Responding To Skepticism Of Your Buddhist Beliefs

[phetaroi]

I'm wondering how people here react to skepticism they encounter about either Buddhism (as a body of philosophy/religion) or their own belief in Buddhism.

And, as I have yet to find it, are there any things within the teachings that relate to respect for other religions.

[mizzi39]

I try to practice as much restraint as possible when the topic of religion comes up, except my wife and a few close friends who i feel that i can talk freely about the subject.

I have the 'accept all practice none attitude" ,but it is fair to say that my "practice" or over all outlook leads back to Buddhism, and has for the past 15 years.

I made the mistake of saying to much on the "Westerners Wearing Amulets" in the general forum, and could not believe all of the criticism being thrown around over something as simple as wearing an amulet. i guess I do my fair share of criticizing to, so this is something that i have to confront and be more aware of.

I am definitely a "laymen" Buddhist, but try to work towards and live with a "Buddha mind and heart" , but I guess that could be open to interpretation too.

[IMA_FARANG]

As a westerner and a student of Zen Buddhism I long ago learned to be quiet and non-confrontational about skepticisim toward my beliefs. If I am asked directly I say what I believe to be true. Otherwise, I prefer to avoid arguements. I grew up as a Christian, and after a lot of searching around, found a home in Zen.

As the saying goes, there are a thousand paths that climb up the mountain. Each person must take his/her own journey, and when arriving at the top all the paths meet.

The three virtues I try to practice are humility, compassion, and understanding of another's viewpoint. I don't always succed, but I keep trying.

Edited February 11, 2010 by IMA_FARANG

[bina]

mizzi, yes there was a bit of a mess in that thread, because people there see things with sterotypical eyes, or base things on their very own perceptions of things....

but i think the thread is toning down now?

i should have moved it to here to get real ideas, but the poster was looking for, and received, the reactions he wanted (the red neck analogies etc)

i dont bother to explain myself to others except in a more practical way. and i live in a very problematic country for that. israel is not the best place to discuss any religoun because even among the jews, there is a huge variety of sects, practices, customs, cultural norms, and even laws/regulations and u constantly have to identify yourself in relation to these identifying trademarks: knitted skull cap, or black. wear's a head covering or not. wear's a wig? wears a scarf head covering or a fancy hat. shaves or has a long beard. sidelocks are curled behind the ears or not. eats meat kosher only by this rabbi or by the county rabbi? ... everyday of our lives, we subtly and blatently question the identy of people by their clothes, food they eat, clothing, hair style, lenght of sleeve and whatever else, and always have to 'defend ' yourself as to why u are this way, and that way or an other way.

'why dont u keep shabbat" why do u not eat pork but travel on shabbat. why do u wear skirts but dont cover your hair... its a million things and i personally find it psychologically tiring. i think we are all vaguely tired from this constant verbal discussion of our beliefs. so if i have to discuss why im buddhist (what! u r in israel? your jewish (ethnicly and culturally)? blalbalba.......

it would be easier in the states or europe among less 'religoiusly oriented' people. when poeple hear im buddhist, they expect me to be wearing white and burn incense all day like a shanti/banti type. when i am just an other normal person in a normal household (well, not so normal here i have a thai husband which is severely unusual here). in other words, i dont look the part.

when questions get around to the usual religious stuff, i tend to swerve quietly in another verbal direction. people here get very upset if i say i dont believe in god, dont follow or even some of the halachic rules, upset is not the word, the word is 'thunderstruck in a negative horrified way' i guess is the translation .

so to maintain peace at work and at home (a hebrew term is 'shalom beit' and it means literally peace in the house but is used when a wife and husband have different belief systems or ways of behavior, they do 'shalom beit' ie. they work on smoothing things over, compromising, etc... maybe walkng the middle path is the equivalent.

for me, with a religious son, a non believing daughter and a strongly jewish belief system in the youngest, i walk the middle path at home.... we dont discuss beliefs in more then general terms-- we give respect to eachother's beliefs/practices and try to 'compromise' when needed (i keep kosher food for son, separate from our pork and shrimp). our buddha altar is in the bedroom so my daughter doesnt have to deal with nervous religous friends (i a pagan to them, i might eat them ) or feel that they would be offended (they are only 15-16 and not worldly or exposed to other religiouns. their reactions would be the same if they came in the house and there was jesus on the cross on a wall, or a virgin mary with a candle lit at her feet. )

life is much easier in countries with no religious mix in daily, routine, minute by minute life.

