Christian audiobooks by T.C. Griswold (video creator) “How Do I Become Christian? 3 Steps | Lord Jesus Christ” www.audible.com/pd/B0BQZFFKTR/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-334465&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_334465_rh_us “Gospel of John | King James Version” www.audible.com/pd/B0BR8H3PLP/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-334600&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_334600_rh_us “The God Vacuum: Exploring Heart Abyss and Divine Ascent Paradigms” www.audible.com/pd/B09KMHGD22/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-282689&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_282689_rh_us
Peace to you Tarin Christopher. I recommend following books to you if you have not read those: "Patristic Theology" by Protopresbiter Johh Romanides and "The illness and the cure in Orthodox tradition" by bishop Hierotheos Vlachos and "Orthodox Psychotherapy" by the same bishop. If you have not read them you will not regret it. In fact there are other books by bishop Hierotheos Vlachos and all of them are good and they are translated into Enlgish. These books are perfect introduction into the writings of the Fathers and particularly into the Philokalia writings.
Thanks for this video. I was also raised in Utah and live in Japan. I rejected Mormonism as a teenager, which led to atheism and a deep interest in Buddhism. I am grateful for what I learned from Buddhist philosophy; however, like you, I found it lacking. Through God’s grace, I was introduced to Orthodoxy Christianity and was baptized this year. Glory to Jesus Christ ☦️
You’re right that religious philosophy needs God to work. The Buddhist religion suffered great defeat by Adi Chankara’s school of Hindu thought, Advaita Vedanta and their main debates were about the Atman(soul) , and Brahman ( god in hinduism). It is said that the loser of those debates had to either convert to their opponent’s religion or burn themselves. Adi Chankara caused the death of many Buddhist monk apologists that rather died than convert to Hinduism. He’s the reason why India remained Hindu and not Buddhist. My journey is similar to yours. I think these religions have truth but Christ is the the full manifestation of truth. My bridge from eastern religions into Orthodoxy was through Hesychasm, the Jesus prayer.
How is it the fulfillment of everything Buddhism teaches? Could you elaborate please. I am somewhere in between Christian Orthodoxy and Vajrayana Buddhism myself.
What do you think of this: Buddha taught a way of coping with the suffering of life through detachment, meditation, etc. It's focus on stilling the mind resembles in some way the Orthodox Christian practice of hesychia (silence/stillness) and both pursue a kind of dis-passion (or passionlessness or apatheia) from which com-passion emerges. Christianity says compassion arises from the purified mind (nous) because humans are made according to the image of the God who is love. Buddhism says there is no God and no personhood (no unique identity, no soul and no personal heart). It says the person is ego, whereas Orthodox Christianity says the person is not the ego, but hypostasis, a uniqueness of personhood that cannot be erased, and the person is designed for love. The life of a person is in loving communion with other persons, a union without separation and without merging. Christian hesychasm goes deeper than quieting the mind and detaching from the misguided passions. The nous (mind, consciousness) must be purified (the passions properly directed Godward) and brought down into the heart, into the pain of the heart, pain because of our exile from paradise, because life in this world is tragic, scarred by sin and evil, ending in death. Heart is for love, co-suffering sacrificial love, and this involves self-denial, self-emptying, self-sacrifice. The Messianic culmination of the prophets, priests, and kings of Isreal, Christ alone takes sacrificial compassionate love (agape) all the way, through suffering, death, hell, all the way to resurrection, to undo suffering, hell, and death from within, at a point in time, in history, and thereby to redeem the world and time. Christ's sacrificial compassionate love is personal, heart-driven, fierce and passionate.This is the way of Christ's love that the saints and martyrs bear witness to in the world, for the life of the world.
Partly inaccurate. The Buddha doesn’t say there is no personhood, rather he says that your person isn’t what you think it is, everything we think were are is comprised of the sense organs. He never speculated on the actual ontological existence of the person.
As a former Christian who discovered Buddhism, I must say Buddhism helped me to better understand my reality, myself and the human condition. I do believe in a higher power still, but when it comes to a personal God that cares about every individual on the planet, I find it interesting that everyone thinks God is on their side regardless of the religion. Thank goodness The Buddha is a man and not a God. Due to Buddhism, I must conclude the only thing that cares about everyone on the planet and a capable of being on everyone's side is the human ego. I'm not a Buddhist, but like you I have a tremendous amount of respect for Buddhist philosophy. Thank you for sharing your story.
I'm always seeking truth. There were times I wish I could go back. It reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve. What is known cannot be unknown@@LongWarEnjoyer
Read Hieromonk Damascene's CHRIST THE ETERNAL TAO, and look into Fr. Seraphim Rose, who abandoned Buddhism and Eastern religion after intense study. You probably have never looked too deep into Orthodox Christianity, the original, ancient faith. It has what you seek, even if you don't realize it. Find a talk by H. Damascene about his book. God bless.
Isn't the ego, or existence as a person, precisely what Buddhism wants to extinguish so you cease existing? A bit ironic, it would mean that not only do you doubt a loving God, but you're actively working to extinguish a loving human.
