What is Buddhism's End Goal?

[@DougsDharma]

🧡 If you find benefit in my videos, consider supporting the channel by joining us on Patreon and get fun extras like exclusive videos, ad-free audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma 🙂 📙 You can find my book here: books2read.com/buddhisthandbook

[@marshalldrummond5487]

“all things are disappointing” therefor it is through heedfulness we succeed. The Theravada’s that I am close to seem to translate the Buddha’s final instructions to be “you are responsible for your own salvation” which to me always perfectly aligned with the actions teaching - “you will be heir to that which you do”. They seem to take a gentle approach to the end of Samsara.

[@BytesizedL]

Unless we see how the game of life has been played over and over again for endless eons, we will come to terms that we no longer 'want' to play this tiresome game anymore. only then one will decide to end this miserable game one and for all.

[@milascave2]

That's fine. But, what is "salvation,?"

[@marshalldrummond5487]

@@milascave2 for Buddha elimination of all suffering was his goal. The culprit? Attachment (e.g. desire) which brings with it clinging and craving. For me when the bells and symbols silence and chanting pauses the message becomes quite focused.

[@FrancisFurtak]

That is a disappointing attitude. I enjoy most of what I have and do!

[@IgneousExtrusive]

@@FrancisFurtak It's acceptable to enjoy it to a certain extent, but the suffering that comes from losing what you have is due to attachment. Recognizing and accepting the impermanence of what you have and do will reduce the suffering that comes when you lose it.

[@johnmonk3381]

The heart of authentic buddhist teaching is that change is relentless. Therefore to speak of an end goal has no meaning.

[@Giantcrabz]

Soteriology and eschatology in comparative religion are applicable to Buddhism and other views even with cyclical cosmologies.

[@xiaomaozen]

As a German who has learned something from history, I'm very suspicious of any kind of end goal. 😂 Thus my personal end goal is to have no end goal. 🤭 Great video, Doug, thanks a lot! 🐱🙏

[@sunstarrfox]

❤

[@gooberdoober8416]

Legendary

[@leocities]

Beware of greek mythology tragedic turn of events. Running away from it may end up running right to it.

[@mikewright3633]

Great vid as always 🙏🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

😄

[@johnwhittaker311]

My first thought when seeing this was that there isn’t one, that’s kind of the point. If we set an end goal we risk looking to the future, rather than staying in the present, and we are more likely to try and measure progress and make judgements as to how far along we are. The idea of a “goal” causes suffering when we either don’t reach it, or think we’re not going to reach it. To me, thinking of Buddhism as having an “end goal” doesn’t really fit in with the Buddha’s teachings

[@DougsDharma]

True that there can be drawbacks to thinking in those terms, though the Buddha was explicit about end goals for our personal practice.

[@hcironman9196]

This is a lovely channel, thank you for making all of these videos. I saw one of the older videos about Buddhist fundamentals and I got hooked !

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks so much!

[@TheSlickMachine]

Gracefully taught, Dr. Doug.

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@TaylanMorcol]

In my study of the Pali canon, I have come across many instances of the Buddha explicitly speaking of a goal of the holy life and of great exertion to achieve it. For example, from AN 2.5 (Thanissaro) : “Monks, I have known two qualities through experience: discontent with regard to skillful qualities and unrelenting exertion. Relentlessly I exerted myself, [thinking,] ‘Gladly would I let the flesh & blood in my body dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if I have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing my persistence.’ From this heedfulness of mine was attained Awakening. From this heedfulness of mine was attained the unexcelled freedom from bondage. “You, too, monks, should relentlessly exert yourselves, [thinking,] ‘Gladly would we let the flesh & blood in our bodies dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if we have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing our persistence.’ You, too, in no long time will reach & remain in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing & realizing it for yourselves in the here & now."

[@DougsDharma]

Right, for each of us there is an individual goal.

[@epd9005]

Incredible how you can give such a clear answer to such a large question in 12 minutes! Thank you! 😀

[@DougsDharma]

Happy to help!

[@carol-lo]

thanks!!! clear explanation

[@DougsDharma]

Glad it helped!

[@collinsharrelson6887]

If I play it all the way out and try to imagine what the end goal would look like I imagine it would look like a complete letting go of all beings. It gives me peace to even imagine it! Honestly it’s one of the most deeply profound things.

