buddhism my refutation of buddhism

[VishvarupaofParamaShiva]

Foreward

I dedicate this short and simple post to all the buddhists in search of answers and that have a open mind in questioning their religion.

 

 

Introduction

 

Buddhism is a relatively large religion in East asia and Sri lanka.there are millions of estimated western Buddhists.Buddhism presents itself as a logical religion in contradiction to superstitious Theism.Buddhism rejects Theism as coherent.in this book,I want to present the logical case against basic buddhist philosophy and present the philosophical,rational and Scientific case for Theism.

it is not meant to offend anyone's religious sensibilities.I am a former buddhist and understand its appeal.but I do not believe it is the truth.

 

What Buddhist Philosophies teach and their refutations.

1.Dependant origination

 

Dependant origination is the dharma.Buddha said that' dependant origination is the dhamma'.the entirety of Buddhist philosophy is tied into dependant origination and logically is connected to it.if it falls,all of Buddhism falls.So I have chosen to examine this closely first.

 

Dependant origination states that a thing does not come into being except being dependant on something else,infinitely.it is based on one necassery concept:

True Arising.wich means exnihilo.

Absolute Dependant origination is  the idea,in contradiction to Theism that all things are dependantely risen rather then a creation being merely contigent on a higher power (weaker dependant origination).in this case,higher power would be free from being dependently originated so it isn't 'Absolute' .

 

The first way to refute dependant arising,is to refute exnihilo creation.exnihilo creation cannot be an actual thing because nothing,a true nothing produces nothing.

all arisings outside a omnipotent creator could be termed as exnihilo.something cannot concretely arise from itself,other unless that other were omnipotent with infinite power in qualitativeness,both or neither.Ju mipham the Tibetan scholar recognized this fact 1

 

 

1.Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way by Mipham Rinpoche and Khenpo Nüden

 

 

2.Shunyata

 

Shunyata or 'emptiness empty of itself' is a Mahayana Buddhist concept that means that there is no ground of being and nothing can thus be said to be permanent.Nagarjuna the eminent Buddhist Philosopher and  the founder of this concept said that all arisings and cessations were like a Hare's horn in his Mulamadhyamakakarika .but if all Arisings and cessations are like a hare's horn or son of a barren woman,then there must exist either something permanent or pervasive nothingness!

The fact that Nagarjuna did not come to this logical conclusion despite being very bright is because he was a buddhist and believed in dependant origination.so he had to come to the logical conclusion of dependant arising wich is impermanence and groundlessness!But this concept simply cannot be true.Nagarjuna refuted his own philosophy by likening arising as the horn of a hare.

 

3.Kshanabhangavada

Kshanabhangavada is a concept in all buddhist philosophies except the recent pali school,wich is radical momentariness.a individual atom or mind arises and ceases in an instant.nothing is permanent.a atom is replaced by another atom and a mind of an individual is replaced by a mind within less than a second.But if this were true,how could things arise?they would arise out of nothing!once the atom or mind has perished,a new one springs up to take its place.but how can this be possible?it cannot.its an absurd concept.like dependant arising,buddhists basically Believed that things pop up out of nothing!

 

4.Meditation

 

Meditation is a practice within buddhism to find enlightenment.it calms the mind,relieves stress and provides clarity.so they say.but there is also a dark side of meditation.a Recent major study says that 1/4 of advanced regular meditators experience unwanted and negative side effects like terror,sadness,doubt and depressive symptoms.2

 

2 .https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6508707/

 

 

Nibbana/Nirvana

 

Nirvana is the concept of liberation from the cycle of birth and death in Buddhism.in Theravada,this is basically extinction because it is a breaking up of the mental aggregates at the time of death of a Buddha or Arahant.in Mahayana,there is no mind or sensation anymore according to the Sandhirmocana Sutra and a Buddha acts based on past volition and merit(despite having no alayavijnana or mindstream to hold that past karma or past volition!).so it is basically extinction aswell.this is not desirable to most people if they knew what this was.

 

the philosophical proof against Shunyata 

Philosophy has also made proofs against Buddhist shunyata(where a unconditioned reality that is concrete cannot exist)

There Can Only Be Two Types of Concrete Realities:

 

1.Conditioned Reality: Any reality that depends on something for its existence. For example, a Cow depends on its organs, the organs depend on cells, the cells depend on molecules, which depend on atoms,wich depend on electrons,wich depend on Quarks and so forth. This dependence is simultaneous at every moment the conditioned reality exists.

 

2.Unconditioned Reality: Any reality that is self-sufficient, i.e. does not depend on anything else for its existence. This is what is called'(God).

