Buddhist spam

[LegendRider]

I got the following PM.

Hello,
I'm new here and just wanted to say "hi"

How's it going?

"Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural & spiritual, and it is based on a religious sense aspiring from the experience of all things as a meaningful unity" - Albert Einstein

---
einstein
http://stein.freehostia.com

[weiwentg]

oh, hey, same here! I got the message two weeks ago.

[Fixed]

me to but i didn't mind i kind of liked it
cheers :beer:

[Samster]

if i were religious, i'd be a buddist. but this kind if sh1t still bugs me.

[tomwd3]

Add me to the list of recipients

[H.Frank Beshear]

Yep I got one as well.

[bostondrunk]

Me too, a week or two ago. I replied with:

"Hello,
it goes well. welcome to our humble community. Prayer time is usually at 1pm est. you will be asked to introduce yourself, and any good looking sisters you have, at that point.
Praise Buddah, and his half brother, Archie."

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . was dead. :confused:

BBD

[dbrk]

if i were religious, i'd be a buddist. but this kind if sh1t still bugs me.

Buddhism has flourished historically because it is an evangelical religion, that is to say, it has a message that tradition teaches should be offered to others for their betterment, has had proponents willing to spread that message, and works to cross linguistic, cultural, and other boundaries in order to move that message forward. Were it not for Buddhist evangelism there would likely be no Buddhism today since, for a host of reasons, it didn't flourish in its native land (let's call that the sub-continent) much past the 15th century. History lesson over.

So while the spam is a darn interesting development of the 21st century and may be something strange, it is nothing new. Like most bike design.

There aren't too many things I know about but this would count as one.

dbrk

[rwsaunders]

All of my spam seems to come from target.com and from the geisha girl websites that Dave Thompson sends my way.

[NicaDog]

I received the same message.

Maybe Einstein has found a way to tap into the Internet from another realm and has decided that we are the worthy group for first contact?

He was also know to enjoy a bike ride every now and then.

[manet]

is Buddhism ok with homosexuality?


Buddhism has flourished historically because it is an evangelical religion, that is to say, it has a message that tradition teaches should be offered to others for their betterment, has had proponents willing to spread that message, and works to cross linguistic, cultural, and other boundaries in order to move that message forward. Were it not for Buddhist evangelism there would likely be no Buddhism today since, for a host of reasons, it didn't flourish in its native land (let's call that the sub-continent) much past the 15th century. History lesson over.

So while the spam is a darn interesting development of the 21st century and may be something strange, it is nothing new. Like most bike design.

There aren't too many things I know about but this would count as one.

dbrk

[A.L.Breguet]

is Buddhism ok with homosexuality?

Only if it's served on the side.

[davids]

I'm feeling neglected.

[Fixed]

is Buddhism ok with homosexuality?
http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1997/8/27-2_5.html
cheers :beer:
except when they are h. bars

[davids]

http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1997/8/27-2_5.html
cheers :beer:
Hmm.

How about this (http://urj.org/ask/homosexuality/)?

[dbrk]

http://www.tibet.ca/en/wtnarchive/1997/8/27-2_5.html
cheers :beer:

I hope I don't upset anyone here but I play an historian of religion in the real world. Sometimes saying what's true is not the same hearing what we would hope to be the case. As you can see from this reference, the honest answer is "no," Buddhist traditions (across ethnic, ideological, historical, and regional boundaries, such as Tibetan Mahayana/Vajrayana, the Theravada of Thailand, Sri Lankan, etc.) are as basically homophobic as most other traditionalist religions. The Dalai Lama is a wonderful human being, as decent and compassionate as any I have ever known, but his tradition looks poorly upon any sexual acts that are not reproductive. Of course, why should we expect otherwise? Desire is the cause of suffering (second noble truth, if you are counting), and no desire epitomizes the impermanent (anitya), unsubstantial (anatman), painful (duhkha) features of desire more than sexual desire--- of any sort. There are particular prohibitions in Buddhist rules for monks and lay folk (part of the vinaya) that are directed towards same sex relations, self-satisfactions, and joy in other venues.

This doesn't mean that Buddhists are homophobes anymore than any other religious persons are to be held to accounts for the doctrines and customs of their traditions. When HH DL speaks, he moves fluidly across the line between his personal views and those he represents. You can find plenty of Buddhists who harbor a more tolerant view of sexual relations, hetero- or homosexual. It all depends who you ask. This applies nearly anywhere in religious traditions. The doctrinaire may maintain such persons who cross traditional boundaries are somehow not or no longer "Buddhist" or "Catholic," or what have you, but anthropologically speaking people are who they say they are.

Now Tantric Buddhist traditions turn upside down the notions of sexuality and even some behavioral prohibitions but in that case it's not supposed to be about pleasure or desire but a kind of transcendent indifference to ordinary norms. It's complicated and I've already been pedantic. Apologies.

dbrk

[toaster]

I got the same PM. The person must be a Buddhist because the act did no harm.

That we know of.

[LegendRider]

I got the same PM. The person must be a Buddhist because the act did no harm.

That we know of.

It wasted my precious time. :)

[Grant McLean]

Desire is the cause of suffering (second noble truth, if you are counting)

dbrk

Ain't it the truth, my desire for more bicycles causes me great suffering!

-g

[3chordwonder]

Wow, great post by drbk. I feel kind of edified by having learnt something today. I knew that surfing bike forums wasn't goofing off.

[manet]

how much spam could a buddhist eat

[cs124]

Wow, great post by drbk. I feel kind of edified by having learnt something today. I knew that surfing bike forums wasn't goofing off.

Yep, I always learn something when I read one of Dr Brooks' posts.

You wouldn't, under another name, be a contributor to TAN would you. Something about the musical user name, antipodean location and the time of the post piqued my interest. :beer:

[3chordwonder]

"You wouldn't, under another name, be a contributor to TAN would you."

Umm... I don't *think* so. What is TAN? Just wondering.

[Samster]

... I play an historian...dbrk gets it imo.