[@sophieblack8864]

I am a student of Tibetan school of Buddhism predominantly in Kagyu and Nyngma lineages. This has to be agreed upon if a student has an experiential versus intellectual knowledge, and these are not meant as solid statements, but from what I understand, Buddhism cannot have an end goal because there is no past, no future, and not even a present moment...but on a relative level, where there is a sense of continuity and we are given options to choose how we want to be in this relative world, we can choose to be like Boddhisatvas. That is a wonderful thing to keep in mind, and we can move on with our human lives with as much grace as we can. There is a reason why we should appreciate the preciousness of human life. And, reading and remembering the Heart Sutra is very helpful. Thank you, Doug, for your contribution to the Buddhist teachings!

[@marka2188]

What a wonderful message that you wrote. Everyone should read MN 131, 132, 133, 134 - yes, four suttas say the same message. Don’t run to the past and don’t run to the future.

[@sociolocomtsac]

The more you're attached to wanting to be "enlightened" the less likely it is.

[@milascave2]

I'm not saying that you are wrong, but according to many schools of Buddhism, that is not true. The desire for enlightenment is the one skillful craving. And even the arising of the desire for enlightenment is considered an extremely valuable thing..

[@CrimBlack]

Thanks Doug for your very informative video! What you mentioned in the middle regarding the need of a sangha for a lay community to provide food and shelter is something that has crossed my mind too. I consider myself a buddhist, and that is why what I'm about to say may not exactly be skillful speech, but I don't know how else to put it, so here goes: the recognition by the sangha that a lay community is necessary as they work towards enlightenment strikes me as evil. It is a condemning of non-monastics to the suffering of greed, hatred and delusion as they work for the benefit of the sangha (no matter how voluntary their donations are). I am aware that the Buddha mentioned that one of the best things to do as a layperson is to donate to the sangha and reap karmic fruit, but it sounds like a bit of a cop-out. "Us monks get to potentially be enlightened, but you farmers and merchants must further remain in the bondage of samsara in order to provide for us". I probably have completely wrong view about this though, having missed something important, and would love to stand corrected.

[@TheWayOfRespectAndKindness]

I’ve had similar thoughts.

[@marka2188]

You actually have a rational thinking mind. If you are afraid of Kamma vipaka (something I rarely find in Sutta pitaka) then don’t entertain these rational thoughts. Otherwise, continue and you will realize what Buddha actually taught. After 2600 years later we have this wonderful business (industry) called Buddhism and most are just participating as givers or takers of this industry.

[@khayon4364]

I would go back and read more of the Pali if this was your take away as well as interact with sangha's including a monastic element. Within the Pali there are enlightened householders and non-monastics - though more rare then a monk due to conditions for practice - the fact that they still played a major roll is important to the history of Buddhism and how the faith works. Its not as if enlightenment is locked behind a monks robes. In addition the idea of a "life long monk" is actually quite rare - many monks take novice or temporary ordination to achieve specific goals for a certain time period. Within my own (Karma-Kagyu) Sangha there are lay teachers and Lamas that have the same ranks and authority as monastics and can hold similar roles. It does take more for the lay person as they have responsibility outside of the Sangha (kids, mortgage, friends, community) but this is hardly an indictment against monks. Though Monastics are hardly free of stress and work. The monks at my home monastery I took refuge at are some of the busiest people I have ever met.

[@KingJoshwer]

Let go of the things you hold on to. - Either consider living a life free of attachment, or give to those who do until you can. Giving things away is a practice in letting go for lay people who want to understand buddhism. Those farmers and merchants remain so through choice, no one is required to do anything. I don't know much about sanghas but I am sure one would feed itself if it had to, or starve, but not force anyone else to do anything for it.

[@KingJoshwer]

Enlightenment is seeing things clearly, being able to make the right choice unimpeded by emotion or short sightedness because you’ve learned to grow out of those things. The goal of buddhism is probably to help everyone the world grow, if anything. It isn’t exactly religious, it’s more practical

[@mishapurser4439]

I'm interested in a deep dive into the precise meaning of 'attachment'. From an immediate sense of the word, cutting off all attachments to family and community sounds really unhealthy both for the individual and their social network. Yes, members of that network may cause suffering in various ways (death, arguments, illness, etc.), but it doesn't follow that cutting off all attachments to them all is a healthy response to that. Being an Arhat sounds isolated and indifferent rather than equanimous and content.

