Syncretizing practices, religions, beliefs, philosophies

[Jainarayan]

I searched for an already existing thread but didn't find anything.

 

I have my Hindu altar, a smaller Buddhist altar and a tiny Taoist altar. I make offerings at all of them My Taoist altar has the taijitu with bagua above and center; the Three Pure Ones below and center of the taijitu; the Eight Immortals; Fu Lu Shou; Guan Yu to the left for protection; and the two candles, three offerings bowls and incense holder.

 

So, I am curious if anyone else syncretizes their practices, religions, beliefs, and philosophies. I myself am basically Hindu in belief and practice, but I have found elements of Buddhism that do mesh nicely with elements of Hinduism. I have found, what I am learning of Taoism, that Taoism is not at all incompatible with either Hinduism or Buddhism. There is even an affinity with Jesuism, the core teachings and sayings of Jesus. Yes, I cherry-pick... we always pick the sweetest fruit and what tastes good to us, don't we?

 

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I'm mainly Buddhist, but I include some ideas from Taoism and elsewhere, and I do some Taoist and Hindu (yogic) practices.

 

Jesus, Confucius, Mohammed, etc, had some great things to say - e.g. "blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" has a lot of meaning that can be practically applied to cultivation, if you think about it.

 

But I'm not someone who says that 'all paths lead up the mountain', because that just doesn't make sense. Any path based on great virtue, proper shamatha and prajna wisdom leads to the summit. Paths lacking in one or more of these areas can lead partway up, nowhere or backwards.

Edited June 18, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[Jainarayan]

But I'm not someone who says that 'all paths lead up the mountain', because that just doesn't make sense. Any path based on great virtue, proper shamatha and prajna wisdom leads to the summit. Paths lacking in one or more of these areas can lead partway up, nowhere or backwards.

 

It's funny in that I used to think "all roads lead to Rome", but I'm not so sure I accept that anymore, especially as I'm exposed to new thinking. I don't believe, for example, that Aztec human sacrifice was a way to reach God, or whatever one calls It based on one's tradition. That was definitely a case, at least in my opinion, of getting lost. So, I agree with your statement. It makes perfect sense.

[RongzomFan]

Hinduism and Buddhism have always been interrelated. I wouldn't call mixing them syncretizing. I have no problem giving props to Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha etc. Vajrayana acknowledges all the "Hindu" deities. I just don't take refuge in Shiva, Vishnu etc.

[Jainarayan]

Very true, very true. Thanks for pointing that out. I was told at a Buddhist site that just by reading and delving into Buddhism, and incorporating aspects of it is taking refuge. The Nilakantha Dharani of Avalokiteshvara makes references to Vishnu and Shiva. Nilakantha is used for both Avalokiteshvara and Shiva. I'm usually the "odd man out" in my spiritual practices and beliefs from a Hindu perspective (not so much from Buddhism), hence my curiosity from a Daoist perspective.

[de_paradise]

I use the words Taoist, Buddhist, Tibetan, Qigong, to describe to other people about my practises, but my main practices predate all the isms. So, really really ancient, or primordial. Out of sheer laziness, I just say, um, yeah, kind of like Tibetan Buddhist practises, you heard of that? No. Ok. How about qigong, thats like Taichi but less movement. Better than saying, well its many many thousands of years old, before recorded history, transmitted by deities for whom our earth time has little meaning. This is what I spend hours per day doing. You want to have people look at you askance, like a bowl of fruit loops, say that.

[hydrogen]

I accept anything that works for me.

 

I still believe Christ is the best person/plot/story/design. He loves all and forgives all. He doesn't put any stupid rules on others.

 

I don't trust anyone who doesn't believe in Christ. Why?

 

Because if a person can't accept a noble person like Christ in to his word, that person for sure won't allow me with so many faults into his world.

 

Please, no religious flame here. I'm talking about Christ, buhhda and Lao Tsu as individual person.

[Jainarayan]

I mentioned Jesuism (Christism is a similar philosophy) for that very reason. I see Jesus as a wise teacher, along the lines of Buddha, LaoTzu, Krishna. I'm currently reading Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hahn. It's an interesting viewpoint. I know of a person who has no knowledge of any religious tradition except his own (a branch of Hinduism), yet says he doesn't believe Jesus existed. Well, I'm not here to judge, but that seems illogical.

[baiqi]

Some people are against synchretism in religions, philosophies etc.

They say that you can lose your way if you don't just follow one way.

 

What they say is not completly wrong; lots of people have a tendency to "pick and choose" what they believe in, giving up when something does not fit their expectations. This is particulary true in the modern world. New Age is a good example of how it can become absolute nonsense.

 

However, the opposite can lead to fanatism pretty easily. My way is right and yours is wrong.

Besides, there are many practices that are synchretic and work . I'd like to see one school of absolutely pure taoism for example. No buddhist, no confucean overtone at all. It might exist in philosophy (if you read Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi), but not in practice. And I am sure it is the same with other beliefs/philosophies.

 

 

It is a bit like in cooking: you can mix things from different countries' recipes, with or without success. Some things merge pretty well, others don't.