@workinpromo: Well, I'm not a true Buddhist, but the teachings have helped me to better understand myself, reality and most importantly the human condition. I personally, don't believe the aim is to get rid of the ego, but to better understand it. I agree, the only way to extinguish the ego is to cease existing. However, the ego is two sides of the same coin. There is the notion of "I'm the greatest" and "woe is me". What do they both have in common? ME....ME...ME. You are the observer of your life. You are the one taking in all the sensory information, therefor from a certain perspective it is all about you. We may influence each other's lives, but at the end of the day you are the one processing everything. It is your experience and your reality. There is another trinity besides the father, son and the holy ghost. There is the human condition of Thought, Emotion Action. You have a thought (conscious or unconscious), you have a feeling about the thought, and you act upon the feeling. So once again, one cannot get rid of the ego because it is the ego that makes the human experience possible. The only difference is those who understand this esoteric truth and those who do not. The difference is those in the know who live consciously, (aware of their thoughts and emotions), vice those who are living unconsciously, (unaware of their thoughts and emotions) and are slaves to their thoughts and emotions. They respond to stimuli robotically which to some degree is a subtle form of insanity. The key is to observe your thoughts without owning them. Like people watching. You can observe people without identifying them as being you. The brain is a thinking machine. The thoughts generated by the brain are not the true you. The true you is the observer of the thought. That is why meditation is so important. It gives us a chance to observe our minds. The aim isn't to control the brain, but to freely allow the thoughts to flow. Allowing this freedom and simply observing will eventually result in a quiet mind. It's also proves once again that you are not your thoughts, but the observer of the thoughts, therefore there is no need to identify with the thoughts. Simply let them go. How do you know when you have arrived? Well, have you ever said to yourself or others, "Where did the time go?". When you are present, or "in the zone" as most athletes have experienced, there is no thought, therefore there is no time. When you are enjoying something, the time goes by quickly because you are not lost in thought. People suffer from two ways, either what has happened to them in the past or what they have yet to gain in the future. The past and future only exist in your mind/thought and it is the present moment that is real because you don't have to think about it. It is never not now until you go into your mind. It's very difficult to stay in the present moment all of the time. The best we can do is be aware when we are lost in thought and not stay there too long. We must come back to the present moment.
Also regarding the DNA molecule randomly coming into existence which is amazing in itself as you pointed out, going from chemistry to code is even more amazing.
Buddha, great, grand and sublime, may be the "Light of Asia," but Christ will yet be acknowledged the "Light of the World." As the sun outshines the brightest star in the heavens, dispels every vestige of darkness and gives life to all beings, so, in a not too distant future, will the true religion of Christ supersede and obliterate all other religions, to the eternal benefit of mankind...
@@st.mephisto8564no, we know for a fact that truth exist, and that only one religion can be the exact truth, the spiritual world isn’t like some contradictory place where Krishna and Christ both reign.
He did. He criticized the yogis, he criticized the Hindus, he criticized many people. He called people who won’t debate in good faith eel wrigglers. He called most people deluded. He called them slaves. He was rather critical of other practices because he tested those practices and called them all useless
@@DysmasTheGoodThief Buddha was basically an ancient trustafarian 😂 a rich kid cosplaying as poor, then telling the poor “hey poor people, I know how to solve y’all’s issue! The problem isn’t that you are starving and in need of shelter, it is that y’all want food and a home!” Seriously, only a spoiled kid could say something like that 😂
Truth is based on universal principles, not on mythology. I am deeply impressed by the integral philosophy of Ken Wilber, which opened my eyes to look beyond the story literalism of religions into the inner transformation.
@@arminelias3819 Examine the literal historical evidence for the Resurrection of Christ and the other side (theories) to determine whether it was myth or historical fact.
Hopefully this helps me. My militant leftist Buddhist zoomer nephew is coming to my house and I am admittedly not read at all on Buddhism so, probably a good thing for me to brush up on.
Some flowers are medicinal. Some types of dangerous drugs are slowly punished. Some are fragrant but useless. In some species it is very useful. It depends on the person who uses it or experiments. Happiness or suffering is in the heart Going to hell or heaven is in this soul.
Only if you've ever experienced the heavenly bliss of meditative absorption or anything close to that, or to be able to have the deep insight into the true nature of mind and matter, your true taste of Buddhism will still remain in faith and intellectual doctrinal understanding. The taste of Dharma exceeds all.
I’ve attained several of the Jhanas and they didn’t lead to stream entry nor did I become an arhat. On the contrary, I found that the orthodox path is the final turning of the wheel of dhamma.
@@DysmasTheGoodThief Well, anyone familiar with ancient Buddhist texts will tell you attaining Jhānas or any higher stages of meditattive absorptions is only some pre-requisite steps to develop penetrative wisdom into the true nature of mind and body. It definitely is not leading you to the highest goal Nirvāna in Buddhism. And yes, a purified mind attained in such sublime meditative absorptions itself is the path to the Brahma, the highest God believed to the creator in Vedic Brahmanism/Hinduism.
the reason people give up on buddhism is because its too hard. your meditation has to be strong to the point where youre basically paying attention 24 hrs a day without sleep. only this type of unbroken awareness can show you the truth. people who quit buddhism are weak minded.
Buddhism is basically a scam. Nobody in 2,500 years has ever attained Enlightenment after the historical Buddha. It’s turned into a Ponzi scheme of non attainment and non achievement. Christian mediation is active and aggressive. Buddhist meditation is passive zoning out leading to nihilism.