[@DougsDharma]

Remember that there are three jewels in Buddhism, and one of them is the sangha. This is a central social structure to life and practice, even for the most dedicated. Being isolated and indifferent are not the marks of being enlightened, those are indications of delusion.

[@donovansnyder2898]

Mahayana is so much simpler. "In emptiness . . . there is no suffering, origin, cessation, or path; there is no wisdom, no attainment and even no non-attainment."

[@sunstarrfox]

Therefore they abide by means of prajnaparamita. Things just is.

[@bobg.7976]

that's very Zen - other Mahayana schools have a different take.

[@Giantcrabz]

That doesn't sound simple at all

[@tormunnvii3317]

aka, Death. That is, non-existence.

[@LuiggiPachecoUPW]

​@@tormunnvii3317not true, a key thing to understand Buddhism teachings is disposing of the self notion, either the inmaterial eternal permanent self or the physical temporal self that "dies permanently"

[@JoeMustache321]

Great video Doug, congrats on 100k subscribers

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks so much!

[@chriskaplan6109]

Well-stated, Doug. Thank you. And may the end goal of all viewers who arrive here to be to subscribe 😂 reaching enlightenment aside!

[@xiaomaozen]

😹🙏

[@DougsDharma]

😄😄 Fingers crossed!

[@stevebelzer4758]

“Thus have I heard “Doug’s Quick and Dirty Dharma is DIFFICULT to encounter in thousands of hours on KZbin I now see it I download it and I vow to understand The Algorithms TRUE meaning ! It is neither monitzed or is it DE - monetized it is neither LIKED and subscribed nor is it disliked and unsubscribed When in stillness in the third watch of the night you hear the BELL of notifications that is where the dissolution the loss of battery life the END of ALL that is the internet 😂

[@DougsDharma]

😄😄

[@stevebelzer4758]

@@DougsDharma the Blessed One in the Deer Park at Ragjputra , near vulture Peak spoke to Sariputra in verse : Indeed , indeed ! very good !’it is important to maintain a sense of humor. This cultivates great virtue and merit these R Hat , or Mad Hatters shall only need to be reborn 10,000 times greater than the sands in the Ganges Sariputra , what do you think ?

[@fingerprint5511]

There is no goal but what the Buddha taught which is there is Dukkha and there is the way to the end of Dukkha. It's hate, greed and delusion, the Kilesas that must be cleansed as Nibbana is already here, but we are attached by kamma to the body and mind as an identity. Thanks Doug 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@friedegg7864]

The goal is to understand that everything that comes into existence, also comes with nature of disappearance(nirodha) This is the true essence of the world This is the core of Buddhism In the objective world, nothing is born, live for a period of time and then disappear. Everything disappears at the time of occurrence. The time it takes to arise and disappear is zero. Thus time is not a fundamental unit of the world and time doesn't really exist. Samsara (cycle of rebirth) is the Patichcha Samuppada. Patichcha Samuppada also has the nature of disappearance (Nirodha). Patich Samuppada is a result of causes. By eliminating the cause, the result is also eliminated. Absence of Patichcha Samuppada is nirvana. All the views of the world (religions, cultures, philosophies, sciences) arise from the phenomenon of Phassa(contact). All that has arisen from Phassa is subject to Patichcha Samuppada, ending up in samsara. Not knowing this fact is called Ignorance (Aviddha). Accomplishing the elimination of Aviddha is called enlightenment. Elimination of Aviddha eliminates Patichcha Samuppada, resulting in the end of cycle of rebirth. Nirvana is "Akaliko" (is not captured by time)

[@mooskamoo]

Great question, well worth a discussion. Having studied and practiced different schools of Buddhism they do appear to have different end goals both personally and collectively obviously with some similarities. And even they don’t explain their own path very clearly much of the time. For now I think it will have to be unknown but as an important and interesting question.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for your comment! 🙏

[@holgerjrgensen2166]

We are in the Middle of Eternity, on a Eternal Travel, the Goal is Eternity.

[@aqualungman6997]

My interpretation is that what happens after we die isn't important. As for the end goal of Buddhism, it's about mitigating suffering during life. That should be it. Make this world as much like heaven because there isn't one.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes, well said.