 

any conditioned reality depends upon another reality in order to exist by definition.

 

Any conditioned Concrete reality, must depend upon:

 

a finite number of conditioned realities alone

 

or an infinite number of conditioned realities alone

 

or a finite number of conditioned realities and at least one unconditioned reality

 

A conditioned reality cannot be caused by a finite series of conditioned realities: If there is a linear series of conditioned Dharma, what would the first one depend on? Since it must depend on something, and there is nothing before it, the whole chain ceases to exist. Thus a linear chain of conditioned realities cannot exist. Additionally, a circular finite chain of conditioned realities could not exist either. This would simply result in each conditioned reality fulfilling their own conditions, which is against the definition of a conditioned Dharma.

 

Conditioned realities cannot exist in an infinite Series either. A very large unlimited of number conditioned realities cannot exist,. As the number of conditioned realities in a series increases, the result continues to be non-existence. Continuously adding to the end of the chain would never allow for the conditions of existence to be satisfied, thus the entire infinite chain of conditioned Dharmas would never have its conditions fulfilled.

 

If an infinite (I am granting Buddhists the notion that a actual Infinite can exist in quantity of concrete things for the sake of argument,I do not Believe this.Set theory does not help because its applicable only to abstractions)series of conditioned realities could exist on its own, the complete set of infinite conditioned reality would be an unconditioned reality. However, this is impossible because an unconditioned dharma cannot depend upon an aggregate of conditioned realities . if this were the case, it would be conditioned. Therefore, a set of infinite conditioned realities is itself a conditioned reality, and fails to exist on its own.

 

Since any model made up entirely of conditioned realities can never have their conditions fulfilled, every conditioned reality must be caused by a series of realities that ends (or begins its ontological Series) with an unconditioned concrete reality.

 

if the series of conditioned realities regresses ad infinitum without an unconditioned reality the series itself would be equivalent to nothing. if the series regresses infinitely to more and more fundamental conditions that have the same existential status as the aforementioned conditions, then the search for the fulfillment of conditions would go on endlessly. 

 

But if the search for the fulfillment of conditions would go on endlessly, then every hypothetical conditioned reality in the series would never have its conditions fulfilled and thus would never come into existence.

No matter where we’re at in the series we’ll always come to a conditioned reality that is nonexistent because it is existentially dependent upon other nonexistent conditioned realities.

So a unconditioned reality must exist.

 

this reality must also be absolute pure being and unique,at least one unconditioned reality must exist in all of reality. I believe and will demonstrate based on Father Robert Spitzer's new arguments for the existance of God  that this reality is what  is absolutely  unique, immutable, immaterial, eternal, perfect, personal, all-powerful, etc.

 

The Reason it must be absolute pure existance is because  the realities of our experience are restricted to particular modes of existance. They have distinguishing and  diversifying principles that makes them this instead of that. These diversifying principles constitute what philosophers call restrictions or boundaries.

 

These diversifying principles are Spatial,Temporal or  by way of being.such restrictions cause exclusion between existents and make for incompatible states of being.even though two existents may exist in the same way , they still can be separated  from one another due to Temporal or spatial restrictions.Basically,restrictions (or boundaries) exclude and make for incompatibility.the less exclusive and more compatible a thing is with other realities, the fewer restrictions it has to limit its mode of being (less boundaries)—that is to say the simpler it is.if the unconditioned reality was restricted in its mode of existence by matter, then it would be restricted by a spatial restriction since all matter has extension in space – it would exist here instead of there. Now, such an intrinsic restriction would allow for a real or really possible incompatible state of being that would be excluded from it. But recall that the unconditioned reality cannot have any real or really possible incompatible states of being on the same level of simplicity that would be excluded from it less we end up with an intrinsic contradiction. Therefore, the unconditioned reality cannot be restricted in its mode of existence by a spatial restriction. And if the unconditioned reality cannot be restricted by a spatial restriction, then it cannot be restricted by matter. In other words, it must be immaterial.

 

 

 

 

 

12 links and the aggregates

 

In Buddhism there are 12 links of dependant arising wich explain how the aggregate of the person is apparently formed.they are as follows(From Wikipedia):Ignorance-volitional impulses-sensual consciousness-sense objects-Six fold sense bases-contact-sensation-thirst or craving-attachment or clinging-becoming-birth-aging ,death etc these links however explain an apparent why of aggregation but now a How.the mental factors and atoms cannot aggregate themselves.if the atoms for example aggregated by nature,there could be no release or dissolution.if they repelled by nature,there could be no joining.it follows that they are neutral.since they are neutral,we must explain how they come together.and the most parsimonious explanation is a personal creator.

