioned -- I am not a PRO on these matter.

First question - If you have watched or read ramayan you will learn that Ram really loved Sita ( that is why there was a ramayan war :P) and never wanted to leave her, but, Ram was also a King, and it was his duty as a King was to fullfill his janta's desire. So he abandoned the love of his life, only to serve his people and bring peace. IMagine, if any Nepali Leader learned that lesson from Ram ( to sacrifice something for the sake of ppl)..would that have brought peace? Isnt that a great lesson to learn?

Now on a personal level, it wasnt right, but if we look at it on a broader view, it bought peace to ayodhya, then yes Ram acted as a great King, giving up all his emotions, giving the love of his life, which is ofcourse the hardest thing to do. You sud know, if you are a student here in usa living away from your parents.

How can you reach the ultimate truth and break out the cycle of life when there is no equality among people and sexes?

This one i do not have the answer for, because i have not yet reached any ulimate truth thru any medium, but what they say on those texts is by performing several vipasanas' and yogas', clearing your mind (material things) you will have unity with bramhna, and on Budhisim, you reach the state of sunyata.( read waht neta jii has written down ) :)

Now talking abt equality among sexes, you tell me, which major religion in this world, that is in practice right now, has female dieties..Hmm..very few..and yes Hindusim is one of them. And i dont even think, i have to mention this point, but anyway, here it is, my fren the world is dominated by men, and most of the religious texts that were written were also written by men.