[@QuintaJoryal]

Unless one has a certifiable experience of what happens after death , I think in all honesty we cannot say there is no heaven.Also to be honest even if I had a lucid dream of such an experience if that, I would question it @@DougsDharma

[@grndragon7777777]

very high quality video

[@DougsDharma]

Much appreciated.

[@tormunnvii3317]

The end goal of Buddhism seems, to me at least, to be non-existence for all sentient beings, that is to say, to refrain from having children. This would not be unwelcome, for who could posit a greater freedom from suffering than to have never been born?😌

[@Dharmaku56]

"When a noble disciple has thus understood the taints (mental corruptions--the drive for self desire and existence, driven by the misunderstanding of self-sourced identification), the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma.". MN 9

[@FRED-gx2qk]

This will be Interesting!🧐

[@FleetingDolphins]

Answer - enlightenment

[@paulwu1301]

Not the end goal yet. Enlightenment is like eye opening and seeing the reality but still need to practice in order to become Buddha, becoming Buddha is the goal.

[@FleetingDolphins]

@@paulwu1301 You don't need to become somebody else.

[@paulwu1301]

@@FleetingDolphins someone else? What do you mean? You become Buddha yourself.

[@FleetingDolphins]

@@paulwu1301 Buddha was a person.

[@QuyNguyen-lm1gq]

Time is cyclical,so there is no beginning and no ending.

[@jalRVA]

An ad come on in the middle of this and screamed, “ZAXBY’S NOW HAS FUNNEL CAKES!!!” and I immediately found enlightenment 😌

[@DougsDharma]

Oh my ... 🤣

[@denisedade7027]

Soka Gakkai International, of which I have been a member for 47 years, has the goal, number one, World Peace.

[@sunstarrfox]

The meaning of peace is mistranslated to tranquility and such. I know it now to be just what is . Being at peace with something is accepting it as it is.

[@Giantcrabz]

Good luck to y'all. Gonna have to deal with the rise of fascism and debate doesn't cut it

[@Screaming-Trees]

Can beginningless have an end goal? :)

[@sowmindful1501]

Hello, Doug - hope all is well! I was wondering if you had a video that talked about how to deal with feeling trapped? I’ve been reading some material from Thich Nhat Hanh that’s been helping, but I always enjoy your perspective. I currently live with my ex/now friend/doggy co-coparent. We’re both civil with each other, but are both very attached to our pup, Milo, who is also attached to both of use. He’s almost 12, very healthy for his age thankfully, but we didn’t feel it was fair to him to lose one of his doggy dads. We’re both still trying to figure out what each one of us wants to do in life, so we’re both figuring that while doing our best to give Milo the best golden years that we can. It’s the toughest commitment I’ve ever taken on, but seeing Milo happy makes it very worth it - however, I do sometimes struggle with feelings of anxiety, and I think some of that comes from feeling trapped, not because of Milo, but because instead of working on my skills to find better work, I was too depressed and anxious - abusing substances like cannabis (100% sober now) to deal with my relationship that was failing. Being a whole food plant based Vegan, and a Secular Buddhist, the town I live in has fairly limited options for work that aligns with my values - which is why I’ve been working on getting myself educated into a better line of work, but some days I don’t feel like I’m doing enough. With only a GED and 9 years of Starbucks Barista experience, I feel very behind. Sorry for the ramble, but do you by chance have any tips for someone who feels trapped, or that’s going through some of these strong emotions? Thank you!

[@DougsDharma]

I wish there were easy answers in these kinds of cases. I think that a regular mindfulness practice could help at least for you to quiet the mind and take a more equanimous view of your options. I suspect from your username that you know that already! All the best for you. 🙏

[@FRED-gx2qk]

GOOD MAN METTA DOUG

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@branimirsalevic5092]

My 5¢: 1. The end goal is of course ending Dukkha. 2. What happens to an enlightened being is an unanswered question because the question itself is invalid: it shows that whoever is asking it, does not understand Not Self - dependent origination. In actual fact, all beings arise and cease all the time, every time there is acting - by thoughts, speech, body. Without acting there's no being, enlightened or not. "Death" is a permanent stop of all acting, so....