and btw, i get the same responses from muslem friends (what? u dont beleive in god?>>>same as allah in this case, a horrified reaction that i dont beleive in a monotheistic god...)...

and people also have this impression that to be a good buddhist, u have to sit around in yoga style meditation pose and talk about 'luuuuuuuv' all the time.

rather long and convoluted and of course, someone would say it is 'bina-esque cause i ahd to bring my coutnry in to it, but majority of people on this board come from anglo backgrounds and christian based countries with freedom of religouns as the base. here is quite different.

bina

israel

[Xangsamhua]

If someone is skeptical about certain "Buddhist beliefs", e.g. that the Buddha Maitreya is waiting in the Tusita heaven, or that one can earn merit for another, or that certain prayers, mantras and meditations will help the victims of the Haiti earthquake, then that skepticism may be shared by some or many people who think of themselves as Buddhist. Also, some people may believe those things very strongly; others may have reservations or may be quite indifferent to them. The way you react, I think, to others' skepticism about your presumed beliefs will depend on how strongly you believe those things or whether you believe them at all. One of the downsides of a religious identity is that people assume you believe all the things that some of your co-religionists do, but that you think are irrational or groundless. Militant atheists often seem to believe that a religion such as Christianity or Islam is defined by its lunatic fringe or the simplistic faith of its least educated adherents. (Wittgenstein said that religious believers and atheists don't actually contradict each other; they are simply talking about different things - they are "incommensurate"[1], "not corresponding in size or degree or extent"[2].)

One of the nice things about Buddhism is that its core beliefs are not really universal beliefs at all, but working hypotheses. They certainly worked for the Buddha and they worked for many of his followers, but they are presented as propositions to be tested and the method for testing them is the noble 8-fold path. Everything else follows, including the doctrines of impermanence, non-self and dependent origination. To take refuge in the Triple Gem is, I suppose, an act of faith, but I suspect it's less of a "leap in the dark", and therefore less "committing" than the faith expected of a born-again Christian, a person in Holy Orders, a professed nun or brother, or an observant Jew or Muslim.

So there's no need to "react" to skeptical comments about Buddhism or your personal form of it, unless the comments are ignorant and you wish to correct them. Nothing is permanent, including our "beliefs", which, even when maintained over time in a recognizable form, nevertheless change in some ways as we become better informed by experience and study (I include meditation in "experience").

[1]http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/michael_martin/wittgenstein.html

[2]http://www.answers.com/topic/incommensurate

[rockyysdt]

Some of the misconceptions & rigid aversion can be annoying.

A colleague keeps telling me how meditation leads to oxygen starvation of the brain causing hallucinations which Buddhists view as their experience.

When trying to explain such misconceptions, peoples fixed views clearly come through.

No one wants to listen, but then I can be pretty inflexible myself.

When mindfulness kicks in, I try to view the situation without attachment.

After all, if I have difficulty sticking to my practice how can I expect others to do so, let alone for them to even accept such beliefs.

I ponder how rare it must be to find myself with the knowledge, & physical ability to follow the dhamma.

Which reminds me of a joke quoted by the Dalai Lama:

[Once there was a lama who, while teaching, spoke of how rare it is to attain human birth. A person in the audience turned to his friend & said, "He has obviously never been to China"].

Edited February 12, 2010 by rockyysdt

[Svenn]

"He who speaks does not know; he who knows does not speak."

I don't respond to criticisms at all. Actually, I have never said a word out loud about Buddhism ever... except of course what I occasionally write here, which is always relegated to side topics rather than essential truths. I refrain like this because I don't know the answers, and frankly, besides negating some false assertions someone might make about Buddhism, it's impossible to affirm or declare anything that would make sense to someone uninitiated in the teaching. Really they just need to start with a book and learn it on their own time with an open mind. It's a pity because there are so many mentally tormented people out there that would really benefit from the dhamma...

Edited February 14, 2010 by Svenn