 

 

 

 

[علوي]

Once I had a discussion about Buddhism, and the argument I used against this religion was that it doesn't provide a framework for everyday life. Let me explain.

When you look at the religion of Islam, we see that we are taught how to eat, how to sleep, even how to walk. There is no other religion in the world which goes into such intricate detail about the tiniest, most insignificant things. Not Christianity, not Hinduism, not Judaism, nothing.

When it comes to Buddhism, the person I was having the conversation with said that Buddhism teaches you to being forgiving and merciful all the time. It's true, these are beautiful teachings. But they are simply not sufficient to live by it. Where's the sharia? Where's the structure? Am I allowed to drink alcohol? Am I allowed to listen to music? Am I allowed to eat pork? Am I allowed to change genders? Buddhism doesn't provide enough for us to be able to make decisions. 

Come to Islam. Every single action that you perform in your life, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) ought to have some kind of law about it in one way or another. Want to start a business? Laws. Want to travel? Laws. Want to have a gathering? Laws. Want to joke? Laws. Want to get married? Laws. Want to watch TV? Laws. Want to go outside? Laws. Want to sleep? Laws. Want to talk? Laws.

The religion of Islam allows us to follow the teachings of the holy Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) in every aspect of our lives, from walking to eating to working. 

Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr writes in his book He His Messenger and His Messsage:

Quote

When we look at the devotional acts prescribed by Islam, we find that they encompass al aspects of life. They are not confined to certain rituals. They are not limited to the acts embodying the glorification of the Almighty such as bowing, prostration, liturgy and prayer. They include all the sectors of human activity. Jihad, a social activity, is an act of worship. Zakat, a social and financial activity, is an act of worship. Fasting, a system of regulating nutrition, is an act of worship. Ablution and ceremonial bathing are two ways of cleaning the body. This comprehensiveness indicates a general tendency of the Islamic training which aims at linking all activities to Allah, the Almighty, and turns every healthy effort in any field into an act of worship. In order to provide a firm basis for this tendency, acts of worship have been distributed among various fields of human activity with a view to train man to give the colour of the masjid to the place of his work, whether it is a farm, a factory, a shop or an office. So long as he works for Allah, whatever good deed he performs is an act of worship.

(He His Messenger and His Message, Appendix, Pg. 84-85, Fourth Edition 1985)

[Hasani Samnani]

During my study of Buddhism, I went in with an open mind that likley this was a perversion of the teachings of a messenger of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى),  and after studying it ...I am convinced , if read in the light of Nahjul Balagha,  then Buddhism came from an originally Islamic type Creed.

The Four Noble Truths

A common, sloppy rendering of the Truths tells us that life is suffering; suffering is caused by worldly desires or greed; suffering ends when we stop being greedy or desiring the worldly things; the way to do that is to follow something called the Eightfold Path.

 

In a more formal setting, the Truths read:

 

1. The truth of suffering (dukkha)
2. The truth of the cause of suffering (samudaya)
3. The truth of the end of suffering (nirhodha)
4. The truth of the path that frees us from suffering (magga)

 

Quite often, people get hung up on "life is suffering" and decide Buddhism isn't for them. However, if you take the time to appreciate what the Four Noble Truths are really about, everything else about Buddhism will be much clearer. Let's look at them one at a time.

 

The First Noble Truth

The First Noble Truth is often translated as "life is suffering." This is not as dire as it sounds; it's actually quite the opposite, which is why it can be confusing.

 

Much confusion is due to the English translation of the Pali/Sanskrit word dukkha as "suffering." According to the Ven. Ajahn Sumedho, a Theravadin monk and scholar, the word actually means "incapable of satisfying" or "not able to bear or withstand anything." Other scholars replace "suffering" with "stressful.

Dukkha also refers to anything that is temporary, conditional, or compounded of other things. Even something precious and enjoyable is dukkha because it will end.( worldy desires are temporary and their over attachments cause suffering)

 

Further, the Buddha was not saying that everything about life is relentlessly awful. In other sermons, he spoke of many types of happiness, such as the happiness of family life. But as we look more closely at dukkha, we see that it touches everything in life, including good fortune and happy times.

 

Among other things, the Buddha taught that the skandhas are dukkha. The skandhas are the components of a living human being: form, senses, ideas, predilections, and consciousness. In other words, the animated body you identify as yourself is dukkha because it is impermanent and it will eventually perish.

 

The Second Noble Truth

The Second Noble Truth teaches that the cause of suffering is greed or worldly desire. The actual word from the early scriptures is tanha, and this is more accurately translated as "thirst" or "craving."

