The Buddha was not a Buddhist, Jesus was not a Christian......

[Vajradhara]

Namaste all,

indeed, with an understanding of the concept of Ahisma, it is quite clear that such deeds would not be done. moreover, it is a specific injunction which is found as part of the Precepts which one attempts to adhere to whilst being a Buddhist.

metta,

~v

[ardenz]

Originally Posted by Tariki

It has often been said that the Buddha was not a Buddhist.............that Jesus was not a Christian.

What exactly is being said here?

I found this thread way back in the archives while I was looking at connections between The Buddha and Jesus. I wonder if some of their original message is altered by the labelling, the books, the sects, the divisions of the religions over the years.

Why say Buddhism or Christian at all ? When the original teachers had no labels?

Personally I am a little "a la carte"- I follow aspects of the Buddha and aspects of Jesus. The Buddha had sorted out some pretty good methods for calming the mind. Jesus was good on "love thy neighbour". They both were searching for a greater whole.

[Francis king]

...yes, the buddha wasn't a buddhist, and nor was Jesus a christian...

...and the lesson there is...

..the message of buddha and jesus is theirs, but the rules of the game were written by other ppl... focus on the message and not the ROG's, and u'll be okay...

...so many ppl tie themselves up in striving to be the archetypal perfect holy being, get hung up on being good "christians" or good "buddhists", instead of just being good ppl... religion can become a trap all by itself, something which is supposedly liberating yet ends up binding us tightly to a load of neurosis, and I know this because not only do I see other ppl do it, but I have done it myself...

I am a krsna, so I better not eat onions, I must use hing instead... even though hing tastes like old socks, and I am a fan of baked onions...I must be charitable, that's what christians do... even though I haven't got two pennies to rub together, I should feel bad that I haven't given my coat away yet... I can't be angry and raise my voice, as that's not what buddhists do... even though I am right to be angry here, while I am being mugged at the station...

how can I be a real christian if I am jealous of my neighbours new car? How can I be a real buddhist if I eat meat? I must not be real enough, so I should alter my behaviour and then I will not experience cognitive dissonance...

and so we sublimate these normal human feelings because they do not seem to fit in with our belief system, but the more we do the more we have to do, as we up the ante for ourselves... eventually we become false or brainwashed or tired from tying ourselves up in knots, and then we're missing the point entirely...

as Krsna says himself- "if a person should offer me anything in devotion, a leaf, water, I shall accept..." so why worry that there might be a few slivers of onion in ur prasadam? does Krsna really care? I don't think he does...