Of course, it is hard for a beginner to know what. So I'd advice a beginner to follow just one way for some time, and then see elsewhere when the basics are "mastered".

Edited June 19, 2013 by baiqi

[RongzomFan]

yet says he doesn't believe Jesus existed. Well, I'm not here to judge, but that seems illogical.

 

 

Columbia PhD in Ancient History, Richard Carrier, says that Jesus never existed.

[skydog]

I accept anything that works for me.

 

I still believe Christ is the best person/plot/story/design. He loves all and forgives all. He doesn't put any stupid rules on others.

 

I don't trust anyone who doesn't believe in Christ. Why?

 

Because if a person can't accept a noble person like Christ in to his word, that person for sure won't allow me with so many faults into his world.

 

Please, no religious flame here. I'm talking about Christ, buhhda and Lao Tsu as individual person.

 

actually I had a dream about jesus today, also about needing to go and find out about some alien group called "insectoids" lol. To me if people are actually going to worship a guru, or align with the energy of another, jesus seems pretty noble and all.

[silas]

I'm usually the "odd man out" in my spiritual practices and beliefs from a Hindu perspective (not so much from Buddhism), hence my curiosity from a Daoist perspective.

 

From a classical Taoist point of view: Interfaith, Syncretism and Universal Love: A Study Of New Age Taoism.

[Jainarayan]

Columbia PhD in Ancient History, Richard Carrier, says that Jesus never existed.

 

I know there is really precious little, if any, historical evidence for Jesus's existence. What I meant is that he admits he's completely unfamiliar with Judaism, Christianity and the Middle East, and doesn't want to know anything about it. It's like me saying Zoroaster is immaterial to me, I know nothing about Zoroastrianism, but I don't believe Zoroaster existed. I don't know one way or another whether Jesus existed or not, but whoever wrote in his name had some pretty good things to say. Jesus may have been an amalgam of persons writing, just as Homer is said to have been.

[RongzomFan]

I know there is really precious little, if any, historical evidence for Jesus's existence. What I meant is that he admits he's completely unfamiliar with Judaism, Christianity and the Middle East, and doesn't want to know anything about it.

 

Sounds like a pretty smart guy actually. The more you look into the history of western thinking, the more you realize that its a pile of crap. For example, Nazism was not an aberration. It was in line with European romanticism, which itself was built on faulty scholarship.

[Jainarayan]

From a classical Taoist point of view: Interfaith, Syncretism and Universal Love: A Study Of New Age Taoism.

 

This statement "...Taoists who grasp the cosmology and the metaphysics of the classical model fear no confusion or loss of way. ..." is not unlike a quote from Gandhi: "My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible." This says to me that if one is secure in one's beliefs, there is no problem.

[Stosh]

"I don't believe, for example, that Aztec human sacrifice was a way to reach God,

This says to me that if one is secure in one's beliefs, there is no problem.

Yes, I cherry-pick... we always pick the sweetest fruit and what tastes good to us, don't we?

"If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all."

;)"

 

Yep

[Vmarco]

religions, beliefs, philosophies

 

Some say,...if want the truth, you can't take any of them (religions, beliefs, philosophies) with you.

 

[Songtsan]

We like this way myself...we've been doing it forever...and forever is a long long time....

[Stosh]

Some say,...if want the truth, you can't take any of them (religions, beliefs, philosophies) with you.

Some say stuff that has no basis, serves as no guide, and make no sense.

[Songtsan]

Some say stuff that has no basis, serves as no guide, and make no sense.

 

If you say something that confuses me, you are in. TK

[Jainarayan]

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.

Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.

Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.

Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.

But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and

is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - The Buddha

 

This is the primary reason I'm abandoning dogma and doctrine, and incorporating what I think is truth, relative to me. Of course this doesn't mean a free-for-all. I may have mentioned that there is a Hindu forums site I used to frequent. It is so full of dogma and judgmentalism that because of some of the things I've talked about here, I was essentially run off the site. It is unfortunate because in my recent and limited experience with eastern religions and philosophies, at their core, they are non-dogmatic. I don't think there is anything on this site that hasn't appealed to me.

 

 

[Songtsan]

If you remain fixed on one point, the whirly-gigs will laugh at you as they scream by. Life changes by the nanosecond. So does the truth. Trust in the flow. Become the noise. No one exists apart from the rest. see sites like this: http://css.michaelschrauzer.com/demos/css-animated-pinwheels.html (run your mouse over the shapes to see the twirls)...you'll get the point then.

 

go with the flow...merge with the splurge.. Become the spinning wheel. That is better than the best.

 

Also, there is this..by remaining empty, you will constantly become full...keep emptying your bucket!

Edited June 20, 2013 by Songtsan

[Jainarayan]

I think that's the point... constantly changing with what changes. I was once fixed in my beliefs and ways, but things change(d) as they need(ed) to and do. Nothing remains the same.

[Songtsan]

Blessed be...so I say unto thee...this is our find. Greatness all around worth more than money can buy.

[Stosh]

^{Thimidine Kinase ?}