[How to Live Like a Buddhist Monk]

Yes I can and I do. Opened the newspapers recently? I lived 7 years in a Buddhist country. Just across from the school I taught at, I witnessed people trampled to death trying to buy amulets. There was a total disregard for the feelings of those trampled on. There is anger among the followers. In Thailand, they have even went to the point of forcing Muslims and Christians to learn Buddhism in schools. Buddhists also are given choice jobs over Muslims in the southern part of Thailand. Buddhist soldiers have went on terroristic missions into Muslim towns and villages, killing people just because of their religion.

If you can't see the full picture of Buddhism, then you really don't know enough to say whether or not it inspires terrorism or not. Islam, Christianity and Judaism no more inspire terrorism than does Buddhism.

I am not here to rag on Buddhism because I know there are some definite good points in the religion and as a underlying value system, it has served the countries where it predominates rather well. I am just a little incredulous to see people talking about a religion that they know very little about, except what a few people have written in books. Me? I volunteered in a Buddhist temple.

The ultimate state in Buddhism is absolute nothingness, a total detachment from all feelings, good and bad. As Mother Teresa said, the opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference and that is the the aim of Buddhism.

Oh yeah, and I thought I'd add this one: Most Buddhist monks smoke cigarettes. In fact, I have never met a Buddhist monk who didn't smoke.

There's a song by Eric Clapton called It's in the Way that You Use It. I think that applies to about any religion. One thing, though, I think Mahayana focus more on loving-kindness where as Hinyana puts less emphasis on that. At any rate, they seem to manifest themselves in different ways. One thing I like about Buddhism is that the texts do not advocate violence or such things as can be found in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. If one follows the teachings of Christ, he'll be a great person. If one follows the teachings of Buddha, he will be a great person. Seems that superstition, ignorance and poverty play a big part in the problem you described too. Thanks for the enlightening post though! Many forget that we like to imagine the "grass is greener on the other side" when it's probably a lot about how you look at things...

[Greetings from a Buddhist seeker]

Hello all,

Thought I'd come here to learn a little more about LDS. My background is conservative Protestant for most my life then some searching around and have been following mostly a Zen Buddhist path for a few years. I have several LDS people in my life and one thing I admire is the community-oriented nature of the church as well as the commitment to living moral lives. I am also a Freemason of several years and our principles of living are very similar.

Anyway, glad to be here and learn!