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45 KJV)
It is too bad so many think a human died on a cross and lived.. But was most likely alive and rescued before death. What is the sound of a man diying on a cross and living? Who created God.? Creators aren't soldatry created. Creators also need a creator.
No one has ever survived a full Roman crucifixion. The flogging alone was enough to kill as the whips contained metal shards or bone fragments designed to rip skin and muscle off the bone. The loss of blood and shock was enough to kill. Additionally being pierced with rusty Roman nails and laying in a tomb for three days, at a minimum would give the person tetanus lock jaw in add to other bacterial and fungal infections. If someone could have managed to even survive this at all they’d be in no condition at all to inspire anyone. Nonetheless, Christ’s disciples went from being in hiding to preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth. Peter went from denying the Lord thrice to martyrdom in Rome. Doubting Thomas ended up preaching the gospel in India where he was martyred. Obviously something spectacular must have taken place beyond a crucifixion tetanus lock jaw survivor somehow stumbling out of a tomb. One the contrary, the Son of God glorified resurrected in power and glory bestowed the Holy Spirit on His disciples and gave them power from Heaven. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC There is so many versions of what the Gospels seen. Infact they weren't even around when he supposedly died on the cross? I think that they were Bearing false witness. I got sober liberated and sober from the Wisdom of Buddha. 36 years.. Meditation of Buddha wisdom really helped.
Your story sounds like a Christian view of Buddhism from just google searches alone. Buddhism is not from Hinduism or the Vedic text. Buddhism acknowledges the gods, but does not rely upon them for ones own salvation. Buddhism is a path of relinquishment or surrender, in which one gives up the scheming and calculating ideas that only create suffering. Zen is a school of mind, in which you see for yourself the suffering you hold in your own heart and what happens when you Let Go of the scheming and calculating mind. Buddhism teaches a School or structure of Relinquishment called The eightfold path. This is however interpreted by the individual, not by an institution. Buddhism teaches that even Gods eventually die, their 'Purelands' eventually end, and they are still in the cycle of rebirth upon the Wheel of Life. The only way OUT of the wheel of life is the cessation of cravings, the renouncing of worldliness and the surrendering the scheming and calculating mind. I do believe you did read Buddhist books and did study Zen. Somehow you got a lot of corrupted and wrong teachings and pushed toward a Japanese cultural view of Zen that you have to be born in the culture for it to have any meaning for you and your family.
Completely clueless response. I was living in and practicing Buddhism in Japan before google was invented. Troll elsewhere Mr. “Zen” in your own mind only.
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Well, I can see why you left Zen/Buddhism. Japanese Zen is very much based on surrender and faith, not really into academic studies or knowledge. I wish you the best with your new spiritual path.
@@ThePathOfZen As I mentioned in the video, no religious path ultimately works without God. This is why so many of the earliest followers of the Buddha left Buddhism and went back to Hinduism. There are a few truisms in Buddhism that will make Buddhists feel better temporarily, but the path ultimately leads to nihilism, dissatisfaction, despondency, or a combination thereof. There is no true joy in this world apart from Christ. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC What you say is often true for westerners who stumble into Buddhism upon only reading Westernized views of Zen Buddhism only. Western Buddhism has been hijacked by radical secularists, who simply view Buddhism as a path of relaxation of mind, and a utopia builder based upon nihilism and Loving-kindness as how they view it. None of this is what the Buddha taught, and many who come to Buddhism for Spiritual care are often disappointed. I do not at all blame you for leaving Zen Buddhism, as I walked away from it in 1997 and for 23 years was silent and inactive. I only recently returned to Zen Buddhism to find things even worse than when I left. If you feel happy with your New Religion, then I am happy for you.
It’s also why so many of the Buddha’s followers left Buddhism and returned to Hinduism. Let us not erect a straw-man and blame “misguided westerners” for all of the ills and inadequacies found in Buddhism. Despite all of the hype built around Buddhism in Hollywood and in pop culture, it’s very limited in terms of outcome. Nobody after Shakyamuni has ever become a Buddha. The Dalai Lama is only considered to be a bodisattva. Therefore, everyone is “seeking” but never actually “attaining.” It’s like a really bad smart phone with good marketing but the actual product is a dud. It's like a multilevel marketing "merit" ponzi scheme where the only "enlightened" partitioners were born into their positions. This presents a glass ceiling for not only westerners but the poor peasants in Buddhist countries where were not luckily enough to be born into a high level "guru" position. This is similar to the ponzi scheme of the Royal Family, which has a similar "birth merit" system by another name, also referred to in the past as the "Divine Right of Kings." Therefore, the paradox of Buddhism is that it ostensibly eliminates the caste system in Hinduism only to recreate its own caste system. It keeps you in the hamster wheel of non-attainment. Good luck with that.
You are totally wrong about atheism not existing in Buddha’s time. Just read about “Nastikya”. In fact, atheism, like many other ways of thinking, arguably originated in India.
That may be partially true, but I was specifically referring to modern secular western atheism which stemmed from Darwinism, and the scientific and Industrial Revolution which created a modern brand of anti Christian atheism as we know it today. There might have been a much different strand of atheism in ancient India but certainly not attributed in any meaningful way to modern atheism as it is defined today.