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@milascave2]

I imagine that after billion and billions of kulpas, we would reach a time when there would be no life forms left but humans, and no humans left but monks, and all the monks would be enlightened. The younger ones would help take care of the elderly ones until there were no younger ones. They would have machines that could turn minerals into nourishing food. The last generation would be nothing but elderly enlightened monks, taking care of each other with the help of machines, and dying off one by one, until they were all gone.

[@DougsDharma]

It's interesting to contemplate, traditionally Buddhism thinks not only of earth but of all the other world systems out there.

[@aphaileeja]

Goal: Chakra up, detect and destroy demons.

[@oldstudent2587]

The earliest "Mahayana" texts, fragmentary parts of the Avatamsaka Sutra as in early Gandavyuha and early Dasbhumika, and early Prajnaparamita, speak of the so-called bodhisattva path as becoming beings who go through paranirvana but rather than dwelling forever in the place where the buddhas go then, make themselves available to re-enter the cycle of birth and death when needed. That would seem to indicate that the end goal of all beings no longer here was not a part of things yet. This latter end goal is very Hindu, in that it portends and end of the world that would necessarily lead to Vishnu slumbering until it was time for the next cycle. But not part of things doesn't necessarily mean there weren't such beliefs, as the Buddha's noble silence on the question of rebirth indicates. It just means that at that point, such concerns were not relevant to Buddhist teachings and practice.

[@yifuxero5408]

His analysis applies to early Buddhism, not later developments. For example, in the Pure Land School, one may attain Enlightenment (or close to it), and merit living for an eternity in the Amitabha Buddha's Pure Land, a type of Heaven, that is eternal, timeless, and thus transcends the cyclical nature of existence What's "ended" is relativistic time itself..

[@Kamisama77]

Dude ... Don't you notice that later development just means edition aka corruption? When you modify a book, it isn't authentic anymore. Sound like you like later edited version more. right? Well am not saying which is wrong and which is true Just saying I already saw some sects from west that founder learnt buddhism from SEA. But his version differs from South East Asian version that he learnt. He edited and created a new version thats more atheistic. Religions are corrupted in that way, buddy

[@arunaabeykoon7094]

Ending all goals

[@thetruthseeker5448]

What are these so called 'goals'?

[@adolphdelatorre3102]

Do you have a topic about the micracles of Siddharta Gautama?

[@DougsDharma]

I have a video on the Buddha and magic: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iWHQgGSNnLupn8k

[@SultanOfSuede]

You should get the tip button set up here on YT.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks for the thought, I have links to Patreon and PayPal in the notes, YT takes a large cut of all donations which makes it less useful. 🙏

[@donovansnyder2898]

Further to my emptiness comment, it is from the Heart Sutra ; hardcore Mahayana, not just Zen.

[@grndragon7777777]

🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@skrrskrr99]

The end of suffering.

[@thetruthseeker5448]

What do you mean? Complete END to birth and rebirth in all forms, physical and spiritual???

[@samyockneyonclimatechange879]

I asked an older fellow in my sanga. Are there any absolutes in Buddhism? Like the eternal afterlife or omnipotent God in Christianity.

[@DougsDharma]

And what did he say?

[@abrlim5597]

I dunno if you are aware. The picture of monks receiving dana you have used repeatedly are monks from malaysia. Just saying. 😊

[@DougsDharma]

Ah thanks!

[@ngwei3200]

All books of Buddhism not written by Gautama! How to achieve the goal ???

[@chathurakapuge]

Gauthama Buddha was neither book writer nor a publisher.

[@Kamisama77]

No religious book was written by main character of that religion (god/prophet). All books were written by their companians or apostles years after their death.

[@Kamisama77]

Which book was written by prophet/god himself? Name one please

[@ted9111]

zero nothing nothing can get nothing can be grasped

[@chanduv1986]

Hi sir !

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@grndragon7777777]

It is a circle

[@Alkemisti]

Do Buddhists subscribe to the Hindu doctrine of _yuga_ and _kalpa_ that divides time into phases---and that we now live the Kali-Yuga?

[@groundzero5708]

bs . pure buddhist doctrinese have nothing to do with hindunism

[@user-Void-Star]

There are four Maha Kalpas in Buddhism. Right now we are in second Kalpa. In the fourth Kalpa, all ten directions of the universe will become nothingness no light all cold.