 

We continually search for something outside ourselves to make us happy. But no matter how successful we are, we never remain satisfied. The Second Truth is not telling us that we must give up everything we love to find happiness. The real issue here is more subtle; it's the attachment to what we desire that gets us into trouble.

 

The Buddha taught that this thirst grows from ignorance of the self. We go through life grabbing one thing after another to get a sense of security about ourselves. We attach not only to physical things but also to ideas and opinions about ourselves and the world around us. Then we grow frustrated when the world doesn't behave the way we think it should and our lives don't conform to our expectations.

 

Buddhist practice brings about a radical change in perspective. Our tendency to divide the universe into "me" and "everything else" fades away. In time, the practitioner is better able to enjoy life's experiences without judgment, bias, manipulation, or any of the other mental barriers we erect between ourselves and what's real.

The Buddha's teachings on karma and rebirth are closely related to the Second Noble Truth.

 

The Third Noble Truth

The Buddha's teachings on the Four Noble Truths are sometimes compared to a physician diagnosing an illness and prescribing a treatment. The first truth tells us what the illness is and the second truth tells us what causes the illness. The Third Noble Truth holds out hope for a cure.

 

The solution to dukkha is to stop clinging and attaching. But how do we do that? Maybe divorcing the world three times.

 

The fact is that it cannot be accomplished by an act of will. It's impossible to just vow to yourself, from now on I won't crave anything. This doesn't work because the conditions that give rise to craving will still be present.

 

The Second Noble Truth tells us that we cling to things we believe will make us happy or keep us safe. Grasping for one ephemeral thing after another never satisfies us for long because it's all impermanent. It is only when we see this for ourselves that we can stop grasping. When we do see it, the letting go is easy. The craving will seem to disappear of its own accord.

 

The Buddha taught that through diligent practice, we can put an end to craving. Ending the hamster wheel-chase after satisfaction is enlightenment (bodhi, "awakened"). The enlightened being exists in a state called nirvana.

I think of this as a higher Irfaani state of mind.

 

The Fourth Noble Truth

The Buddha spent the last 45 or so years of his life giving sermons on aspects of the Four Noble Truths. The majority of these were about the Fourth Truth: the path (magga).

 

In the Fourth Noble Truth, the Buddha as a physician prescribes the treatment for our illness: The Eightfold Path. Unlike in many other religions, Buddhism has no particular benefit to merely believing in a doctrine. Instead, the emphasis is on living the doctrine and walking the path.

 

The path is eight broad areas of practice that touches every part of our lives. It ranges from study to ethical conduct to what you do for a living to moment-to-moment mindfulness. Every action of body, speech, and mind are addressed by the path. It is a path of exploration and discipline to be walked for the rest of one's life.

 

This is very close the Enlightenment of the Path by Imam Jafer e Sadiq principles described in  great depth.

Or the different Haqooq laid out by Imam Zainul Abeddeen.

Without the path, the first three Truths would just be a theory. The practice of the Eightfold Path brings the dharma into one's life and makes it bloom.

 

Understanding the Truths Takes Time

If you are still confused about the four Truths, take heart; it's not so simple. Fully appreciating what the Truths mean takes years. In fact, in some schools of Buddhism, thorough understanding of the Four Noble Truths defines enlightenment.

• Seems pretty close to Islamic thoughts to me.

  However I agree with the criticism that their Sharia rules are not explicitly defined.

  Probably perverted over many thousands of years. However the framework is quite Islamic,  but I might be a little biased.

[علوي]

@Hasani Samnani

Yeah I remember hearing somewhere that there's an opinion that Zul Kifl mentioned in the Quran refers to Buddha. 

This is an interesting lecture on this topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ovTV2wUkn8

[Allah Seeker]

There is so much in common with the most recent prophetic update in Islam 1,400 years ago that I personally benefitted in many spiritual, mental and physical ways. Especially the breathing exercises.

[Haji 2003]

Feudalism and Tibetan Buddhism

See the link below for a paper on Tibetan Buddhism.

Quote

Western news media, travel books, novels, and Hollywood films have portrayed the Tibetan theocracy as a veritable Shangri-La. ... A reading of Tibet’s history suggests a somewhat different picture.

https://redsails.org/friendly-feudalism/

[Muhammed Ali]

Ask a Buddhist to explain how reincarnation works when they believe that humans have no souls. How does karma go from one dead body to a new living one? What is the mechanism?

Although they may have flaws in their fundamental beliefs, I think we can learn things from their culture.