@@TCGriswold_ICXCsure goyim if you so, now get back to worshiping the dead jew on a cross who couldn't even save himself and yet proclaimed himself to be a "son of god" lol
“Goyim” sounds like you are a disgruntled Jew pretending to be a Buddhist. Mocking Christ God is foolish. So is worshipping Buddha’s dead man’s bones in whom there is no salvation. ☦️
I am a Buddhist. I respect all religions. We don't believe in god. Because there is no creator. We just create ourselves because of our karma. If we do good, we will go to good realms such as heaven, brahma realm. If we do evil, we will go to the bad realms such as animals, sorrowful ghosts and hell realms. If we aren't still enlightened, we will still have reincarnation.
Prove that there is no God or Creator. We did not create ourselves. What created karma and the realms? A universe that created itself for no particular reason makes zero sense.
@TCGriswold_ICXC Universe didn't create itself. Universe is uncreated. And we are not created, we emerged out when favorable conditions came together. And my friend, it's your headache to prove that your imaginary being (God) really exists. So, go ahead...
@@cheghiskhan3977 The probably of the simplest DNA molecule ever coming in existence at all is one in 10^40,000. That’s like you winning the lottery everyday for 15 billion consecutive years. Good luck!
@TCGriswold_ICXC From where did you get this probability mathematics. Is it possible or not? That's the question. Btw, biblical God claims that he created everything in 6 days. Isn't it a stupid claim???
Einstein asserts the relatively of time, in addition to his numerous God / theism quotes. If there is no God then you are a soulless sack of meat roaming the Earth lacking any fundamental meaning or purpose. Nihilism. Pretty sad.
Funny - I went from Christianity to Buddhism. I am Taiwanese, and the imported shallowness of western Christianity always seemed fabricated, fake, and insincere to me - not to mention morally vacuous. It was so wonderful to escape illusions, delusions, and all the addictions to superstition. For the record, martial arts and being "into" meditation is not the same as being a Buddhist. Which form of Buddhism were you involved with? You say you were "ordained" - what do you mean by that - ordained as what, where, by whom? And what "esoteric rights" did you participate in. I''m sorry, but your understanding of Buddhism, and your lack of correct terminology, practice, progression, meditation, and the core texts, seems deeply superficial to me. Your justification in believing in orthodox Christianity because it has "lineage" and because it is "ancient" and... (all those very material attributes) sound very much bound up in Dukkha to me. Especially when you start bringing out all of the rather confusing (and vague) Christian metaphors of water of eternal life, etc. Just verbiage, sorry. I sincerely hope that you can find a good teacher the next time you return to the teachings of the Buddha, either in this life or the countless ones to come. Hope you are not offended.
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Forgive me, but I paid very close attention to them. I am sorry that you imagine I didn't. But I will assume that such a conclusion was made out of your own presumption of my ignorance and not out of your own, and I will respectfully leave it at that and wish you well.
I don’t feel the need to go into finite details of my Buddhist practice and ordination. I also do this out of respect for my former temple and sect. Needless to say that Buddha has no power to forgive sins or pull people out of hell. Only Jesus Christ has all power and authority to judge the living and the dead. If you stay in Buddhism you will die in your sins, and receive no forgiveness in this life or the life to come. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Triumphalist statements will not strengthen your argument. Only argument will do that. I am sorry that you are burdened with the idea of god torturing me (and others). It must be difficult to bear. I hope you can find some peace in your choices. Best wishes to you.
Christian audiobooks by T.C. Griswold (video creator)
“How Do I Become Christian? 3 Steps | Lord Jesus Christ”
www.audible.com/pd/B0BQZFFKTR/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-334465&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_334465_rh_us
“Gospel of John | King James Version”
www.audible.com/pd/B0BR8H3PLP/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-334600&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_334600_rh_us
“The God Vacuum: Exploring Heart Abyss and Divine Ascent Paradigms”
www.audible.com/pd/B09KMHGD22/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-282689&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_282689_rh_us
Peace to you Tarin Christopher. I recommend following books to you if you have not read those: "Patristic Theology" by Protopresbiter Johh Romanides and "The illness and the cure in Orthodox tradition" by bishop Hierotheos Vlachos and "Orthodox Psychotherapy" by the same bishop. If you have not read them you will not regret it. In fact there are other books by bishop Hierotheos Vlachos and all of them are good and they are translated into Enlgish. These books are perfect introduction into the writings of the Fathers and particularly into the Philokalia writings.
I am way and nobody comes to father but by me. Hmm that settles it right? 😂
Thanks for this video. I was also raised in Utah and live in Japan. I rejected Mormonism as a teenager, which led to atheism and a deep interest in Buddhism. I am grateful for what I learned from Buddhist philosophy; however, like you, I found it lacking. Through God’s grace, I was introduced to Orthodoxy Christianity and was baptized this year. Glory to Jesus Christ ☦️
You’re right that religious philosophy needs God to work. The Buddhist religion suffered great defeat by Adi Chankara’s school of Hindu thought, Advaita Vedanta and their main debates were about the Atman(soul) , and Brahman ( god in hinduism). It is said that the loser of those debates had to either convert to their opponent’s religion or burn themselves. Adi Chankara caused the death of many Buddhist monk apologists that rather died than convert to Hinduism. He’s the reason why India remained Hindu and not Buddhist.