[@Alkemisti]

@@user-Void-Star Thank you. That does sound very much like the heat death of the universe modern physics predicts.

[@thetruthseeker5448]

@@groundzero5708 Who are these 'pure Buddhists'? There are NO pure thing. The oldest surviving is called Theravada (teachings of the elders). It is the only survived amongst the 13 other schools. So what were the other schools saying. Buddhagosha translated to Pali which we use to day destroying the text he worked on. It would have been nice if we have it now to make a comparison. Hence we cant just make assumptions to *claim* we have a pure version.

[@ephemeral1151]

Is buddha greater than gods?

[@ndril]

Hindu time seems more directly cyclical, with times of hardship and prosperity in a repeating order, usually drawn like a clock face with the four yugas in a certain configuration. Buddhism has "sunna kalpa" where the dharma is unknown for the whole age, versus "asunna kalpa" where buddhas appear and discover the dharma, but at least as far as I'm aware, there's nothing said about how frequently or in what order these happen.

[@yifuxero5408]

There is an end goal in the later sect of the Pure Land School, which rejects the notion that everything is temporary. The Pure Land Sages state that if one becomes Enlightened or is close to it with devotion to the Amitabha Buddha, at physical death, the subtle body may reside in a type of Spiritual Heaven (not unlike the Christian concept). This realm of the Pure Land of the Amitabha Buddhia is eternal and non-cyclical. Those who reside there exist forever, contrary to the notion of impernancence.

[@peterkhew7414]

Buddhism is a method of self cultivation to liberate the soul from the the three realms of Heaven, Human, and Hell, to enter into the realm of Sunyata, or "Ultimate Reality". 1) Life is suffering. 2) Suffering is caused by desire. 3) In order to end the cycle of suffering and stop reincarnation, you have to cease all worldly desires. 4) By following the eightfold path, i.e. the Middle Way, a person can achieve freedom from suffering and enter Nirvana. The emphasis on salvation through self effort puts it in the same category as Stoicism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Virtue is the only Good. What goes around comes around.

[@NullStaticVoid]

I don't like the presumption you make that a money based society is necessitated by a lay community which supports a sangha. We should aspire to a moneyless society where a lay community is more like the sequestered community. The lay/monk division in Buddhism is an artifact of the context in which Buddhism evolved. Community support of mendicant monks is not unique to Buddhism. And while I haven't read everything on Buddhism (who has?) I don't see this division between laity and the shaved heads as intrinsic to the message of Buddhism. If anything, it seems to be an attempt at cleaning up and organizing a mendicant priesthood into something more respectable.

[@sonarbangla8711]

Buddha himself was the first to be enlightened, but he created the condition that will enlighten all people with what he called Bodhisattva, a mindset accepted by the entire civilized world, voluntarily and taught non-violence, rule of law, freedom, liberty, human rights, kindness etc. And the whole world became civilized. He was a continuation of the Sanatan religion preached by Krishna 11,000 years ago: DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU EXPECT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU.

[@normalizedaudio2481]

Yellow, yellow.

[@Maxamos555]

Hey Buddha never taught "self" or "noself" he just didn't answer. Moreover Buddha never taught self because he explicitly asked if there was a future where self existed where there was no suffering, no one could answer.

[@milascave2]

maax: Sorry, but Buddha absolutely did teach anatma, which means the lack of a fixed, unchanging, or independent self. Most of the early teachings point to different ways of realizing this at a very deep level.

[@Maxamos555]

@@milascave2 yes... Didn't I say that?!

[@FrancisFurtak]

Too complex! You don't have to give up anything for all of it will pass away including our bodies. We started out in a spiritual realm and the goal is to just return to it, if you are smart. Forget about all of these traditions and different religions and just be. There is only now. Past and future are just in our minds. The now continues forever!

[@kevinlipps2817]

There's no such thing as one form of Buddhism, so no one "knows" for sure. It all depends upon the school of Buddhism, and the variations within that. Buddhist mythology, has evolved, to become many religions, more than a religion of Buddhism, like the word Hindu

[@jondoealoe]

I'm guessing that the Dahli Llama was going for global domination, when he had his troops attack China, and they were killing Christians and raping nuns... But then they came in second place, the Dahli went into exile; and they decided to rebrand themselves as pacifists~