Chinwi wrote: Chicken was designed in heaven ..... Liqueur was designed and made on Earth by Man to become God .
-Chinwi
Pl note I am not a 'Sri Lankan Buddhist'
EquityChamp wrote: You must be a Catholic. am I right?
This is a critical topic and 99% of the people will not change anything they believe until the end of their lives.
Not only that, most get aggressive when you question or say something not tally with their religious belief.
So, I was reluctant to write here anything relating to religions.
As you ask this question I decided to write , as I think there are some people here who can see broad angle, at least for study purposes.
Answer:
Unfortunately I have no simple answer to your question. ( I know this is not a proper place to write in detail)
I did explore teachings of all the religions at least up to basic levels.
My current position is, I do not believe or follow 'Buddhism' we know (we were taught) here in Sri Lanka as the path that guides you to Nirvana.
Explanation:
All religious teachings are falling into two categories based on basic principals. You can call them three pillars. (or columns on they buildup all the other concepts)
Category 1. Anichcha , Dukkha, Anathma
Anithya - Ever creating and destroying of everything aka changing constantly.
Dukkha - Suffer due to inability to withstand the changing
Anathma - There is nothing call soul or spirit with you
Category 2. Nithya , Sukha, Athma
Nithya - Eternity in the Universe. eg. in Heaven or hell.
Sukha - Everlasting happiness. eg. when you go heaven
Athma - Soul or spirit that leaves your body when you die.
Buddhism, Jainism falls into first category.
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and many other God praying teachings are in the other category.
When you write 'no spirit or aathma leaves your body' in Buddhism (1st category) most of the people might not agree. That is because 'athma' is in our culture and it is even used by our monks in dhamma deshana.
But, Buddha's teachings developed on those 3 pillars and one of three basics is 'no soul'.
Other mostly misunderstood concept is
Anithya.
To most of Buddhists in SL it is 'born - live and die' someday. Or when you lost somebody or something you say that's anithya. At funerals even sangha talk about anithya linking it to death.
Actually Anithya in Buddhism is creating and destroying everything in every instance. It is not about death. In modern science : matter and anti matter is created by energy and destroyed when two meet each other. It is happening every time.
Birth -live- die is the main concept of God fearing religions.
God creates you, maintain you and decides your end.
In Hinduism these three jobs were given to 3 gods. 'Trimurthi'.
Brahma - Creator
Vishnu - preserver or maintainer
Shiva or Eshvara - Destroyer
So people are mostly fear of the destroyer, naturally. They chant Shiva-sthrotra than Brahma strothra. As Brahma has done his job you do not make his lingam and pray to it. But always pay respect to Shiva-lingam. ( Religious explanation is different here, why Shiva is most powerful)
In Christianity / Islam, all the 3 jobs are done by one super almighty God.
They need this concept to create and give super power to the mighty God. Otherwise no one care or fear of him. Will not pray him.
So most of the Buddhists in Sri lanka are actually following the 'create-live-end' concept of Islam / Christianity.
That is why I wrote "I am not a Sri Lankan Buddhist".
They do not know what is Anithya ,the real Key to Nibbana . No one teach them .
'Anichcha watha sankara' (ever changing nature of everything) is the most fearful text for them.
They print it in death notices. But that is the most interesting thing to study .
The rest is more complex to write here.
I can write what is Dukka and why there is no Aathma , and if no aathma how you get incarnate somewhere. But no use without completely self understanding the Anithya concept.
Real path to Nibbana is explained in 'patichcha samuppada' secured in Burma inside Abhidhamma.
Understanding anithya is the beginning to understand what is dukkha and why there is no soul in us. Dukka is not sinhala 'duka' .
To understand somewhat complex Patichcha samuppada you have to increase your brain power.
That is why Bhawana or meditation is advised by Buddha.
'Samatha Bhavana' Only (eg. monitoring breathing) is not enough. It is just to calm your mind. Vidarshana Bhawana is needed to develop your brain and study complex things.
In far away places in Siam (Thailand) and Burma (Myanmar) there are monks who practice these things.
I wrote this using my self understanding and not retyping of any book. Still exploring .
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For most of the people these are too complex ideas to bother with.
More easy way is praying to a God, handover your future to him, stay away from bad and live happily.
God bless you. May you achieve Nibbana.