My journey is similar to yours. I think these religions have truth but Christ is the the full manifestation of truth. My bridge from eastern religions into Orthodoxy was through Hesychasm, the Jesus prayer.
I practiced all major turnings of the wheel of dhamma and I’m orthodox now. The Orthodox Church is the fulfillment of everything Buddhism teaches.
How is it the fulfillment of everything Buddhism teaches? Could you elaborate please. I am somewhere in between Christian Orthodoxy and Vajrayana Buddhism myself.
No it's not, Buddhism is nihilism foo
What do you think of this: Buddha taught a way of coping with the suffering of life through detachment, meditation, etc. It's focus on stilling the mind resembles in some way the Orthodox Christian practice of hesychia (silence/stillness) and both pursue a kind of dis-passion (or passionlessness or apatheia) from which com-passion emerges. Christianity says compassion arises from the purified mind (nous) because humans are made according to the image of the God who is love. Buddhism says there is no God and no personhood (no unique identity, no soul and no personal heart). It says the person is ego, whereas Orthodox Christianity says the person is not the ego, but hypostasis, a uniqueness of personhood that cannot be erased, and the person is designed for love. The life of a person is in loving communion with other persons, a union without separation and without merging. Christian hesychasm goes deeper than quieting the mind and detaching from the misguided passions. The nous (mind, consciousness) must be purified (the passions properly directed Godward) and brought down into the heart, into the pain of the heart, pain because of our exile from paradise, because life in this world is tragic, scarred by sin and evil, ending in death. Heart is for love, co-suffering sacrificial love, and this involves self-denial, self-emptying, self-sacrifice. The Messianic culmination of the prophets, priests, and kings of Isreal, Christ alone takes sacrificial compassionate love (agape) all the way, through suffering, death, hell, all the way to resurrection, to undo suffering, hell, and death from within, at a point in time, in history, and thereby to redeem the world and time. Christ's sacrificial compassionate love is personal, heart-driven, fierce and passionate.This is the way of Christ's love that the saints and martyrs bear witness to in the world, for the life of the world.
Partly inaccurate. The Buddha doesn’t say there is no personhood, rather he says that your person isn’t what you think it is, everything we think were are is comprised of the sense organs. He never speculated on the actual ontological existence of the person.
As a former Christian who discovered Buddhism, I must say Buddhism helped me to better understand my reality, myself and the human condition. I do believe in a higher power still, but when it comes to a personal God that cares about every individual on the planet, I find it interesting that everyone thinks God is on their side regardless of the religion. Thank goodness The Buddha is a man and not a God. Due to Buddhism, I must conclude the only thing that cares about everyone on the planet and a capable of being on everyone's side is the human ego. I'm not a Buddhist, but like you I have a tremendous amount of respect for Buddhist philosophy. Thank you for sharing your story.
Christ is calling you back.
I'm always seeking truth. There were times I wish I could go back. It reminds me of the story of Adam and Eve. What is known cannot be unknown@@LongWarEnjoyer
Read Hieromonk Damascene's CHRIST THE ETERNAL TAO, and look into Fr. Seraphim Rose, who abandoned Buddhism and Eastern religion after intense study. You probably have never looked too deep into Orthodox Christianity, the original, ancient faith. It has what you seek, even if you don't realize it. Find a talk by H. Damascene about his book. God bless.
Isn't the ego, or existence as a person, precisely what Buddhism wants to extinguish so you cease existing? A bit ironic, it would mean that not only do you doubt a loving God, but you're actively working to extinguish a loving human.
@workinpromo: Well, I'm not a true Buddhist, but the teachings have helped me to better understand myself, reality and most importantly the human condition. I personally, don't believe the aim is to get rid of the ego, but to better understand it. I agree, the only way to extinguish the ego is to cease existing. However, the ego is two sides of the same coin. There is the notion of "I'm the greatest" and "woe is me". What do they both have in common? ME....ME...ME. You are the observer of your life. You are the one taking in all the sensory information, therefor from a certain perspective it is all about you. We may influence each other's lives, but at the end of the day you are the one processing everything. It is your experience and your reality. There is another trinity besides the father, son and the holy ghost. There is the human condition of Thought, Emotion Action. You have a thought (conscious or unconscious), you have a feeling about the thought, and you act upon the feeling. So once again, one cannot get rid of the ego because it is the ego that makes the human experience possible. The only difference is those who understand this esoteric truth and those who do not. The difference is those in the know who live consciously, (aware of their thoughts and emotions), vice those who are living unconsciously, (unaware of their thoughts and emotions) and are slaves to their thoughts and emotions. They respond to stimuli robotically which to some degree is a subtle form of insanity. The key is to observe your thoughts without owning them. Like people watching. You can observe people without identifying them as being you. The brain is a thinking machine. The thoughts generated by the brain are not the true you. The true you is the observer of the thought. That is why meditation is so important. It gives us a chance to observe our minds. The aim isn't to control the brain, but to freely allow the thoughts to flow. Allowing this freedom and simply observing will eventually result in a quiet mind. It's also proves once again that you are not your thoughts, but the observer of the thoughts, therefore there is no need to identify with the thoughts. Simply let them go. How do you know when you have arrived? Well, have you ever said to yourself or others, "Where did the time go?". When you are present, or "in the zone" as most athletes have experienced, there is no thought, therefore there is no time. When you are enjoying something, the time goes by quickly because you are not lost in thought. People suffer from two ways, either what has happened to them in the past or what they have yet to gain in the future. The past and future only exist in your mind/thought and it is the present moment that is real because you don't have to think about it. It is never not now until you go into your mind. It's very difficult to stay in the present moment all of the time. The best we can do is be aware when we are lost in thought and not stay there too long. We must come back to the present moment.
Thank you for sharing! Welcome to your spiritual home. Axios!
My ancestors and my family are all Buddhist. (I'm Asian) I was born a Buddhist, became an atheist, and finally, I found GOD.
where are you from
Also regarding the DNA molecule randomly coming into existence which is amazing in itself as you pointed out, going from chemistry to code is even more amazing.
Buddha, great, grand and sublime, may be the "Light of Asia," but Christ will yet be acknowledged the "Light of the World."
As the sun outshines the brightest star in the heavens, dispels every vestige of darkness and gives life to all beings, so, in a not too distant future, will the true religion of Christ supersede and obliterate all other religions, to the eternal benefit of mankind...
Religion can only point at truth. Putting them against one another is like figuring out who points more accurately. It will only get you so far.
Arrogant talking
That will be terrible and not benefit mankind. Because theres no one size fits all in spirituality.
@@st.mephisto8564no, we know for a fact that truth exist, and that only one religion can be the exact truth, the spiritual world isn’t like some contradictory place where Krishna and Christ both reign.
@@charles21137 *Only one religion can be the exact truth*
Oh boy! There isn't a more bogus idea there in spirituality than this.
This is the Difference between Jesus and buddha. Jesus is GOD, budda was a man. Simple as that.
But what they have in common is that neither of them were real. Just recycled myths.
@@cliveadams7629what unbelievers like you have in common is you believe all the lies Babylon feeds you NPC 🤖
@@cliveadams7629Source - "Trust me bro"
@@cliveadams7629 There was no historic Buddha in your opinion?
@@arminelias3819 No idea. Do you have any evidence that he did?
Buddha never discriminate any religions. No jealous no ego, no "I". He is The best Master of peace !!
Do you believe God? Or, do you worship Buddha as your god?
Buddha itself says he is not a God, he is a teacher an enlightened. A good Buddhist will know that
He did. He criticized the yogis, he criticized the Hindus, he criticized many people. He called people who won’t debate in good faith eel wrigglers. He called most people deluded. He called them slaves. He was rather critical of other practices because he tested those practices and called them all useless
@@DysmasTheGoodThief
Buddha was basically an ancient trustafarian 😂 a rich kid cosplaying as poor, then telling the poor “hey poor people, I know how to solve y’all’s issue! The problem isn’t that you are starving and in need of shelter, it is that y’all want food and a home!” Seriously, only a spoiled kid could say something like that 😂
I appreciate your informed perspective on this matter; thank you.
excellent. thank you brother
Truth is based on universal principles, not on mythology. I am deeply impressed by the integral philosophy of Ken Wilber, which opened my eyes to look beyond the story literalism of religions into the inner transformation.
@@arminelias3819 Examine the literal historical evidence for the Resurrection of Christ and the other side (theories) to determine whether it was myth or historical fact.
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Let it be a historical fact, I dont mind.
Superb, amazing testimony
I appreciate that you said it took 25 years.
Always wondered what our lord Christ would say about the Buddha...
Awesome video!
Hopefully this helps me. My militant leftist Buddhist zoomer nephew is coming to my house and I am admittedly not read at all on Buddhism so, probably a good thing for me to brush up on.
It’s easy to lead a Buddhist to the rational conclusion that Buddhism was to prime Asia for orthodox Christianity
May G-d bless you and guide you to all truth
shalom
but wasn't there materialism in ancient India? Charvak?
They were in minority, completely oblierated by Giants like Shankaracharya and Ramanuja, still they were babies in front of St. Gregory Palamas.
Did you run into any of the saints speaking about Buddhism?
Some flowers are medicinal. Some types of dangerous drugs are slowly punished. Some are fragrant but useless. In some species it is very useful. It depends on the person who uses it or experiments. Happiness or suffering is in the heart Going to hell or heaven is in this soul.
Only if you've ever experienced the heavenly bliss of meditative absorption or anything close to that, or to be able to have the deep insight into the true nature of mind and matter, your true taste of Buddhism will still remain in faith and intellectual doctrinal understanding. The taste of Dharma exceeds all.
The living water of Jesus Christ exceeds all. The Holy Eucharist is beyond anything in this world.
Anybody can say you gotta feel it to believe it.
I’ve attained several of the Jhanas and they didn’t lead to stream entry nor did I become an arhat. On the contrary, I found that the orthodox path is the final turning of the wheel of dhamma.
@@DysmasTheGoodThief Well, anyone familiar with ancient Buddhist texts will tell you attaining Jhānas or any higher stages of meditattive absorptions is only some pre-requisite steps to develop penetrative wisdom into the true nature of mind and body. It definitely is not leading you to the highest goal Nirvāna in Buddhism. And yes, a purified mind attained in such sublime meditative absorptions itself is the path to the Brahma, the highest God believed to the creator in Vedic Brahmanism/Hinduism.
the reason people give up on buddhism is because its too hard. your meditation has to be strong to the point where youre basically paying attention 24 hrs a day without sleep. only this type of unbroken awareness can show you the truth. people who quit buddhism are weak minded.
Buddhism is basically a scam. Nobody in 2,500 years has ever attained Enlightenment after the historical Buddha. It’s turned into a Ponzi scheme of non attainment and non achievement. Christian mediation is active and aggressive. Buddhist meditation is passive zoning out leading to nihilism.
@@TCGriswold_ICXCgo ahead and follow its lies and deceive 😊
This is inaccurate. People quit because it’s lacking completion
@@TCGriswold_ICXC
People quit cos they want to find shorter way to heaven😂
@@vinnysing1324people quit because not everyone is fulfilled by half baked eastern “philosophy”.
Ethiopian church was surely the original?
Who blessed you before you become a Christian?
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45 KJV)
@@TCGriswold_ICXCbefore abrham I am 😂 now all misery and suffering went away another one for childish Santa belief
Abracadabra 🤣
It is too bad so many think a human died on a cross and lived.. But was most likely alive and rescued before death. What is the sound of a man diying on a cross and living? Who created God.? Creators aren't soldatry created. Creators also need a creator.
No one has ever survived a full Roman crucifixion. The flogging alone was enough to kill as the whips contained metal shards or bone fragments designed to rip skin and muscle off the bone. The loss of blood and shock was enough to kill. Additionally being pierced with rusty Roman nails and laying in a tomb for three days, at a minimum would give the person tetanus lock jaw in add to other bacterial and fungal infections. If someone could have managed to even survive this at all they’d be in no condition at all to inspire anyone. Nonetheless, Christ’s disciples went from being in hiding to preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth. Peter went from denying the Lord thrice to martyrdom in Rome. Doubting Thomas ended up preaching the gospel in India where he was martyred. Obviously something spectacular must have taken place beyond a crucifixion tetanus lock jaw survivor somehow stumbling out of a tomb. One the contrary, the Son of God glorified resurrected in power and glory bestowed the Holy Spirit on His disciples and gave them power from Heaven. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC There is so many versions of what the Gospels seen. Infact they weren't even around when he supposedly died on the cross? I think that they were Bearing false witness. I got sober liberated and sober from the Wisdom of Buddha. 36 years.. Meditation of Buddha wisdom really helped.
@@JeffreyDonaldson-wb5rvJoseph, the myrrh bearing women, nicodemus, etc were present for the crucifixion
Your story sounds like a Christian view of Buddhism from just google searches alone. Buddhism is not from Hinduism or the Vedic text.
Buddhism acknowledges the gods, but does not rely upon them for ones own salvation.
Buddhism is a path of relinquishment or surrender, in which one gives up the scheming and calculating ideas that only create suffering. Zen is a school of mind, in which you see for yourself the suffering you hold in your own heart and what happens when you Let Go of the scheming and calculating mind.
Buddhism teaches a School or structure of Relinquishment called The eightfold path. This is however interpreted by the individual, not by an institution.
Buddhism teaches that even Gods eventually die, their 'Purelands' eventually end, and they are still in the cycle of rebirth upon the Wheel of Life. The only way OUT of the wheel of life is the cessation of cravings, the renouncing of worldliness and the surrendering the scheming and calculating mind.
I do believe you did read Buddhist books and did study Zen. Somehow you got a lot of corrupted and wrong teachings and pushed toward a Japanese cultural view of Zen that you have to be born in the culture for it to have any meaning for you and your family.
Completely clueless response. I was living in and practicing Buddhism in Japan before google was invented. Troll elsewhere Mr. “Zen” in your own mind only.
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Well, I can see why you left Zen/Buddhism. Japanese Zen is very much based on surrender and faith, not really into academic studies or knowledge.
I wish you the best with your new spiritual path.
@@ThePathOfZen As I mentioned in the video, no religious path ultimately works without God. This is why so many of the earliest followers of the Buddha left Buddhism and went back to Hinduism. There are a few truisms in Buddhism that will make Buddhists feel better temporarily, but the path ultimately leads to nihilism, dissatisfaction, despondency, or a combination thereof. There is no true joy in this world apart from Christ. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC What you say is often true for westerners who stumble into Buddhism upon only reading Westernized views of Zen Buddhism only. Western Buddhism has been hijacked by radical secularists, who simply view Buddhism as a path of relaxation of mind, and a utopia builder based upon nihilism and Loving-kindness as how they view it. None of this is what the Buddha taught, and many who come to Buddhism for Spiritual care are often disappointed. I do not at all blame you for leaving Zen Buddhism, as I walked away from it in 1997 and for 23 years was silent and inactive. I only recently returned to Zen Buddhism to find things even worse than when I left.
If you feel happy with your New Religion, then I am happy for you.
It’s also why so many of the Buddha’s followers left Buddhism and returned to Hinduism. Let us not erect a straw-man and blame “misguided westerners” for all of the ills and inadequacies found in Buddhism. Despite all of the hype built around Buddhism in Hollywood and in pop culture, it’s very limited in terms of outcome. Nobody after Shakyamuni has ever become a Buddha. The Dalai Lama is only considered to be a bodisattva. Therefore, everyone is “seeking” but never actually “attaining.” It’s like a really bad smart phone with good marketing but the actual product is a dud. It's like a multilevel marketing "merit" ponzi scheme where the only "enlightened" partitioners were born into their positions. This presents a glass ceiling for not only westerners but the poor peasants in Buddhist countries where were not luckily enough to be born into a high level "guru" position. This is similar to the ponzi scheme of the Royal Family, which has a similar "birth merit" system by another name, also referred to in the past as the "Divine Right of Kings." Therefore, the paradox of Buddhism is that it ostensibly eliminates the caste system in Hinduism only to recreate its own caste system. It keeps you in the hamster wheel of non-attainment. Good luck with that.
You are totally wrong about atheism not existing in Buddha’s time. Just read about “Nastikya”. In fact, atheism, like many other ways of thinking, arguably originated in India.
That may be partially true, but I was specifically referring to modern secular western atheism which stemmed from Darwinism, and the scientific and Industrial Revolution which created a modern brand of anti Christian atheism as we know it today. There might have been a much different strand of atheism in ancient India but certainly not attributed in any meaningful way to modern atheism as it is defined today.
Proud to be an ex-christian, now an orthodox buddhist (Theravada).
@@ankaralion In other words, scarcity mindset nihilism which leads nowhere…
@@TCGriswold_ICXC where does christcvckery leads to?
@@ankaralion Buddhism is basically a scam.
@@TCGriswold_ICXCsure goyim if you so, now get back to worshiping the dead jew on a cross who couldn't even save himself and yet proclaimed himself to be a "son of god" lol
“Goyim” sounds like you are a disgruntled Jew pretending to be a Buddhist. Mocking Christ God is foolish. So is worshipping Buddha’s dead man’s bones in whom there is no salvation. ☦️
Imagine trusting J3ws over an Aryan teacher like Lord Buddha.
I am a Buddhist. I respect all religions. We don't believe in god. Because there is no creator. We just create ourselves because of our karma. If we do good, we will go to good realms such as heaven, brahma realm. If we do evil, we will go to the bad realms such as animals, sorrowful ghosts and hell realms. If we aren't still enlightened, we will still have reincarnation.
Prove that there is no God or Creator. We did not create ourselves. What created karma and the realms? A universe that created itself for no particular reason makes zero sense.
@TCGriswold_ICXC Universe didn't create itself. Universe is uncreated. And we are not created, we emerged out when favorable conditions came together.
And my friend, it's your headache to prove that your imaginary being (God) really exists. So, go ahead...
@@cheghiskhan3977 The probably of the simplest DNA molecule ever coming in existence at all is one in 10^40,000. That’s like you winning the lottery everyday for 15 billion consecutive years. Good luck!
@TCGriswold_ICXC From where did you get this probability mathematics. Is it possible or not? That's the question.
Btw, biblical God claims that he created everything in 6 days. Isn't it a stupid claim???
Einstein asserts the relatively of time, in addition to his numerous God / theism quotes. If there is no God then you are a soulless sack of meat roaming the Earth lacking any fundamental meaning or purpose. Nihilism. Pretty sad.
Funny - I went from Christianity to Buddhism. I am Taiwanese, and the imported shallowness of western Christianity always seemed fabricated, fake, and insincere to me - not to mention morally vacuous. It was so wonderful to escape illusions, delusions, and all the addictions to superstition. For the record, martial arts and being "into" meditation is not the same as being a Buddhist. Which form of Buddhism were you involved with? You say you were "ordained" - what do you mean by that - ordained as what, where, by whom? And what "esoteric rights" did you participate in. I''m sorry, but your understanding of Buddhism, and your lack of correct terminology, practice, progression, meditation, and the core texts, seems deeply superficial to me. Your justification in believing in orthodox Christianity because it has "lineage" and because it is "ancient" and... (all those very material attributes) sound very much bound up in Dukkha to me. Especially when you start bringing out all of the rather confusing (and vague) Christian metaphors of water of eternal life, etc. Just verbiage, sorry. I sincerely hope that you can find a good teacher the next time you return to the teachings of the Buddha, either in this life or the countless ones to come. Hope you are not offended.
It seems that you didn’t pay attention to the details of the video. Therefore, I am not going to reiterate them here.
Is your name written in the Book of Life? The Book of Life | Jesus Christ | Eternal Life
ua-cam.com/video/S1HhOaQRZuc/v-deo.html
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Forgive me, but I paid very close attention to them. I am sorry that you imagine I didn't. But I will assume that such a conclusion was made out of your own presumption of my ignorance and not out of your own, and I will respectfully leave it at that and wish you well.
I don’t feel the need to go into finite details of my Buddhist practice and ordination. I also do this out of respect for my former temple and sect. Needless to say that Buddha has no power to forgive sins or pull people out of hell. Only Jesus Christ has all power and authority to judge the living and the dead. If you stay in Buddhism you will die in your sins, and receive no forgiveness in this life or the life to come. Amen. ☦️
@@TCGriswold_ICXC Triumphalist statements will not strengthen your argument. Only argument will do that. I am sorry that you are burdened with the idea of god torturing me (and others). It must be difficult to bear. I hope you can find some peace in your choices. Best wishes to you.
Why so much of time to understand the creation is Created !
Because there is much deception in the world, and it is necessary to disassemble false programming for those who were not raised in Orthodoxy.